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She could grieve, but be at peace at the same time.

I rose from the floor and bent to kiss her. She answered at once, her hands sliding up to grip the back of my neck. I drew her against me and let the kiss deepen, tasting the salt on her lips. There was no need to hold back. When we finally parted, her breathing had changed, the weariness in her expression giving way to a steady pull of desire.

“Take your shirt off,” she whispered against my mouth. “You’re still wearing too many clothes.”

I straightened long enough to strip off my coat and pull my shirt over my head. By the time I let the garments fall to the floorboards, Thalia had risen from the mattress. She reached behind her back to undo the laces of her dress. It slid past her hips and pooled around her ankles. Within seconds, she was bare.

During our first night together, the silk had covered my eyes. I’d only known the shape of her through my snakes, my palms, and the rush of her magic in the dark. Now, I could see everything. I looked at the soft swell of her breasts, the curve of her hips, the way her ribs rose and fell with her quickening breaths.

“You’re so beautiful,” I murmured. “Mine. My mate.”

Under my stare, a deep flush crept up her chest. I traced the curve of her jaw, then slid my thumb down her throat.

There it was. The mark of the Endless Forests. Our mating mark.

Dark, delicate blossoms were etched into her skin in softly raised lines. I’d felt the ridges of the brand when the bond snapped into place. But seeing the flowers bloom against her throat tightened something deep in my chest. It was the permanent, visible proof that she belonged to me.

I guided her backward until the backs of her knees hit the edge of the bed. Following her down onto the furs, I braced my weight over her and pressed my mouth directly to the mark.

Thalia gasped, her spine arching off the blankets. Her hands flew up to my serpents, her palms sliding over their smooth scales as I kissed my way down her neck. Her breasts pressed against my chest, her heart hammering a rapid, uneven beat. She slid her hands down from my shoulders, dragging them over the hard ridges along my sides. Her nails scraped across my back, digging into my skin and pulling me down harder.

“That’s it,” I murmured against her collarbone. “Take what you want, Thalia.”

“I will.” She tipped her head down, her teeth catching my shoulder. “Because I’ve spent four days holding still. I need to feel every bit of you.”

I answered by taking her mouth in another deep kiss, grinding my hips against the apex of her thighs. A low groan vibrated in her throat. When I finally broke away, I trailed kisses down the center of her chest to the soft weight of her breasts. I cupped both, rubbing my thumbs over the tight peaks.

I drew one nipple deep into my mouth and suckled hard. As I grazed the tender bud with the edge of my teeth, her breath hitched. Her head thrashed against the pillows. I gave the other breast the same attention, taking my time like she deserved.

Slowly, I kissed my way down her stomach. I shifted backward until I was kneeling between her legs, then took hold of her thighs and pushed them wide apart.

She was already glistening, her slick folds swollen and flushed dark pink. I ran my palms up the insides of her thighs, holding her open to my gaze.

Thalia propped herself up on her elbows, her chest heaving. “Eryx, don’t just look at me. If you make me wait much longer, I’m going to lose my mind.”

I dragged my thumbs through her wet heat, parting her sensitive flesh so I could see all of her. “Be patient, Thalia. I want to watch you come apart on my tongue first.”

Before she could answer, I lowered my head and licked a long, wet line across her folds. Her elbows buckled, her shoulders hitting the mattress. I gripped her hips with both hands, holding her pinned to the mattress as I closed my mouth over her center. I used the flat of my tongue in a relentless rhythm, drinking in the sweet musk of her arousal. She writhed beneath my grip, her heels dragging against the furs, her thighs trembling against my ears.

I shifted one hand from her hip and slid two thick fingers into her entrance. She was soaking wet, her inner walls clenching around my touch. I curled my fingers upward, stroking deep inside her in time with the lash of my tongue.

“Eryx!” she cried. “Gods, right there! Don’t stop. Please, keep doing that!”

I looked up over the curve of her belly as I worked her higher. Her face twisted in unguarded pleasure, the grief and exhaustion burnt away by the force of what I was doing to her. The sight drove a fierce, possessive ache straight into my gut. I sucked harder on her sensitive peak and pushed my fingers deeper.

With a broken cry, she arched nearly off the bed. Her inner muscles clamped down around my fingers as the climax tore through her. I stayed between her legs, soothing her with slow strokes of my tongue. The shuddering subsided and she went limp against the pillows.

But I wasn’t done with her yet. I rose just long enough to shed my trousers, kicking them aside. When I climbed back onto the mattress, Thalia was already reaching for me, her knees falling open to welcome me between her thighs.

I settled over her, bracing myself on my forearms so my bare chest brushed hers. Sweat slicked her skin, making it glow in the dim light. She wrapped one arm around my neck to pull me down. Her other hand reached between our bodies to grasp my rigid shaft.

Her fingers closed around the thick flesh, guiding the blunt head to her dripping entrance. I shifted my hips forward and pressed in, holding her gaze as I sank into her inch by slow inch.

She was impossibly tight, her slick heat stretching around my length. I buried myself to the hilt, until my hips were flush against the cradle of her thighs. Neither of us moved for a moment. We just breathed together, letting the stillness settle around us.

“Look at me, Thalia,” I rasped. “Stay right here with me. I want to see your eyes while I’m inside you.”

Her dark eyes locked onto mine, wide and glazed with pleasure. “I’m here. Always.”