Spirit's Release Read Free Page B

mind wanted. Her passage was tight and wet, and the ripples of her climax undulated along his staff. His balls tightened and his cock swelled and throbbed, urging him to press deeper. His thigh muscles took control of the situation, putting power behind his thrusts into her.
    So good. It feels…so…damn good.
    He looked down at her, tried to focus on the way her black hair spread over the pale gray bedspread, tried to hold on to this wonderful wanting that coiled inside his gut. But her eyes distracted him. Passion and moonlight glazed those dark blue orbs as she cried out in climax yet again. Energy surged through his body and he exploded into a million pieces.
    * * * * *
    Jacob stared at the couple on the bed. Energy shot from their joined bodies, surrounding him, filling him with vitality. The surge cleared his mind and resurrected myriad memories—his beloved lying dead where these two strangers now coupled, the madness that had seized him, driving him to draw his dagger. He remembered pain, the flow of blood, the pitch forward to die across Sophie’s still warm body.
    A passionate cry drew his attention back to the woman on the bed. She stared at him over her lover’s shoulder just before her eyes glazed over with fulfillment. More memories returned—of other lovers who had gazed upon him in fear. All had sprung apart, their energies abruptly ending and sending him back into darkness.
    But this couple continued to drive together, filling the very air with the force of their love for each other. That force flowed into Jacob, empowering him to think beyond the madness with which grief had infected him that terrible night.
    “God, forgive me for taking the cowardly way,” he whispered, giving voice to feelings he had barely grasped in the past. “But I can’t be sorry. I did what I needed to do. I didn’t—don’t—deserve to be with Sophie.”
    Warmth coursed along his back and he turned. Golden light pulsed through the windows. A silhouette formed there, a dear form who had his heart swelling with joy.
    Sophie.
    “Come, love,” she said, her voice like a spring breeze. “You have but to reach out and we can be together.”
    Her arms opened to him but he hesitated. “I left you to die alone. That is unforgiveable.”
    She shook her head and stars seemed to spark from her golden hair. “Your love is your forgiveness. Come…before the energy disperses and the darkness takes you down once more.”
    He felt it already—a dimming of awareness. Looking back at the bed, he saw that the lovers had separated. They lay side by side, their gazes focused on him. They had given him the energy to appear, to stay long enough to reach for the salvation that Sophie offered.
    Can it be so simple?
    Gathering what energy remained, he turned back toward the golden light. He reached for Sophie’s hand, felt the warmth of her fingertips, and then she was drawing him forward. The light folded around him and he moved with Sophie into the heaven he had been longing to reach.
    * * * * *
    Dera looked at Alec as they both leaned up on their elbows. “Did you see them?” she whispered. “Did you hear them?”
    He nodded slowly, still staring at the window through which the beautiful golden light had briefly appeared. “I did.”
    A sense of wonder coursed through her, heightened by the pleasure that she and Alec had shared. “I think your spirit problem has been solved.”
    “I think you’re right.” He turned to face her, a smile lighting his eyes. “Why don’t we celebrate their reunion?”
    Rolling to her side, she lifted her fingers to stroke down the center of his bare chest. Her touch caused his skin to prickle and his nipples to tighten. “I think we have our own reunion to celebrate,” she said, aroused by his reaction.
    “I agree,” he said and then moved in close, his lips capturing hers in a soul-searing kiss.