They crashed together, mouths colliding, all restraint burned away. His hands framed her face as hers fisted in his braids, kissing like they’d been starved for this very moment.
The bed caught them in their frenzy, tumbling down in a tangle of limbs—reckless, gasping—as if the world itself had narrowed to this one violent need.
His mouth was everywhere—her jaw, her throat—her nails biting his shoulders as she arched beneath him.
Her thighs parted at the brush of his knee. The shift rode high, baring more of her than he’d ever dared imagine.
His breath broke against her lips as he traced the length of her leg, reverent and desperate all at once. She was choosing him—him, scarred and unworthy. By the stars, he’d never wanted so fiercely to be worthy.
“Dask—Amerei—”
His voice cracked as he searched her eyes, raw need colliding with something deeper.
“Are you sure?”
“Viktor—” The words tumbled out. “I want you.”
He kissed her again, nearly undone by the sound of it.
His body strained toward hers, every nerve screaming to take her.
And then—he froze.
It wasn’t her touch that stopped him.
It wasn’t even her plea, reckless and certain.
It was her eyes.
Wide, unguarded, shimmering with want—
and with fear.
His breath caught sharp in his ribs.
Candlelight flickered across her throat, the pulse there fluttering quick as a trapped bird.
“Amerei,” he rasped, braced above her, chest heaving.
His hand shook where it held her thigh.
“Are you… afraid of me?”
The words cut through him.
Her eyes glistened, startled.
“No—” She shook her head, golden hair spilling wild against the pillow. Tears threatened, her voice breaking. “I could never be afraid of you, Viktor.”
Relief gutted him.
But the truth in her eyes struck deeper still.
Not fear of him…
but of the unknown.
His voice roughened as he searched her face.
