Love Beyond Sight (23 page)

"Yes." She reached up as she traced his face with her fingers. Goosebumps traveled up and down his spine. "Kiss me, Samuel. Show me that I'm not alone in the dark."

He pressed his lips to hers. "I'll always be with you. Wherever you are, I'm there too."

Samuel kissed Eden like he might never get to again. With the way things were going, he wasn't sure he would. She met him kiss-for-kiss, their passion becoming more intense with each passing moment.

He placed her hand on his chest. "Can you feel my heart beating? I know it's cheesy but it beats only for you. Always has."

"You can be cheesy with me. I like it." Her cheeks had regained their color. A rosy hue blanketed her skin.

"Let me touch you. Everywhere."

She nodded, lying back on the bed. "I wish I could see your gaze heating up for me."

"It's plenty hot. Please take my word for that. Or…" A thought occurred to him. "This might show you."

Gently, he placed her hand on his cock. It was hard as steel. "Any doubt about how much I want you?"

"No." She pressed her body up against his. "I have to admit that I really like that I have this effect on you. It makes me feel… powerful."

"You are powerful. So powerful. You hold my whole life in your hands."

She fumbled for a second before she wrapped her arms around his neck. Then there was no need for words. He wanted to touch her everywhere so he did. Starting with her neck, he trailed his fingers down the center of her throat until he reached the very bottom. There, he planted a kiss.

Eden squirmed until she could pull the shirt she'd put on over her head. He wanted to help but he didn't want to give her the impression he thought she couldn't do simple things like take off her own shirt.

Her breasts sprung loose. More than a handful, he squeezed them in his hands, loving the way she moaned as he did so.

"I'm never going to get tired of your breasts. You know that, don't you?"

She tugged at his shirt. "Take off yours too. I can't seem to do it."

He was happy to oblige.

Chapter Eighteen

Eden was in the dark and she wasn't sure she'd ever get used to it. While she knew that with time she could adjust to almost anything, Eden wasn't certain this would ever be anything she could be comfortable with. But right now, Samuel's mouth was on her breast and she could concentrate on that.

Not that it took much concentration. Sensations of pleasure traveled throughout her body. His hands moved lower. She could feel the strong touch of his callused fingers moving down her belly toward her lower areas. Without being able to see him, his touches were more intense, somehow more personal. Eden had to imagine what he was experiencing since she wasn't able to see his reactions.

"How does that feel?" Samuel voice caressed her neck.

"Like heaven."

"Good." His hands traveled lower, followed by Samuel's warm mouth. Finally, they found her hot core. She might be bathed in darkness but her body felt like it might explode in light if he didn't touch her there soon.

She felt Samuel place one finger inside of her. As she moaned her appreciation, he pushed in a second one.

Eden squirmed. She needed release more than she'd ever needed it before. Something to show her she still lived even though she might never again have any visual evidence of it.

Samuel found her hot spot and she nearly reared off the bed. "I love touching you, Eden. You're my girl. You always will be. There's nothing more important to me than giving you pleasure, giving you the life you deserve."

His words added to the caress his fingers smoothly made over her clit. Oh yes, tears filled her eyes and spilled down her face. She made no move to wipe them. If there was such a thing as too much feeling, Eden felt that way.

"Come for me, Eden. Come for me before I enter you. I want you to come this way."

As if spurred on by his instructions, she lost herself to the moment. Her orgasm surged through her like a storm pushing toward the coastline—intense and unstoppable.

"That's it, beautiful. I love it. I love it that you came for me."

Eden panted, unable to slow down her heart and not sure she wanted to. Maybe she could drift warm and safe in Samuel's arms for the rest of her life.

She sat up, desperate to touch him herself. In her mind's eye she could see his face. His strong chin, his long nose, and his ears that poked out just a little too far on the sides of his head. It wasn't hard to call to mind the grayness of his eyes and the way they sparkled when he looked at her.

Eden reached out until she could gently stroke his face. If this was how she would know him now, then she had to get good at using her fingers. First, she found his nose. He laughed as she touched him.

