And I wasn’t fighting him the way I used to, not that I had ever been very successful at pushing him away the last few times we’d seen each other.
“You didn’t bring a rose,” I said without moving an inch. “It’s the Solstice celebration. It’s customary.”
“You want a rose?” He said, grinning again. “I’ll give you a rose.”
Lorik grabbed me by the hips, and the world blurred. He had portaled me to a beach on a lake. The moon lit the water in shades of silver and black. His hands were still on my hips, and he gently turned me around. Where the sand ended, a large meadow of flowers rose. Not any flowers, red and white roses. Around the roses, large trees. This felt like someone had intentionally planted them. They didn’t belong here.
“Where are we?” I asked, tilting my head toward him. My body was pressed against his, and his hands were gently grabbing my belly.
“Near the Silver City, close to the Corn fields. Near where I grew up,” he said. “I would come here as a kid; very few have seen this place. There are no roads, no access.”
“It's beautiful,” I said.
“You wanted roses, these are your roses,” he said, kissing my neck and my shoulders. “You are going to be the end of me, Lorik Draventh, you will drive us both to madness,” I said, gasping slightly over the prickling skin where he kissed me.
“But this was just sex, wasn’t it?” He teased, repeating my words from the last night we were together. Lorik already knew I was lying; I was lying to myself, thinking this was a one-time thing. It wasn’t.
“I don’t know what this is,” I said instead of voicing everything burning inside me. I didn’t understand it or what it meant, only that it was burning me inside.
Lorik pulled me closer, his mouth brushing my neck between words. “When you enter a room, I can’t look away. I have control over everyone else. I have discipline and restraint. But not with you.” His grip tightened at my hips possessively. “When you challenge me, all I want is to kiss you. When you risk your life, all I want is to protect you, no matter the cost. You already drive me over the edge of sanity. You make me crazy. Curse or no curse.”
I turned and stepped back to face him and remove the mask from my face. I looked at him, truly looked. Any answer to what he had just said was too complicated to speak, a tangle of feelings I didn’t yet understand. So I showed him instead.
My lips found his in a desperate, reckless kiss. Lorik dragged me against him, every hard line of his body pressing through the fabric, leaving no space between us. My hands slid up his neck, fingers tangling in his hair. One of his hands was on my breast, pressing through the fabric, while the other settled possessively at my hip.
He pulled my hips closer, deliberate, unyielding, letting me feel exactly how much he wanted me. A low gasp slipped from my throat just from the sensation alone. The need between us was sharp and immediate, coiling tighter with every breath. His hands moved over me like he already knew every inch, like restraint was something he was fighting and losing.
But this wasn’t enough.
There was too much fabric between us. I broke the kiss and stepped back, chest rising fast.
I lifted my hands, flames blooming in my palms, and brushed them over my dress. The tight green fabric burned away cleanly, ash drifting down into the sand. Then, almost by instinct, my fingers went to my hair. I slipped the pins free,letting it fall loose around my shoulders, a few braids still woven through it.
I stood bare before him, shaking my hair back in a bold, unguarded motion that sent a shiver through me. His gaze followed every line of my body, slow and with intent.
Flames still dancing in my hands, I reached for him. His green fabrics and his silver mask burned into embers beneath my touch, but not his bronze skin, until every toned muscle was uncovered. My eyes dropped, taking in the length of his arousal.
His breath hitched.
“See, you just drive me into madness,” Lorik said, closing the gap between us.
Our mouths collided again, hunger and frustration detonating between us, every forbidden want finally breaking loose. I felt the hard press of him against my thighs, undeniable,
making my core coil tight with heat and anticipation.
I pushed him back, guiding him down onto the sand. Lorik sank onto it without resistance, eyes never leaving mine as I settled over him, facing him. The cool grains bit into my knees, grounding me even as fire burned in the middle of my body. His hands slid to my hips, then to my ass, gripping me there, firm, possessive, steadying.
I kissed him again as I lowered myself into him, slow and deliberate. Lorik let a low growl as he filled me completely.
“You do this to me. You make me stop thinking. No logic. No restraint,” he said roughly against my mouth.
“I don’t want your restraint. I don’t want you to be controlled,” I said, biting his lower lip.
I started moving while our lips played their own game. I rode him instinctively, finding a rhythm that felt ancient and inevitable while his hands guided me, urging me closer, deeper. Each movement made pleasure rise in me step by step.
Then, Lorik broke the kiss, his mouth trailing down to find my breast. His lips closed around my nipple, drawing a sharp moan from me. His tongue kept playing with me while I rode him harder.
I closed my eyes and let myself feel. The heat between my thighs, the pressure in my chest that tore his name from my lips. I had never felt anything like this, so consuming, so complete.
