A pull she no longer wanted to resist.
Her stomach ached with laughter when he lifted her effortlessly and twirled her around, the world spinning into a blur of sand and sky, the sounds of her mirth blending with the wind’s song.
When he finally slowed, their laughter faded into a hush. She found herself cradled in his arms, her face inches away from his. The desert air wrapped around them, warm and golden, but it was nothing compared to the heat radiating from where their bodies met—her breasts pressed to his chest, the pounding of their hearts rising in a shared rhythm.
She lifted her gaze and met his.
In Kaelen’s golden eyes, she saw a mirror of her own wonder—joy, raw and startling, caught in the fragile space between them.
The intensity of the moment left her mute. She was no longer a princess racing through the dunes; she was a woman who wanted, whoneeded.
Heat pooled at the bottom of her belly, fierce and undeniable. His pupils dilated, darkening with a matching intensity as if sensing her unspoken desire, the morphing of her scent into something deeper, sweeter. His hold on her loosened slightly, letting her body slide down the solid length of him until her feet touched the sand.
The friction, the rippling of muscles, the warmth of his skin, his gaze . . .
His nearness sent a taut shiver through her, a note striking deep in her chest.
“You hold the entire ocean in your eyes, but you’ve got a fire inside you, Yara,” he murmured. His knuckle tenderly brushed her chin. “The name Sáel suits you—and so does the desert.”
She ached to close the remaining distance between them, to press her lips to his and taste the sweetness she knew waited there. But just as she began to lean in, ready to surrender to the urge coursing through her, Mei Mei’s laughter and Su Lian’s cheerful voice broke through the spell.
“Careful, Yara! You’ll tire yourself before the real journey begins!”
Reiya pulled back, her breath coming in shallow gasps as reality crashed back in. The Xians were laughing, blissfully unaware of the storm brewing between her and Kaelen.
She smiled and turned, spotting Su Lian on the sand, drawn out from inside the wagon by the commotion.
“You’re too easy to distract,” the woman teased as the wagon trundled closer. “Come, we still have some length to go.”
Su Lian chuckled, gathered Mei Mei, and took the girl inside the wagon.
Kaelen stepped back with a playful bow.
“Saved by Su Lian,” he quipped, winking at Reiya before retrieving his horse.
Reiya bit her lip to hide her smile, heart still racing from her playful sprint through the dunes. She dusted the sand from her skirt as Alarik approached, his footsteps quieter than Kaelen’s. Ember’s reins dangled loosely in his hand.
“You’ll wear out at this rate,” he said, his deep voice carrying a trace of amusement.
She chuckled softly, brushing sand from her sleeves. “Better to wear myself out than to waste the chance to experience it all.”
Alarik crouched and lifted her boots, tipping them over so a cascade of fine sand spilled to the ground.
“The desert has its way of making you pay for enthusiasm,” he said, handing them over. “I suggest putting these back on. Sandshrikes make their nests beneath the sand. You don’t want to accidentally step on it barefoot.”
The mere thought of accidentally treading on one of the desert’s venomous snakes was enough to have Reiya reaching for her boots.
“Good point,” she said, slipping into the footwear. As she straightened, their gazes swept over the endless stretch of dunes, the vastness both calming and humbling.
He asked, “Is it what you thought it would be?”
She tilted her head, the question stirring a memory of their ballroom conversation in Aethonia, when the desire to lay eyes on the Numeria Desert was naught but a distant dream.
“The same, yet different,” she admitted. “It’s as majestic andbeautiful as I imagined. I thought it would feel vast and empty, but it doesn’t. It feels alive.” She gestured to the rippling sands. “The dunes shift, the air whispers, and even the silence feels . . . full.”
Alarik’s lips twitched. “That’s a good way to describe it. The desertisalive—and it tests people.”
Her gaze flicked to him, curiosity glinting in her eyes. “Did it testyou?”
