Page 127 of Daughter of the Dark Sea

“You know what I want.” His gaze darkened as her back brushed against the nearest tree.

A small clearing laid before them, circular with mounds of thick grass and scattered, moss-covered rocks. Thick, dark trees rimmed the edge, their roots clawing across the ground to the centre, where the smallest beam of sunlight pierced the canopy.

“Do I?” She arched into the tree as Blake halted, his body so close she could feel the tensity vibrating from him. “Apologies if I’m confused, but you’re the one giving mixed signals. You were sat with Bree at the council meeting.”

His jaw twitched and his fists clenched.Not a good sign.

“I couldn’t find you, and she requested me to sit with her. I couldn’t deny it in front of the admiral.”

“You cannot deny her quite a lot, it seems.”

He leaned forward, until his hot breath blew in her face. “I cannot denyyou. I cannot live withoutyou. I’ve told you many times, you are myeverything.You are my reason for existing, my reason forlife. Just like this forest, I would be barren and dead without you.”

Oh, shit.

“I know I’ve made some bad decisions,” his fingers brushed the column of her throat, his stare narrowing on the bruised flesh. “I know I’ve made mistakes,” his hands swept to clasp her shoulders. “I’ve broken promises,” he placed a kiss on her neck, and her body unforgivingly shivered. “I’ve not listened to you,” his kisses trailed up her neck, and across her jaw.

She trembled with resistance, her willpower slowly evaporating. If this male continued, she wasn’t sure what she would do. Her heart felt broken, and her mind was a pool ofchaos, but her body . . . gods, her body was ready to be a traitor and surrender to his touch.

“I’ve waited for you for too long. I need you before I lose you,” he whispered against her ear before capturing her lips in a harsh kiss, and he instantly parted her mouth with his tongue, exploring her with urgency.

“Tell me we’re real,” he moaned. “Tell me this isn’t over.”

He cupped her face, pulling her towards his tall frame as he fisted her hair, tugging her head back to angle her mouth better. Well . . . she couldn’t answer with his tongue in her mouth. But she didn’t pull away. Her heart cried for him, for his touch, for his warmth.

“Kora . . .”

Hearing her name on his lips sent an untenable shudder through her. It somehow feltmoreintimate. He repeated her name like a prayer, his touches growing desperate with urgency as his hands explored down the lengths of her body.

“I need to know, my Kora,” he whispered against her ear before nibbling at her lobe. “Are we real? Does this feel real?”

More kisses followed and she gasped, her body trembling with deep buried desire that’d been suppressed for so long. Months—years—of always beingjustout of reach to each other, at the precipice offallingfor each other, but never quite taking the leap of faith.

“We never said those words,” Blake’s mouth parroted her thoughts and she quivered beneath his tightening grip on her waist, her hips—gods, it felt like his hands wereeverywhere.Leaving a trailing sensation of wicked hot flames.

“I—”

He cut her off, and she startled as she was sucked into him. The scent of petrichor mixed with the earthy forest made her dizzy, and her footing stumbled. She grabbed onto Blake’s chest, making him groan.

“Blake, I—”

“It’s okay,asterya. I’m sorry for how I’ve acted. It’s all been . . . a lot.”

For a moment—just a moment—she was back onHell’s Serpent, kissing her first mate, the sea breeze encasing them as they passionately embraced on the deck. The promise of forbidden love driving their desire towards each other. A simmer bloomed in the pit of her stomach.

Blake’s moans cut through her sizzling heat. She wasn’t on her ship, and this male was no longer her first mate. He was a stranger. Who Bree was clearly infatuated with. And Barron had just declared war. On everyone.

Kora pushed him back until he leaned against a branch. He lazily smiled as he attempted tugging her with him, but she fumbled out of his grasp, whipping her hand up to create a barrier. His face dropped, the glisten in his green eyes fading.

“We need to talk.”

He groaned, running a hand through his hair. “That’s never good. How about, less talking, and more kissing?” He reached for her, but she slapped his hand away.

“Stop distracting me with all . . .this.” She gestured to his body.

“You just gestured to all of me.” He cocked his head, his lips curling.

“You said you’ve not listened to me, I’m asking you to listen to me now.” Her heart squeezed as he straightened. She wasn’t sure where they stood, and what she said next may disrupt this new dynamic. “We need to stop Barron,” she declared.