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He immediately pulls away, and I collapse back onto my elbows against the table.

“Saints…” I huff, chest heaving. The only sound is my laboured breathing as I close my eyes in bliss.

“Are you alright?” Theo asks, rising to his feet. He leans over me, stroking my cheek.

“I…I cannot feel my legs,” I tell him and we laugh, open and loudly, endorphins flooding my brain.

“Would you like to stop?” he says. Half-recovered, I sit up and kiss him, tasting myself on his lips. He is pressed against me, and I can feel the bulge he is harbouring. It makes me want him more.

“No,” I say. “I want you to take me.”

Theo says nothing but kisses me harder. There is a new fervour to him, an urgency. I reachdown to free him.

He moans at my touch, and I feel him throb. He is warm and solid beneath my fingers, and a warmth pools between my legs again, preparing for him. I guide him towards me, and he grabs my hips, his fingers digging in hard enough to leave bruises. Theo pushes himself against me, where his finger had been just minutes before. I tense up but relax quickly with the familiar strength in his arms around me. He pushes in a few inches, and I clamp around him as though I do not want him to leave.

“Saints,” he hisses through clenched teeth, and I pull my head back to look at him.

“Are you alright?” I ask, concern lacing my voice. But when I look at him, his eyes are glazed over with lust.

“You feel amazing,” Theo groans, drawing back slightly only to push in further. I grasp the back of his neck, anchoring myself as he pulls my thigh up higher.

He fills me, stretches me in a way that is both pleasant and painless. He draws back, and I wrap my legs around him, pulling him deeper until he is fully sheathed. His hips move unhurriedly, back and forth in slow, deliberate movements to make sure I adjust to him. My breathing turns ragged as he rubs against a spot inside me that makes my thighs tremble.

Theo picks up his pace, moving with a renewed urgency, shaking the table beneath mewith every thrust. Each time he withdraws, my body pulls him back.

“More,” I plead, and Theo obliges, grabbing me under my thighs and spreading my legs further. Holding me open for him. His jaw is tense, his eyes on mine. Each stroke sends new waves of energy through me.

“Fuck,” he gasps, tilting his head back. The muscles in his arms and back are hard as boulders, his breathing is uneven—I know he is close. When he next looks at me, there is a question in his eyes.

“Inside me,” I breathe. “Please.”

At my words, Theo shudders violently and lets his head fall forward onto my shoulder. His grip is hard, keeping me as close as possible. He moans, eyes squeezed shut. I slide my hand up to the back of his head and hold him to me as he finishes, kissing his neck softly.

When he recovers, he lifts his head, eyes dazed. We smile and press our foreheads together.

“I do not-,” Theo closes his eyes briefly, swallowing hard. He breathes deep before trying again. “I wish I had the words for what you mean to me,” he whispers. “I cannot describe it.”

“Theo-”

“Please.” He pulls back to lock eyes with me. “Please let me try.”

Silently, I push back his honey dark hair matted to his forehead and give himan encouraging smile. Theo takes a trembling breath.

“There is no end to the admiration I hold for you. Your mind, your courage, your absolute determination is nothing short of remarkable.” Despite his nerves, the words fall so naturally from his mouth. Theo reaches up to brush the pad of his thumb across my cheek. “If souls could speak, mine would be calling out for you. I do not pray to the Saints but I would pray to you. I would fall at your feet without question, I would crawl across the deserts of Coalsburgh, I would swim across the Great Oceans for you. Saints, Shivani, I will wring this curse from my bones so I can be with you.”

I do not realise I am crying until I feel the tears slide down my cheeks. Theo brushes them away, his own eyes shiny but clear as glass. He beams at me with his lopsided smile.

“I love you,” he whispers.

My heart swells. My au’mana, even quietened, hums softly. Calling to him. Calling to his soul.

“I love you, too,” I say, and I know I will give everything I have to defend him.

Chapter 31

Month Six

The king has arrived, along with the poor girl from Swordstead, at The Magenta Inn. When I query what this means with Inez, she gives me a sad look.