Shadows caress my body, curling around my legs, sliding across my breasts, and snaking through my core. My eyes flutter shut, and I give myself over to the sensation. Hundreds of fingertips on my skin, putting me under their spell with every stroke. The shadows are an extension of their wicked master, and I'm a willing sacrifice laid upon his alter.
Statera help me, I love being at Kyron's mercy.
His tongue dips between my legs, seductively lapping at my clit. My hips lift from the rock, and Kyron pushes me down with an arm across my stomach. The tip of his finger plays at my entrance, teasing me with promises of something deeper, harder.
"I need you inside me," I say, my voice laced with unyielding desire.
His eyes meet mine across the valley of my body. That evil tongue of his drags over me from bottom to top. "Careful what you ask for, princess. I won't be gentle once I feel your tight heat around me."
The deep rumble in his words vibrates through me. He has never held back from sharing his thoughts when we are like this. But since I returned home, the things he says are raw, sexy. My body responds to them as if they are his mouth or fingers touching me.
"I already told you that I don't want gentle," I say as he continues to toy with me.
"Say it. Say what you want me to do to you." He nips at my sex, creating tiny stings that mix with my pleasure.
His mouth doesn't let up, sucking and kissing. I can hardly catch my breath to answer. "Fuck me. Please fuck me."
As if his self-control snaps, Kyron yanks me up, pulling me into his arms. His fingers tangle in my hair and he pulls. The pain is sweet euphoria that heightens my desire. "Say it one more time," he whispers against my lips.
"Fuck me. Please, Kyron."
His lips capture mine in a brutal kiss. I dig my nails into his shoulders as he swims us back to shore. My body remains wrapped around his as he carries me out of the water. Falling to his knees, he haphazardly spreads out a blanket next to our satchels, his mouth never leaving mine. We collapse to the ground, his hips cradled between my legs. I reach between us and curl my fingers around his cock. A blissful moan leaves both of us as I sweep him through my wet center.
I need the stretch of being filled by him, the thrust of his hips as he drives deep into me. I crave him invading my body the way he has my heart and mind. Forget air and water. All I need to survive is him. I place him at my center and rock.
Kyron lifts his hips from mine and, in one swift motion, pins my hands above my head. "Greedy," he says and dips his head toward my neck.
I hook my leg around his, using it as leverage as I roll us. With Kyron on his back, I grip his wrists and trap him beneath me.
"Needy," I say, grinding my aching core against the length of him. He feels so good. My eyes roll to the back of my head as I chase that feeling, which will ease the throbbing.
He smirks up at me. "What do you plan to do with me, princess?"
I drag my tongue up his neck to his ear. "Take what I want."
"Do it. Fuck me. Sink down on my cock and show me how much you love when I'm deep inside you."
I want to torture him the way he has me, to watch him tremble with need and beg for more. He is a breath-taking sight beneath me, dark hair mussed and onyx-amber eyes dark with desire. I could take great joy in edging him closer to his release and denying him, but I want to feel him inside me even more.
Taking him in my hand, I guide his cock to where I need him. I can't resist any longer. Lowering my hips, I take him into my body inch by inch until he is seated deep. The way he fills me is a reminder of how we were made to complement each other. He is hard where I am soft, solid hills to my curves. It's not just our souls that were created with the other in mind, but our bodies, too.
Kyron tilts his head back, the cords in his neck straining against his tan skin. "You're killing me, Raelle."
"Quite the opposite, my king. I'm reminding you that you're alive." I roll against him, stimulating those nerve endings that are already coiled tight, ready to burst and send me into ecstasy.
"There is no way I can forget when you are gripping me like this. I need you to move."
I tighten my hold on his wrists, pressing them into the ground. My movements remain steady and shallow. "Beg me," I command.
His eyes light up and that damned lopsided grin returns to his face. Brushing his lips below my ear, he says, "I have no shame when it comes to my need for you, Raelle. Please fuck me, use me. Let me feel you come apart on my cock."
