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I leaned back slightly, trying to adjust to the thickness of him. His free hand reached up, fingers splaying across my throat, clawing down across my chest and stomach before settling on my hip, guiding me more fully onto him.

“Sit on it,” he instructed, his fingers digging deeper into my skin.

I sank against him, slowly, moaning softly as he filled me inch by inch. His thickness felt even more impressive than it had looked. Both of his hands settled on my backside, helping mebalance while caressing and stretching me, encouraging me to sink lower.

“So perfectly tight,” he said, his grip on me strengthening, muscles flexing as he lifted me up and down on his cock in a slow, perfect rhythm. As I began to ride him more confidently—more smoothly—he lifted his hips to meet me with harder and harder thrusts, the sweet, slick sounds of our joining echoing through the night air.

He palmed the back of my head and pulled my face toward him, bringing his mouth to my ear, and growled, “Brace your hands against the back of the sofa.”

I did, leaning forward and burying my face in the side of his neck with the same motion. It felt both primal and intimate, curving against him while his motions grew rougher, faster, bringing us together with increasingly reckless passion.

The heat between us roared hotter. The sofa creaked beneath our shifting weight. The air filled with swirls of shadow and light, intertwining so tightly it was impossible to say what belonged to whom. For a few blissful minutes, it didn’tmatterwhich magic was which—I was his, he was mine, and the world around us blurred, all its different sides and division undone by the sheer force ofus.

As the first cries of my release rose in my throat, Aleks wrapped me in a powerful embrace, jerking me against him, burying himself more fully inside of me. His hands hooked over my shoulders, holding me to him as he followed me over the edge, and together we rode the waves of bliss to their peaceful, trembling end.

Once the last bits of my orgasm had shuddered through me, I crumpled against him, arms hanging around his neck, pulse still pounding. He leaned against the sofa’s backing, dragging me with him while reaching for a blanket to wrap around us.

We existed in a state of perfect contentment for a little while, oblivious to anything outside of the two of us.

Eventually, I untangled myself from him. He offered me his shirt. I slipped it on while he pulled his trousers back on, and then I promptly tucked myself back against his chest. He let his chin rest upon my head, his arm circled loosely around my waist, while I closed my eyes and slipped into a dream filled with music and a world that was bursting, vibrant and alive with color.

“I’m really earning quite the collection of prizes, aren’t I?” he said after a few minutes, the words whispering over my scalp, sending a pleasant tingle across it.

“And I’ve never been so gracious over a lost bet,” I replied, yawning.

His fingers skated up my spine before settling against the side of my head, stroking my hair. “Anytime you want to lose again, just let me know.”

I responded with a soft, sleepy laugh, closing my eyes once more as I nestled closer to his chest, burying myself in the comforting scent of him, and I tried to think of nothing else.

I woketo the sound of bells in the distance. Loud, pealing notes that ran through body like a cold wind. It was a traditional call to welcome visitors; my brother had mentioned it during our conversation yesterday. Warned me of it.

Aleks was already up, perched on the edge of the lounge, staring at the sky, which was the murkiest it had been since we came to this palace. When he noticed I was awake, he beckonedme over, wrapping me up in his arms and one of the heavier blankets we’d taken from my room.

We sat for a long time without speaking. It was tempting not to acknowledge the new day and the challenges awaiting us in it—as though ignoring these things would make them go away.

“The sky seems darker than usual, doesn’t it?” I whispered, more to myself than him.

He didn’t answer immediately, except to shift our position so he could slip his hand out from under the blanket. He twisted his wrist and subtly bent his fingers, drawing faint wisps of magic into his command.

A moment later, I watched a slant of light cut through the shadows on the wall beside us, casting a dazzling pattern that—at least, for a moment—distracted me from the dark and ominous sky.

I smiled softly at the memory of the last time he’d done this, and, just like when we were children, I found myself compelled to join him. My hand lifted as well, calling shadows into my palm, which I directed toward his floating fragments of light. They wove gently together, changing the patterns being projected on the grey bricks, creating a show of fluid, shifting shapes—shapes that seemed to be alive; a living tapestry of magic.

And as the different shades of our power danced, rising and falling together in an intricate harmony, I realized something.

I had fallen in love with him.

Everything seemed to still, just for a moment, including my heart.

If only I could have juststayedstill.

But in my head, I knew better. The world had not stopped.Nothinghad stopped. Not the Above. Not the Below. They were both careening toward a collision, toward battles I still didn’t know how to fight. Tomorrow was coming, and tomorrow Iwould have to face a room full of people who expected me to lead them. To save them. Regardless of who I loved.

I lost my focus on my shadows; they scattered, taking most of Aleksander’s light with them.

Another bell rang out, the sound low and hollow and cold, and my heart felt as if it might shatter.

Chapter Thirty-Nine