A shiver runs up my spine, and my skin rises with goosebumps. I sit up and place my hands on his chest, freeing him to touch me. He grips my waist, massaging just above my pelvis. I lift my hips and bring them down. One long, steady stroke turns into another, and before long, I am taking him inside me over and over again.
“Statera, you are beautiful like this,” he says, sliding his palms up my stomach and between my breasts. His fingers curl around the front of my neck and press over my pulse. A whimper escapes my mouth, a lust-filled cry for more. His thumb runs along my bottom lip, and my tongue darts out to taste his skin.
“That’s it. Take me in your mouth and suck,” he says. The authority in his voice sends a new wave of warmth pooling in my stomach.
He pulls his wet thumb away and brings it between my legs. The slick circles he draws on my clit cause me to clench around him. With every rotation, my pleasure mounts. My thighs quiver and I stop breathing as I surrender to the feeling. It’s like reaching the crescendo of a song and soaring from the peak on a melody. The beat hits me hard, deep, and fast until it still thumps through me long after it has ended.
“One more time, princess,” Kyron says with a raspy need.
I shake my head, fighting to slow my racing heart. “I can’t.”
“You can.” His lips reach mine, slow, sensual. He breathes new life into me with his kiss. “You asked for all of me tonight. Don’t you dare hold back. We leave here with no regrets. Remember?”
I tug on his hair and kiss him as if this could be our last. No regrets. Not one.
He rolls me to my back and hitches my legs over his hip. His fingers dig into my thigh as he sets a punishing pace. Our bodies come together to create the most beautiful contradictions. We are peace and war, and fear and love, swirling together until it is only us. And we are devastatingly beautiful together.
“Raelle.” My name is a plea pouring from his lips, begging me to follow him.
I can’t deny his desperate request, and we leap over the edge together. We succumb to the ecstasy found in each other’s body. I hold on to the feeling as long as possible, not wanting to take it for granted. My bliss slowly subsides, leaving me a heap of tangled limbs and shallow breaths.
I rest my head on his chest, marveling at the feel of his skin under my lazy strokes and the smell of him. Nowhere is as perfect as the bank of this creek with Kyron.
With one arm under his head, his other hand glides up my spine and over my shoulder. He lifts the Imperium from where it rests against his skin. Thumbing the stone, he says, “You felt my shadows.”
I tilt my head to take in his curious expression. “I did.”
“But you couldn’t control them?”
“I don’t know. They don’t call to me the way they used to.”
He releases the stone and holds his palm up. A pebble-sized ball of fire forms in the center. I extend my fingers toward it. The heat building as I move closer, and the quiet voice of self-preservation inside my head warns me to pull away. I ignore it. My stomach flips with nerves and sweat forms on my brow. I linger over the flame as it licks my skin with blistering heat.
When the Eporri resided in me, I never felt the effect of his gifts. They were just as much mine as they were his. But this feels dangerous.
I inch closer, and just before my fingertip touches the fire, a small shield of ice forms a barrier between my skin and Kyron’s power.
We lock gazes, shock rippling between us.
“That wasn’t my gift,” Kyron states, pointing out the obvious.
I pull my hand away from his and wiggle my fingers. Tiny snowflakes drift from my fingertips. “It’s my gift. The Imperium woke my gift,” I say with a mixture of tears and laughter. “With everything going on, I was so focused on what obtaining the stone meant for us... for Pliris. I forgot what it means for every Cyffred.”
Kyron catches a flurry and stares at it. “You’re a Galacio.”
After the days I’ve had, the last thing I should want is more ice, but this is mine. Snow flutters down upon us. Controlling my gift isn’t much different from the way I manipulated others’ powers, and yet it is. The frozen tingles and buzzing energy are finally awake and already at home in my being.
Kyron pulls me up his body. Tiny specks of ice cling to his lashes and hair. He cups my cheeks and kisses me so tenderly that I melt into him.
He is burning ferocity, and I’m ice-cold determination. And together, we will bring the Allaji to their knees. They will bow before our crown of fire and ice.
“Wait!” Ulric holds his hands up and takes a step back from me. “Are ya sure this won’t hurt?”
I look at Kyron, who is leaning back in his chair at the dining room table. His arms are folded over his chest and an amused smile pulls at his lips as he gives a shrug. He is the one who suggested I try out the stone on Ulric. I’m questioning whether he did it to ensure I’m prepared or for entertainment during our meager meal.
This really should have been an easy task. What Cyffred wouldn’t want to bring to life the power that has always been dormant inside of them? Most would have jumped at this opportunity, but Ulric’s fear of the unknown pain is getting the better of him.
I sigh and plop down in the chair next to Terro. “I don’t know. I didn’t feel anything when it happened to me. Then again, I can wield the stone.”
