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I cried out his name when he rolled the tip between his teeth while his fingers worked the other. I rocked against him, gasping when he reached a new depth.

“There. Right there.” I braced my palms on his shoulders, he licked and kissed my chest, my throat, his hands urging my body to move faster, harder. Heat pooled low in my belly.

Until I shattered.

My head fell back, his name cascading over my tongue again and again; my body shuddered through my release.

Still taut and burning with pleasure, Kage encircled my waist and flipped me onto my back in one motion, never breaking our connection. My arms flung out wide, palms gripping the furs on the bed. Rough gasps fueled Kage’s pace. Throat bared, I moaned when he nipped the curve of my ear.

Already the tension began coiling between my legs again.

When he pressed deeper into me, I let out a startled breath.

Kage raised onto his palms, his gaze locked on my features, a gaze filled with longing, with a sort of reverence most people never find. I was one of the impossibly fortunate souls to have found such a love in two lifetimes.

Each thrust grew harder, rougher. My thieving prince forewent gentility and shifted into someone undone, primal, and perfect. The way he loved my body connected me to the passion in his heart.

His face tightened. Kage burrowed against my neck, one palm on my cheek, body trembling. “I will not live without you again,” he whispered, broken and complete in one soft declaration. “I will not, Adira.”

“No.” I bit down on my bottom lip when my body overheated.

I dug into Kage’s shoulders. He hissed at the sharp bite of pain and rocked deeper against my center. Heavy breaths filled the space between us. Sweat beaded over his brow. I arched up and kissed it away.

I moaned softly when he skated his fingers up my ribs. His touch was sunrise through a storm, a guiding light after cruel darkness. He kissed me desperately.

Kage groaned when my arms and legs coiled around his body, unbreakable tethers, afraid to let him go ever again. I dug my heels into his thighs, holding him closer, grinding our hips so tightly it felt as though we’d never part.

Light burst behind my eyes. Another rolling release of heat shattered through my veins, numbing my tongue, so only a garbled burst of sounds tumbled out.

Kage went still, my name a gentle sob off his tongue when his cock twitched and his hot release spilled into me. For a long moment we didn’t move. I could die in peace with his weight over mine, still filled with him, still safe in his arms.

“You have been the sweetest memory, Wildling.” Kage kissed me, then lifted our tattooed fingers, curling them together. “So many times I considered accepting this darkness as fate, but there was always something that kept me searching for a way to live again. It was you.”

I pressed a hand against his heart. “We will have those tomorrows. I swear to you.”

We laid there, tangled and shattered and healed, for a long time. Kage traced the lines of my jaw, the gentle slope of my back. I touched his old scars I’d forgotten, his lips, his chest. For long, silent moments we touched and memorized each other again until our eyes grew heavy, and our hands slower.

Kage tucked my back against him, pulled a heavy fur over our bodies, then draped his arm possessively over my waist.

I could not recall a time I’d fallen asleep so at ease, so damn alive.

I slipped outof Kage’s bed as the first beams of sullen dawn split through the shutters on his window. The washroom was large with a porcelain basin. I washed my face, my arms, cleaned my mouth, and returned to the room.

Kage was sprawled onto his stomach. The dark tattoo down his spine seemed to burst to life with every breath expanding his broad back. I made a move to gather my discarded tunic and as though he sensed my absence, he jerked his head off his pillow.

“Adira.” He twisted in the bed and breathed out in relief when he caught sight of me. Kage flopped back against his pillows. “Well,I’ve just learned you can never leave the bed before me, or I become a terrified, whimpering boy.”

I snickered and crept over the mattress again, covering his body with mine. I pecked his lips, grinning. “I kind of like it.”

A faint smile teased his mouth. He studied me and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “I dreamt of you. Everything the Well gave up, I saw again in such detail.”

I rolled off him and nestled my head against his chest.

“My heart is broken,” I admitted.

“Then tell me who I must kill for doing such a thing.”

I pinched his ribs. “No killing please. I meant I’m heartbroken because I . . . I miss my parents now. I remember them so well. I miss Arabeth.”