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“I swear it.” Her whispered promise stamped into my ribs. My hold tightened, and I pulled her close until our chests met. I cupped her nape, guiding her lips to mine.

My need for her prickled over me. But it was more than desire. She was my safe passage. The one I’d always felt whole with just from being in her presence. I didn’t deserve her, but I’d spend every damned second making up for that if she’d let me.

She was still wary. The memory of our first attempt at a relationship was a tender bruise upon her heart. It was in the slight hesitations when she looked at me, even though she wanted to embrace what was happening between us. There was so much left to tell her, but I couldn’t yet.

Guilt mixed with my growing lust, but I pushed it deep into the shadowed cracks within me. There were some things she needed to unearth on her own. Things I couldn’t reveal, no matter how much I yearned to.

Later .

I kissed her hard, our tongues and mouths dancing, devouring one another. She draped a leg over mine, eager to get closer.

Wearing my tunic, her honey-like scent melded with mine and the musk of our coupling earlier in the night. My cock hardened, and a rumbling groan sounded under my collarbone .

Sneaking under her clothing, my hand cupped her bare, round ass, my fingertips pressing into the softness, pulling her tightly against me.

Heat blazed down my spine as her cunt ground against me. Her soft moan vibrated through our mouths. I grabbed her by the hips and tugged her onto my lap.

She smiled as she sat up, slowly untying my breeches. My hard cock sprang free, standing firmly at attention between us. Before she could take me in hand, I bent forward, reaching behind me to wrench my tunic over my head, discarding it on the floor.

She bit her lip as her hands stroked over my pectorals, tracing the jagged outline of my scar.

Her head tilted, and her messy braid spilled over her front. “It’s shaped like?—”

“You’re the only little star that matters.” My breath hitched, heart slamming against said scar as my fingers unravelled the fiery plait. I loved her wild hair.

I shifted the loose strands behind her, and she smiled tenderly, leaning over to place a kiss on the thickened skin above my heart before trailing her lips and tongue up my chest.

Over my neck and jaw.

She wrapped her hand behind my nape, scraping her nails into the line of my hair as her slick core rocked against my hardness.

My muscles went rigid, and a raging need burned over my flesh, pulsing up my length. My fingers found the hem of her tunic, and I pulled it over her, lifting her arms.

She gathered me close again as I wrapped my arms around her, her full breasts pressing into my chest. I kissed the corner of her lips as my palms slid over her shoulder blades. “You’re so damned beautiful, it hurts.”

She smiled as we fell into each other’s eyes. “Let me take the hurt away,” she murmured as she lifted herself onto her knees and then reached between our bodies. Her hand guided my cock to her entrance, and she slowly sank onto my length, never breaking eye contact .

Her sweet, aching body gripped me, and I swear to the Ancients, her soul poured into me. It felt as though a string latched onto my rib directly from hers, and our heartbeats vibrated along it in time with one another.

The muscles of my neck and back tensed as her warm, wet heat squeezed my cock. I clutched her waist as she rose, nails digging into my straining biceps.

I wanted nothing more than to toss her down and fuck her tight cunt until she screamed my name.

Only my name.

Ever again.

But I also wanted the sweet torture. Because it meant she was in control, and she needed to know she had that power, not only over me, but over herself.

Asteria smirked, slamming herself onto my lap, my cock filling her to the hilt. She moaned, heat blushing over her chest and neck.

My fingers clamped, urging her to keep moving as her eyes glazed. She set a steady rhythm, her hips undulating against mine, her warm core squeezing around me, pumping me.

Mounting desire rolled across her features and spilled from her parted lips in fitful, breathy sounds. I pinched her nipple with my thumb and forefinger, and her head craned back, a moan vibrating within her as she moved faster.

“That’s it, my star. Take what’s yours.” I leaned into her, latching my lips on her neck, licking and nipping at her flesh while she convulsed around my manhood; my name ripping from her throat.

A throbbing pulsed from the base of my spine and through my cock as her cunt spasmed around me like a fist.

In uncontrollable ripples, my orgasm tore from me, light bursting in my chest as I buried my eyes against her neck, my groan muffled by her damp flesh.

Dazed and sated, she drooped against me, cradling my head against her, her fingers clutching at my hair. I didn’t dare move, for I feared the string connecting the bony cages over our hearts would snap if we parted .

For several quiet moments we breathed one another in, the cool air drying our sweat and leaving goosebumps behind.

At last, her whispered word shuddered against my cheek, harmonizing with the thundering beat of her blood.

One word that sounded suspiciously like “ mine .”