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Chapter nine

Escape

Ayla

I gulped the fresh sea air.

Our jump had come as a shock, and my hands still glowed with starlight. Looking about, I saw we now stood on yet another balcony. Realizing this one belonged to our room, I sighed with relief.

Zayne knelt before me, inspecting my hands as his darkness thickened around us in a dim aura. In such a short time, I’d grown to like it here, secured in the halo of his shadows.

“How does it feel?” he asked, probing my palm.

“It’s hot, but it doesn’t burn me.” I said, curling each of my fingers as the last of the light ebbed away. “I’m fine.”

“Good.” His jaw loosened as he lifted my hands to his lips.

The sensation of him kissing my fingers. The sight of him on his knees. Everything stirred something deep inside me.

“Why didn’t we try to do something?” I asked. “You jumped us away before we could even make a plan to open the starlit box.”

“I’ve seen his starlight before. It’s impossible.”

“You have me now! I have starlight too. Maybe if I had—”

He gripped my thigh, his fingers reaching through the slit to find my skin. “Perhaps, but we’re not risking it. Not without a plan.”

I nodded, not only agreeing that maybe we should talk to the others first, but increasingly aware that the way he touched me brought desire to pool in my belly.

All evening, we had stayed close, so focused on the task at hand that our touches only lingered. It had been playful. Except now, returned to the safety of our balcony…

“Is this okay?” Zayne asked, loosening his grip to caress the skin of my thigh. When I didn’t answer, his other hand slipped to my waist. He leaned forward again, pressing a kiss to my belly.

Unbidden, a moan slipped past my lips.

He looked up at me, grinned, and brought his lips to me once more. Leaving him cast in moonlight, I stepped back and gripped the banister, placing cold air between us.

Zayne stood. “Did I do something wrong? I thought you were enjoying that.”

“I-I don’t know.”

I stilled, my heart pounding. I wanted this—I wanted him so badly it hurt. And still, I was afraid, so afraid…

My head pounded.

I couldn’t even remember what frightened me.

But I needed him.

He lifted a hand to my face, ran a finger along my cheek, and at his caressing touch, I melted. Catching me, he pinned me against the balcony’s banister, kissing me.

My lips seared, parting as I invited him deeper.

I threaded my hand through his hair, finding his horns and locking him in place.

He answered with harsh kisses, wandering hands, and the promising pressure of a bulge in his pants.

I grinded against him, thrilled by how hard he already was.

I leaned into his touch, wondering where this would end and hoping it would never stop.

He broke our kiss, trailing his lips along my cheek. Down my neck. Then collarbone. He went lower, finding my cleavage while his other hand wandered up my waist to cup my breast. Moaning, I tugged the bodice aside, exposing my taut nipple.

Zayne lowered, swirled his tongue around it, and released it with a soft kiss. I moaned at the lack of friction, and he answered by cupping my breast, squeezing it with his hand.

Leaning back, he stared down at me, and I pebbled further. “Ayla, you taste like sunbeams and summer days. Tell me, are you ready for more?”

My breath hitched.

“Because,” —he tweaked my nipple between his fingers— “I’d like to kiss you everywhere, taste you, devour you, if you’d allow me.”

I shivered at the way the words caught in his throat.

“Please,” I begged.

Zayne obliged, kissing me again, needier than before.

I gulped for air as he lowered to his knees, a hand braced against my thigh. He kissed my belly button, his lips sliding across the fabric of my dress, before he placed another kiss on my hip.

Finally, he slipped a hand under the slit of my skirt, planting a kiss against my exposed thigh. His contact burned me to the core.

As his fingers ran higher, I tugged the skirt wide, easing his journey. His kisses wandered, his tongue not that far behind. I could barely breathe by the time he found my panties.

His fingers wrapped cautiously around the waistband, and I whimpered. He tugged the fabric down my legs, and I stepped out of them, exposing myself to the salty breeze.

Boldly, I held the dress aside as he stared at my crux, my ruddy hair, trimmed low in some hope that he and I would… How I had hoped for this, how I had feared it. And now that he’d found me, my thighs clenched, certain of what I wanted.

He looked up at me, his hand trembling, his firm jaw poised before my sex.

“Please,” I begged again.

He obliged, pressing his lips against me.

My knees buckled, and I leaned back, bracing against the railing as I grabbed his horns.

It seemed impossibly wicked, us against the banister as the sea cracked against the cliff below.

Anyone could see us, but with shadows, there would be no onlookers.

He could jump us away if we fell. Every element of this thrilled me, and I would never understand how I could trust him with my body while still guarding my heart.

He repositioned, lifting my foot to his shoulder, angling me. His tongue swept across the full length of my folds, and I trembled at his touch.

More. I need more.

I ached as he paused, helping me to settle upon the banister, my legs wide and breath held as he eyed my opening, primed for his taking.

“You’re beautiful,” he rasped.

Then he was upon me, his tongue lapping against my clit. It swirled around my opening. My bliss grew, and I braced, grabbing his horns, pulling him closer.

He leaned in, sucking on my clit with renewed vigor.

