Page 100 of Fate of the Sun King

Ruin. Heartbreak.

The Torch’s words stalk through the chambers of my mind.

“Nadir, there’s something else we need to talk about regarding the bond. I think two things happened that day with my grandparents.”

“What?” he asks.

“My grandmother tried to take the magic of Heart, but I think something went wrong with the sealing of the bond. That’s what they needed Cloris for. But she couldn’t help them at the end, and my grandmother tried to do it herself. That’s what caused at least some of the damage.”

He watches me with a serious expression.

“If we want to bond, then we have to find a way to do so that doesn’t blow up half of Ouranos again.”

He rubs his hands down his face. “Fuck, nothing is ever easy with us, is it?”

“At least we’re never bored.”

“We’ll figure it out, Lor,” he says, wrapping his hand around the side of my neck. “Whatever we have to do.”

I nod. He’s right.

That is not our destiny. I won’t let it be.

We look at each other, and my heart squeezes.

The sun is starting to set, the air growing cooler as his eyes turn hungry.

He leans down and sucks gently on the curve of my neck. “I want you,” he says, his voice rough. “Here. Now. Spread out on the floor, where I feast to my heart’s content. I want to fuck you somewhere we can be alone, where no one can hear us for weeks, so I can make you scream my name until your voice gives out.”

His hand slides from my knee and up my thigh, sending shivers over my skin, even through the leather of my riding pants. I wonder if there will ever come a day when I stop craving him like air.

“Say the word, Aurora Prince,” I gasp as his hand slides between my legs, the heel of his hand pressing on the seam of my pants with just the right amount of pressure.

“Somewhere on a mountaintop perhaps,” he says. “Or deep in a forgotten forest where no one will find us.”

A moan slips from my mouth as he grinds his hand against me. I grab onto his arm, and my head tips back as he places a row of kisses along my jaw.

First, we have to get into the Sun Palace. First, we have to get past Atlas and avoid Nadir’s father, who is out there somewhere hunting for us. If we survive any of this, maybe we’ll have the chance to live out this fantasy.

“I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure we get that,” he says, once again reading my thoughts. His hand continues to press into me, and my back arches as my eyes flutter closed.

“What the fuck are you two doing?” comes a voice that makes Nadir go still. My brain takes a moment to catch up, and I want to protest this unwelcome interruption. “Is this what we have to put up with now? The two of you behaving like horny rabbits whenever I turn my back?”

Nadir snarls as he retrieves his hand from between my legs, and Mael offers us a smarmy grin, his eyes dancing with joy.

“What’s going on?” comes my brother’s voice next, as he looks from me to Nadir while my face warms. It’s one thing for Mael to show up, but it’s quite another for my brother to catch us in the impending throes of lust.

“We walked in on something,” Mael says in a singsong voice, and Tristan’s face darkens as he takes the two of us in.

Tristan is dripping in water, his hair and his clothing completely soaked.

“Why are you wet?” I ask, eager to change the subject.

Mael barks out a laugh and slings a limp fish off his shoulder.

“We found a log in the river, perfect for rolling. We made a bet, and he lost.” Mael grins at Tristan, who throws him another glower.

“Well, glad to see you’re getting along?” I ask, as Tristan leans down to dig into his pack and pulls out a tunic.