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“No. I just…” She tried to shift, find a different angle, hissing when that just made the pain worse.

Skye hissed for an entirely different reason, fingers digging into the sheets as he fought to keep his body still.

“You need to relax,” he gritted out, and she had to fight the urge to laugh. That was easy for him to say. He wasn’t the one being impaled.

He kissed her brow, then the tears from both eyes, smoothing a hand over her hair and gently turning her head to the side.

“Relax, Tink. You’re tight as a fist.” He nipped at her ear, teasing the delicate Fey point. Taly gasped, and he did it again. Sensitive, these Fey ears… so damn sensitive. Her hips twitched against him.

“That’s it.” And then he was moving with her, drawing out a little more with each thrust before plunging back in, going a little deeper.

“That’s it,” he murmured, thrusting deeper and deeper, inch by wicked inch.

His hips flexed as he withdrew almost to the tip. He paused, holding himself over her.

This was it.The final line in the sand. The last barrier between friend and lover, between everything they’d been and everything they were about to become.

“I’m just waiting,” he said, arms shaking with restraint. “Someone’s about to kick the damn door in, I know it.”

Taly only smiled, leaning up to kiss him. With a mighty thrust, he slid home.

Full. That was the only word that made sense. Not just her body—her chest, her throat, her whole Shards-damned soul.

He gritted his teeth, a low sound rumbling in his chest. “You feel... unreal.”

He drew back and pushed in again. She cried out, then felt him pause.

“No,” she gasped. “Good sound. That was a good sound. Keep going.”

She felt his laugheverywheretheir bodies connected. Indeed, she felt every inch of him as he withdrew, only to slam back in.

“Finally.” The word was half moan, half sigh of relief. He reangled her hips, and on the next thrust managed to wedge himself even deeper. “Fucking finally...”

He set the rhythm—slow at first, then picking up tempo—and all she could do was hold on. His breath was in her ear, his body moving above and inside her, and soon she was sobbing from the pleasure of it. Begging him to go faster, harder as she ran her hands across his shoulders and down his back.

She’d fantasized about this—about him—but nothing had prepared her for the real thing: his body slick and straining against hers, the rough breath ofI love you’she whispered onto every inch he could reach. The wet slap of flesh was the music they moved to. She never wanted it to end.

Then she felt it—that thread pulling between them. Growing ever stronger, ever brighter, stealing away pieces of her and pieces of him and weaving them together into a bridge.

Her friend through the years and so many dangers.

The man she loved with every part of her body and soul.

And she wanted it. For right now, just this moment, she allowed herself to want that promise of forever. With each pounding stroke, she forgot a little more why she wasn’t supposed to.

She began reaching for him down the bond, reaching and reaching—until she found him on the other side, ready to take her hand.

Heat and light crashed through her as their souls fused.

His body jolted like he’d been struck. “Shards—” His hands gripped her tighter, mouth crashing to hers, thrusts turning wild and erratic.

Nothing had ever felt so good.Soright.

This was forever.Hewas forever. And he was already teetering on that edge, determined to push her ahead of him before allowing himself to fall.

So, she let him. Throwing her arms around him, she let that thread pull her right over the edge.

“Thank fuck,” Skye growled as release tore through her. As she screamed his name, and time bled, and every nerve in her body began to sing.