My orgasm surged from my curled toes, growing into a strangled cry in my throat. I writhed against him, consumed by the way he worshiped me.

Light ebbed from my hands, and as pleasure rippled through me, wave after wave, I didn’t fear my forming magic. I embraced it.

Light flashed; my brain blurred.

Somehow, I landed back in my body, in my own mind.

Whatever had happened, it seemed to be mere light. But it left me gasping, sated, my limbs weak. I was breathless, my heart aching in a new way. All I could do was watch as he leaned back, helped me down, and set my skirts to right, his fingers lingering a little longer than necessary.

And he’d done all of that to me. For me.

My heart swelled. I might be frightened, but it was time to take a risk. I needed him to know how much he meant to me.

Zayne

Ayla held my gaze with fire in her eyes. “I’ve felt the tether ever since I called you back to the living, and I’m sorry I denied it, denied us. I need you so badly it frightens me.”

My chest throbbed as if my heart could be tugged out of it. To hear her finally acknowledge this thing between us… I lifted my chest with pride.

My Ayla was wild, and it was a delight to fulfill her wicked desires. I had listened carefully, taking in each moan as I stroked her with my tongue, feeling how her thighs tightened around me as she found her release.

She made starlight.

My kisses pleased her, and the success filled me with a heady satisfaction, leaving me flushed and hard. I took a deep breath, increasingly aware that she had stepped closer, now so close that my stiff cock pressed against her stomach.

Looking down at my pants, Ayla swayed her hips, grinding against me with a teasing grin. My clothes dulled the sensation, but they failed to stop a growl from escaping my lips.

She pounced, devouring me with hungry lips. There was no hesitation as she rushed to action, her fingers dipping below my waistband. My body tightened, my cock straining as she sought it out.

Her hand found my erection and wrapped it tight, causing another, louder, growl to rip from my throat. The shadows flickered around us as my control wavered.

She looked about and, much to my annoyance, paused. “You better keep control of the darkness if you don’t want to make a scene.”

“Oh, we’re going to make a scene, are we?”

She didn’t answer, instead lowering to her knees before me, and I almost came simply from the sight. She tugged at my pants, opening the ties with a moan as my cock burst forth.

Her lips parted at the sight of my erection. As my pants hit the floor, I seized the shadows. I braced.

First, she kissed each of my pelvic bones, my cock twitching with each touch of her lips. She brushed her fingertip up the side of my shaft, and when she reached the tip, she paused, staring at the droplet of precum gleaming there.

I couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. Couldn’t do anything as she softly kissed my tip, her tongue darting forth to lap up the glistening dew. All at once, she took me in, swallowing me until my cock bumped against the roof of her mouth.

I groaned.

She glanced up, her eyes shining with delight.

I was desperate to say something as my mind stuttered. The tether ached, my heart ripping from my chest.

Ayla encircled the root of my cock with her hand, tightening her grip as she lifted her mouth away.

She paused, stroked me once with her palms, and then took me back into her mouth, this time moving up and down, her tongue sliding along the side as her hands stroked the base.

Again and again, she worked me, wringing pleasure from me.

It took all my self-control to remain standing as I buckled under her demands. She squeezed and stroked, sucked and teased. She tested and explored until, with growing confidence, she took me even deeper into her mouth.

I teetered on unbalanced feet and wrapped my hands in her hair as I clung to consciousness. The world darkened around us, the shadows cocooning her deed.

“Ayla, I’m going to come,” I groaned.

She looked up, met my gaze, and nodded, turning my warning into an invitation.

Pleasure ripped through me, and I lifted my face to the sky, my growl so great it escaped the shadows, a desperate, primal claim to warn off any who would come near her. Stars dotted my vision.

She nursed me down, her throat tightening as she swallowed. The sensation brought a new wave of pleasure as I emptied myself into her hungry mouth. I trembled, only finding my grip with reality as she released my cock and leaned back, a proud smile spread across her lips.

“That was fun,” she teased.

I stilled my spinning head, too stunned to know what to say. I wrapped her hands in mine and helped her to her feet. Her skirt swayed around her hips, an excruciating reminder that her underwear was still clenched in my fist.

Whatever she saw in my face, it made her grin.

“What is it?” I rasped.

“Just happy to unravel such a proud Shadow Prince.”

My protest failed in my throat. She hadn’t merely unraveled me—she had destroyed me. My earlier obsession felt quaint compared to the demands I now felt.

She’s mine.

Wrapping her in my arms, I shadow-stepped us to our bedroom, determined to keep her hidden from sight regardless of whether my shadows came undone.

But intentions be damned, I stumbled as we reached the bedroom. Ayla and I leaned upon each other for balance as I took stock of our disheveled state.

Clothes unkempt. Underwear missing. The sweet taste of her seared on my lips. I couldn’t shake any of it, and I wished this night could last forever.

Except my vision was tunneling, my eyelids growing heavy as a wave of fatigue claimed me, and judging from her wobble, Ayla was feeling the same.

Barely conscious, we crawled onto the bed. We didn’t even have time to pull the blankets over us before the tether claimed us and we succumbed to dreams.