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‘Thea…’ he murmured against her lips, hoping he could capture everything he meant with her name alone.

‘Let go, Wilder,’ she whispered, dragging her teeth up the column of his throat. ‘Let go.’

And so Wilder did.

He erupted, ramming into her with the force of his climax. Release tore through him, wave after wave, his body shuddering beneath hers, completely out of control, every extremity tingling in the aftermath.

Panting, he rested his damp brow against hers, still pinning her to the wall.

Thea traced his lower lip with her thumb. ‘I love seeing you come undone like that…’

Wilder drew a ragged breath and kissed her, her mouth as warm and lush as ever, toying with the heat coursing through him.

He carried her back to the bed. ‘Then we’d best do it again,’ he growled.

* * *

For a long time, Wilder had dreamt about what it would be like to wake up next to Thea, to fuck her all night and then share a bed with her properly, to have her in his arms upon waking. He had pictured the joy and peace that would come with it. And it was everything he’d imagined it to be. More. So he allowed himself to savour the moment and the sleepy quiet of the morning to breathe her in, to memorise how she felt pressed against him and how she fit him so perfectly.

He knew he couldn’t have it forever, so he had to make it count.

He drew her to his chest, his arms banded around her waist and breasts, her hair tickling his skin, the warmth of her soaking into him.

She stirred, nestling back into him, her grip tightening on his arm.

There was nothing in the midrealms as perfect as this, nothing so full of bliss. He wasn’t ready for the reality of the morning to seep in, wasn’t ready to confront how brazen they’d been – how by now, all of Harenth would know that Warsword and Guardian were fucking.

Instead, Wilder kissed the soft spot between Thea’s neck and shoulder, unable to quite believe he was able to do such an intimate thing, that it came so naturally. He revelled in the luxury of waking her slowly, pride surging in his chest as she sought him out, even in sleep.

She turned to face him, nuzzling her face into his chest, pressing the rest of her naked body against his hardness beneath the sheets.

‘Morning,’ he murmured into her hair.

She answered him with a kiss to his sternum, and another a little lower. In one swift movement, Thea was astride him, kissing down the plane of his abdomen, reigniting his need for her, fraying his thoughts.

‘I had other plans for you,’ he groaned as she reached between his thighs and wrapped her warm hand around his shaft.

‘You’re not the only one with plans,’ she murmured, continuing her trail down his body, capturing his skin in a gentle bite that made his cock twitch.

She paused at a scar on his side, running a single finger over the pale slash of flesh. ‘What’s that from?’ she asked with another kiss, hovering above the V-shaped dip of sinew above his crotch.

He breathed in deeply, opting for restraint, but distracted beyond measure by the proximity of her wicked mouth to his cock.

Thea gave him a sly smile, as though she knew exactly what he was thinking. She gave him a slow, lazy pump with her hand. ‘I believe I asked you a question, Warsword…’

Gods, he was already leaking for her.

‘Skirmish in Naarva,’ he managed, watching with wide eyes as she continued to stroke him.

‘There you are again with your vivid picture-painting,’ she chastised, slowing her caresses to an agonising pace. The evil woman.

‘Was at a watchtower,’ he breathed heavily. ‘Set upon by shadow wraiths’ – another deliciously torturous slide down his length – ‘one got a swipe in. Thirty-two stitches.’ He bit back a moan.

The glee in Thea’s eyes was nearly enough to make Wilder want to seize control and flip her over, but he froze as she settled herself fully between his legs and lowered her mouth to him.

He nearly bucked off the bed as the warm, wet heat of her lips closed over his cock. Her tongue circled his crown, and the moan that finally escaped him was deep and primal andloud. He didn’t give a fuck who heard him. Threading his fingers through her hair, he watched as she swallowed him down.

‘Fuck…’ he murmured, his voice hoarse with lust, his eyes almost rolling into the back of his head.