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“I’ve seen his starlight before. It’s impossible.”

“You have me now! I have starlight too. Maybe if I had—”

He gripped my thigh, his fingers reaching through the slit to find my skin. “Perhaps, but we’re not risking it. Not without a plan.”

I nodded, not only agreeing that maybe we should talk to the others first, but increasingly aware that the way he touched me brought desire to pool in my belly.

All evening, we had stayed close, so focused on the task at hand that our touches only lingered. It had been playful. Except now, returned to the safety of our balcony…

“Is this okay?” Zayne asked, loosening his grip to caress the skin of my thigh. When I didn’t answer, his other hand slipped to my waist. He leaned forward again, pressing a kiss to my belly.

Unbidden, a moan slipped past my lips.

He looked up at me, grinned, and brought his lips to me once more. Leaving him cast in moonlight, I stepped back and gripped the banister, placing cold air between us.

Zayne stood. “Did I do something wrong? I thought you were enjoying that.”

“I-I don’t know.”

I stilled, my heart pounding. I wanted this—I wanted him so badly it hurt. And still, I was afraid, so afraid…

My head pounded.

I couldn’t even remember what frightened me.

But Ineededhim.

He lifted a hand to my face, ran a finger along my cheek, and at his caressing touch, I melted. Catching me, he pinned me against the balcony’s banister, kissing me.

My lips seared, parting as I invited him deeper. I threaded my hand through his hair, finding his horns and locking him in place. He answered with harsh kisses, wandering hands, and the promising pressure of a bulge in his pants. I grinded against him, thrilled by how hard he already was. I leaned into his touch, wondering where this would end and hoping it would never stop.

He broke our kiss, trailing his lips along my cheek. Down my neck. Then collarbone. He went lower, finding my cleavage while his other hand wandered up my waist to cup my breast. Moaning, I tugged the bodice aside, exposing my taut nipple.

Zayne lowered, swirled his tongue around it, and released it with a soft kiss. I moaned at the lack of friction, and he answered by cupping my breast, squeezing it with his hand.

Leaning back, he stared down at me, and I pebbled further. “Ayla, you taste like sunbeams and summer days. Tell me, are you ready for more?”

My breath hitched.

“Because,” —he tweaked my nipple between his fingers— “I’d like to kiss you everywhere, taste you, devour you, if you’d allow me.”

I shivered at the way the words caught in his throat.

“Please,” I begged.

Zayne obliged, kissing me again, needier than before.

I gulped for air as he lowered to his knees, a hand braced against my thigh. He kissed my belly button, his lips sliding across the fabric of my dress, before he placed another kiss on my hip.

Finally, he slipped a hand under the slit of my skirt, planting a kiss against my exposed thigh. His contact burned me to the core.

As his fingers ran higher, I tugged the skirt wide, easing his journey. His kisses wandered, his tongue not that far behind. I could barely breathe by the time he found my panties.

His fingers wrapped cautiously around the waistband, and I whimpered. He tugged the fabric down my legs, and I stepped out of them, exposing myself to the salty breeze.

Boldly, I held the dress aside as he stared at my crux, my ruddy hair, trimmed low in some hope that he and I would… How I hadhoped for this, how I had feared it. And now that he’d found me, my thighs clenched, certain of what I wanted.

He looked up at me, his hand trembling, his firm jaw poised before my sex.