“I’ve made my choice. If you want to spend tonight arguing with me about it, that’s yours. It won’t change anything.”
“Stop,” he snarled. “I can see what you’re already doing.”
She scoffed. “And what is that?”
His next breath was harsh, the air rushing between his teeth. “You’re already acting like this is our last night together. And gods, Soren, it very well could be if you do this.”
“If I don't, who will?” Her voice echoed off the walls of the chamber. “Someone needs to end this.”
“Not you.”
She got to her feet and began to pace. Vane followed her, standing with his feet wide and his arms crossed.
He knew they were at an impasse. He had to; this was no longer just about them. Kronos had appeared to them in a mortal’s body, and gods knew what had truly happened to the real Ilav. Knowing Kronos, he was probably dead. The king of the gods was overstepping—perhaps he always had, since themoment Sol had declared him king and the power had slowly begun to go to his head.
Eventually, after she had paced herself to exhaustion, she faced Vane.
“Done?” he said.
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, fuck off, Vane.”
His lip curled. “Say that again. Please.”
Sudden heat flooded her at the wicked gleam in his eye and the low timbre of his words. She tried to push the feeling away, insisting, “Not now.”
“Yes, now. If you’re leaving tomorrow, this is my last chance to remind you what it’s like when we fuck.”
She narrowed her eyes. “That’s all you can think about right now? Fucking me?”
“Oh, no, my love. I’m afraid it doesn’t stop there.” He pushed off the wall and stalked towards her. “I want to taste you in every way imaginable, and I want you to taste me too. I want to obliterate every thought from that pretty little head of yours with my cock, and then I want you to bring me to the edge so many times, I can only beg for you to let me come. But mostly, I want to show you what it’s like when we make love—to remind you how it feels when the only thing that matters in this entire fucked up world isyou and me.”
He had backed her up against the opposite stone wall, his hands on either side of her, caging her in. Her breath came in heaving gasps as the sparking heat of his power surrounded her, warming the ice that was always inside her.
They were two sides of a coin—fire and ice. Both were capable of bringing death, but to each other…
She remembered why she had risked everything for this.
Together, they were perfect—completion.
Her anger and fear did not slip away as she looked at him towering over her. She refused to hide anything from him. Buthe didn’t back away from her hurricane of emotions. He never had, not since the day she had first wept in that field. Instead, she let everything—every bit of rage and anguish and terror—fuel the next three words.
“I want you.”
He leaned in, and her back arched off the stone as his teeth grazed the curve of her neck. He dragged his tongue over her skin, swirling it across her pulse point, and she nearly cried out.
She felt his mouth curve as he moved to her ear, nibbling before he whispered, “Be patient. We have all night, and I intend to use every second of it.”
A soft whimper escaped her, and he groaned, fisting his hand in her hair and tilting her head back. He searched her gaze, his eyes black with desire. The moment felt distended in space, separate from the others before and those that would come after. Her core pounded with her heartbeat, and her chest felt like it was caving open for him.
This was not merely lust or infatuation. This felt beyond anything she knew to be possible. She had died for him, and she knew without a doubt she would do it again. But now, she wanted to feel everything he had to offer. She wanted to pour herself into him, to be as close as possible in every sense.
Their lips were inches apart, both breathing fast and heavy. There was a game in this heavy emotion too, one they had always played with each other. Who would break first, knowing they both wanted it just as much?
Bend the knee, relinquish all control.
Only for you. Always for you.
His voice filled her mind, touching every part of her like a caress, but even as she trembled, she remained a breath away. Emotion and lust swirled within her in a dance, and the clarity of what this all meant hit her hard enough to make her gasp.
