“But if you’re that concerned about me,” he murmured, voice darkening, “I’m sure the moment will present itself…later. Preferably when we’re not midair.”
“Right,” she said, breathless. “Nothing sparks the mood like a tomb.”
“We’ll see.” Vesryn leaned into her back. “I’d rather make a sacred ruin out of you.”
His palm became ruthless, working her with just enough pressure to keep her hovering. She trembled, close, but not quite falling. Serenna’s restraint fractured, splintering in pursuit of more.
“Unlike you,” she breathed, curling her fingers over his, driving the touch deeper. “I don’t get off on being teased.”
Vesryn swore, and through the bond, Serenna felt him chasing his own peak, hips grinding against her in rhythm with the drag of his hand. His breath hitched with every roll, drawing out the torment, clinging to the precipice without surrendering to the plunge.
A current of heat ripped through her, urgent and feral. The horizon blurred, sky and trees collapsing as the relentless pressure wound her tighter with every stroke. The bond surged, doubling sensation until Serenna couldn’t tell whose desire burned hottest, two blazes braided into one fire.
Naru glided above the petrified forest, wings carving the breeze, but even the wind couldn’t cool the heat rising under her skin. Not with Vesryn’s rhythm pinning her deeper into the saddle. Not with his exhales breaking ragged at her neck, each motion a plea for mercy.
The world held its breath and she forgot her own, lost to the ache that wound her tighter. Every pass of his fingers stripped another layer of control, until there was nothing left but fire begging to rage.
Serenna ground into his hand, pursuing the edge as if the world had tilted and left her nowhere to land. A groan tore from the prince, more tortured this time, his thrusts shuddering through them both.
“You’re the one who said you like suffering,” Serenna gasped, sensing the jolt of his arousal. “You’re not supposed to be this close to breaking.”
Vesryn’s laugh was wrecked, breathless against her neck as he drove into her again. “Thisisme suffering.”
Merciless, his hand never faltered. Each stroke starved himself to drag her closer to the crest, his restraint bleeding back through the bond until it set her alight.
“Stars,” he hissed. “You have no idea what you’re doing to me.”
But she did with every roll of his hips, a surrender veiled in denial. And still he didn’t stop.
Serenna’s mind had already left the saddle. Only her legs clung, trembling on the brink.
When the break came, it tore from her in a ragged gasp. Her spine arched as Vesryn’s hand clamped firm at her center, the pressure searing until it branded. The horizon tilted. Light shattered white across her vision. A cry ripped from her lungs, caught on the wind.
Vesryn wrapped her in his arms, teeth pressed to her shoulder.
When the tremor in her legs quieted, Serenna felt the shape of his smirk at her neck, followed by the soft, dangerous drag of his lips like he hadn’t just pulled her apart midair.
“Are you ready to jump?” he asked, voice gone hoarse, but body still hard against her while she lay boneless in his arms.
Breath stuttering in her lungs, Serenna slumped back into him. Of course he wouldn’t give her time tobreathe. She should’ve known.
He’d once leapt from Naru’s back without the gift of flight, reckless and laughing, trusting the dracovae to catch him.
But now they both had wings. And this time, they would soar together.
CHAPTER 6
SERENNA
Leaping from Naru’s back, Serenna wheeled in a downward arc, wings slicing the wind as she glided toward the petrified grove. The drop punched her gut, but she tipped her wings, forcing her flight steady. Below, the den gaped wide, rimmed by trees long dead, each one a gnarled sentinel locked in stone.
Overhead, Vesryn banked into one last loop. Essence rippled through the air as he flicked a hand, opening a portal in the sky. Naru trilled and tossed his head, vanishing through the rift back to Asharyn. They’d return the same way after they explored the depths below. At least, that was the plan.
Serenna flared her wings as the earth surged closer, snagging the sky to slow her descent. Her boots skimmed ground, legs jarring through rough strides before she skidded to a halt in a spray of dust.
A smile tugged at her lips. Compared to her first graceless crash, which Fenn would never let her forget, this almost felt elegant.
Vesryn touched down beside her with barely a whisper, practiced and infuriating. He stretched as if the flight had beeneffortless, wings fanning wide just to ruffle her hair. “Didn’t even scuff my boots.”
