Page 29 of Beyond the Winter Kingdom (Faeted Seasons #2)

Meera

The water shimmered, a luminous, almost electric blue. Perfectly still, as though the world itself had stopped to hold its breath.

Vareck stood in the center of the pool; shirtless, drenched, powerful. He didn’t need to turn around. He knew I was there. I saw it in the way his body stilled, not from surprise, but anticipation.

My voice cut through the quiet. “Have room for another?”

His head turned slightly, enough for me to catch the glint in his icy eyes. “Get in,” he commanded. No hesitation. No polite dismissals or feigned indifference. Just raw want in the form of two words.

That was all the invitation I needed.

I pulled my shirt over my head, slow and deliberate, watching the way his gaze raked over me. My skin prickled beneath its intensity.

“You know this is a dream, right?” I said, kicking off my boots.

His expression didn’t change, but there was something wicked in the curve of his mouth. “I’m aware, yes.” I undid my pants slowly, letting him watch as I peeled them down my legs. Finally, I slid out of my panties and let them drop.

Standing completely bare, my pulse thundering, I looked down at my own body, then up at him. “We don’t have to hold back here,” I murmured, the implication of my words clear.

He didn’t speak. Just stared at me, his eyes fixed on my face like it was the first time he’d ever seen me. It was almost enough for me to come undone.

Almost.

But when he said, “I don’t plan on it,” his voice thick with desire, it lit a fuse inside me.

I crouched at the pool’s edge and slid into the warm water.

The warmth of the water spread across my skin, but it was nothing compared to the searing heat of his gaze.

I waded in slowly. The silence between us was no longer weighted with distrust and tension.

It was no longer marked by communication breakdowns and relationship flaws.

Now it was charged; driven by need and longing.

Vareck didn’t move as I approached. He let me come to him. Let me step into his space until I was close enough that the rise and fall of his chest brushed against my breasts.

“Then what are you waiting for?” I whispered, tilting my chin up to meet his gaze. “Claim me, Vareck.”

His hands were on me; frenzied, calloused, and gripping my skin so tightly as though he'd reached his breaking point. Vareck hauled me forward, his mouth crashing into mine with a hunger that made my knees buckle. I clung to his shoulders, fisting my hands in his wet hair as he kissed me.

Our mouths warred. His tongue plunged past my lips, demanding, claiming. And I gave it to him—matched his hunger with my own. Because gods help me, I wanted this just as badly.

He backed me up until I felt the cool, slick stone wall of the pool against my skin. His hand cupped the side of my face, his thumb dragging across my cheekbone before tangling in my hair and yanking my head back, exposing my throat.

“You’ve haunted every dream I’ve had for years,” he growled against my skin. “I wish I could be gentle and make love to you the way you deserve, but I’m too far gone for that.”

I gasped, moaning as his lips moved down my neck. The pointed end of his fangs scraped against the sensitive skin where the curve of my neck met my shoulder. “I don’t want gentle.”

He growled, an animalistic, primal sound, and then his hands slid down my thighs, the water sloshing around us. He gripped the backs of my legs and picked me up before placing me on the ledge. Legs spread and vulnerable to him, I shivered.

His eyes met mine, a shade darker than they should have been. His fury was near the surface. “Keep your eyes on me,” he ordered.

And then he buried his face between my thighs.

I cried out, my back arching, fingers scrambling for purchase against the slick ground beneath me. His tongue was relentless—slick, sinful strokes that had me shaking in seconds. He sucked my clit into his mouth, humming deep in his throat, and the vibration shot through me like lightning.

“Vareck—gods—fuck, don’t stop,” I begged, heels digging into his back as my hips rolled against his mouth.

He didn’t. He pinned my thighs wide, his mouth devouring me. His tongue plunged inside me, curled and stroked, then he shifted—one hand sliding up to pinch and tease my nipple while he worked me toward the edge again.

I shattered for him, clenching and pulsing around nothing. My vision went white.

But he didn’t let up.

Before I could come down, he rose from the water like some beautiful, wrathful god, the planes of his chest glistening as he stood to his full, imposing height. His cock jutted out from his body, thick, hard, and angry red.

“I want you to remember how this feels,” he said darkly, grabbing my waist. “So when you wake up aching, you’ll wonder how you ever thought I was just a fantasy.”

He lifted me easily, like I weighed nothing, and impaled me on him in one savage, unforgiving thrust.

No warning. No easing in.

Just thick, full, and all-consuming.

I exploded, screaming his name into the night. My body convulsed around him, every nerve on fire.

He didn’t stop.

His thrusts were relentless, brutal. His hand on my ass moved me on his cock, forcing me to take him deeper. My nipples dragged across his chest, sending more sparks through me.

I screamed. My head fell back. Every muscle in my body locked down as he filled me; deep, hard, perfect.

Vareck hissed through his teeth, holding still, buried to the hilt. “You’re so godsdamn tight,” he groaned. “So fucking perfect.”

“Move,” I gasped, nails scoring his shoulders. “Fuck me like you mean it.”

He did.

He fucked me like it was his mission. Like this dream was the only place he could ever touch me, and he was going to make it count. Every thrust rocked my body, the sound of skin on skin echoing through the quiet, mist-laced air. The water churned around us as he drove into me over and over.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding on as he claimed me. His hand slid down, cupped my ass, lifted and dropped me onto his cock like he knew it would wreck me further. And fuck, I loved it. I loved every brutal second of it.

“I can feel you clenching,” he growled, lips brushing my ear. “You gonna come for me again, Meera?”

“Yes—fuck, yes—don’t stop,” I cried out.

He reached between us, thumb finding my clit, circling it with ruthless precision.

Harder than the first time, I went over the edge. I convulsed around him, crying out his name, trembling as my orgasm tore through me like wildfire.

He didn’t stop.

He pulled out, turned me around, and bent me over the ledge, my hands bracing on the stone. His hand fisted in my hair, yanked my head back, and then he slammed into me from behind.

I sobbed with pleasure, legs shaking, the position deeper, rougher. His other hand slipped around my waist, fingers sliding down and finding my clit again, tormenting it as he thrust harder and faster.

“You feel that?” he snarled. “That’s mine. This body, this pussy, this dream—it’s all mine.”

I was incoherent—gasping, whimpering, shattering again as he pushed me into a third orgasm with ruthless efficiency. My body was nothing but sensation, a vessel for the overwhelming, soul-deep pleasure he dragged out of me.

And then I felt it.

The shift. The unmistakable heat blooming low in my belly as his rhythm faltered, as his breath hitched against my neck.

He was close.

“I want to come with you,” he panted. “One more, Meera. Give me one more.”

I moaned his name, pushed back against him. Then his fangs pierced my neck.

White-hot ecstasy exploded through me. I shattered around him again, screaming. My legs locked tight as he fucked me harder, chasing his own climax.

But it still wasn’t enough.

“Need. More,” he growled.

He pulled out and rolled me over, like I weighed little more than a rag doll.

I loved the way he could move my body. Water sluiced down his body as he lifted himself out of the water and onto the ledge.

He pulled me onto his lap and suddenly I was straddling him, riding him, chasing another high. I ground my hips, fucking him deep.

“What do you need?” I purred.

“Bite me.”

His hands gripped my thighs, bruising. I leaned forward and dragged my tongue up his throat.

“Bite me,” he demanded again.

I sank my fangs into his neck ...