Page 176 of Lady of the Drowned Empire

“Do you know how many times I fantasized about this?” Rhyan asked. “How many times I thought about throwing you over my shoulder, stripping you naked, and taking you in the baths of the Katurium?” He pumped up into me, growling with each thrust. “In our training room? In my apartment? In yours? How much I fucking wanted you everywhere?”

I dug my nails into his shoulder, my inner walls beginning to pulse, the sensations overwhelming.

It felt like I was going to go over the edge. I’d never come so many times before. Never this powerfully. I’d never been this sensitive. I started to tense, worried a scream was about to rip through me, and I pushed forward, burying my moan in his shoulder.

“No, partner,” he said wickedly, pushing me back against the rock, one hand restraining my arms above me. “No hiding. I want to hear it. Hear everything. Hear you scream.”

He was completely in control like this, fucking me, while I could do little more than lay back on the rock and take it.

My breath came short, and my moans echoed across the spring as he pumped into me again and again and again. Years of pent-up desire, of longing, powered each thrust. And my own need for him, my own years of sacrifice and denial, were hungrily taking every stroke. With nothing to hold onto, I writhed and thrashed against the wall, moaning and cursing, my heels digging into his ass.

I didn’t even recognize my voice anymore or the sounds I was making.

Rhyan’s eyes bore into mine. “Yes, Lyr. Yes.” He released my wrists, sliding his hand to my breast.

I couldn’t take it anymore. The orgasm ripped through me, shattering me all over again as I screamed, keening right into Rhyan’s own release until his yells of pleasure were all I could hear.

He tensed, his abdomen flexing as he pumped into me one last time. Then he gathered me into his arms, kissing me and dragging me back into the water.

“Can I apologize in advance if you’re sore tomorrow?” He kissed my shoulder.

“I’ll probably make you apologize then, too,” I said. “But…worth it.”

“What if I swear I’ll make it up to you?” he asked.

“And just how are you going to do that?”

He grinned. “I can think of lots of ways.” His finger traced a line to my breast, and he lowered his head, tugging my nipple between his lips until I gasped, arching back. He tightened his hold on me. “Might start with worshipping these.”

“Well, it’s a start,” I said breathlessly as he kissed his way up to my lips.

My chest was still heaving as he held me, and so was his—something that didn’t usually happen even after our most intense workout and training sessions thanks to his god-like strength.

I swallowed, looking down at my chest, at the faint gold of the star. It hadn’t lit up that time.

Rhyan’s gaze followed mine, one eyebrow furrowed. “I wish I knew what triggered it. What it meant.”

I brushed a loose curl from his forehead. The water and perspiration gave him tighter curls than usual. “Did you see anything that time?”

“No. Only you. Only my Lyr.”

I smiled. “Rakame.”

“Always.”

Sometime later, he carried me out of the spring, taking care to dry me and rearrange the blankets so we could actually sleep and stay warm. He laid me back down in our nest of blankets while he added more debris to the fire.

When he was finished, he started toward me, but stopped suddenly in his tracks, staring down, a goofy smile on his face.

“What?” I asked.

“Just…you. All of you. I was so frenzied, needed so badly to touch you, to take you, I didn’t have the chance to just look and admire you. How fucking beautiful you are.”

My breath caught. I’d certainly been naked before in front of others. But in pieces. In the dark. Or in the bathing room where it was understood we didn’t openly stare and gawk.

And at this point, Rhyan had undressed me more times than I could remember, but always respectfully, always with an attempt to keep his eyes on my face until he had permission to look. Now he had it. And he was taking full advantage, his eyes raking me from head to toe.

The impulse to cover myself or to shift positions surged through me, but I tempered it down and stared back, realizing I’d also been denied the same opportunity. I’d seen everything at this point, but not like this—not in full where I could take it all in, appreciate his physique, his strength, all of him.