I let the silence stretch between us, let her anticipation simmer.
Then, slow and deliberate, I lean in just enough to make her breath hitch.
“If you had a night with me, Duskae, you wouldn’t forget.”
Her breath catches, her pupils blown wide. She bites her lip.
And then, the challenge flickers in her eyes. Dangerous. Reckless. Tempting.
She steps closer.
“Well then, Kael,” she murmurs, tilting her chin just slightly. “Give me a night to remember.”
Then, without waiting for a response, she turns—walking straight into the firelight, leaving me standing in the dark.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
ELYSSARA
I feelhis gaze like a brand on my skin.
I roll my hips under the Stars, the golden belt cinching my waist, drawing his eyes exactly where I want them.
I don’t know if it’s the runes on my skin or the Silverwake in my veins, but I move like a woman possessed. The ashdrum thrums in my bones, a pulse that is no longer separate from my own. I twist under Ronyn’s arms, spin with Seren, and even manage to sway with Therion, but the entire time, I feel him watching.
Kael is a presence—solid, unyielding, inevitable.
The weight of his stare settles between my shoulder blades, heavy, intoxicating. I close my eyes, lifting my arms over my head to drag them through the thick night sky, feeling the moment slip between my fingers like silk.
I feel him approaching a breath before his hands snake around my stomach, and move lower over the curve of my hip. Not tentative. Not questioning. Possessive. Claiming. As if he’s lost a battle with his restraint.
His hard chest pushes against my back, enveloping and intoxicating, the scent of oakmoss and leather wrapping around me like a snare. He lowers his mouth to my ear. His voice is all smoke and sin.
“Let me give you that night to remember, Elyssara.”
My breath hitches.
There’s no more pretending.
His mouth brushes against the long column of my neck, hovering just close enough that I feel the heat of his breath but not the press of his lips. Teasing. Holding me in place with nothing but anticipation. A heavy, torturously seductive sensation pools low in my belly. A sensation I am utterly helpless against.
I’ve lived my life without pleasures, without the power to choose what I desire. But this?
This, I want.
I swallow thickly. “Dance with me first, and then... I’m yours.”
Kael’s growl is pure satisfaction. His arm tightens around my waist, pressing me against the length of him. “You’ve always been mine, Elyssara—even before you knew it.” He pauses, his breath hot against my temple. “You always will be.”
Oh, Stars.
I turn toward him, pressing my hands to the solid expanse of the leathers pulled taught across his broad chest. His pulse is steady, but his breathing is not. My fingers drift over the tops of his broad shoulders, trailing down his arms, committing every inch of him to memory.
He grips my chin gently, tilting it up so I’m looking into his eyes.
Without breaking my gaze, Kael’s voice comes out like a low, reverent rumble. “I want you.”
The world tilts.
