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She whispered, “Sorceri don’t have mates.”

“Do we not, then? I dreamed about your drinking me because on some level, I already knew what you are. Mine. So I wantyou to take my blood, whatever strength I can provide, and my memories—because they are alreadyyours.”

An avalanche of emotion fueled her desire. “We’re mates. Found.”

He looked so proud as he said, “Delivered to each other by fate.”

“Adham, you’rehim.”

“Him.” He swallowed thickly. “Always.”

The rain ended with a gasp, so suddenly it felt like a nod from the gods—like permission that they didn’t need. The abrupt silence magnified their shallow breaths, the rustle of their clothes as they shifted even closer to one another.

Voice a rasp, he said, “In the beginning, I viewed you as a desert rose that didn’t know the sands were about to destroy it. Yet a part of me wondered, what if the desert gentled its touch? What if it learned to protect instead of destroy?” Light emerged from his palms, and the sand in his pouch rose to float beside them, resembling a silken scarf caught on a breeze.

Her lips parted when it flowed to caress her cheek, the warm embrace of his sorcery made physical. Then he raised his flattened palm, and the sand collected above it. Before their eyes, grains coalesced into a shape. . . .

“It’s a rosebud!” A desert rose. “Your power is so beautiful.”

He made the twirling bud blossom, as if illustrating what had happened with their feelings.I love him.And that love was bound up in the heat that already pulsated between them. The divine had never been closer.

Sorcery reflected off the sparkling quartz in pinpoints across their faces. Eyes rapt on her, he murmured, “I was born to protect you, Kosmina. I will tonight and for all my days after.” He returned the sand to his pouch. “You must feed.”

“Then I want you inside me at the same time.”

He surveyed their surroundings. “We can’t do this here. I need to be on guard and get you to safety?—”

“You’re talking as if this isn’t already written in stone. It is.”

He wavered but shook his head. “You were right before; we have to escape this dying place. And for your first time, you need a soft bed, time, and a gentle touch. Inside, I’m all chaos. I can’t give you what you’ve dreamed of.”

“You told me to follow my instincts. They’re screaming at meto mateuntil I can’t think. And if I can’t think, I can’t fight. If your instincts are half as loud as mine, how will we concentrate on our incursion?”

He hesitated. Then he exhaled a pent-up breath. “Your point is sound.”

Nothing could stop this now. “You’re ready to give me what I want?” Love.

Grave nod. Intent eyes.

She gripped his hard shaft, making him shudder with pleasure. “Then why isn’t this inside me?”

Forty-Three

Good question.

Adham had been immune to the siren’s voice because his soul was given; denying Kosmina’s own allure simply wasn’t possible.

As she peered up at him, he sensed some primal feminine knowledge within her. Was she about to teach him the mystery? She rubbed his shaft, blanking those thoughts, then released him to undress. She stripped off her sword and clothes until she stood naked before him. Though she straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin, his princess trembled.

“Exquisite.”My mate.As he gazed at her, he had difficulty processing how brightly fortune had shined on him. Now he must be worthy of her.

She backed up to a wet rock face, as far from a soft bed as it could be. “Be with me.” Part question, part command.

“Always,” he repeated. He dumbly followed, tearing off his belt and yanking free his rain-soaked clothing. He was so stiff that his length slapped against him with his movements. As his eager steps took him closer, the realization struck him that he was about to claim his virgin mate.It’s really going to happen.He needed to prepare her untried body, sparing her pain.

When he stood before her, he leaned down to kiss her supple breasts, each in turn. She cradled his head to her when he sucked, but her sex’s sweet scent drew him lower.

He knelt before her and hooked one of her legs over his shoulder. Burying his face, he inhaled his woman’s ambrosia.My mate’s.The idea tightened his chest as much as it swelled his shaft.