Page 28 of Court of Secrets and Flames (Dragons of Tirene #2)

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Desire courses through me like wildfire. His hold shifts, one hand cupping my rear as the other tightens around my back.

A shudder runs down the length of his body.

“More.” Tugging him closer, I claim his lips with mine.

He groans into the kiss, his hands roaming my body with fervor.

Though he hasn’t been drinking, he reminds me of fine whiskey. Smooth and intoxicating.

We’re ravenous, driven by a hunger that only grows with each passing second. I’m tired of having to act like he means nothing to me. Like I don’t want him to fuck me senseless every time we share a heated glance or a soft touch. Like I’m not in love with this man whose layers I’ve yet to peel back.

I may not be able to admit this to him. Or to have him when we’re in public.

But for now, he’s mine.

And I won’t take that for granted.

I run a hand up his neck, fingers sliding through his silken hair despite the wind rushing through it. He huffs out a low growl and covers my mouth with his.

This is where I should be. This is what I want. All of this and more.

Aclaris. Tirene. Neither matters. I belong in the sky, with Sterling.

My hands roam with abandon. I need his skin on mine. To feel his body pressed against me, heating me from the inside out.

“Knox.” My voice is husky with need.

“I know.” He plants a soft kiss on the corner of my mouth, then expertly undoes the fastenings along the back of my tunic as I struggle with his belt.

The dance is as old as time, yet our feet are nowhere near the dance floor. And gravity is not our ally in this moment. Neither is the humid wind as it tugs at our loosened clothing, pushing and pulling as fabric slips and slides.

The buttons of my shirt come undone, and the wind tugs it down to catch along my hips. The garment tangles around my belt, leaving me bare from the waist up. My legs twist around his.

With a lurch, Knox misjudges a thermal, and our coasting ends abruptly. I’m so engrossed in his touch, his taste, that I don’t notice in time to correct us or create a new updraft.

We plummet, spiraling down toward the earth.

We’re too low. Going too fast.

A yelp escapes me, and fear mingles with exhilaration. My heart drums in my ears. Flipping over, I break our embrace and beat at the wind, cupping my wings to hold the air and slow our fall.

Knox attempts the same to no avail.

The ground rushes up to meet us.

Below us is a marshland, with shallow muddy pools speckled throughout the soggy terrain. I didn’t realize we were so close to the sea. I do my best to get my legs under me again, feet ready to hit the ground running. We both aim for a stretch of solid-looking ground, waiting until the last second to release each other’s hands.

We overshoot the landing, slamming into the edge of a salt marsh in a tangle of limbs and mud. My senses immediately go into overload. The briny scent of the sea. Mud splattered on my body. The calls of distant gulls. Their cries echo over the expanse of waterlogged grasses and open pools reflecting the afternoon light.

Somehow, in this messy, unceremonious descent, I’m grateful for the softness of the wet ground beneath us where the land meets the ocean. I’ll take that over broken bones.

In a shrugging motion, I roll my shoulders to dislodge my mud-caked braid.

My wings. They’re gone.

Vanished. Leaving nothing but the sensation of lightness behind.

For a second, I’m too stunned by what just happened to do anything but stare at my naked back where my wings once were.

“How did…”

Knox’s laughter, deep and throaty and warm, breaks the spell. “I told you it would happen when you were ready.”

“No one likes a know-it-all.”

I can’t help but laugh, too, the sound bubbling up from deep within me. With my wings gone, my eyesight has settled down to normal. Or at least what it used to be.

I don’t know what normal is anymore.

And in this moment, I don’t care.

Knox appraises my mud-spattered, half-naked body, the heat in his gaze warming me to my core.

And then his mouth is on mine again. It’s sweet and fierce. Soft, yet demanding. I melt into his kisses—into him—like the last rays of the sun sinking into the sea.

Despite the uneven footing in the moist soil, I manage to wrap my leg around him.

His hand skims up the back of my thigh, his long fingers reaching the apex. “You’re a fucking goddess.”

The words re-form my blood into liquid fire.

My fingers fumble with the clasp of his shirt, urgency lending a clumsy haste to my movements. His hands are no less eager as they slide under the hem of my shirt-tangled belt. We’re a mess of limbs and desire, shifting around to undress the other.

Finally, I rid him of his clothes, and he shimmies his hips, causing his trousers to slide low.

I run my hand over his erection.

With a groan, he clasps a hand over my wrist. “Fuck.”

I ease my hand from his grip so I can instead spear my fingers through his hair. “Is that your favorite word?”

“It is when I’m with you.” His arms settle around me, pushing my breasts against his hard chest.

Fuck is right. “Is that a fact?”

He nips my lower lip. “Yes.”

“Hmm…I’m starting to think you’re all talk and?—”

With a strangled sound, he pulls me down to the ground on top of him. On his back, he leans up and lifts me into a sitting position. His hard cock presses against my belly, the tip glistening with wetness.

My face heats as realization dawns. He wants me to be on top. To be in control. And I have very little experience. “What if I do it wrong?”

“You can’t do it wrong.” His expression steals my breath. “Ready?”

I nod.

A smile tugs at his lips. “I need to hear?—”

“I know. You need to hear me say it.” I grab his hand and lift it to my mouth, planting a kiss in his palm. “I’m ready.”

In a swift motion, he lifts me again, guiding my hips and easing me onto him. “Fuck.”

This time, I don’t tease him. I couldn’t if I wanted to. I have no words. No thoughts.

Only an insatiable need for him.

Knox gives me time to adjust before easing out and then back in. He thrusts his hips upward, and I match his tempo.

Every nerve focuses on the rhythm we create, the carnal dance beneath the open sky. There’s no one around for miles. No worry about intrusion. No stress of having to hurry, or that we might be caught. Nothing to hold me back.

There’s only the two of us and what we have between us.

He doesn’t take his eyes off me as I ride him. Like I might vanish if he glances away.

I grind against him. “Like what you see?”

He groans. “You know I do. But there’s one problem.”

I tilt my head. “Oh?”

“I need to touch you. To kiss you. To worship every inch of you while I fuck you.”

My entire body ignites into flames. “Don’t let me stop you.”

Before I can say anything else, he flips us, settling his weight on top of me, skin to skin. Cool, mud-covered fingers skim me from hip to shoulder. His teeth scrape over my nipple as he enters me again.

Oh gods.

He stretches me and fills me, body and soul.

He’s still for a moment as he kisses me. Soft and sweet and full of unspoken promises.

Rearing back an inch, he tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Are you all right?”

I start to nod but stop myself, opting for one of those audible responses he loves so much. “Better than all right.” I trail my fingers down the dips and ridges of his back. “Are you?”

His lips tilt up in a soft smile. “I am now that I’m here with you.”

My pulse leaps. Broody instructor Knox spurs my lust when he’s bossing me around, but sweet Knox? He’s dangerous for my heart.

Then his mouth crashes onto mine again, and he’s moving over me. Thrusting in slow, deep motions. I match his movements, hips rocking to meet his.

His silken hair brushes against my skin. My senses reel with the feel of him. The taste of him. The heady scent of him and the earth. The rightness of this.

Of us.

My control spirals as I lose myself in him. Deep within me, pleasure builds. I rake my nails down Sterling’s back. He splays a hand over the soft flesh of my hips, squeezing hard.

A crescendo rolls through us both until it breaks. With a snap, Sterling’s wings come out, beating the air around us. The silky feathers caress my body, covering me in their soft expanse.

I come undone with a soft moan. “Knox.”

His only answer is a guttural noise as his teeth sink into the flesh where my shoulder meets my neck. Shaking, overwhelmed, I hold him tight as we crest together.