Page 94 of Crown of the Dunes

I hadn’t made it very far on the first page, moving slowly due to the cramped handwriting and my own ineptitude, when Erix inhaled sharply.

“I think I found something,” he said. Laying the paper on his lap, he smoothed it out beneath his hands. I leaned forward so I could look.

He traced a line of words, reading aloud. “The blood glass will keep us safe from those who oppose the creation of a Great City in the Ballan Desert. I called forth these walls to protect Alyx, and I will see that she is safe. The oldest and wisest among the clans say that the only substance that could unmake blood glass can no longer be found, as it was born of the desert’s fury and disappeared when the first man crossed her and conquered her heart.”

Apprehension made my heart stutter. “What we need can no longer be found?” I echoed.

Erix frowned at the paper before him. “It couldn’t be found in Kelvar’s time, but the desert’s fury rises again. Perhaps it has reemerged with the creatures of legend.”

“Any idea what it might be?” I asked.

Erix let his head fall back against the rock with a thunk, screwing his eyes shut. “No,” he admitted. “Why am I so utterly unprepared for something I’ve been trying to accomplish my whole life?”

“It seems to be the desert’s pleasure to shove us into roles we aren’t prepared for,” I commiserated, reaching into the pocket of my flowing pants and finding the small fruit that I had stored there.

I pulled it forth and inspected the dimpled skin before gouging a fingernail into the thick rind. The citrus smell quickly permeated the small space, and I breathed it in happily.

Oranges had quickly become my favorite during my time in Kelvadan; brought in from Viltov and not readily available among the clans, they seemed like an incomprehensible luxury. Despite the palace attendants quickly picking up on my proclivity for them, and putting one on my breakfast plate every morning, I had never been able to break the habit of squirreling them away.

The hungry exile who hid under the skin of a queen whispered in my ear to shove them in my pockets and save them for later. I found myself counting them and resisting the urge to hide them under my pillow. The habit became harder to break as every day, the archon’s updated me on the dwindling grain supplies, and the rationing that already pinched the citizens of Kelvadan.

For now though, I peeled away the thick skin and separated the segments. I popped one into my mouth and my eyelids fluttered happily as the tart, juicy flavor exploded in my mouth. I sucked on the tip of my fingers so as not to waste any of the fruit.

Erix made a strange grunt next to me, and I glanced over to find he no longer had his eyes shut in frustration, but instead they fixed on me as I ate. Curiously, I separated another piece of fruit and held it out to him.

He plucked it carefully from my fingers, but to my surprise, he didn’t eat it. Instead, he reached out to hold it to my own lips. My pulse hammered as I met his eyes. Slowly, holding his silver gaze, I opened my mouth.

He placed the piece of fruit on my waiting tongue, and my lips brushed his fingers as I closed my mouth and slowly chewed. A drop of juice dripped down from the corner of my mouth, and Erix didn’t hesitate before swiping it with his thumb and pressing it into my mouth.

I sucked gently, and an unearthly growl rumbled in his chest. The already hot temperature in the small space ratcheted even higher, and I feared I might burst into flames.

Erix’s gaze, so intense that the world seemed to fall away around us, didn’t waver as he plucked the rest of the fruit from my slack fingers. He held it in one hand as he looped his other arm around my waist, using it to pull me into his lap.

I went easily, finding myself with my knees planted on either side of his bent legs, leaning back against them as he sat before me. My breathing was harsh in the quiet as he pulled off another segment of the fruit, agonizingly slowly, before feeding it to me as well.

His eyes fixed on my mouth as I chewed—followed the bob of my throat as I swallowed.

“I love watching you eat,” he admitted, his voice as rough as the sand beneath us. “I remember watching you rip into a roasted jackrabbit over a campfire and promising myself that I’d never let you go hungry again.”

The back of my eyes burned as I took another bite from his waiting hand. He continued to feed me until the whole fruit was gone. He moved to discard the peel beside him, but I grabbed his wrist, bringing them back to my lips.

One by one, I greedily sucked the juice from his fingers. As I flicked the tip of his index finger with my tongue he groaned, deep and guttural.

“You’re playing with fire, my feral little fighter,” he warned.

I released his hand to murmur against his fingertips, “I know. But you see me as I truly am. I want to see you like that again, without any masks, before we get back to Kelvadan and everything is complicated by what people expect us to be.”

He didn’t stop me, only breathing in sharply as I reached for the ties of his pants. A hiss escaped between his gritted teeth as I pulled his already hard cock from his pants. I stroked it gently and reveled in the way it pulsed in my palm. Erix let his head fall back on the rock once more, the tendons in his neck standing out sharply as he gasped. He dug his fingers into the sand at his sides, searching for something to hold on to.

With a sly smile, I slid down to kneel over his legs before sucking his tip into my mouth, and he found that my hair was the perfect place for his fingers to tangle. The salty taste of him mixed with the sweet juice of the fruit lingered on my tongue in a heady swirl. My eyes fluttered, but I fought to keep them open to drink in his reactions as I bobbed my head.

Magic bubbled up in my veins as I worked him higher, and the air began to crackle with unformed lightning.

“Touch yourself,” he gasped. “Please. I need to feel it too.”

Instantly, my free hand worked below the waistband of my pants, not needing any explanation as to what he meant. His pleasure pounded down the tether in my mind and made me already sensitive and close to the edge. I had no doubt he could feel my sensations reflected back at him.

As my fingers slipped over my slick skin, Erix’s grip tightened in my hair. I moaned around him and was rewarded with a reflected shock of pleasure twisting down the bond and pooling in my gut. I looked up at him through my lashes, finding his eyes screwed shut as he seemed to grapple with his control.