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At last, she met his gaze. ‘Crystal.’

And then she grabbed him by the shirt and dragged his mouth to hers.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THEA

As Wilder Hawthorne met her kiss with a brutal claiming of his own, Thea’s knees buckled. She opened her mouth and his tongue swept in, brushing hers, making her stomach dip in anticipation. She knew what that tongue could do between her legs now, and nearly melted at the thought.

She kissed him, almost delirious with the need for him. A soft cry broke from her. Wind whipped along the clifftop around them.

‘I knew you’d be my ruin,’ Wilder muttered against her lips, his voice thick with lust as he enveloped her with his powerful frame.

Thea pawed at his shirt, tugging at the hem until it was free from his pants, desperate to feel the heat of his skin under her touch. As her fingers trailed along the ridges of his abdomen, he deepened the kiss with a moan, crushing them together.

Thea revelled in the way his body responded to her. She could feel the shape of him pressed against her, straining against his pants. She ran her palm down his hard length, the sensation sending a wicked shiver of pleasure straight to her core.

‘I want you inside me,’ she said, her voice husky.

He kissed her like a starved man, capturing her lower lip between his teeth, breathless. ‘Yes,’ he murmured. ‘But not here.’

Thea gave a cry of frustration, rubbing him through his pants. ‘I don’t care where.’

He caught her by the wrists, his gaze hooded as he gave her a dark, delicious smile. ‘But I do.’ He was moving then, tugging her after him.

He led them down a narrow, winding path, to the mouth of a cave. And then he was on her again, bracing himself behind her, turning her head and taking her mouth with his, heating her blood with long, luxurious kisses as his fingers found the buttons of her shirt.

The fabric hung open down her middle as she twined her arms around his neck and he pulled down her chest band. The cool cave air teased her bare skin, her breasts aching for contact, for his touch. As he cupped each one, her nipples hardened in his palms, her legs spreading involuntarily beneath her.

He pinched her nipples and she arched back, pressing her backside into his rock-hard cock. He ground it against her, but kept her in place, still palming her breasts, squeezing them from behind.

‘Gods…’ he murmured into her neck, kissing her there as his fingers traced the waistband of her pants before he yanked them down over her legs.

Scorching need blazed through Thea and she pushed back onto his cock, dropping her arms so she could remove his pants. She needed to feel him, she needed to —

He seemed to read her mind. A moment later, his pants were gone and the bare, heated crown of him pressed against her. The pressure of his desire made her heart stutter, made her acutely aware of the ache pulsing between her thighs.

Still behind her, he tilted her head back, one hand wrapped gently around her throat, careful of the red marks the whips of shadow had left there. He claimed her mouth in another bruising kiss.

‘Spread your legs, Princess.’

She hated that heat swelled in her at the name, at the command, every gasping breath amplifying her need to have him inside her. She was already opening for him, but at his words, she splayed her legs wide, grinding back onto his cock.

Wilder dragged a finger down her centre and lightly circled her clit, spreading the wetness he found there.

Thea moaned, the noise echoing off the cave walls. He covered the sound with his mouth, and Thea whimpered as he slid a finger inside her while he kissed her.

Her legs were shaking as slowly, he fucked her with his fingers, sliding another inside and drawing out lazy ripples of pleasure.

It wasn’t enough. It wasn’t nearly enough.

‘Wilder…’ she gasped, as he pinched her nipple and her clit at the same time, pleasure and pain mingling so beautifully she nearly came undone.

‘Tell me.’ His voice rumbled through her, setting her alight. ‘Tell me what you want, Thea.’

‘You,’ she panted. ‘I want you. All of you. Now.’

‘Then you’ll have me.’ It was an echo of what he’d said to her in the woods, and she had dreamt of what had come after that declaration for what felt like a lifetime.