Page 164 of A Fate in Flames

Sleep pulled at me, my body finally surrendering to profound exhaustion.

Dalkhan stood, water trailing down his body as he lifted me from the basin.He didn’t bother to dry either of us before carrying me back to bed.

He laid me down, slipping me beneath the soft sheets.My bare skin melted into the silk.His arm draped possessively over my waist, our legs tangling.

There was a soft rustling.I lifted my heavy eyelids.Azmik appeared as if summoned, his obsidian scales catching the morning light as he slithered across our intertwined bodies.His little head popped up between us, slitted pupils expanding as he studied my face.

His tiny, forked tongue flicked out to touch my nose.The contact was feather-light.Curious, like he was tasting my scent to confirm I was really here.

“I missed you,” I said, reaching out to stroke along his head.He leaned into my touch, his scales growing hotter.

“He missed you too.”Dalkhan said, reaching out.

Azmik coiled around his hand in greeting.

“Really?”

Azmik seemed to answer for himself, abandoning Dalkhan to make his way to his favourite spot, burrowing into my hair.He twisted and turned with obvious delight, creating the perfect nest.His satisfied hiss vibrated against my scalp.

“Sleep,” Dalkhan ordered, pressing a kiss against the nape of my neck.

I closed my eyes and let darkness take me.

And for the first time in a long time, my dreams did not haunt me.

Just silence.Just peace.

Just him.

I had truly forgotten what it was like to sleep without being haunted.To close my eyes and not be consumed by flames.

A slow, wet heat dragged over me.My eyes flew open.I swept a hand across empty sheets, fingers grasping at nothing.

Dalkhan was no longer next to me.

The realisation of exactly where he was hit just as his tongue swept over me beneath the sheets.I curved off the mattress, tingles sparking low in my belly.

His broad shoulders pushed my thighs apart, hands gripping my hips to hold me still as he worked his mouth over my clit with devastating precision.

“Dalkhan!”I shrieked, one hand flying to grip his hair.

He responded by doubling his efforts, sucking hard.Tongue flicking out in patterns.

My vision blurred, and I let out a long, broken cry.I writhed, attempting to escape the overwhelming sensation, but he held me captive.

“How…” I panted, struggling to form words as pleasure built rapidly inside me.“How do you never get tired of this?”

He hummed against my core, the vibrations nearly sending me to oblivion.His hands slid beneath my thighs, lifting them over his shoulders, changing the angle to plunge his tongue deeper.

I broke apart with a shout, arching clean off the bed as my every nerve ending exploded.

Dalkhan groaned, grip tightening as held me through the aftershocks.Working me through every last tremor.

He dragged his mouth over my shaking thighs before prowling up my body, pinning me beneath his weight.

He kissed me, tongue invading my mouth, letting me taste myself on his lips.I whimpered, grabbing his shoulders and pulling him closer.

“I could taste you every day,” he murmured between heated kisses, “and never fucking tire of it.”