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Her wall.

This was far beyond the mere shadow of herself that she’d shown me with our earlier interactions.

It was honest.

Raw.

Open.

There was no repression here.

It was what I’d wanted—her to open to me, to be her true self.

And, motherfucker, now it was here, my fear of unleashing took a backseat.

This power from her, this demonstration of strength and the unapologetic nature of it, of her showing meher…it called to me in an earth shattering way.

And I had to fucking answer it in kind.

Right. Now.

I choked from the impact as I rose to my full height and dusted off my clothes, my gaze blazing into hers even across the vast distance.

Primal satisfaction rolled through me at what she’d just done, what she’d just demonstrated to me. Dragons respected might more so than any other species, but it was much more than even that when it came to her. She’d made it clear that there was a special Celestial connection between us. But on my end, it went even deeper than that, because of the beast within—my dragon side.

And she was right—I had to unleash on her. All fucking over her.

There was no more straining to hold off.

She’d made it clear there was also no need for me to do so. Her strength was unmatched, and I respected the hell out of that. Out ofher.

And the guys for coming here and making this possible in a safe way from Kai’s efforts, and an understanding way from Nyx’s efforts.

It was a team effort, basically. And it honestly touched me deeply. Ariana had gathered us here out of love and unity. She was all in and this was one profound way of her demonstrating that to us.

She stood there in that stunning dress that she’d worn just for me. She looked like a dragon queen in all her glory. I could feel her pulse picking up as she stared back at me.

Wanting me.

Needing me.

Ready to connect the way I desired more than anything.

A few feet to her right stood Kai. He disintegrated the dome, then held two shimmering palms of his rose-gold magic out either side of him, taking a powerful stance. I knew it was his magic to help regulate Ariana’s Celestial energy that she was afraid of losing her grip on when things got carnal.

Nyx’s energy was no longer pulsing, indicating that he’d stopped reading my emotions now that we’d gotten to the meatof things. Instead, he now stood leaning sexily against a tree, enthusiastically awaiting the show that was about to go down.

In the next moment, I burst back toward Ariana, and I was crowding her space.

When she tilted her head back to look up at me, so much need bled from her.

So much passion and sexual intensity that was most definitely reciprocated.

A snarl broke from me, and in the next second, I was wrenching her against me, and crushing my mouth to hers.

All that passion imploded, the kiss becoming fierce within seconds, her fisting my long hair, and me running my hands all over her sexy dress, feeling her everywhere.

“Motherfucking goddess,” I rasped, as we broke from the kiss, panting.