I tugged her down a side alley that wasmuchnarrower than the main street, tucked between two tall sandstone buildings. Their golden-brown surfaces were etched with old graffiti and faint scorch marks from demonic fights.
The air was cooler in here, shadows pooling where the sun couldn’t reach. Faint light spilled in from the street, turning dust motes into little sparks.
At the far end, the alley broke off into deeper shadow. I stopped halfway and turned, guiding her back until her shoulders brushed the warm stone wall.
She looked up at me, golden eyes glowing, even in the dimness with desire dancing in their depths.
“I didn’t know you were into public sex,” she teased lightly, the matebond laced with adrenaline.
My hand slid along the wall beside her head, the other resting at her hip. “I’m into anything,” I murmured, dipping closer, “as long as it includes you.”
Her breath hitched.
I lowered my mouth to hers slowly, giving her time to pull away if she wanted, because I was going to fuck her in this alley if she didn’t stop me.
She didn’t.
Her lips met mine with a soft, eager pressure, and the world ceased to exist. Desire for her rolled through me, thick and all-consuming. I curled my fingers into the fabric at her hip and pulled her closer, her body fitting against mine as if it had been molded for this.
And it had.
The Fates made sure of that.
The matebond thrummed with our mutual need for one another.
I angled my head and deepened the kiss, tasting spice and whatever hot venom she was pumping into me by her touch.
She sighed into my mouth, hands fisting in the front of my shirt, dragging me in even closer.
My chaos magic sparked along my skin, wrapping around us like a possessive storm.
Her back pressed into the wall, and I shifted, bracing one forearm beside her head and using the other hand to slide up her side. I moved over the curve of her waist, the dip under her ribs, feeling the warmth of her through the thin fabric of her top.
She broke the kiss for half a second, gasping in a breath, eyes wide and dark. “Slater…” she whimpered.
“Yeah?” I rested my forehead against hers.
“I need you.”
“I’m yours.” I kissed the corner of her mouth, then the other side, then the tip of her nose, and her forehead before kissing her lips softly again.
“Mine.” Her hands slid up from my shirt to the back of my neck, fingers threading into my hair, tugging lightly.
My cock strained against my pants.
I’d caused havoc my entire life. I’d torn through many social situations with no care for repercussions, broken enchanted tech, and hacked my way through defenses that were supposed to be impenetrable. I’d grown up in a territory that thrived on destruction and reckless choices.
None of that prepared me for this.
For her.
For the way a single look from her could make my ribs feel too small for my heart.
I kept my forehead resting against hers, breathing her in, our noses brushing as our breaths mingled.
“I love you,” I told her, voice cracking with the weight of my feelings for her.
“Slater,” she whispered, fingertips tracing the line of my jaw. “I love you, too.”