"Don't make fun of me. I'm learning how to do this."

He shook his head; she felt it under her hands. "I'm not teasing you. I like it. Anytime I can get your hands on me, it's a good thing."

"I like touching you. Now, it's like a lifeline for me."

He hadn't shaved and she could feel the slight roughness of his stubble beneath her fingertips. He groaned as she continued her exploration, moving her hands down his chest. Samuel wasn't as hairy as some pictures she had seen of naked men. But he had a little bit of chest hair. In her memory, it was light brown like the color of his hair.

Spreading out her hands, she found each of his nipples. They were smoother than the rest of his skin and free from hair. Feeling slightly mischievous, she pinched them lightly. He jumped and cursed before grabbing her to kiss her hard.

"You're a little hellion. Pinching me."

She laughed; something she couldn't believe she could do under the circumstances but Samuel made her feel whole, like she hadn't just lost her sight. "You love it and you know it."

"I do." He kissed her nose. "I love you."

"Then if you love me, put your hard cock inside of me."

He groaned. "My proper girl who spent her days passing out religious paraphernalia on the streets has become wonton."

Not that he seemed to mind. Instead, he lined himself up against her hot core and pushed inside of her. Her muscles remembered the feeling from the last time they'd done this together. Nothing hurt this time, instead she felt gloriously full with his erection pressed within her heat.

She wrapped her legs around his waist, trying to bring to mind the images of them making love earlier in the night. What had the exact color of his skin been? She could remember it easily—it was a light golden brown.

"You feel so good wrapped around me. I know fate meant for us to be together. You fit me like no one else could, baby."

She smiled, leaning forward a bit so he could kiss her on the mouth. "Take me. You're not going to break me. You make me feel alive."

He must have taken the words as seriously as she meant them because he began to move inside of her at a rapid pace. In and out—he filled her and just when she thought he would pull out, he plunged in again. Heaven, yes, it was heaven. That was the right word.

Finally, she exploded—the world becoming nothing more than her and Samuel. At that moment, she didn't care if she ever saw again. Not when there was still so much pleasure to be had.

Samuel's own orgasm followed hers and afterward he held her close to his heart, which he told her in a whispered voice, was his favorite place for her.

Her jovial feeling, however, didn't last very long. The blackness around her didn't let up—intellectually she knew it wouldn't—but it was going to take some getting used to. At that moment, she had no idea what time it was. What time had it been when she lost her sight?

Eden's heart pounded hard against her ribcage. Oh god, she was in the middle of a panic attack and she was in the dark. Samuel breathed easily next to her. She only knew that because of how he sounded while he slept—peaceful. No way could she wake him up just because she'd worked herself into a state. Or maybe she could. The blindness had just happened. Surely he wouldn't begrudge her needing him right then. Would he?

Tears slipped from her eyes but she kept herself silent like she had as a child. No one could know she cried. Only this night, the morning sun coming in and chasing away the darkness wouldn't bless her. She was going to live in it forever.

"Hey." Samuel kissed her cheeks. "None of that. I'm sorry I dozed off. I should never have left you alone tonight."

"Not your fault." She wouldn't be pathetic, she couldn't allow it. "I'm fine."

"Liar." He pulled her into a sitting position, her head resting still against his chest. She assumed they leaned against the headboard. This was going to take a lot of getting used to. Could she do it?

"Eden, I had an idea."

She sniffed. "About what?"

"About you and this situation with your eyes."

"Situation. That's a good way to put it. Certainly, it's a situation."

"Are you going to listen or are you going to whine?"

She whirled around like she wanted to hit him, knowing she probably couldn't. Still, she managed a few small smacks before he grabbed her hand. "Hey, calm down. I'm just trying to snap you out of it."

"I went blind tonight, Samuel. Did you adjust instantly to being burned? Or did people give you a few days to transition?"

"Eden." He kissed her hand. "I might have a solution."

