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“Sera,” he murmured, her name barely audible, reverent and rough all at once. His hand, still firm on the curve of her hip, slid upward, grazing her ribs. Her breaths shuddered against his palm, and he had to close his eyes for fear of losing himself entirely in the way she was looking at him.

Her fingers found the lapels of his coat, trembling only slightly as she tugged him closer, and any willpower he’d clung to dissolved instantly.

He stepped forward, pressing her gently yet completely against the door, his hands framing her face now as he searched her eyes.

She held his stare, unflinching, and what he saw there made every sacrifice, every regret, every moment of torment worth it.

It wasn’t just desire; it was trust, fragile and whole all at once like she was handing him a piece of herself and daring him to break it.

He wouldn’t.

I won’t.

His lips found her neck this time, moving slowly, reverently, down to where her pulse thrummed and leaped beneath his touch.

Her bare skin was impossibly warm against his mouth, and every sigh she gave was a melody that unraveled his careful composure.

He could stay here forever, lose himself completely in her touch, but he needed more. Needed her.

His hands slid back down her waist, catching at the fabric of her gown as he pulled her with him, away from the door.

Her laugh—light, breathless—was the most beautiful sound he’d heard in years.

He led her across the room, his lips finding hers again, softer this time, a slow burn rather than a blaze.

The moonlight fell across the bed, illuminating a space too small for two but perfect for them.

“Better than a cave,” she whispered, her voice lilting and teasing, though it trembled slightly, and Alex knew it wasn’t from fear.

“Far better,” he replied, his own voice dark with feeling, his smile ghosting against her cheek. But his hands were steady as he slid them lower again, anchoring her, grounding himself in the feel of her in his arms. He would never have enough of her. Never.

He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her to stand between his knees, looking up at her now, devouring the delicate flush on her cheeks, the way she bit her bottom lip as if to keep from saying something.

His hands ran lightly, reverently, up and down her arms as if committing her to memory, though he already knew he’d remember this night for the rest of his life.

“Sera,” he began softly, unsure of how to put into words what was threatening to overflow inside him. But she leaned forward, silencing him with a kiss, and he pulled her down to him, consuming her completely as the world beyond them ceased to exist.

The room dissolved around him. There was no damask wallpaper, no moonlight pooling over the polished floors.

There was only her—soft, yielding, and utterly his.

Alex had never known touch could feel like this, like every nerve in his body was tuned to hers, like her breath over his skin could stir volcanic fervor within him.

His lips whispered over her collarbone as he bent with her onto the bed, his hands roaming with reverence, urgency, and something too tender to be named.

Sera clutched at him, her fingers threading through his light sandy hair, tugging as she pulled his face back up to hers.

Their mouths met again, desperate now, consuming, her moan a stifled melody that made his very spine shiver with need.

He cradled her face as though it might splinter under the wildness between them, his thumb brushing her temple even as his other hand swept down, anchoring her by her waist, as if holding her in place might keep the night from crumbling into nothing.

The rhythm between them built, a perfect storm of shared gasps and whispered names shattered into fractured syllables.

“Alex, oh Alex,” she cried, meeting him exactly where he needed her.

“Sera,” he rasped, her name guttural and fractured, dragged from depths he hadn’t known existed. Her leg shifted—her thigh pressing against his hip—as she arched into him, and Alex thought briefly that heaven must feel like this, if he believed in such things.

When she looked at him—her gaze impossibly dark, impossibly luminous—it was his undoing.

There was no coyness, no pretense, just raw trust and longing.

His heartbeat thundered in his ears, drowning out everything but her.

This woman. She was a force he’d underestimated, her love a treasure he’d once risked losing entirely.

“My prince.”

Every touch, every movement grew sharper, amplified by the electric connection pulling them both taut with anticipation.

Alex’s hand smoothed across her shoulder, down the dip of her spine, his fingertips memorizing each and every curve as if this moment were their last. Sera trembled beneath him, her breath catching, her hands clutching at his back, pulling them closer until there was no space, no air, nothing but the tether between them snapping taut.

The wave crested with the force of inevitability, and Alex buried his face in the crook of her neck, his groan low and shattered as the storm inside him broke.

Sera’s cries mingled with the heavy air between them, her arms tightening around him, anchoring him even as the floor seemed to fall away.

Together they collapsed, their bodies pliant and utterly spent as they tangled into one another, the quiet hum of their heartbeats the only sound in the world now.

His chest rose and fell against hers, their breaths mingling hot and uneven.

Alex rolled slightly to the side, without relinquishing his hold on her, his hand gripping hers now, lacing their fingers together like a vow unspoken.

Her head rested over his heart, the warmth of her cheek settling him, even as bliss still coursed faintly through his veins.

He wanted to say something, but words felt hollow compared to this.

Instead, he pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead, inhaling deeply. Sera exhaled softly, her body molding naturally against his, as if she had always belonged there. And for once, Alex allowed himself to believe that she did.

They lay there, cradled in the fragile cocoon of their privacy, wrapped in moonlight and the absolute certainty that they were none other than their truest selves for this brief, stolen moment.

“I thought…” She inhaled deeply. “I thought I’d lost you this summer.” Her eyes shut, but a smile twisted her lips. “You might not understand this, but I truly thought for a minute that I lost my prince this summer. I’d have regretted it for the rest of my life.”

“I’m here. For as long as you’ll have me.” Alex wiped a tear off her cheek. “You didn’t lose your prince; I found my princess.”