“Don’t stop on my behalf,” Lorik said. “I’ll leave you to practice.”
I hadn’t seen him all week. He had kept his word about staying away.
Lorik was turning around already. Desperate to keep him there for just a little longer, I said the first thing that came to mind.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I spat. “I wandered here to practice my flames against the magma dragon.”
“You are trying to overheat it. Smart,” Lorik responded. “The 5-minute trial practice is nearly impossible to achieve. So don’t stress yourself over not reaching it. You will have more time in the real trial.”
“I don’t stress myself over it,” I lied. “And you did it in under 5 minutes last year in your trial practice. Or so the rumors say.”
“Forget what I did. Forget what anyone else did,” he said, not flinching at my compliment. “Focus on yourself. You demand more from yourself more than needed,” he said, yet again reading me like an open book. “Isn’t that why you cannot sleep?”
“No,” I said, stepping twice toward him. “I have nightmares or… dreams that keep me awake.”
Lorik’s mouth half opened, but I asked something again before he could. “What are you doing here?”
“I don’t sleep much. I am a Moonveil, after all,” he said.
“I know that, but why here in the hall of mirrors?” I asked again, not knowing what response I expected from my question.
“Same as you. Practice, but I’ll leave you alone. You need it more than I with your trials next week,” Lorik said, turning around.
My heart raced. I didn’t want him to go. The truth burned close to the surface, my sleeplessness had less to do with dragons than with him. Seeing him walk away would destroy me.
“Wait!” I screamed.
Lorik tilted his head, looking at me out of the corner of his eye while my heart pounded in my chest.
“What is it, Princess?” Lorik asked. I knew what he meant. Stay away or stay with me. I waited a second too long to respond to the debate inside me, burning me.
“Stay,” I whispered.
He was suddenly there, portaled so close I could feel the heat of him. I met his gaze as he held my face with his rough hands.
“Thea,” he said. There he was again, repeating my name as if it were sacred. I was no
princess when it was only him and me. “I gave you space. I gave you time to walk away. If I touch you today, I won’t let you go. I won’t stay away from you ever again. So I ask again, you want me to stay or walk away?”
My need for him clouded my mind, turning every thought into noise. Being so close hurt, physically like my body strained toward something forbidden.
I was done with logic and done with restraint. I wanted him. All of him.
I couldn’t explain it. I only knew the heat was there, coiling and building inside me, unbearable and undeniable.
“Stay,” I said again.
Lorik didn’t hesitate. His mouth crashed into mine, desperate and claiming. I kissed him back just as fiercely, our tongues tangling with despair. My hands were in his hair, holding to anything I could to keep him right there. His hand found my ass, pressing me to him. His grip was possessive, his hunger unmistakable.
I moaned into the kiss, lust twisting inside me. I tried to push Lorik away, tried to deny this desire. But I couldn’t.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he breathed, driving me back against the mirrored wall. His hunger showed in every move, his hands tearing at my shirt. Buttons scattered across the floor as he paused, drinking in the sight of me.
“Don’t stop,” I demanded.
He pulled his shirt over his head in one smooth motion, muscles flexing as it hit the floor. My breath caught at the sight of him, broad shoulders, carved chest, power barely restrained beneath his skin.
He kissed me again, deeper this time, one hand sliding down my stomach, tracing heat in its wake. His mouth left mine, trailing over my jaw, my neck, my collarbone. My head fell back as pleasure spread, sharp and dizzying.
