A sudden, violently unhinged thought crashes into my brain.
It hits me so hard I actually gasp out loud.
The phantom scrape of his claws dragging up my bare thighs. The crushing heat of his chest pressing my spine into the furs. His fangs grazing my neck, tearing my braid loose, and the force of his hips driving into mine.
The intrusive thought is so vivid, that my entire body shivers on an exhale. I have to grip bones in my hands as a sudden slickness pools between my thighs.
What is wrong with me?
I swallow hard, my throat dry. The wet throb in my lower belly drowns out the scraping of weapons around us. All I want to do is drop the spikes on the stone floor and beg him to put his hands on my bare skin.
My pulse hammers against my ribs.
“I am going to check the eastern tunnels,” I say. My voice is tight, but it doesn’t shake.
I don’t wait for Jacqui to respond. I am done fighting this. My body has fully overridden my brain.
I drop the bundle of bone, turn my back on the sick bay, and walk directly toward the dark passage leading out of the main cavern.
I don’t look back at the armory archway. I don’t need to. I feel the sudden, possessive shift the exact second Kol abandons his warriors to track his female into the shadows.
The desertoutside is too quiet.
The rough stone of the fissure bites into my forearms. Below, the gorge is swallowed by pitch black the exact second Ain drops behind the rock face. The temperature plummets. Freezing air howls through the narrow crack in the wall.
I don’t feel it. I lean my back against the freezing rock, but the heat still pulsing between my thighs drowns the cold out. It thrums through my blood, demanding despite the impending danger.
I don’t have to wait long.
The scent of hot stone and spice suddenly floods the freezing air. He doesn’t make a single sound and I don’t turn around. My pulse simply kicks as I feel him come to a halt directly behind my spine.
I can feel the slow, deep draw of his chest expanding at my back.
I swallow hard. It’s just the two of us here, tucked into a fold of the mountain, minutes before Lucek’s killers arrive at our door.
Everything about this moment feels final. It feels like the safety we built in the cavern is gone.
I turn away from the fissure to face him.
His head is tilted down, those intense amber eyes locked onto my face.
I don’t want to be brave right now. I’ve been brave since the ship fell through the atmosphere. I was brave when we stepped from the wreckage, rationing our survival packs, trying to hold ourselves together while this planet tried to cook us alive. I am so, so tired of constantly fighting just to survive.
I look up into his terrifying, beautiful face.
“Kol,” I say, my voice scraping against the quiet.
His jaw tightens. His lips part just enough that a flash of white fangs slides down over his bottom lip. The sight of them sends another sharp, wet jolt straight between my thighs.
To say what I need to say, it can’t be words hanging in the empty air. Words don’t carry the weight of this planet.
I step fully into his space, sink my hands into the unyielding muscle of his bare forearms, and pull.
He goes completely rigid, a harsh growl vibrating deep in his chest. But he doesn’t pull away. He lowers his head smoothly, bowing his towering frame to meet my height.
I press my forehead directly against his.
The mindspace bridge slams open. The link is chaotic. I get shadows of the heat, the change happening within him. And I feel the terror spiking in my own blood.
