Serenna snapped her focus back to his face.
Fenn’s grin softened, his expression shifting to something deeper, more vulnerable, before he added, “And I felt that you would have missed me if I…if I had faded away.”
Serenna squeezed his fingers. “I’m glad you didn’t,” she said hoarsely, the words scraping against the hollow ache in her throat. They weren’t enough. They could never be enough. If Jassyn hadn’t been there to pull Fenn back from the brink. If she had lost him—
“Serenna,” Fenn whispered, halting her spiraling thoughts. He lifted her hand to his chest, pressing her palm over the steady beat of his heart. “I’m here.”
CHAPTER 8
SERENNA
Serenna’s vision blurred as she stared up at Fenn, the steamy chamber dissolving. She reached up slowly, brushing the sharp line of his jaw and inhaling his scent of cedar and snow. Their breaths mingled in the humid air as she wove her fingers through his hair, drawing him closer.
The world fell away when she pressed her lips to Fenn’s, the heat of his body eclipsing the water’s warmth. The kiss began as a gentle spark but quickly ignited into a consuming flame as he gripped her waist, tugging her flush against him. Magic surged through her veins, the bond thrumming with shared longing.
Fenn’s mouth claimed hers with a ferocity that banished the fear of what she’d nearly lost. His arms wrapped around her, their skin sliding together under the gentle spray of water.
Serenna’s fingers mapped the planes of his chest and the ridges of his scars, tracing the silent stories they told. Fenn shuddered, his breath hitching as her touch drifted lower, curling around the hard proof of his desire.
“We shouldn’t,” he murmured. But his hips betrayed him, his rigid flesh pressing deeper into her palm.
Serenna stroked him slowly, freeing a rumbling groan from his chest. “Why not?” she challenged, her lips curving against his, daring him to protest as his body bent to her touch.
“I can sense that you’re still sore,” he rasped, claws digging into her hips like he couldn’t let go. Smug satisfaction smoldered beneath his hesitant restraint.
“And you’re entirely too pleased with yourself for being the reason for that,” she retorted.
Serenna’s breath abandoned her as Fenn’s lips swept a trail of fire along her throat, the scrape of his fangs nearly melting her spine. Not to be outdone, she slid her coiled fingers faster along his length.
Hips bucking, Fenn snarled, the sound tearing from his throat as his canines lengthened. “You don’t play very fair.” He nipped the sensitive skin under her ear, a feral light blazing in his eyes. “But who am I to deprive you of what you want?”
In one fluid motion, he swept Serenna off the ground, claws roving lower to cup her backside as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Muscles flexing, Fenn’s abdomen rippled against hers, his rigid length trapped between them.
Serenna hooked her arms around his neck and leaned back, breathless at the sight of him—wild and beautiful in the misty glow. Water glistened over the planes of his carved flesh, the veins of his arousal standing out like winding rivers.
Fenn’s mouth recaptured hers and Serenna snagged his lower lip between her teeth, tugging at one of his piercings. A guttural sound of approval reverberated through her chest as he pressed his length against her center. She gasped, nails digging into his shoulders. Her hips rolled to meet his, pressure mounting with every shift.
“She-elf,” Fenn panted as he slid her higher and lower against the rigid flesh pinned between them, each shift coiling a knot of pleasure deep in her core. A soft chuckle melted intoa ragged groan as his head tipped back.“Stars, slay me…” His words dissolved like the steam coiling around them, his feral eyes drawn back to where their bodies merged.
The bond flared, a heady pull of emotions—hunger, desire, and a gentle current of warmth amidst blazing fire. Moving with him, Serenna let it consume her.
“Mark me as yours,” Fenn said, his voice quiet and unguarded. He angled his neck, baring himself fully.
Her gaze dropped to the faint punctures already etched into his skin. “But I don’t have fangs.”
“Then do your worst,” Fenn growled, his claws tightening on her hips as he dragged her against him, eyes flaming with challenge and want.
Serenna’s heart stuttered. It wasn’t an order, but a wave of surrender rolled off him, a need to belong to her, to bebrandedas hers.
Her lips hovered above his collarbone, not in hesitation, but under the weight of what this moment meant—what he was offering to her. Himself. A trust she wasn’t sure she deserved. Yet she burned to prove herself worthy, to honor the devotion he’d laid before her.
Serenna latched onto his neck, her mouth and tongue claiming him with desperate certainty. Every sweep of her lips a wordless answer, every scrape of her teeth an unspoken vow etched into his flesh, her promise to match his trust with her own.
Fenn snarled, a primal sound as his grip tightened on her hips. Chasing her pleasure, Serenna matched his rhythm, surrendering to the fire coursing through her veins. Her breaths quickened in time with his groans as he guided her movements along his length.
“Fenn,” Serenna gasped, her voice breaking on his name, needing more of him.
Fenn’s lips curved with wicked knowing. A squeeze to her backside drew a startled squeak from her, the sound morphing into a breathless laugh. He swept her from the shower and carried her to a counter.
