The Dark Prince (The Dark Light Series)(63)

“I’ll never forgive myself for what I’ve done.” I whisper. “I hate myself for hurting you.”

I feel Dorian smile against my hand. “I’ve lived through worse, little girl.”

“But not from me. I never want to be the source of your pain. I don’t want to be that person anymore- always so defensive, expecting for someone to hurt me. I don’t want to push you away.”

“You won’t. You can’t. I’ve been waiting my entire life to love you,” he says before placing a soft kiss on the inside of my palm.

My heart warms at his admission, carefully falling back into place, jagged shard by shard. And with that, I close the small distance between us and nestle into his arms, the only place I’ll ever want to be.

When we awaken Friday morning, I am still tightly secured in Dorian’s arms, chest to chest. We spent the entire night talking, kissing, and feeling the warmth of each other’s bodies. I wanted to feel him entirely, wanted him to make love to me but he refused until my back healed a bit. Plus it was nice just being together again, knowing that more than sex binds us. Along with his incredible body, he truly has the most beautiful soul.

“Good morning, little girl,” Dorian murmurs in my hair.

“How do you always know when I’m awake?” I giggle against his skin. It always smells so wonderful, so refreshing.

Dorian leaves a kiss on the crown of my head. “That beautiful brain of yours.”

Reluctantly, I wriggle out of his hold to trot to the bathroom. I’m dressed in only yellow striped flannel boxer shorts and can’t help but blush as Dorian watches me cross the room with desire burning in his smoldering eyes. After relieving my bladder of last night’s tequila and brushing my teeth, I reemerge and giddily flop back onto the bed. Dorian inspects my back in the daylight, though I’m certain he could see it perfectly fine in the dark.

“Do you like it?” I ask timidly.

“I do. It suits you.” He leans forward and kisses the tender skin around it, his cool lips soothing the soreness. “Very sexy.”

“Mmmm,” I moan. Even the slightest touch makes my body quiver.

“Don’t do that. If you start making those kinds of sounds, I won’t be able to stop. I know you’re sore. I don’t want to hurt you.”

I look up at Dorian solemnly. “That pain is nothing in comparison to how I felt these past few days. Not because you hurt me, but because I hurt you. I want it to hurt. I want to suffer for what I’ve done.”

He cocks his head to one side and gives me a crooked smile. “Gabriella, the only pain I felt was the agonizing feeling that I had lost you. Nothing else matters to me. Knowing I could only watch you as you slept, knowing I couldn’t touch you, kiss you, be inside you… It destroyed me. Last night, I couldn’t stay away. I was too weak for you. I had to touch you, feel your skin against mine.”

I sit up and straddle his lap, pressing my lips against his. Dorian instantly responds, pulling me closer into him by my backside. His skilled tongue delves into my mouth, massaging, tasting, teasing. My bare swollen breasts ache against his chiseled chest, longing to be touched and fondled. I can feel the swell of his erection under his slacks jabbing my sensitive flesh. I want him now, and I don’t care if it hurts. Just as my hands fumble to undo his fly, I feel an unwelcomed vibration in his pants pocket. You’ve got to be kidding me!

I ease back just far enough for Dorian to fish out his cell. He hits the Talk button and gives an exasperated greeting then listens contently. I suddenly remember the picture I took with my own phone and hop off his lap to retrieve it despite his puppy dog faced plea for me to stay.

“Look what I found at the tattoo parlor,” I say, handing him the phone once he’s done with his call.

Dorian studies the picture for a beat then his unreadable eyes meet mine. “Humph. Humans.”

“The lady there told me that some random guys each got them. How would they know? And what are these other names?”

Dorian sighs and rubs his eyes as if he’s suddenly grown weary. “There were 8 original Dark families, supposedly the very first clans of the Dark which spawned all other clans. Over time, of course many more were birthed, but it is believed that we are the purest, most powerful of all the Dark. Each family is influential in their own right, the Skotos obviously being the most dominant.”

“So these eight families, are they the noble families in Greece?” I sit up on my knees, totally engrossed in the subject, hanging on to Dorian’s every word. This is my heritage too. My father was Polemos.