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Her hand lifted to Juniper’s face but paused to examine the feather hanging from her hair. Her lashes lowered, and she smiled.

“What you just did for me…” Adriel’s dark emerald eyes lifted. “No one has ever shown me such kindness.”

“The world’s fucked up, Ade, not you.”

Her smile turned sad and then thoughtful. “I don’t know if this is the way you are with other females?—”

“It’s not.”

She stilled, her smile once again stretching into something genuine. “Good. Because immortals can be quite territorial when they find something they want to claim.”

Juniper’s stomach tightened, and she nodded. “I feel that too.”

“Do you?” Adriel asked, thumb tracing over her racing pulse as she studied her response. “Do you feel the traitorous way my blood pumps whenever I’m near you? Can you hear how fastmy heart is beating right now? Because I can hear yours.”

She could only hear her own unsteady breath. They couldn’t do this in her filthy state. She was jittery as hell and needed to collect herself. “I need to rinse off first.”

Adriel reached past her, and Juniper’s breath hitched, her body momentarily pinned to the door as she reached for the knob. “Dirty wouldn’t bother me.” The door clicked open and she paused, her nose turning toward her neck and she whispered, “I have a confession.”

Juniper’s shoulders pressed into the wood, and her eyes closed, her soft spoken words a balm to her soul. Adriel could literally read a recipe at and it would be hot. The air was still warm with steam and Adriel smelled of soap and mint and something sultry that seemed to naturally cling to her skin. “W-what?”

“I’ve fantasized about…tasting you.”

It was too much. Juniper caught her by the neck and spun them around so Adriel’s back hit the door. Her mouth smashed to hers, hard and hungry, and Adriel growled.

Nipping and kissing, Juniper demanded entry, knocking her knee between her thighs and pressing her stomach flat to hers as she dragged a hand possessively to her chest.

Greedily, she kissed her in a way she had never kissed her before, showing just how much she wanted her. How much she needed to showher everything she’d been ignoring these past few days.

Desire blazed through her. She couldn’t get close enough. She needed to slow down. But her touch was ravenous. Juniper gripped the damp towel and stilled at the sight of blood flecked across her knuckles and she stilled.

“Sorry.” Her gaze turned away. Adriel deserved better.

“You don’t have to apologize, or stop.”

But she did. “Let me at least wash up.”

She nodded then laughed softly. “You’re the one caging me in.”

“Oh. Right.” Juniper stepped back and looked away. Her emotions were all over the place. “I was so afraid I’d lost you.”

“Look at me, Juniper,” Adriel gripped her nightgown, fisting the fabric as she stared at her with raw promise in her eyes. “You have me.”

Her mouth was irresistible, and Juniper was kissing her again. “I want all of you,” she whispered, drunk on desire and thirsty for more. “Every part.”

“Do you sense opposition from me?”

Her eyes closed as she once again stayed her hand and tried to slow her racing heart. “I want you so much, I can hardly breathe.”

“Juniper, love, you have me.” She yanked the towel free, exposing her bare flesh.

“Fuck.” She raked a hand through her knotted hair. “You’re so beautiful.”

Adriel bashfully mirrored the gesture, anddrops of water sprinkled her fingers. Her fiery hair spiked in haphazard clumps, making her look all the more adorable and sweet. “When you say that, I believe you mean it.”

Juniper yanked her body close and squeezed her ass. “I wouldn’t lie to you.” She dragged her lips over her throat and licked the drops of water that fell from her hair. “I want to taste and know every sweet inch of you.” She pressed her nose to her pulse and bit playfully at her shoulder.

Adriel gasped, her hands tugging at Juniper’s clothes in frustration. “I want that too.”