On this end, the glass enclosure was open. A great breeze flew into the garden and clouds blew in and out. Quazar sat on a starry bench, his foot crossed over a knee, his arm laid out over the back of the bench, the food and our shoes perched beside him as he watched me.
“You look at…”I couldn’t think of the word I was looking for.
“Peace. Peace is the word you’re looking for, you magical, prepossessing creature.”
I smiled, biting my bottom lip.
Then one of my favorite tunes kicked up over the garden. I laughed, twirling and dancing along.
Quazar left me be, lost to the throes of the music. The spell of the song. I circled my hips, threw my arms into the air, and let my hair swing as I danced and danced. It felt like shackles were falling off with every swing of my hips. Every step of my feet. My wings flapped in rhythm as I twirled in the clouds and laughed to the joyous rhythm of the music. After three more songs I’d worked up a strong appetite.
“Mm, she’s ready to eat now,”Quazar rumbled down our bond.
“She is,”I laughed.
Without thinking, I burst into a run and threw myself on top of him at full speed. He caught me like he’d been expecting it, twisting me in his arms, gripping me tight.
I tossed my head back, the air filling with my laughter. I shook out my hair as I tossed my arms around Quazar’s neck. Stars. I hadn’t realized how much I’d needed this dawn.
How much I’d neededhim.
I sat up in his lap, my thighs on either side of his hips, my hands lost in the soft, full tresses of his hair.
“You are so handsome,”I whispered down our bond.“And so deliciously tempting.”
Quazar licked his lips.
“This is not the twinight to toy with my emotions, Starling.”
I laughed like a drunken fool who’d lost her senses. I was high on joy. And I was ready to take everything that came with it. Including his mouth on mine.
“Princeling, I want to taste your darkness. To dance with your shadows and be consumed by your twinight.”
Quazar tugged me closer and gripped me tight. His eyes had turned to blackened pools burning with insatiable hunger and desire.
“Safah,”he grunted, his breaths getting heavier.“You’re dancing in a raging fire.”
“I am made of fire, Quazar.”I batted my lashes at him, leaning in to nibble the edge of his winged ear.“I was born with a hunger toburn.”
“Hèls,” was all Quazar snarled.
Then he crushed his lips against mine.
Holy stars,yes.
I pressed into him, flattening my hands against his chest as he wholly devoured my mouth. His lips tasted like smoky flame. Like taunting sin. I wrestled with his mouth, pressing my scorching lips to his again and again as my hands danced from his chest, to his neck, to his hair.
“Stars, you’re as intoxicating as I imagined you’d be,”Quazar groaned down our bond. A growing pool of heat made my stomach clench as I came unglued in his arms.
I gripped those luscious strands as I spread my thighs over him, sinking my hips onto his lap. Quazar growled, angling hishead, taking my mouth deeper. He sucked on my bottom lip, then sank the sharpened points of his teeth into the soft skin.
Heat exploded in the pit of my stomach as I blazed in heat for him. Everywhere he touched me, he left a brand. I was feral for this cursed prince who’d stormed into my world, and made off with all seven of my hearts.
We were fire and passion. We werelost. In each other. In desire. In mind shattering need.
I gasped into his mouth, letting out breathy sounds that escaped me as pleasure rolled over me in waves. Quazar slipped his hands beneath my gown, pressing his fingers into my heating skin. He squeezed my thighs, moaning into the back of my mouth. His tongue slipped inside, demanding. Conquering.
I relaxed my body into his arms, melting into him. His shadows erupted from his body—groping my neck, bosom, hips, and thighs—while they simultaneously barreled across our bond, pouring into my mind. My hearts. My burning soul.
