He’s close.She squeezed her eyes shut and reached inward, tugging along the thread that tied her to him.There.The presence of his mind wound toward hers, coarse and serpentine, scales teasing along her thoughts in a slow caress.
Too close.She pushed off the stone and burst into the open, sending small rocks scattering as she charged up the slope and dove behind another boulder.
Since that sparring match in the amphitheater a couple of days ago, they’d been testing the strange tether between them. Hours spent probing its limits, seeing how far it could stretch.
Citrus. With a splash of copper. His voice slithered into her thoughts.That’s what you smell like, pet.
Her pulse stumbled, then thundered harder as a scrape of pebbles loosening whispered nearby.
I can’t wait to taste you again, he spoke into her mind once more.
Heat seeped low, moisture slick between her thighs. Her back arched into the stone, pressing until the rough surface scratched through the weave of her tunic.
Fucking snake.Her head tipped back, eyes catching the spill of moonlight pooling over the jagged rise ahead, silver bleeding down the slope.She was nearly there. Her mouth pulled into a smirk even as her heart drummed against her ribs. The moon was climbing fast, and he had yet to find her.
He’d beaten her the last two nights, hunting her trail as if every shift of air carried her scent, distracting her just long enough to close in and bring her down.
Not tonight.
Then—sensation slid along her neck, heat and chill tangled in one wicked stroke of a phantom tongue in her mind.
“Ahhh.” The sound slipped out before she could stop it, her skin shivering under the tease of touch.
Got you. His laughter rumbled close behind, the sound almost brushing her ear.
Rynna lunged sideways, then exploded into a sprint, gravel scattering in her wake. All pretense of stealth evaporated as she drove herself faster, heart thumping in rhythm with her feet. Above, the moon rose higher, throwing her shadow long across the stone. Muscles burned, blood surged, and every stride left her wanting more.
Almost there.
Ahead, a dark gash split the earth nearly twenty feet across, black, and bottomless.
Rynna drove her legs harder, closing the last stretch, then hurled herself into the air. And for one suspended moment, her body sailed weightless over the void, arms spread wide as the world dropped away beneath her.
Turning against the wind stinging her cheeks, she twisted mid-flight to glance back. Kaelith leapt after her, his body cutting through the air, black hair streaming wild behind him. But he was too late. Her body arched higher and a feral smile carved across her lips. She crested the peak of her leap just as the moon crested the ridge of the mountain.
Tonight’s victory was hers.
She blinked, and as her body soared, her perspective tilted. Time almost seemed to slow as she felthisheart hammer and saw throughhiseyes.
“Kae.” The breath escaped her lips at the vision.
She was burning against the night, red sleeves and trousers whipping around her, burgundy hair flaring like fire, her form haloed in silver moonlight.
Then time jumped forward again, and he slammed into her midair, arms locking as he turned them. The ground hit an instant later. His back struck first, followed by her body crashing down on his, sending air bursting from his lungs beneath her. Grit bit into her knees as they skid forward and his arms cinched her waist before a stray rock knocked them sideways into a roll.
And as the world spun, he held her tight against the solid wall of his chest, driving his mouth to hers in a raw, devouring kiss. Each tumble crushed her closer, leaving lips stinging, and her pulse ricocheting against the steady thud of his heart.
Until… Slower. Slower. The roll bled off and the spin gave way to stillness.
She struck earth one final time, his weight, now op top, grinding her down. Then, strong hands clasped around her wrists, pinning them wide on either side of her as dark strands of hair swayed over her face.
“Caught you.” His knee shoved between her thighs, prying them apart before a frown carved his face, dark eyes narrowing. “I’m starting to think you’re letting me win, pet.”
“No…” Her head swam, wrists straining as his hips tilted, forcing the thick ridge of him into her lower stomach.
“I’m starting to think you like getting caught.” He bore down.
“No…” Her body jerked up into him as he gave a single thrust, a crude grind of his cock against her already throbbing cunt.
