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“I promise we’ll work through those, too. When I’m ready.”

“When you’re ready,” she agreed.

He closed the narrow gap between them and placed a soft kiss on her lips.“I will be ready someday.”

“Mmhmm,” she hummed, pulling his lips back into hers.

A pale pink wisp of smoke rose in his chest, tickling her fingertips as she dragged them through his dark hair.

Something glittered in the swirls, clinging to the moonlight pouring in through the port in her ceiling.

“That’s a new one,” she whispered, glancing at her hands.

“What?” he asked as he broke from her mouth to her neck. She grabbed his face, forcing him to look at her. The smoke intensified as his eyes flared, sparkling as fingers found her hips. She let it fill her lungs, soothing an ache within her.

His hand slipped further, dancing against the inside of her thigh.

A question.

She pushed into his touch, a soft note of delight passing over her lips and encouraging him. As he stroked her skin, the smoke rose, filling every cavern within her heavy heart. Claiming spaces within her she’d never given up before.

She leaned back, allowing him more access to every piece of her, the Tether between them singing in anticipation, even if quieted by the amulet resting beneath the water.

His tongue found hers, burning up every thought she’d had rolling around in her head, crumbling them to ashes. The flames whipped around her heart, flaring into a deep magenta at the ends, expanding from her belly to her lungs and her throat as he moved faster, as he gave her more.

She rested her head against the tile, lost in the wildfire as he moved over her like a shadow.

Lux brought his other hand to her cheek, stroking the path of freckles he admired so much.

She laughed, her voice pitching up as he leaned forward and she felt how much he enjoyed pleasuring her against her thigh.

She closed her eyes again and pulled his forehead against hers, letting the flickering pinks and reds and silvers slip from her mind to his.

Gods above . Low tones bounded off the base of her skull, shocking her. The flames within her chest curled in on themselves and retreated at the surprise intrusion.

“Ah, shit,” Lux groaned, feeling the release she was so close to vanishing.

“It’s okay?—”

He grabbed her face, his expression serious. “It’s not okay. I didn’t—I didn’t mean to. I’ve been playing with the motion, trying to figure it out. But it’s never worked before.”

She perked up under him, water splashing over the edge of the pool as she caught her breath. “Have you just been screaming at me in your head for weeks?”

His lips tilted upward. “Well, I’ve been screaming at you in my head for months, but that was usually unrelated.

” He leaned forward again, brushing a thumb across her lips.

“I see it now, the path into your mind. It’s only fair, considering you’ve lived within mine all along,” he breathed against her ear.

The vibration was enough to spark the fire in her belly back to life.

Do it again , she beamed, holding his gaze.

Which part? His dark laugh rumbled through her, her back arching into his waiting hands. She pushed him away, climbing out of the pool as he protested.

Where are you going?

Swiping the water from her legs with a towel, she shot back, To my bed. I believe you said you’d worship me.

She heard a splash and footsteps behind her.

Lux caught up to her and spun her around, pulling the pin from her hair as he tangled his fingers in her waterfall of curls.

He pushed her back onto the bed, disappearing from view as he fell to his knees.

The magenta flames leaped to life again as his fingers pushed her thighs apart and made way for his lips.

Shit . She wasn’t sure if she meant to beam it or hiss it into the ether as he crawled one hand over her body, digging into the curves of her soft belly.

You taste exactly as I dreamed you would, Fire Queen .

No invite to those dreams? She giggled. His eyes snapped to hers, lit with the same fire that threatened to choke her out.

I’ll figure that trick out next . His hand kneaded her breasts, desperate to hold on to her as the base of that fire burned out, exploding into a fine mist as she bucked against him. She gasped as the embers collided with each other, resettling against her spine as she came back into herself.

He rose from the floor, climbed over her, and replaced his tongue with his hand, giving her no time to recover.

“What does it look like?” He nipped at her jaw, moving against her in a slow spell, conjuring a brilliant flame of yellow pleasure in her spine.

“What—” She could not focus enough to finish her question. She cried out again, his fingers on their way to coaxing another release from her. Yellow sunlight lit her vision, blinding her as he caught her lips in his.

Lux leaned back, a scarlet need for more building in his hips. His eyes scraped her body, drinking her in before he pulled one leg over the other. She rolled, his breath hitching in approval at the sight of her back.

“Does it change?” he asked again. “Or does every release look the same?”

Ah , he meant what she saw within herself. She thought for a moment as his fingers crawled her back, tracing the lines of ink.

“It’s different from person to person.” She gasped as he nudged her knees apart, hovering against her. “I’ve seen oceans, stars, flowers.”

“And me? What do I look like when I sing the praises of the Lunar Goddess?” A strained moan rolled off her tongue as he entered her, an appreciative gasp radiating from his chest in return.

He ran his hands under her hips, pulling her back into him.

The friction kindled another fire, though there was so little oxygen left in her lungs to stoke it.

“Flames,” she rasped, a black fire roaring between them, white-hot on the edges.

“Show me,” Lux groaned. “I want to see.”

She reached back, her palm gripping the muscle of his thigh as he moved within her.

The onyx flames rose to her throat, unfurling in a desperate cry against the soft velvet bed linens.

She pushed the image into him as she held on for dear life, losing her senses completely.

His arms hooked around her waist as he pulled her back to lean against his chest.

“One more for the Fire Queen’s most devoted disciple,” he rumbled. His hand snaked over her hip and between her legs. His breath was hot on her neck as the fire between them flashed, no longer fathomless black but pure gold.

“I cannot,” she forced out, looping her arm around his neck, anchoring herself to this world in any way possible. She clutched at his leather cord, twisting it between her fingers.

He tangled a hand over hers, wrapping them around the moonstone pendant. “I know you, you’re far too stubborn to quit.” He held her to him the way he’d ached to a million times, willing to offer her anything she needed—anything she wanted—if she’d only bless him with one more release.

“Lux,” she whined, drowning in the golden smoke, the edges of her vision blurring.

One more, Sol’ah. Just for me.

After all the arguing she’d done, all the denying of his wishes, the pushing against his better judgments… she could happily give in to his command.

The flames roared, bursting into smoke and shadow and stars as they spiraled together. The Tether hummed between them as if pulling all the heat from the embers between their bodies and storing it away for a cold moment.

“Good fucking gods.” He pulled her hair off her shoulders, running his lips over her sweat-speckled skin.

She fought for breath, nothing left within her but a pleasant warmth. “If that’s how I’m rewarded every time I’m kidnapped…”

Lux laughed, falling back onto the bed. He reached for her hand and pulled her into him.

“Don’t tempt me. I’ll throw your ass back into the Rift right now.”

She ran her fingers over his chest, an emerald flare of jealousy so slight she might have missed it, but she felt it—the simmer of it needling at him as the ecstasy of being inside her dwindled.

She twisted in his arms, tangling their legs together as he reached for her quilt.

“Green looks better on me, Commander.”