Crown of Fire (Book 3 in the Crown Trilogy)

Twenty

The ache in my chest is enough to bring tears to my eyes. Kyron's powers always reacted to me as if they were a loving pet. They came as soon as I summoned them. His fire found a home in my palm and his shadows slithered around my limbs. I always felt a special connection to his gifts, but it appears they were only attracted to the Eporri.

"Do you feel it?" Kyron gently asks.

I shake my head. "It used to feel like it was caressing me and leaving a warm trail on my skin. Now, I feel nothing."

Kyron wraps his arms around me and nuzzles his nose in my neck. He doesn't say anything, just holds with me while I morn a lost piece of me. I've gone a month without the Eporri, but I didn't truly feel its absence until now. The constant buzz of power was missing, but I wasn't around anyone who would awaken its purpose. And then when I was with my family, I was too caught up in reconnecting with them to give it much thought. Kyron's power has always charged the Eporri in a way unlike any other. I can't help but think that maybe it knew it would be his in the end.

"Do I feel different without it?" I say.

"No. I could always tell the difference between the pull of the stone and you. Your fight for what is right and your capacity to love wholeheartedly wasn't a result of that power. Soft, funny, intelligent, compassionate, loyal, strong, sexy, I was attracted to you the moment I laid eyes on you."

Thank the Statera that he is holding me because my bones just turned to jelly, and I think my flesh has melted into a gooey mess. I glance back at him and smile. "Are you sure the parah bond has nothing to do with it?"

Kyron quirks his lips and tilts his head from side to side. "The bond makes my soul feel like it has found its match. But you stole my heart, consume my mind, and make my cock hard." He presses his length into the small of my back to prove his point.

Losing our bond would have crushed me if the Statera broke it, but it wouldn't have changed the way I feel about him. What we share transcends the spiritual. It continuously grows and strengthens. Neither of us can contain it in our being. Every interaction, every experience, even the quiet moments of nothing are saturated in particles of us.

"I don't suppose you are up for round three?" His hand moves under my breasts and his thumb brushes my nipple.

"You're selling yourself short. It would be our fourth round."

He drags his lips up to my ear and nips my lobe. "You're keeping count."

I arch my neck and kiss the underside of his jaw. "What can I say? You make it unforgettable."

Kyron's deep chuckle vibrates through my body, awaking my need for him. "Thank you for stroking my ego," he says.

"Along with stroking other things."

He takes my hand and brings it back between us. Closing my fingers around his hard cock, he says, "Show me one more time why I love you for stroking other things."

I slide my hand down, happy to do just that. Two knocks on the door bring me to a halt. I move to pull away, but Kyron grabs my wrist.

"Please, don't stop," he groans.

I glance across the room, watching the door as I move my hand down his shaft. Satisfied that our visitor has left, I hold him tighter. His silky skin glides through my fist once... twice.

Four rapid blows thunder throughout the quiet room. I slip out of Kyron's hold and pull the blanket around me. "If I've learned anything during my time training to be sovereign, it's that no one knocks on your door unexpectedly and continuously unless it is an emergency."