She swallowed. Part of her didn't want to listen. What if she did and whatever he suggested didn't work? How much worse would it be to get her hopes up?

"Don't be stubborn about this. It won't hurt you to listen."

He was right and, to his credit, she wasn't crying anymore. "Tell me."

"There was a time, before we met in person, when I would check on you every day by sending my energy into you. I could actually see what you saw."

She nodded. "You told me that. But I don't have that skill. I see the future. That's all I can do and, truth be told, I don't always manage to do that right."

"You do now. But that's beside the point." He stroked her hair. "I think I could enter your body and take part of your consciousness back into mine while leaving most of your energy where it is."

Eden tried to understand what Samuel had said. She couldn't make sense of it. He might as well have been speaking a foreign language. "I'm sorry… but… what?"

"It's kind of hard for me to explain it to you but I think if I can do it, then you will be able to see from my eyes."

"See from your eyes?" She felt like a parrot but she sat, in the dark, trying to make sense of Samuel's idea. There was nothing to object to about his suggestion. She had no idea if it would work or not since it made zero sense to her.

"Yes. Are you willing to at least try it?"

"Why not?" What could it hurt? She was already blind. How much worse could it get?

"All right." Samuel moved and the bed jiggled a little. She had no idea what he did and that frustrated her. She sat back against the headboard and tried to think about something other than her own situation. Narcissism was not an attractive trait. Other people suffered a lot more than she did. At least she had Samuel. He loved her. He wouldn't leave her because she'd lost her sight.

Good to know you realize that, at least.

She felt a tingle in her brain, like a butterfly had flapped its wings inside of her head. Blinking, she realized she'd had this sensation before. Yes, Samuel had been in there in the past and she'd had no idea.

"Right now, I'm seeing through your eyes."

"You are?" It seemed too strange to be real. "So you're seeing nothing then, blackness."

He touched the side of her cheek. "Yes. Now bear with me for a moment while I figure this out."

"Sure, take your time." She clutched the covers in her hands and wanted to pull them over her head to symbolically hide from the world. Not that having the covers there would change how she viewed anything. Although she might like the cocoon feeling the warmth of the blanket would provide her…

"This might feel a little odd now."

"What will?" She jerked her attention back to Samuel. Not being able to see seemed to allow her attention to wander more than it usually did, which was a lot even on a good day.

For a moment, she felt a little woozy. The world felt like it shifted from beneath where she lay. For a second, she thought she might lose consciousness. "Oh god, Samuel. What's happening? I think I'm going to throw up." She covered her mouth with her hand. She needed to get to the bathroom and she wasn't entirely certain how she was going to do that. Why hadn't she paid attention to the lousy hotel room when she'd walked in earlier?

Well, because she had assumed she would be able to see it later. Still, that didn't help her now.

Just as quickly as the world had changed, it righted itself. She blinked as the room illuminated before her. She could see. Gasping, she covered her mouth. Her eyes. They worked. She grabbed for Samuel and nearly fell off the bed.

He grabbed her arm, preventing her from plummeting down onto the dirty beige carpet. "What happened?"

How had she misjudged things?

"You have to compensate. It's not actually your eyes you're seeing from, but mine. Your mind is automatically transferring things but it's not going to be exact. That's what I think anyway. I'm pretty good at figuring out how things work. It's what I do for a living."

They had never talked about his job. Samuel hadn't been with the Outsiders. He'd had to work. She shook her head. "I'm sorry I didn't know that."

He waved his hand and the movement looked blurry to her. "Don't worry about it. It looks like I'll be quitting anyway. I have a feeling that I'll be rather involved in our eternal war from now on."

"This doesn't make sense to me. How can I see you at all? You can't see yourself."

"This is magic, Eden. Not science. But if I had to wager a guess—your brain is filling the gaps where it needs to." He raised her hand to his lips to kiss it. She shivered. "I know what I'm wearing. The knowledge is being transferred to you."

"So." Her mind felt cloudy. "I'm seeing the world through your eyes—the way you would see it. Not necessarily the way I would see it."