He’s a future king, for goodness’ sake. He can’t crumble at the first sign of pressure.
“Send for the doctor,” Rominy says hoarsely. “Quickly.”
Apprehension fills Jonas’s face, and he nods before rushing through the door.
Earlierthatmorning...
With a groan, Cerian opens his eyes back in the real world. The memory of Arisanna pressing herself against him in the hot springs as he kissed her fills his head. He wasn’t ready for that to end.
Arisanna snuggles closer to his side, and he tightens his arm around her. The burning desire to finish what they started fills him, but his fire magic is already waking up here, the heat simmering beneath the surface.
“I just want to go back to sleep,” Arisanna murmurs. “That was awful timing.”
“The worst,” he chuckles.
“I don’t suppose...” Her voice trails off as she rests her hand on his chest over his leathers.
His heat is already building, and he sighs. “My magic—”
“It’s all right. This is nice. I like waking in your arms.”
Words form on his tongue, and he forces them out before he loses his nerve. “You could wake up like this every morning.”
“In a tree?”
Is she teasing him, or was that really not clear enough?
“I’m sorry, Cerian. I shouldn’t tease about that.”
She shifts beside him, lifting her upper body until she’s hovering over him. Her hair is mussed, but the reddish strands catch the early morning light, and he gives in to the urge to play with the silken threads as she gazes down at him. His fire magic will become overwhelming soon, butuntil it does, he won’t rush this moment.
“Are you inviting me to sleep in your bed all the time?” she whispers. The teasing is gone, leaving warmth and desire in its place—her own heat and passion that she keeps giving him tastes of here and in the heartlanding. He wants more than a taste. He wants it all.
“I think I am.”
“But you went to all that trouble to add a door.”
Is she serious?
Say it. He needs to just say it all. Every word building in his heart right now.
“I don’t want a door, Arisanna. I don’t want a wall. I don’t want anything to separate us. I-I want you. All of you.”
Her heart pounds, and his pulse thrums right along with hers.
Then her words from the heartlanding flit through his head. How it’s happening so fast, and she’s terrified.
“When you’re ready,” he whispers. “I meant to add that part.”
Rather than responding, she lowers her lips to his in a slow-burning kiss that threatens to obliterate his control completely.
Just as he’s about to pull away, she lets him go, and mixed relief and frustration fill him.
Curse his fire magic.
“We should get up soon,” she whispers. “It’s a long walk to Feressa.”
Feressa?
