A low laughechoes behind me.
“Run faster.”
He forgets where he’s standing. This is my domain. Ice floods the hallway ahead of him, thick and jagged, sealing the path in frozen barricades. He presses his palm to it and steam hisses.
I slammy hand to the ground.
Crystalline spikes spear upward in a violent line between us, jagged and lethal.
For a moment, I think I’ve bought myself time.
But he dodges and leaps, landing on the other side as the last spike finishes forming.
I bolt again rounding a final bend, and burst onto a balcony of suspended crystal overlooking the bathing chamber far below. There’s nowhere left to go.
I pivot—
An arm snakes around my waist. The other catches my wrist before I can summon another defense. He lifts me clean off my feet and presses me back against the crystal wall.
His breath ghosts over my ear. “Caught you again, little fawn.”
Pleasure ignites inside me when he cups my breasts. He sweeps his thumbs over my nipples. “It feels a bit too easy this time.”
My head lolls to the side and he doesn’t miss the invitation. He presses open-mouth kisses to my throat, tracing a path from my neck to my ear. Elven ears are treacherously sensitive. The first flick of his tongue sends a shiver tearing through me.
“That’s not fair.” I squirm.
Svenn hums against my skin, pleased with the reaction. He seals his mouth around the tip and sucks. The graze of his teeth makes my knees weaken.
I sag back against his warm chest.
"You don't really want to leave." His voice is pitched lower than a whisper. "You want to stay here with me and be mine forever."
I am beyond denying it.
His hands guide my legs apart, positioning me exactly where he wants me. He enters me from behind in one slow push. I can see our reflection in the crystal surface. My face is flushedand desperate. Svenn—the bond is behind me, possessive and hungry.
He keeps feastingon my neck, biting and sucking like a beast after his own pleasure.
"What happened to leaving anytime you wanted?" he asks. He punctuates the question with a thrust that makes rational thought impossible.
I can't answer. I can't think beyond the ribbons of heat consuming me.
He slams into me hard, crushing my body against the crystal. I hold on to his muscular arms, not so I can remove them but because I need the anchor.
"I can't," I confess.
When he breaks away, his lips find the shell of my ear.
"Good," he mutters. I feel him pulse inside me as I tighten around him.
His hand wraps around my thigh, making it look small as he lifts my leg higher. The angle changes and he sinks even deeper. "Because I'll ravish you as many times as I can. Eternity wouldn't be enough."
While he's moving and I'm lost to the sensation, his hand comes up to my jaw. He turns my face forward gently.
"Look," he whispers.
I focus on what's beyond the crystal wall.
