His lips trailed down my jaw, my throat. My breath hitched as his teeth scraped along my neck before he found my mouth once more.
It was as if he wanted to devour me, and I wanted to be devoured.
Our tongues collided and I nearly lost my mind with the divine taste of him. Erik pulled me against him.
The more I tasted, the more I craved. My senses narrowed, sharpened to a single point. I could see nothing but him, feel nothing but the heat of his body, smell nothing but the enticing scent of his skin.
His breath became mine, or perhaps mine became his—I couldn’t tell. There was no Erik. No me. Onlyus,tangled in this fiery, overwhelming moment. He consumed my doubts and fears,swallowing them whole until nothing was left. Every worry, every thought, every bit of hesitation dissolved. The Lysian King holding me became my entire world.
My fingers tangled in his hair, deepening the kiss. The low, guttural growl that escaped his throat sent a pulse coursing through me.
His hands tightened, strong and unyielding. The pressure of his touch was possessive. There was no escape—not that I wanted one.
I lost myself in him, and it was the most exquisite kind of oblivion.
Until he let me go.
Erik pulled away, breaking the kiss. His touch lingered, reluctant, before finally releasing me. He retreated a step, and it felt like a chasm opened between us. Dark eyes scanned my face, searching for any sign of discomfort or regret.
He would find none.
“I don’t want you to leave. I don’t want you to do this with the Sidhe,” he said, his voice low, carrying an edge of frustration.
I swallowed, steadying my ragged breath before replying, “Trying to seduce me into compliance?”
A wry chuckle escaped him, though it lacked any real humor. “If only it were that easy.”
“My decision is final. I am going, Erik.”
His jaw clenched, hands fists at his sides. It was probably difficult for him to not have complete control. He hated my decision.
He shook his head and glanced to the field outside. “It’s late. We should go.” His voice was barely more than a whisper, strained and distant. When he glanced back at me, the fire in his eyes shone. That hunger, that longing—it still burned, unquenched and undeniable.
For a moment, I couldn’t find my voice. All I could do was nod.
Erik turned, walked to the balcony, andjumpedfrom the treehouse. My heart nearly stopped. But then again, he was Lysian and landed on his feet with effortless grace. I raced over and peered over the ledge as he looked up at me.
“I’ll catch you,” he offered with a daring smile. Gone was the moment we just shared as if completely evaporated.
It was an effort to make my jaw work to compose a response.
“No way,” I answered, moving to take the ladder instead.
He chuckled softly.
When I finally joined him at the tree’s base, neither of us mentioned what just occurred. We walked back to the leader superior compound, parting ways to our separate rooms as if nothing had happened between us.
But while I lay in bed, I could still feel the lingering touch of his lips on mine and how my body bent around his.
It was real. It happened.
It was beautiful and unexpected, though I did not know what it meant moving forward. I only knew that I had one more day at home before leaving for the Sidhe lands. I planned for what was to come while the Lysians stood idly by, waiting to learn what the outcome of the trip would be.
When life stilled, in those moments of waiting for a meeting to start or while lying in bed, worries entered my mind for the unknown. What would the Sidhe be like? Edda warned me that Clause would want to observe my conjuring. She advised me not to let him see it easily, that he would try and test me somehow, and when I did finally conjure to use my hands as a crutch, so he would see the false limitations of what I could do. She also advised me to cover my skin so that he could not easily touch me, though if he wished to touch me, I was to allow it. He would not harm me. That was the safety the letter he had sent offered me.
Edda shared that though Clause stated I could bring along whomever I wished, only those who could conjure would be able to stay with me. She knew so much through her sight, and I wasglad to have her guidance even though our relationship strained. Even so, the fact that she would be beside me during the meeting with the Sidhe king offered a great deal of comfort. I continued to feel a sense of safety in her presence.
The notions of what was to come swirled in my mind. Concerns for the future kept me from settling. The only other thought strong enough to push those concerns aside was the memory of that moment with Erik in the tree house. The way it was to be in his arms, to regard them as a safe place. Strangely, he felt so familiar, though we had never embraced like that before.
