Darius's POV
“Her body was warm. Mine was broken. But when she touched me, none of it mattered.”
The fire flickered low, shadows dancing across the curve of her cheek as she leaned over me. Pain clawed through my shoulder, but it dulled the moment Octavia’s fingers traced my jaw. “You’re burning up,” she whispered. Her touch was hesitant, but her eyes, gods, her eyes looked at me like I wasn’t a lost cause. “We should wait until you’ve healed.”
“I don’t want to wait.” My voice rasped, hoarse with need I hadn’t dared speak. “I want you, Octavia. Now. Before the world takes you away again.”
She hesitated, just for a second. Then leaned down, brushed her lips over mine gently. I groaned, wrapping my good arm around her, dragging her into me. “You sure about this?” I murmured into her mouth.
She nodded, breath trembling. “Only ever been sure about you.”
I kissed her like I’d never get another chance. Desperate, deep, claiming. She moaned into my mouth, hips shifting against mine, and it damn near broke me. “Fuck,” I growled, burying my face in her neck, sucking gently where her pulse fluttered. “You smell like heat and snow. Like something I’ve craved forever.”
She gasped when my hand slid beneath her dress. “Darius-”
“I’ve got you,” I whispered, fingers trailing along the softness of her thigh. “Just let go for me, baby. Let me take care of you.”
Her body trembled beneath me as I pushed the fabric up, bunching it at her waist. Her thighs parted, shy but eager, and when I looked down at her, lips red, eyes glazed, I nearly lost it. “You’re beautiful,” I breathed. “So fucking beautiful it hurts.”
Her voice cracked. “I don’t really know what I’m doing…”
I cupped her cheek. “Then I’ll show you. Slowly. You tell me if it hurts, you understand?”
She nodded, and her voice was barely a whisper. “I trust you.”
Those words wrecked me. I kissed her again, softer this time. My fingers found the laces of her corset and tugged them loose. She arched instinctively, breath catching as her breasts spilled free into the cool air. “Shit,” I muttered, running my thumb gently over one nipple. “Look at you… so fucking perfect.”
She whimpered. “It’s cold.”
I pressed my mouth to her chest, sucking warmth into her skin. “I’ll keep you warm.” I trailed kisses lower, slow, teasing, until she squirmed beneath me. “Tell me what you need.”
“You,” she whispered, voice shaking. “Inside me. Please.”
I lined myself up, stroking along her slick entrance. She was trembling. I was shaking. “Deep breath,” I told her, pushing in slow. “You’re doing so good, Octavia. So goddamn good for me.”
Her gasp turned into a moan as I sank into her inch by inch. Her walls clenched around me, tight, wet, welcoming. “Gods,” she choked, nails digging into my back. “It’s so much.”
“I know, baby. I know.” I stilled once I was fully buried, forehead pressed to hers. “Do you want me to stop?”
“No,” she whispered. “Just… move slow.”
I kissed her temple. “Always.” My hips began to move, slow and deep. Each thrust coaxed a new sound from her throat, soft gasps, broken cries, needy moans that made my blood boil. “That’s it,” I whispered. “Take me. Let me feel you.”
Her legs wrapped around me, pulling me deeper. “Darius… oh gods, yes… there- there- don’t stop-”
I groaned, fucking her just hard enough to make her cry out. “Say my name again.”
“Darius, please- Darius, I’m-” She gasped, back arching, body tightening around me like she was about to fall apart.
“I’ve got you,” I whispered, kissing her mouth, her cheek, her throat. “Come for me, baby. Let me feel it.”
She shattered with a strangled moan, clinging to me as her body pulsed around my cock. I wasn’t far behind, thrusting deeper, faster, until I spilled into her with a growl, vision going white behind my eyes. “Fuck,” I breathed against her skin. “Octavia- fuck- I love how you feel.”
She collapsed into me, still panting. “That was…”
“Everything,” I finished for her. I held her tight, lips brushing her ear. “You’re not breakable, Octavia. Not with me.”
Outside, snow fell in delicate silence. Inside, we were tangled in heat and breath and something I didn’t want to name, but felt real. She pressed a kiss to my chest, voice quiet. “You didn’t feel cursed just now, did you?”
“No.” I exhaled. “I felt alive.”
She didn’t answer. She just curled into me, and I wrapped the cloak tighter around her. For once, the pain in my body didn’t matter. Only her heartbeat against mine did. We stayed that way under the willow, our bodies sore, our souls softer, holding onto each other like maybe we still had a future. Snow blanketed the world outside, but here, under the hollow willow, beside the fire, we weren’t running. We were surviving. Together.
Two bodies, tangled in silence, holding onto something real before the world could take it away.