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He groaned.
It echoed like a decadent purr, feeding directly into my ash-carved palms.
I shuddered as he kept my hands trapped on his chest with his arms locked tight around me. His scent of twilight and shadows surrounded me, and when our tongues touched, our kiss exploded with violent desperation.
His lips parted wide as he held nothing back.
His arms banded around my back, hauling me onto my toes as he crushed my entire length against his.
He kissed me so, so deep.
Deep enough to soothe some of the splinters in my heart.
He gathered me as close as he possibly could, pouring every unspoken affection down my throat. He groaned again as I licked his tongue with mine.
Our skin flushed with scalding heat.
Our lips pressed hard enough to bruise, wanting this kind of pain, this exquisitely right kind of pain.
His hands landed in my hair, tugging my head back to nip and kiss his way down my neck. He left a trail of moondust in his wake, adding another layer of shivering intensity as he returned to my mouth and kissed me even harder.
I moaned as he claimed me.
He lay ownership to my body, my lips, my tongue, my heart, and tears cascaded down my cheeks because I wanted so, so desperately to give them to him.
I’d wanted it by the river when I first remembered his name.
I’d wanted it back when we walked alone before we forgot each other.
I’d wanted him since the dawn of time.
Since the beginning of everything.
We were the beginning...
The thought came and went, hunted by his tongue and stolen by his kiss.
Each lick and taste echoed with decisions and destinies. Our skin became feverish as his hands roamed and his lips grew more and more demanding. The deerskin and wolf pelt between us couldn’t hide his obvious want, and my core clenched with dangerous desire.
I threw myself at him.
Ripping my arms free from his fierce embrace, I looped them over his shoulders and sank my fingers into his hair.
I forgave him.
I never truly blamed him.
Fear had made me angry.
Heartbreak had made me run.
But Darro...?
He’d saved me, cured me, and reminded me I wasn’t so alone.
He kissed me harder, worshipping me, gifting me the truth that he’d fought for me from the very first moment he’d found me. He would never stop fighting for me...no matter how many things conspired to keep us apart.
“Darro...” I panted into his mouth.
He paused, breathing hard.
Our eyes met.
I jolted.
His stare wasn’t just smoke or silver-ringed, they were molten pools of moonlight. Luminosity cast shadows over his cheekbones and nose.
I gasped.
But then he blinked, and the moonglow was gone.
Running his knuckles over my jaw, he pressed his lips to mine. “Your eyes.” He shivered. “They’re glowing as intensely as the sun.”
“Yours shone like the moon,” I murmured against his mouth.
He pulled back. “They did?”
I nodded, my chest rising and falling, my skin burning for his touch. “You’re beautiful.”
Something shifted in his stare, power rippled down his back. “You’re the beautiful one.” Anger tightened his eyes. “Fuck, Runa.” His forehead crashed against mine. “When I saw him touch you tonight, I wanted to fucking kill him.” He pressed another heated kiss to my lips, sending a rush of violent need through me. “I wanted to rip out his entrails and snatch you away from all of them.” He sucked in a hitched breath, nipping my bottom lip with sharp teeth. “Fuck, I couldn’t stand it.”
My knees turned to water; my mind struck dumb with the aggressive but passionate word he’d used. It wasn’t Firenese. It wasn’t the dead language we shared. It was something else. Something with a magic all of its own.
“I want you. I want you so badly.” His nose trailed down my neck, inhaling me, imprinting me. “I want to tear off your wrap, push you onto your hands and knees, and prove to everyone that you are mine.” His voice thickened with heat. “I want you with everything that I am.”
I shivered. “Take me then.”
He choked on a snarl. “I need to get you away from here. We’re too close to the Nhil. I have no idea where we’ll go, but I will not let him have you.” He brushed back my hair, his fingers cool but somehow hot. “You said you were imprisoned by the fire. That it made you agree to the succession and betrothal.” His voice slipped into sharper shadows. “I was imprisoned by air. I heard it in my mind, just like I heard the fire when you aided me by the river. It wrapped me in unseen ropes and hid me in plain sight. It tampered with my scent and made Zetas lose me even with her keen senses. It said it was only doing what I asked. What we asked.”
Shaking his head, he murmured, “We need to remember, Runa. Now, not tomorrow. We need to know because...I-I saw something while waiting for you to step out of the fire and it terrified me.”