A shiver runs up my spine, and my skin rises with goosebumps. I sit up and place my hands on his chest, freeing him to touch me. He grips my waist, massaging just above my pelvis. I lift my hips and bring them down. One long, steady stroke turns into another, and before long, I am taking him inside me over and over again.
"Statera, you are beautiful like this," he says, sliding his palms up my stomach and between my breasts. His fingers curl around the front of my neck and press over my pulse. A whimper escapes my mouth, a lust-filled cry for more. His thumb runs along my bottom lip, and my tongue darts out to taste his skin.
"That's it. Take me in our mouth and suck," he says. The authority in his voice sends a new wave of warmth pooling in my stomach.
Kyron pulls his wet thumb away and brings it between my legs. The slick circles he draws on the most sensitive part of me cause me to clench around him. With every rotation, my pleasure mounts. My thighs quiver and I stop breathing as I surrender to the feeling. It's like reaching the crescendo of a song and soaring from the peak on a melody. The beat hits me hard, deep, and fast until it still thumps through me long after it has ended.
"One more time, princess," Kyron says with a raspy need.
I shake my head, fighting to slow my racing heart. "I can't."
"You can." His lips reach mine, slow, sensual. He breathes new life into me with his kiss. "You asked for all of me tonight. Don't you dare hold back; we leave here with no regrets."
I tug on his hair and kiss him as if this could be our last. No regrets. Not one.
He rolls me to my back and hitches my legs over his hip. His fingers dig into my thigh as he sets a punishing pace. Our bodies come together to create the most beautiful contradictions. We are peace and war, and fear and love, swirling together until it is only us. And we are devastatingly beautiful together.
"Raelle." My name is a plea pouring from his lips, begging me to follow him.
I can't deny his sweet request.
We leap over the edge together. And fly. We touch the stars hanging in the night sky, feeling them burst against our fingertips. They sizzle, sending chills through our bodies. We succumb to the sensation before tumbling back to the ground. Where we are a heap of tangled limbs and shallow breaths.
I rest my head on his chest, marveling at the feel of his skin under my lazy strokes and the smell of him. Nowhere is as perfect as the bank of this creek with Kyron.
With one arm under his head, his other hand glides up my spine and over my shoulder. He lifts the Imperium from where it rests against his skin. Thumbing the stone, he says, "You felt my shadows."
I tilt my head to take in his curious expression. "I did."
"But you couldn't control them?"
"I don't know. They don't call to me the way they used to."
Kyron releases the Imperium and holds his palm up. A pebble-sized ball of fire forms in the center. I extend my fingers toward it; the heat building as I move closer. The quiet voice of self-preservation inside my head warns me to pull away. I ignore it. My stomach flipping with nerves and sweat forms on my brow. I linger over the flame as it licks my skin with blistering heat.
When the Eporri resided in me, I never felt the effect of his gifts. They were just as much mine as they were his. But this feels dangerous.
I inch closer, and just before my fingertip touches the fire, a small shield of ice forms a barrier between my skin and Kyron's power.
We locked gazes, shock rippling between us.
"That wasn't my gift," Kyron states, pointing out the obvious.
I pull my hand away from his and wiggle my fingers. Tiny snowflakes drift from my fingertips. "It's my gift. The Imperium woke my gift," I say with a mixture of tears and laughter. "With everything going on, I was so focused on what obtaining the stone meant for us... for Pliris. I forgot what it means for every Cyffred."
Kyron catches a flurry and stares at it. "You're a Glacio."
After the days I've had, the last thing I should want is more ice, but this is mine. I release an entire show storm over us. Controlling my gift isn't much different from the way I manipulated others' powers, yet it is. The frozen tingles and buzzing energy are finally awake and already at home in my being.
Kyron pulls me up his body. Tiny specks of ice cling to his lashes and hair. He cups my cheeks and kisses me so tenderly that I melt into him.
He is burning ferocity, and I'm ice-cold determination. And together, we will bring the Allaji to their knees. They will bow before the crown of fire and ice.