Yes,” I breathe.
“You also need my mark.”
“Yes. I want it. I want to be yours.”
“Forever.” He sucks my throat.
“Forever.”
He thrusts hard, and I cry his name. When he strikes at my shoulder, his fangs sinking in, I come in a wave of pleasure and heat. Flames kiss me inside and out, the sun flowing through us as we join. He doesn’t let up, his jaws clamping down on me as I moan. Shoving even deeper, he tenses, his muscles turning to stone as he unleashes in me, his cock kicking as he spurts, my body squeezing and demanding more, all, forever.
I shudder as my release finally lessens, the waves lapping in pleasant aftershocks as I come down, floating like a dark leaf on a bright stream. He’s inside me. In every way, I feel him. His desire heightened mine, and when he marked me, I could almost touch the claim we share on each other.
He gently removes his fangs, then runs his tongue along the bite. Dropping soft kisses on my chest, my throat, and then my lips, he whispers in the Old Language, then changes so I can understand. “I’m thanking the Ancestors for leading me to you. My treasure. My only one.” He runs his fingers through my hair and kisses me softly, slowly, reverently.
I’m boneless, floating on ecstasy beneath the brightest sun in my life, the king who claimed me from the night to show me every bit of day.
“I love you, too.” I whisper against his lips.
He smiles, the gold in his eyes sparkling. “I’ve never heard anything sweeter.”
“You haven’t heard me sing.”
“You sing?” he asks.
“I think I’m quite good, but my mother says I couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket.”
His gaze drops for a moment, then returns.
“What?” I felt a shadow cross his heart. “What’s wrong?”
He kisses me again, then rolls to my side, his deliciously hard body on full display. Trailing his fingers down my skin, he sighs. “I’ve so much to tell you. Not all of it good.”
“Oh, that sounds like a clothed conversation.” I reach for my dress.
“A clothed conversation?” He helps me put it on, then pulls on his pants.
“Serious. Can’t be serious when I’m thinking about your—” My gaze drops to his cock.
His growl turns my insides warm and my nipples hard again. Pulling me to him, he stares down into my eyes. “I don’t deserve such a gift as you.”
I clear my throat, because his sweet words and even truer emotions are threatening to bring me to tears. “So, we’re dressed now. Hit me with the bad news.”
He slowly strokes my back. “Tristano has returned.”
“With my mother?”
“No.”
I think back to Grimelda’s vision of a cold hearth, and a chill pricks along the tips of my ears. “Where is she?”
“We aren’t—” He turns his head sharply.
I follow his gaze. The Shard of Day shines in the distance, but something’s wrong.
“What is that?” I squint and see that the very top is shattered, as if something busted out of it. Crystal rains down from the spire, the facets shimmering as they drop, and the explosive sound finally reaches my human ears.
Solano growls, his hackles rising.
