He brought his face close to hers and spoke softly, the words vibrating against her skin. “It’s your decision. Not mine. Not Syrena’s. Notanyoneelse’s.”
His lips hovered just shy of hers, so close she could feel the warmth radiating off them. “If you decide to walk away or set our realm ablaze again, I’ll stand by your decision.”
Her chest rose sharply, her fingers clutching at the edge of the desk as if it were her only anchor to the world.
His eyes burned into hers. “Because loving you isn’t about what I get back. It’s aboutyou.”
Love.
“What I feel for you…this deep, relentless, almost agonizing love…hasnothingto do with the gods who walked our world a thousand years ago.” The words dragged out of him slowly, like a confession meant to sear itself into her soul.
Esmyra sat frozen on the desk, her knees bracketing his hips as her heart threatened to tear itself apart. She swallowed, barely able to breathe as he leaned in even closer, his lips grazing her cheek, her jaw, but never quite reaching where she desperately ached for them to be.
“The power I wield may come from Irah, but what I feel for you is mine and mine alone,” he murmured, his breath hot against her ear. “Irah and Kaelypso’s love was cursed, but I fucking refuse to allow ours to be doomed as theirs was. And never again will history repeat itself, lifetime after lifetime. We choose our own fate. Andyouare mine, so long as you’ll have me.”
The ship rocked, the candle flames danced, and for a heartbeat, the world felt like it was holding its breath.
“You love me?” Her words were barely a whisper.
The smile he gave her was so achingly beautiful. “Aye.”
“How can you be so sure it isn’t theirs?” It was something she’d always feared. That this love between them wasn’t even something in their control.
Draevyn took her chin in his hands, forcing her gaze to meet his. “What burns in me, is mine. Not theirs. What I feel for you isn’t because some god carved it into my veins. I love you becauseyoucarved yourself into me.”
Those talons of yours dug themselves into me, and they refuse to let me go.The memory of them at the lagoon came rushing back.
The way he looked at her now—gods, the way helooked at her—burned through every doubt that had been simmering within her. There was nothing forced in those whiskey eyes. Nothing written by anyone but him.
His lips hovered, so close she could almost taste the words as they left him. “So, what will it be, Wildfire?”
Draevyn still didn’t kiss her. He left the question hanging there, cruel and tender all at once, letting the desire between them stretch unbearably thin. The ache of him pressing close but not giving in as his breath mingled with hers was about to be her undoing. The tension had grown so thick it stole the air from her lungs.
“I—” Her voice cracked as she desperately searched for the words. “Gods, I don’t even know how to say this. I’ve never… I’ve never felt anything like this before. Not for anyone.”
He didn’t move, didn’t speak, only watched her with that unbearable intensity.
“I don’t even know how to describe what I feel for you. It feels…messy. It may even bewrong.”
His smirk was infuriating. Almost as infuriating as that adorable dimple it brought to his cheek.
“It doesn’t make sense, and it terrifies me so damn much because everything I touch falls apart.” Her hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer. “But you… You’re the only thing that’s ever felt likemine. And the only thing I don’t want to let go of.”
The tears slipped free now, hot against her cheeks. “I love you, Draevyn Rowe. Somewhere along the way, my black heart stopped being mine. It’s yours. It’s been yours even longer than I’ve realized.”
Esmyra let out a soft, trembling laugh as she pressed her forehead to his. “You have all of me. The light, the darkness, and all theshattered pieces in between. If fate destroys us, then so be it. I can’t give my heart to anyone else. It’s yours, and it always will be.”
His hands slid to cradle her face, his thumbs brushing the tears from her cheeks. His smile widened, but it was the way his eyes shone—bright, raw, and utterly undone—that told her everything.
The last of her words came out like a plea, almost a sob. “Do you hear me, Drae? My heart is yours, and yours alone.”
And with that, she closed the space between them, crashing her lips to his with all the force of everything she felt.
One of his hands tangled in her hair as the other pulled her firmly against him, like he needed to feel her there. The kiss was all their restraint finally breaking, his mouth moving against hers with a rough tenderness that stole her breath. He kissed her like he’d been holding himself back for centuries, like every fear and hope he’d swallowed was pouring out through his lips. His grip tightened, thumbs brushing her jaw as if to anchor her to him as the kiss deepened. It was demanding, aching, and full of feelings they could no longer contain.
But when a small moan slipped from her, any restraint he had left shattered.
Draevyn groaned into her mouth, his hands sliding down her sides, gripping her hips with a possessiveness that sent shivers through her. She wrapped her legs around him, feeling the strength in the way he pressed against her, the desk creaking beneath the weight of them.
