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The park is where we’ve been meeting at large with my brothers, her sisters, and our allies from all three regions. I trust their instincts. They’re intelligent, they have their own powers, and they would know how to guard themselves until we reunited.

Be that as it may, Lark’s right. I could regularly disable the wind for them to pass through, but still. I can’t put up a shield, not against our family and allies, not for a second.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “The bond is…very strong.”

Lark expels air. “It sure as hell is.”

“I don’t…know how to…” My cursed throat bobs. “I don’t know how to protect you without losing control.”

“Sounds savage.”

Her flirty tone draws a rueful chuckle from me. I glance up to find her batting her lashes with exaggeration, and we laugh.

Yet almost instantly, we fall silent and stare at one another. That all-consuming pull urges us closer.

The bond is eternal and more potent than anything I’ve ever felt. Being a Fae of the wild, having been raised by animals, and considering the gruesome things I’ve done in the past, my protective instincts are on the primitive side.

My fingers steal out to cup Lark’s face, my thumbs tracing her rounded ear. My mate’s arms strap around my waist, and she palms the base of my spine. On reflex, my forehead presses to hers.

Constellations tap a rhythm into the sky. Their brightness illuminates the pearlescent streaks in Lark’s hair. My fingers can’t resist sinking into the damp strands.

She shivers. “You fucking villain.”

My lips quirk. “I think you’ve forgiven me.”

“Depends on how you plan on apologizing.”

“And now you’ve intrigued me.”

Her fingers descend to my ass. “Would you say being mated has perks? Don’t ruin this with riddles. Just answer me, pretty Fae.”

I spear my hands through her roots and murmur, “Oh, but I’ll do more than answer. I’ll finish what we started.”

Indeed. I always do.

A kiss for a kiss.

A fuck for a fuck.

With that in mind, I palm Lark’s scalp and haul her mouth to mine.

4

Three minutes later, we blast into the tower with our mouths locked in a battle for dominance. Our arrival jostles the curtains of the open windows, the panels flapping from the disturbance. Darkness cloaks the entrance, studded by moonlight and torchlight as we stumble hectically across the foyer and into the great room.

Flames emboss my mate’s flesh in orange. If we weren’t already naked, we would be shredding one another’s clothing by now. Pity we’ve forsaken that opportunity. It’s sublime whenever Lark’s greedy fingers strip me bare, though it’s even more enjoyable leaving her slinky dresses in tatters, ribbons of fabric discarded in our wake.

Lark claws through my hair, fuses my lips with hers, and splits herself wide under me. Our tongues wrestle, slick and hot. I angle my head and sink my lips deeper into hers, licking and savoring the heat of her moans.

As the noises clutter Lark’s throat, I feel every shape of her breath, every texture of her need. Damnation, each time I take her is riveting. I can never make her come deeply enough, long enough, loudly enough.

Never. Fucking. Enough.

Though, I’ll die trying.

Lark nips the tip of my tongue enthusiastically, and I grunt as the briny tang of blood leaks into my mouth. She must taste it as well, because she makes a feline noise and licks the residue of blood.

Fuck. Passion and pleasure coalesce, rushing to head of my cock and hardening its length to the point of anguish. The shaft thickens, pushes high, and bloats the veins across my skin.