“Say my name, Rina,” he said as he left a trail of kisses down her jawline, “and I will send you to the stars.”
He yearned to hear her say it again.
“Acacius.” The sharp tips of her fingernails scraped down his back.
He sucked in a breath through his nose, not expecting her to cave so swiftly, and quickened his thrusts. “Again,” he ordered.
She dug her heels into his back. “Acacius.”
He hooked his hips up with his next push, ensuring he hit her most sensitive spots until her body spasmed underneath him.
His name left her in a ragged breath, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, folding her body into him.
It wasn’t enough.
He slipped an arm under her back and pulled her closer, desperate to relieve the need. The speed of his thrusts accelerated until the tension gave way through his insides, a detonation of nerves behind his navel that quivered down his legs into his toes.
He relaxed his weight onto his forearms, careful to keep from crushing her, and let his rapid breaths dissolve in the crook of her neck, riding the last surges of his high.
Acacius had hoped to raze her, keep her in his tight fist, but it appeared she was slowly stringing him up just the same.
16
THE HOT SPRING
Acacius
Acacius watchedMarina adjust the neckline of her dress, noticing that the ruby jewel of her body chain was off center.
Without thinking, he reached over and fixed it for her.
Marina tilted her head up at him, the start of a sinister curve carving up the corners of her lips. “You must be starved to already want another taste.”
Her jewelry hypnotized him. More times than not, he caught himself watching the sway of whatever chain or jewel dangled between her breasts. Every piece matched, always full sets. Though, he only caught glimpses of her earrings behind the shine of her hair. The bracelets she wore ranged from dainty and simple to eccentric and eye-catching, like the one that connected from her wrist to her rings by a thin, golden chain.
He’d never smithed something as fragile as a piece of jewelry, but perhaps he could try?—
What are you saying?
He focused back on Marina, refusing to be a lovesick fool once more. They were onlyfuckingwhile trying to outwit and kill one another, as deities do. Nothing more.
“My appetite is voracious,” he said in return with a dark smirk. “Be careful, or you will be my evening meal as well.”
“Your hunger hardly frightens me.” Marina flicked her long hair over her shoulders, glancing around at the temple. “Speaking of frightening, the Heralds that were inside all vanished.”
“They know when to be gone.” Acacius turned and started toward the vaulted threshold at the end of the hall. “Follow me.”
She fell into stride alongside him. “I have places that I must be.”
Acacius gave her a sidelong glance, watching her gaze follow the long lines of grout in the crevices of the stone floor. “You avert your eyes when you lie. Are you aware of this?”
She glowered up at him, clearly unamused by his observation. “And where are we going?”
Acacius smiled as smoke twisted up from his feet and swallowed them both.
They materialized in front of a set of large, stained oak doors at the end of a corridor deep in the walls of his fortress. His favorite room.
Before entering, he shifted to face her. “Tell me something.”
