Malrik’s hand slides up my spine. “Breathe.”
“I’m trying—”
“You’re holding your breath.”
He’s right. I force myself to exhale. Then inhale. Then exhale again.
Kaia’s hand finds my cheek, turning my face toward hers. “Hey. Look at me.”
I look.
Her eyes are huge. Soft. Full of something that makes my chest ache.
“We have time,” she says quietly. “We have all the time we need.”
“I know. I just—” My voice cracks. “I’ve wanted this so badly. For so long. And now you’re here and you’rerealand I’m inside you and it’s—”
“A lot?”
“Everything.” The word slips out before I can stop it. “You’re everything, Trouble.”
Her breath catches.
And then she moves.
Just a slight shift of her hips, but it’s enough to remind me that we’re still connected, that I’m still buried inside her, that this is actually happening.
“Move with me,” she whispers. “Please.”
I do.
Slow at first. Careful. Learning the rhythm of her body, the angle that makes her gasp, the depth that makes her moan. She rises to meet every thrust, her fingers tangling in my hair, her mouth finding mine between ragged breaths.
“There—” she gasps. “Right there—”
I repeat the movement. Watch her eyes flutter closed. Feel her tighten around me.
“Again—”
I give her again. And again. And again.
Malrik’s hands are still on me—my back, my hip, my thigh. Guiding without taking over. His mouth presses kisses to my shoulder blade, my spine, the small of my back. Everywhere he touches feels like fire.
“You’re doing so well,” he murmurs against my skin. “Both of you. Look at her, Finn.”
I look.
Kaia is flushed and breathless beneath me. Her hair spreads across the moss like spilled gold. Her lips are parted, sounds spilling from them that I want to record and replay forever.
“She’s beautiful,” Malrik says.
“I know.” My voice is wrecked. “Gods, I know.”
“Tell her.”
“You’re beautiful.” The words tumble out without thought. “You’re fucking beautiful, Kaia. I’ve thought so since the first moment I saw you. Before I knew your name. Before I knew anything. Just—you. Standing there with your shadows. Looking at me like I was crazy for jumping off a tower.”
She laughs—broken, gasping, somehow perfect. “Youwerecrazy.”
