Struggling between the weight of the prince’s combative glare and her established unworthiness of him, Serenna whispered, “I want to belong somewhere, but I don’t have a place in the realm.” Blinking back a sting of disappointment, she glanced away after the confession.
“Fuck the realm,” Vesryn snarled, his fury scorching her through the bond.
Serenna tensed in his grip when he slammed the door shut. Her heart rattled along with the wood shaking on its hinges.
The prince’s jaw tightened before he gently cupped the sides of her face. Lowering his mouth to hers, he growled, “I’ll show you exactly how much more you matter to me.”
CHAPTER 14
SERENNA
Serenna’s heart stopped as the prince’s mouth hovered a whisper away from hers. The pressure of his fingertips on her face and the simmer in his eyes fractured her concerns about his duty. Serenna’s chest bumped against his while the offer floated between them. She swallowed, struggling to see beyond the haze of desire obscuring her thoughts.
“But what does this mean for us?” Serenna asked, searching the prince’s face.
I know I’m powerless against what the realm requires of him, but I want to have a place somewhere in all of this.“What about this bond?” Seeking reassurance, she clutched his forearms. “We haven’t discussed completing it. Can we talk—”
Vesryn’s mouth crashed into hers. The prince’s tongue swept past Serenna’s parted lips, swallowing her startled gasp, silencing her worries. Shattered air rushed out of her lungs from the intensity of the kiss. Her hands tightened around him, all resistance vaporizing completely.
Cradling her face, Vesryn angled Serenna’s mouth into his, shoving her further into the wall. She explored his cordedmuscles, palms skimming over his tanned skin, winding up his shoulders to thread through his hair.
Vesryn’s hands slid torturously slowly from her neck to her hips. His fingers cinched against her leathers, digging into her curves in a possessive way that sent Serenna’s heart thundering.
The prince must’ve sensed her desire rising because his mouth abruptly turned feverish, a wild clash of tongues and teeth as he battled to kiss her senseless.
A moan slipped past Serenna’s lips when he ground the evidence of his hardened body against her stomach with a savage thrust. Vesryn growled into her mouth in return as she eagerly rolled her hips against his, knotting her fingers against his scalp, dragging him closer.
“Vesryn,” Serenna pleaded in a voice pitched embarrassingly high, hoping she didn’t need to say anything else. Their bodies writhed together against the wall as a throbbing ache for more built urgently between her thighs.
The prince pulled away and Serenna caught her ragged breath with him. Head spinning, she untangled her fingers from his hair, counting her heartbeats as she anxiously waited for him to make the next move.
The prince studied her through hooded lashes, lust pitching his voice low. “I don’t want mydutyto the realm—that absurd engagement—to taint this magic between us.” Vesryn cupped her face, thumbs sweeping over cheeks. His gaze shifted to rake a trail over her body, heating Serenna’s skin like he dragged her over coals. “I don’t deserve another bond, but if the stars gave me a second chance, I’m not denying this power.”
Serenna’s heart clenched against a sliver of confusion, questioning if he only wanted her for the bond. The desire she sensed from him ignited something in her chest, even if she couldn’t decipher if his feelings extended further.
But in this moment, perhaps there was an irrational part of her that didn’t care. She had him to herself and the realmcouldn’t snatch that away.We all might be dead if the wraith return, so what does the future really matter?
Serenna squeaked when Vesryn suddenly hoisted her in the air, fingers squeezing the backs of her thighs. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he walked them toward the bed. The prince tossed her in the middle of the mattress and she bounced with a squawk. Kicking off his boots, Vesryn smirked before joining her on the covers, prowling over her.
Hooking her arms around the prince’s neck and her ankles over his legs, Serenna yanked his body on top of hers. Demanding everything he’d denied her in the dungeons, she arched up to him, crushing her body into his.
“So greedy,” Vesryn chuckled. His mouth pursued hers as he settled in the cradle of her thighs.
A sweeping wave of his hips thrust Serenna deeper into the bed. The rigid length straining against his trousers drove into her, the fires of the prince’s hunger incinerating her mind. Riding every roll of his hips with mirrored urgency, Serenna writhed against him, desperate to feel every honed inch of muscle.
Her pulse scattered when Vesryn slid a hand between them, squeezing her waist with a tantalizing grip. Warm and firm, his fingers spanned across her leathers, gliding down her body with a purpose.
Serenna’s breath came in rapid bursts, requiring more air than his mouth allowed. Clinging to his arms, she whimpered as he circled dangerously close to her core.
Finally reaching where she wanted him, the prince cupped her center, swirling his fingers. The pressure from his palm built an exquisite riot of sensations, flooding her with heat from the inside out. As he rubbed the outside of her leathers, a delicious ache began to pulse. Serenna rocked her hips against him, chasing the offered friction.
Needing more of him, Serenna quested lower, seeking thehard ridge concealed by his trousers. When she reached him, Vesryn’s body jerked as he cursed. Serenna shuddered at the primal way he grunted approvingly against her mouth. Running her hand down his solid length, her core clenched when he bucked into her palm, urging her on.
Curling her fingers around what his leathers permitted, Serenna squeezed with a slight pressure as she stroked. The prince growling into her throat sent her into a lust-fueled frenzy. She mindlessly grabbed at the clasps and laces of his trousers, her teeth scraping into his as she furiously sparred his tongue with her own.
“Easy,” Vesryn rumbled against her.
Serenna huffed a laugh against his lips at his ridiculous warning but didn’t slow her efforts in untangling the ties. A pulse of magic drew her short.
