Ty!
For a moment both of us froze, staring at each other. Alina’s eyes widened, she looked stunned. A long coil of carmine red escaped her updo and brushed her damp cheek. Her lips parted, her eyes searched my face.
She just called me by my name, the real name she had no way of knowing. The name I have been wanting her to say aloud. She knew it through the bond, the bond that was between us, and now both of us knew it.
Time stopped. Somewhere beyond the walls, the low grumble of voices followed the change of guards, and theservants finished up cleaning the many rooms. The wind billowed the curtain behind the girl who sat in front of me. I lunged forward, incapable of holding back any longer. At the same time, Alina rose from her chair, pushing herself toward me, closing the distance between us. I swung my arm over the tablecloth, swiping the silverware out of the way.
“Say it. Say it again.” I whispered into her lips.
She looked at me with bewildered dark eyes, her warm, sweet breath brushed my upper lip. I wanted to touch her, to close the remaining distance between us and lose myself in her completely.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
ALINA
The dark, enigmatic scent of leather and smoke wrapped around me, invading my senses, my hands clenched the linen fabric, crumpling it under my fingers. The mercilessly tight corset compressed my chest as I leaned forward, powerless against the pull I felt with every inch of my now burning skin. He came. He was here, all this time, and he came for me.
“Tynan,” I whispered, hypnotized by the look on his face. “Tynan.” I breathed, dying to touch the silk of his dark hair. “Ty.”
His lips crushed mine with the desperate force of a person who had waited for thousands of years; unhinged, nearly out of control. The vase fell to its side, spilling theflowers and water, while my hand found the nape of his neck, pressing him tighter against me. His lips, hungry and demanding, devoured my mouth, not holding anything back. Somewhere, really quietly, in the back of my mind, was a faint warning that we had to be cautious, that someone could walk in on us. But I simply did not have enough in me to care, and my body shifted closer to the male in front of me, desperate for more. Our lips kept colliding with a crazed need, then his hands finally moved to my body, and I found myself on top of the table. A crystal glass rolled off, and fell to the floor, while Tynan caressed my cheeks, making me bathe in elating, blinding euphoria.
“Tynan,” I whispered again, knowing that it drove him insane.
“What took you so long?” he asked, biting the soft spot below my throat.
“Sorry for making you wait. I . . .”
I moved my hands from his cheekbones to his neck and pulled the chain he wore under his clothes, revealing the ring. The familiar design of the dragon head greeted me with its eyes of scarlet beads. I met Tynan’s ravenous gaze, fully aware that he was holding back, giving me a chance to slow things, if I wanted. His chest moved up and down with an insatiable force, his lips grazed my mouth barely touching my skin.
“I waited for so long,” he whispered and heat pooled in my abdomen, igniting me from within.
“Then stop.” I bit my lip.
He flinched, stilling above me, while the umber flames in his eyes devoured my face. Slowly, a cocky smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
“You’re playing a dangerous game.”
“Do your worst,” I said, and my breath halted when he moved me closer to the edge, sending the silverware flying off the table to the plush carpet.
His hands explored every curve of my body, pressing, stroking, touching me just the way I needed, while his tongue intertwined with mine, instigating the scorching firestorm licking my insides, making me lose the last strains of sanity. In the flames, I had died, and by the flames, I was reborn anew.
Everything I knew, everything I deemed important, just ceased to exist. It was only me and Tynan just the way we ought to be, touching, teasing, tasting each other with urgency and passion. His calloused hand slid up the arch of my foot to my shin and circled to my calf, moving up to behind my knee. That simple touch, and I was already on fire, gripping his shoulders and biting his lower lip.
“Slow down,” he whispered.
“No.” I panted.
“You’re going to be the death of me.”
Tynan picked me up again, and a moment later I felt the soft carpet underneath. My eyes closed momentarily, and I could not hold back a light gasp when the delicious sensation of his weight pressed into me.
The tension rose every moment, then it becameimpossible to ignore. I wanted to feel his body inside of me so bad that it made me reach for him, wrapping my arms around his neck and moving them down to his chest and back. Slowly, I parted my legs, watching his dark eyes with dilated pupils, his furrowed eyebrows, his perfect lips, as he moved his head down to my chest and tugged the seam of my dress off my shoulder.
“Tynan, please.” I sighed.
“What do you want?”
“I...” Every last thought escaped when his mouth reached the edge of my dress where my tight corset confined my breasts.
