Page 132 of The Crown’s Temptation

He threaded his fingers through mine.

"I was not trying to deny you. That wasn't dominance." His voice was quiet. "I was trying to reconcile the woman I thought died with the woman beneath my hands."

He swallowed.

"When I reached you, you were already dead, Asharin."

His thumb brushed across my knuckles.

"Now you're here."

He let out a slow breath.

"Part of me is still waiting to wake up."

I pulled him closer, wrapping my legs tighter around his waist. "Wake up, then. Because I am here. And I want you everywhere," I murmured against his lips. "On every inch of me."

He answered with a low sound against my mouth, pace increasing. We moved like that for a while, touching and tasting, until the need grew more intense, the air in the room thick. He eased out, guiding me to my knees at the edge of the bed, and pressed forward into my mouth. He moved with controlled strokes, hips rocking forward as I took him deeper and deeper. He let out a low moan as his release came in heavy pulses down my throat. He held me gently through every throb, his hand stroking the back of my head until the last wave passed, then pulled back slowly.

"Spit it out," he rasped, leaning back and pressing his palm flat on his stomach. I opened and let the warmth spill across his skin. "Show me."

I leaned in and cleaned him with slow strokes of my tongue, the sounds wet and intentional while his hand rested on the back of my head.

When I finished he laid me back down and sank all the way in, hips flush to mine, and held still there while we kissed. The relief of having him inside me again made my fingers curl into his back, holding on like I could keep us both here. His mouth stayed on mine as he began thrusting again, this time deeper and slow and rolling, each one drawing a soft sound from me.

We were still kissing when the base of him began to change. Slow at first, a gradual thickening that stretched me wider. I felt it and gasped softly into his mouth. His body went rigid over mine, eyes widening.

"It's happening," he said, voice strained. He slowly began to swell inside me.

A low roar tore from his throat as the thickening continued, locking us together. "Asharin," he groaned, my name breaking out of him. His hands shook on my hips, grip tightening.

He pulled back just enough to look at me, trembling, the knot half-swollen already inside me.

The knot surged thicker while his body shook over mine. I began to moan without intending to, the sound growing louder and more desperate with every pulse of him inside me.

Colsar brought his fingers to my mouth first. "Lick," he said. I opened and ran my tongue over them, sucking the taste of us from his skin. He watched, eyes dark. "You said you wanted me everywhere." His voice lowered. "You'll want them wet where they're going."

"Take what you want," I whispered, my voice trembling.

His fingers left my mouth wet and he moved them lower, then even lower before easing the first one inside. My moans sharpened, climbing higher as he worked it deeper. He added a second finger without warning, stretching me further, pumping them both harder, more aggressive now, matching the shallow rocks of his hips while the knot held us locked. He paused abruptly and slowly removed his hand, bringing his fingers to his mouth and sucking slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. Then he eased them back in, this time deeper than before. My sounds grew frantic, louder, broken moans spilling out of me with every thrust of his fingers and every pulse of the knot, the intensity turning my voice hoarse and desperate.

I sobbed his name, forehead pressed to his shoulder, the knot pulsing between us while his two fingers stayed buried and working, still pumping steadily. He pressed his free hand flat on my lower belly, pushing down so I could feel the thick outline of the knot from both sides.

"You feel that?" he asked. "That's how deep I'm locked inside you. Mine."

His voice came out low and cracked with grief.

"Say it," he rasped. "Say you only want me. That you will only ever die with me and not leave me behind. Because I cannot take the pain, Asharin. I cannot take it again."

Something inside me cracked open. The wall I had kept around the worst of it split wide. Tears slipped from my eyes as the words came, raw and shaking.

"I only want you," I whispered. "I'll only ever die with you. I won't leave you behind. Never again."

I began to roll my hips.

"Asharin--"

He came in forceful, heated waves deep inside me, his frame shuddering, one hand fisting in my hair. The force of it pushed me over the edge with him.