His lips meet mine in a commanding claim, his stubble pressing into my skin.
His tongue strokes languidly over mine. He tastes like war and worship. And I’m done pretending I want peace. No.I want ruin.
I wasn’t made for peace. I was made for the Stars and the man who defies them.
The kiss deepens until there’s no breath between us—only the pull of the tether and the pulse beneath our skin. His hands frame my face like he’s memorizing it, and every touch feels like an oath.
When he draws back, our foreheads rest together, our breaths uneven. The air hums with something ancient, the space between us charged enough to burn.
“Elyssara,” he says again, lower now, almost a growl. “Will you let me have you?” he asks, blazing a trail of kisses across the space between my neck and shoulder.
Because he doesn’t realize that with him, there is onlyyes.
“Yes,” I breathe. “Will you give me new memories?”
He drinks me in, leaning into me like I’m the answer to his prayers.
He gently pulls back, his gaze drifting to mine, penetrating and clear.
“I will give you whatever you tell me to, El,” he admits, his voice rolling off his tongue in a heady rumble.
And I know he will. I know he’s a servant to my needs. But right now? I want him to have his way with me.
“Give me what you think I want, Kael,” I challenge, my voice coming out in a throaty moan.
But his eyes snap up at me, fierce and direct.
“I’ll give you what you want, my love, but I am theonlyone you submit to—andonlywhen I’m between your thighs, do you hear me?” he instructs, his rough timbre is reverent, holy, andhis calloused hand grips my thigh with a claim that could topple kingdoms. “My queen bows to no one. The fire in your veins will never know submission again. Only rule.”
His mouth claims mine again in hungry possession, and I let him. I let him possess me so completely that I forget I’m separate.
There is onlyus.
His lips drag slowly from mine to find the crook of my neck. His hand slides underneath my thin linen nightdress to grip my hip, my ass, and his teeth nip at the sensitive skin of my neck.
“What do you want, my love?” he groans into my skin.
A breathy moan tumbles from my mouth. “I want you to show me that this is real. That I’m not alone.”
He huffs a shallow breath. “We have been real from the very beginning,” he answers, dragging his rough hands up my waist until they find the heavy swell of my breast.
“Prove it,” I challenge, fisting his hair and yanking his head up until his eyes find mine.
His mouth curves, tender and dangerous all at once. “A night to remember, Duskae.”
His hand wraps around my wrist, pulling my hand from his hair with both force and gentility. He presses a kiss to my palm, before pushing from the bed, stepping back just enough to look at me fully. His voice is low and rough.Real. “Undress for me.”
The air between us hums—alive, electric.
“Only if you do, too,” I challenge, a smirk lifting up the corner of my mouth.
He huffs a laugh, returning the smirk. “As you wish, my Queen.”
He steps back into the glow of candlelight, the soft linen of his shirt whispering against his skin. The scent of him hits me first—soap and smoke and something purely Kael, like fresh jungle air and waterfalls, but still edged in steel.
His fingers go to the ties at his collar, loosening one, then another. The laces slip free, and the fabric falls open, revealing a glimpse of the hard lines beneath—chest, collarbone, the onyx ink of the mark that binds us.The Sky.
He doesn’t rush. He never does. He moves with that same lethal patience he uses on the battlefield, unhurried and intentional. Every movement feels like it’s for me. Like an invitation into him.
