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Adrian shifted, and I found myself on my back with his fingers curled inside me, stroking. I rose onto my elbows, letting my legs fall open as far as they would go, digging my heels into the bed, every muscle inside my body bunched as a sweet and heady pleasure built.

I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. I made desperate attempts to draw air into my lungs, only to sob from the pleasure of him.

My body released suddenly, and a stream of liquid left me. Adrian bent to place his mouth over my clit, sucking and licking my heat before pulling out, only to fill me with himself once more.

“Yes, yes, yes,” I urged him on, lifting my hips. He gripped me and pulled me up, my ass resting on his bent knees. His pace was steady, building pressure in the bottom of my stomach. He leaned over me, roughly kissing my mouth.

“Let me come while I ride you,” I said, and all he managed to do was offer a short laugh before he rolled onto his back and let me mount him once more.

We moved in tandem, our wet bodies slamming together, our breaths ragged. I could not help the keening cries that escaped my mouth or the string of words I repeated, a desperate chant, a bewitching spell, holding on to this rhythm until I came with a guttural cry.

Adrian’s final thrust had him pulsing inside me, and as he groaned, I bent to kiss his warm mouth.

“It’s hot,” I said, breathing hard, my heart racing.

“You have a fever,” he said, his hands splayed across my waist.

“A fever,” I repeated.

My head was on fire, burning from the inside out.

I stood, leaving Adrian on the bed.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“It’s hot,” I said again and turned. I crossed the room to where the metal bath sat before the fireplace—empty. “I want to swim,” I said.

“Isolde,” Adrian said, rising from the bed. “It’s freezing outside. You cannot swim.”

I ignored him and headed for the door.

Adrian’s arm hooked around me, driving my back to his chest.

“I will order you a bath,” he said near my ear.

“I don’t want a bath,” I said.

“Isolde—”

“I need to go outside, Adrian.”

Something in my voice must have convinced him to let me go, and as soon as his arm fell from me, I bolted from his room. I raced down the stairs, only slightly aware that people were around and watching. None of them tried to stop me. Instead, they pressed themselves into the walls. I assumed that had to do with Adrian, who I could feel at my back, stalking like a shadow.

I ran into the cold night, my bare feet sinking into the snow—and I was still so hot.

My body was changing. I could feel it in my bones, which ached in a way that caused my insides to throb.

“Isolde.”

I turned my head and looked at Adrian. He stood naked on the stairs of his palace.

“Tell me what is wrong.”

“I don’t know,” I said, frowning. Then I turned and looked toward the garden, bolting again. As my feet carried me at what felt like an abnormally fast pace, my bones broke.

It was the only way I could describe it.

The pain sent me to the ground, and I screamed. Tears welled in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks, and as strange as it was, the only thing I could think about was water.