“Luke—” Her voice softens.
My hands slide from her shoulders to her face, cradling her jaw.
“Don’t do that again. Don’t make me choose between respecting your choice and keeping you alive.”
Her eyes—wild and beautiful—hold mine.
“Then stop treating them like they’re different things.” She comes close. Kisses me. Fierce, demanding.
This time, I don’t pull back.
Every restraint I’ve maintained for days dissolves under relief and want and terror of how close I came to losing her. I kiss her like I’m trying to brand myself into her memory. Deep, consuming, hands tangling in her hair, body pressing hers backward until we collide with the rock outcrop.
Her fingers tear at my clothes, desperate and graceless. I shove her jacket off her shoulders; she yanks my vest open. The cold air hits overheated skin, but neither of us cares.
“Fuck… Ember…” I growl as my hands find bare skin, tracing the curve of her waist, tracking the terrain of her ribs, every inch I’ve been denying myself. The heat of her radiates against my palms, warmer than any human, her dragon nature evident even without flames.
She gasps when I cup her breast, the sound vibrating through my chest. I groan when she rocks against my cock, feeling exactly how much I want her; a primal response I can’t control, don’t want to control anymore.
Kicking off her boots, she unbuttons her pants and pushes them down her legs. I help her, feeling the smoothness of her thighs against my palms.
We sink down together, my back against cold stone, her straddling my lap. She fumbles with my belt. I hiss as she slips her fingers beneath the waistband. Everything narrows to heat and friction and the press of her body against mine.
The taste of her consumes me. The sound she makes when I slide my hand between her thighs—half gasp, half moan that catches in her throat. The way she trembles when I sink one finger, then two, inside her. Her nails digging into my shoulders, head thrown back, gasping my name.
She’s ready, slick and hot and desperate, gripping my cock with eager hands. I grit my teeth as she guides the head of my cock along the seam of her pussy. The first slow slide inside her takes the air from my lungs, her body tight around mine. Her small sound of adjustment, then pleasure. My groan against her throat.
I’ve had women before, but nothing’s ever felt likethis.
“Fuck,” I groan as she moves, tentative at first, then bolder. I grip her hips, helping set the rhythm, losing myself in the slide and friction. Her breathing ragged in my ear, my mouth on her throat, her shoulder, anywhere I can reach. The coil of pleasurewinds tighter with every movement, her body tightening around me. Close, so close.
“Luke… Oh, God!” She breaks first, head thrown back, my name torn from her lips as she comes apart. The sensation triggers my own release; white-hot and overwhelming, everything narrowing to her and heat and those sweet, tormented cries of“Yes, God yes!”
We collapse together, breathing hard, hearts hammering in sync. My arms tight around her, face buried against her hair. Neither of us speaks for long moments. Just breath and heartbeat and the slow return of awareness.
I just claimed Vanya Arrowvane’s daughter against a rock in the wilderness.
And I don’t regret it.
I should. But I don’t.
The clan politics that this will trigger rise in my mind. Dragons are territorial by nature, possessive of what’s theirs… and I’ve just crossed a line there’s no uncrossing. Vanya will sense the change between us; she’s too powerful not to. The elders will question my judgment, my ability to remain objective.
And yet staring down these consequences feels insignificant compared to what I just experienced.
There will be fallout. But right now, with Ember still trembling against me, I can’t bring myself to care.
Ember shifts slightly; I grimace as cold air hits sweat-dampened skin.
She notices. “We should—”
“Yeah.”
We separate carefully, both suddenly awkward. Pull clothes back into order, avoiding eye contact. The intimacy that felt inevitable moments ago now sits laden with implications neither knows how to address.
My eyes catch hers for a brief moment before she looks away. There’s uncertainty there, vulnerability I’ve never seen from her before. It awakens a fierceness in me, a need to reassure her that this wasn’t the mistake I said it was before.
But the words don’t come. Not yet. We have a mission to complete, extraction coordinates to reach, intelligence to deliver. Whatever this is between us—whatever just changed—will have to wait.
