“Can’t sleep?” Serenna asked, her voice barely carrying over the waves lapping against the cliffs.
He shrugged, leaning back on his claws. “Figured you could use the company.”
“But you’ve already spent hours on watch,” she protested, eyes following a streak of light searing a path across the sky.
The moons shone flawlessly, the stars so dense they bled together in a river of fire. Below, the ocean scattered the glow in rippling shards, as if galaxies had drowned in its depths and still glimmered beneath the surface.
Yet Serenna felt Fenn’s gaze settle on her alone.
“The view’s improved now.”
She huffed a soft laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”
“I think the stars must be jealous,” he said. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the gleam of his grin. “They burn all night and still look dull with you stealing their light.”
Heat fluttered through her as she turned to face him. Fenn’s gaze lingered as though she were some rare, brilliant thing he chose without hesitation every time. He always knew how to make her feel wanted with nothing but a careless line, flirting with that reckless sincerity she pretended didn’t touch her.
“And how long did you rehearse that?” Serenna asked.
“Rehearse?” Fenn’s smirk slanted wickedly. “If I had practiced properly, you’d already be begging to come undone.”
“Begging?” She raised her brows. “That’s bold of you to say considering you’re the one who can barely survive a kiss without pleading for more.”
Fenn leaned to her ear. “Keep tempting me, and I’ll make you prove that.”
Serenna opened her mouth to retort, but he interrupted. “I’m only here to make sure you stayveryalert.”
“So that’s why you’re checking on me,Captain?”
The title struck Fenn like a match, his eyes igniting. “Stars, I like it when you call me that.” His voice dropped to nearly a growl. “Say it again and I might forget there’s a dragon snoring downwind.”
Serenna’s lips twitched. “You’re shameless.”
“I prefer ‘ferociously devoted.’” Fenn reached over, tracing a talon around her knee. Sliding higher, he skimmed from the outside of her thigh to the hem of her tunic. “And if you plan to reprimand me, I’d rather commit a provocation worth your scolding.”
Serenna’s breath caught, but she gathered enough voice to whisper, “You should try going back to sleep. We have another long day ahead.” The deflection soured on her tongue while every part of her ached to lean into the dare of his warmth.
“Perhaps I’ll behave,” Fenn said, tone far too innocent to be anything but. “Right after you kiss me.”
The bond tugged, drawing her into his gravity until everything beyond them slipped out of focus. It undid her how he could grin as though the world weighed nothing, and still make her feel as if she meant everything.
Serenna splayed her fingers across Fenn’s chest, her palm resting over the steady thrum of his heart. She leaned in, breath snagging on his, their lips brushing.
They’d spent so many weeks training and fighting, always bracing for the next threat, the dangers on the horizon, that she hadn’t let herself admit the struggle was for more than peace. It was forthis. A future measured not in victories, but in closeness—in moments that didn’t have to be rushed or stolen.
Fenn’s mouth curved against hers before he began to pull back. Serenna snatched him so he couldn’t retreat, fingers curling against the solid line of his shoulders. She drew him in, deepening the kiss with silent demand.
When she parted her mouth, Fenn answered instantly—talons threading gently through her hair, his thumb sweeping her cheek in a touch both tender and hungry as his tongue met hers.
The heat between them tipped the kiss into something reckless, something that threatened to pull Serenna under entirely.
Fenn’s fangs grazed her bottom lip and caught, dragging it between his teeth. Serenna’s breath slipped free on a moan before she could smother it.
“Careful,” he murmured against her mouth, words velvet-thick with mischief. “You’ll wake the others.”
Serenna tensed, heat flushing molten through her, the warning winding more like a promise than a deterrent. Scarcely twenty paces down the grassy slope, Jassyn slept in a shallow rhythm of breath, Cinderax beside him with faint curls of steamunfurling from his nostrils. One wrong sound and they’d both wake.
Fenn’s mouth left a trail of heat as he moved to the side of her neck, lingering below her jaw. His fingers found her thigh again, spreading slowly over the curve before sliding higher. Talons flexed, his thumb brushing just enough to tighten her stomach and send want spiraling lower.
