“Say it again,” he growled into her mouth. “Say you want me.”
Thaelyn gasped, her fingers pulling at the laces of his shirt.
“I want you. Gods, I want to feel your hands everywhere. Don’t hold back.”
He spun her around, walking her backward until the backs of her knees hit his bed.
“Now tell me what you want, Thaelyn,” he whispered, brushing his lips across her ear. “I want to hear it. Use your words. Command me.”
She trembled, her voice breathless. “Touch me. Kiss me where I’m aching. I want to feel how much you need this. How much you want me.”
Thorne knelt before her as if in reverence, his hands gently dragging down the sides of her thighs, peeling away layers of fabric with aching care. His eyes didn’t leave hers, not even once.
“You’re not just a craving, Thaelyn,” he murmured. “You’re the burn beneath my skin.”
She reached for him, her fingers sliding over his shoulders. He pulled his tunic over his head and dropped it on the floor in one swift motion.Gods, I’ll never get tired of seeing his body. He was carved like perfection—ridges of power, a map of quiet scars, and a soul far older than his years. Thaelyn touched him like she was trying to memorize and explore every inch of him with her hands.
When he kissed her again, it wasn’t rushed. It was slow, open-mouthed, and devastating. His fingers traced up her spine, under the hem of her blouse, skimming bare skin that shivered beneath his touch.
“I want to taste every inch of you, and I want you to beg for more. Lie back for me, my Queen,” he whispered, his voice molten. “I want to worship you. I’m going to memorize and savor every part of you with my eyes, my fingers, and my tongue.”
She obeyed, the sheets whispering beneath her. He started at her collarbone with his mouth. He licked and kissed her. She let out a moan and threw her hands into his hair, grabbing it tightly.He moved down to her breasts and kissed and sucked each peak until it was rock hard with desire. Her moans turned him on even more. He bit her nipples and sucked them. Her hips thrust against his, and she moaned out his name.
“Oh, you like that. I’m going to make you hoarse from screaming out my name before I’m done with you.” Then he continued down to her ribs, kissing slowly across her stomach, and lower still, until her hips lifted so needy in response, a gasp caught between her teeth.
Her fingers threaded through his hair, and she pulled even harder this time. He parted her thighs and moved his mouth to where she ached with need. Her thighs were trembling in response. He continued to coax pleasure from her by kissing up and down her thighs. Every touch of his tongue, every press of his lips, sent her deeper into a haze where only he existed.
He murmured words against her skin with every one of her moans, fierce, sacred, and unfiltered. “Keep those legs open like a good girl. I want you to watch when I make you drown me with your come.” She arched with further pleasure. “Let me hear you scream, Thaelyn. Don’t be afraid to let yourself go fully. Let me hear and feel you come undone.” She was ready for him, slick and wet. He licked her middle with such perfect skill. With each swirl of his tongue, her body trembled with pleasure. She arched with release, calling out his name. He kissed the inside of her knee and rose above her. “Thaelyn, I want more. I want all of you.”
“Not so fast, Dareth. It’s your turn,” she whispered, pulling him closer. “Let me show you what it means to bewanted.” He smiled a delightful smile, and his eyes were filled with desire. She loved that she could affect him so much. He was always composed and in control. She wanted to see what he looked like when he was all hers. Every inch of him was full of longing and desire for only her. She touched him with determination. She started at his neck and kissed him with such intent, sucking and swirling her tongue. She moved across his shoulders and to his chest. His chest muscles were so sculpted and perfect. She caressed him slowly. Then she moved down his side, kissing and worshiping him with her tongue. Hemoaned in response. She kissed all around his navel. She unbuttoned his pants and could see by his bulge how much he wanted her. She pulled his pants off. He was fully naked. She looked him over and admired every inch of his finely honed warrior body. He was beautiful. She continued kissing around his navel. He flinched slightly as she moved lower down his body. She took his cock into her mouth. It was slow at first and then more purposeful. She stroked him up and down using her hands, and also kept her mouth on his shaft. She moved to his tip and continued licking and swirling for his pleasure. Her eyes locked on his. Thorne’s hands fisted the sheets beside her, and he trembled, trying to have some control and restraint.
“Thaelyn, if you keep going, I’ll–” His voice fractured. “I want to have you, all of you.”
She smiled wickedly at him. Then she breathlessly said, “Then have me.”
He hovered above her, both trembling. “Are you sure?” he asked, voice raw. “Because after this, I won’t be able to let you go. It will change me. You’ll be mine forever.”
“Then don’t let me go,” she said. “I want everything with you, and I want all of you, too.”
He laid her back on his bed. He carefully spread her thighs and moved on top of her. When he entered her, the world fractured around them. He waited for a moment. He waited for her to adjust to his size. Thaelyn jerked her hips against him, demanding more. A slow, dark smile curved on his lips. Then he moved in rhythmic perfection. His body matched hers perfectly. It wasn’t just passion. It was fury and flames, pure magic and thunder. They moved in an aligned rhythm. Their mouths were colliding. Their hips met together with each thrust. She moaned out his name.
“Thaelyn, I fucking love when you moan my name like that. I love the way your muscles contract tightly around my cock because you want more of me.” With each continued stroke, they gasped each other’s names as they fell into their climax. They couldn’t get enough of each other. They didn’t stop until well into the early morning.
When they finally stilled, tangled in sweat and sheets and breathless wonder, Thorne whispered into her hair, “You’re not a weakness. You’re the only thing that makes me whole. You are it for me.” She curled into his chest, hearing the steady thrum of his heart, and wondered if this moment, if this sanctuary, could hold forever. They both slept soundly in each other’s arms.
The morning light filtered in through the edge of the high-arched window, soft and golden where it spilled across the stone floor of Thorne’s dorm. The fire in the hearth had long since burned low, leaving only faint embers that cast a warm glow against the cold gray of morning. The air was still, quiet in the space between breaths.
Thorne lay on his back, one arm tucked beneath his head, the other resting loosely over the sheet draped across their tangled bodies. His breath was slow and steady. Asleep.
Thaelyn blinked slowly into the light and the warmth of his chest. Her cheek rested against him. She heard the steady thump of his heartbeat anchoring her to a moment she hadn’t known she needed until now. She could feel the weight of his arm around her waist, the cool fabric of the sheets curled around her legs, and the lingering ache in her hips, a reminder of the fire they had kindled only hours ago. She didn’t move. Not yet. Instead, she simply watched him.
His features, usually carved in shadow and guarded silence, were softened by sleep. The tension he always carried in his jaw had melted away, and the slight part in his lips revealed a rare vulnerability. His hair had fallen across his forehead, dark strands brushing over his temples.
Her fingers moved before she could stop them, tracing the curve of his chest, the ridged lines of muscle, and the heat of his skin. The dragon mark that sprawled across his torso shimmered faintly in the light. Intricate swirls of black and crimson magic curled like smoke down his ribs and over the curve of his shoulder. She let her fingertips follow one of the threads, watching the way it spiraled along his bicep and faded into the skin of his forearm.
He shifted slightly in his sleep, and the sheetsdipped lower across his waist. Thaelyn’s lips quirked into a private smile. She dragged her gaze lower, her breath catching a little as her eyes followed the narrow trail of hair from his navel downward, across the sculpted V of his hips, and down where the sheet just barely preserved a sliver of modesty. Her hand hesitated over his lower abdomen, tracing the deep lines carved there by years of physical discipline.
She remembered the way his body had moved over hers, the strength in his arms, the possessive grip of his hands, the way his voice had broken when he whispered her name. The memory sent a flush of heat rising to her cheeks. Her eyes flicked to his face again. Still asleep.
