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“I love you,” she whispered into the darkness, knowing that the phantom Elias couldn’t hear her. But it didn’t matter in that moment.

One day, she’d tell him how she felt.

For a moment, she thought she sensed a deeper darkness within the surrounding shadows. It was that strange presence she’d been feeling since the gateway. The one that had led her toward the oasis.

But any concern slipped from her mind as Elias’ pace quickened even more. He moved like a male overcome by desire, byneed.It was all she could do to take what he was giving her. To feel him thrust with abandon deep inside, plunging into her very center. Then his movements became jerky, and there was a single shiver before he spilled his seed in her ass.

When he released her hair, her head slumped forward and her mind swirled with the pleasure of their joining. But she didn’t have long to revel in the feeling because hands found her sides, flipping her over.

His lips moved again, and she thought he said, “You’re mine.” But she couldn’t be sure.

“I’m yours,” she said. “Now and always.”

He growled before descending upon her.

Grabbing her pants, he pulled them roughly down until they were at her ankles. As he spread her legs further, she didn’t fight. Instead, she marveled at the sight of him—completely naked—between her legs. And her, clothed except for her pants, which he’d pulled down.

His beard scratched against her clit before she felt his tongue glance over her pussy. Instantly, her back arched, and she moaned. Her shadows continued twisting around them both.

“Yes.” The word slipped free from her lips, sounding utterly breathless.

His tongue pressed into her folds, skirting up and down, tracing along the outside of her pussy before returning to her clit.

Reaching down, she slipped her hand into his curls and rocked her hips against him.

As though this was the encouragement he sought, she felt him shift. A finger was at her entrance, swirling the wetness there but not pressing into her. She tightened her grip on his hair, moving her hips upward, but he remained where he was.

She longed to be filled again, needing his fingers inside her. But his tongue continued its languid strokes, moving up and down.

His presence alone had desire humming inside her.

Then his fingers pressed inside her.

The moment he touched her… It was like she’d been waiting for him, for this male, her whole life. Their bodies were meant for each other, their joining fated in the stars. And she could never get enough of him. Even as he fucked her, she wanted more of him. All of him.

For the rest of her mortal life.

It took him three strokes, his fingers curling against her inner walls, before she submitted to ecstasy.

A cry escaped her lips as her fingers tightened in his hair.

In a flash of movement too fast for her eyes to track, he was above her, his lips against hers. She tasted herself on his tongue.

This was the most vivid dream she’d ever had.

It was so realistic.

Then he was pulling essence from her. Only this time, he pulled wave after wave of it into his mouth, drinking like he was a man dying of thirst. As he fed, her mind swirled. The world seemed to spin around her, and he came in and out of focus.

Wrapping her hands around the back of his neck, she held on to him as though he was the only thing anchoring her to the earth. As though if he let her go, she would cease to be.

She kissed him back, flicking her tongue against his, reveling at the softness of his lips even as they ravished hers. All the while, his fingers never stopped moving, never stopped fucking her. At first, it was one finger, and then a second joined it. Then a third.

He curled his fingers against her walls in the way she liked. Then she thought she felt his thumb caress her clit.

And that was all it took.

She moaned into his mouth as she came undone again, and he ate it up as greedily as her essence. Pleasure burst within her, and her eyes fluttered closed. This time, the pleasure crescendoed, lasting far longer than the other times she’d come. She trembled against his touch, her body wracked with pleasure.