My hand sought his, guiding it from my neck, lacing our fingers back together until our twin marks aligned, pressed side by side. I kissed his skin where the bond burned, and the taste of it sent a shudder humming through me. Through us.
“Youwere made into a weapon.”
He nodded. “Exactly. And fate has been cruel.”
Tell me about it.
I blew out a sharp breath. “I think Aelora’s just...scared.”
The words tasted bitter. Gods, I hated giving her anything resembling compassion. The woman had called me apest. But still, it was easy to see what this was about. Jealousy, yes. Maybe a touch of envy. If I were her, I would have been furious too. But mostly, it was worry—for her kingdom, for the cage of expectation wrapped around her shoulders. She believed her greatness lived only in her rarity. That if she didn’t shine like a jewel in the dark, she was useless.
Dammit, Aelora.
“She should trust me,” Ronan said.
Oh, the vanity.
“The look on her face earlier wasn’t recognition, Ronan. It was fear.” I remembered the taste of it still, thick on my tongue. Not only when the Viper had revealed herself, but when Ronan had summoned his smoke to knot around her. “You can’t trust someone you fear. Not entirely.”
He moved then, fast, fluid, pushing up, bracing on his arms until his body caged mine. “I trust you.”
“Your first mistake.” My chin tilted, lips parting as my teeth closed on the bottom one, a deliberate invitation.
He saw it. Answered it. His mouth crashed against mine, his tongue tangling, demanding. My fingers fell down his arms, dragging his shirt with them until the fabric was ripped away, baring ink and muscle.
The kiss broke, his breath shaking as he whispered, “And I fear you.”
My tongue traced his lips. “Why?”
A hand framed my throat, brushing along my jaw as he let out a strenuous breath. “Because you unravel me.”
The world stuttered as his confession settled between us. I should have reveled in it, but the way he said it, it wasn’t surrender, it was trust.
“Show me.” The words slipped from me like a command.
He kissed me as though he had been starved for centuries. Even when I ached for air, I ached for him harder as the world narrowed to only our bodies joining.
His hand slid along my hip, over scarred skin, reverent where I was most raw, ending where the fabric began again. My breasts fell from their confines as he used his other hand to push the fabric up, out of his way.
A groan rumbled low in his chest as if the sight of me, bared, unguarded, was more than he could stand. And then he indulged, taking one of them in his mouth, his teeth gently biting at what perked.
My back arched, head tipping back as my throat was exposed to him, offering more than skin. Not surrender or weakness, but a gift, a sign of trust back.
He took it, lips sweeping along my jaw, lower, down the curve of my throat, each kiss a brand, each touch a spark that set me blazing from the inside out. My breath caught, my hands tangling back into his hair, tugging him closer, unwilling to let even air between us.
My legs wound around his waist, fabric falling aside like it had never mattered. His head moved up, away from my throat, his mouth back on mine. The kiss turned wild, hungry, devouring us both.
Desire crawled up my neck when his hand traced lower, down the planes of me, over skin I had only ever kept guarded until him. His touch skimmed over my tender flesh as he moved between my legs, where my body dripped for him. It coated his fingers, each stroke drawing utter mercy from me.
Then—
Ronan’s heart glowed.
Blue light surged beneath his chest, bleeding through skin, pulsing urgently to drag him from me.
I clutched his chain. “Let them wait.”
With gentle fingers he brushed strands of hair behind my ear, his thumb rubbing over the gold hoop. But the light only flared brighter, until the room was drenched in it. Until I knew, whatever waited for him in that glow was already here.
