Page 130 of Night Fae

The first slow roll of Zev's hips made Malik's vision go black for a moment. He couldn't catch his breath, couldn't focus on anything beyond the feeling of Zev's body moving against and inside his, the steady slide filling him over and over again as Zev fucked him slow and sweet and so deeply that Malik felt it everywhere.

There was no pain, only overwhelming sensation.

Only connection.

Vaguely, Malik noted that he'd never gone soft after his climax the way he would have in the waking world. Here, it seemed he only wanted more.

Zev gave it to him.

He thrust into Malik with increasing force, each snap of his hips driving the air from Malik's lungs until Malik was dizzy and delirious, lost somewhere beyond reason, caught somewhere in between reality and dream.

He came again with his nails raking red marks down Zev's back, Zev's name on his lips, Zev's weight pressing him into the soft grass, their breaths intermingling.

But even that didn't satisfy the hunger inside of him. If anything, the orgasm only made his want sharper, deeper, hungrier.

It was as though all his pent up desires and needs were coming loose now, breaking free of every barrier he'd erected against them.

"I need you," he breathed, pulling Zev down for another searing kiss that made his toes curl. "I need?—"

"I know what you need." Zev kissed him again—and fucked him harder.

Malik's body trembled, oversensitive and needy all at once. He felt Zev’s control begin to fray, felt his rhythm falter, his thrusts grow rougher.

The bond between them sparked.

Zev's pleasure became his, layered over his own so completely he couldn’t tell where one began and the other ended. The pressure built one last time—more intense than anything before it. Zev reached for his hands, lacing their fingers together as he thrust hard and deep, once, twice?—

And they shattered.

Malik cried out, his orgasm ripping through him in one long, ecstatic wave just as Zev came inside him, the shared climax echoing through their bond until the dream itself seemed to dissolve under the weight of it.

He didn’t come down gently. He collapsed, boneless, trembling, his chest heaving for air he didn’t need. Zev followed him down, still inside him, arms tight around his body, anchoring them both.

“Holy shit,” Malik whispered after a while, his voice hoarse.

Zev chuckled against his throat. “Told you dreams had their advantages.”

CHAPTER 29

A week after the battle at the Barrier Temple, the Shadow Palace still buzzed with activity. Dignitaries from territories across Veridia arrived daily to assess the new state of the world, diplomats shuttled between chambers with urgent messages, and mages worked tirelessly to monitor the stabilizing barriers.

Malik avoided most of it.

He stood on a secluded balcony overlooking the eastern gardens, watching servants tend to the flowers.

"Deep thoughts?" Zev's voice came from behind him.

Malik turned to find him leaning against the doorway, dressed in the dark leathers he preferred. The past week had been good to him. The haunted look that had shadowed his violet eyes for so long had diminished, replaced by something calmer.

"Just thinking about home," Malik admitted.

Zev crossed to the balcony rail. "You miss Earth."

It wasn't a question, but Malik nodded anyway. "I have unfinished business there."

Zev didn't take long to guess what was on his mind. "Your family's fortune. You said you never touched it."

"I couldn't bear to. It felt tainted by grief." Malik's fingers traced the weathered stone of the balcony. "But now I'm thinking about all that wealth sitting idle when it could be used for something better."