Page 49

“You don’t get to make that choice for me.

” His tone was sharp, but his eyes softened as he stepped closer.

We were sharing air now, just inches apart.

“I love you because you’re built of fire and steel, because you challenge me in every way that matters.

So if loving you is dangerous, it’s a risk I’ll happily take.

But I can’t keep standing here watching you carry this weight alone while you push me away. ”

“I don’t want to. But if I lose you—if something happens because of me—then how do I survive that?”

“You won’t lose me, Thea.”

His hands finally reached out to cup my face, and I leaned into him breathing in his scent. His touch was steady and grounding. Familiar. Right .

“We can’t do this if you don’t let me in—if you keep deciding for both of us what I can and can’t handle. I’m not asking you to trust me because it’s easy—I’m asking because I need you to believe in us enough to try.”

“I can’t do this without you,” I whispered, needing to say it again.

He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into his chest as if he could shield me from every danger, every uncertainty.

“You’ll never have to,” he vowed, and then his lips were on mine.

Our kiss was desperate, a mingling of salty tears, desperate fears, and burning desire. Not just for each other’s bodies, but for each other's hearts.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him to me, needing to feel his warmth against me, wanting to be swallowed entirely by it. His hands roamed up my back, tugging tightly on the low-hanging strands of hair down my back, which sent pulses of need flying to my core.

Clay pulled that hair once more, forcing me to tilt my throat so he could set his sights on the delicate skin there, sucking and nibbling with such fever that my knees went weak.

Gods, I wanted him. Now, tomorrow, and every day after that. For as long as I could have him.

He took the lobe of my ear between his teeth and I sighed, pulling him to my mouth again.

I needed that delicate push and pull of his tongue darting over mine again.

He kissed me like it was our first and last time all at once, like he couldn’t ever get enough of me, like he burned for me as desperately as I did for him.

As if I needed that confirmation, I dipped my hand between us, stroking across the thick length of him over his trousers.

Clay groaned and leaned into my hand, head falling back softly before he set his sights on my jacket, working to undo the many clasps and buckles that kept it strapped on my form.

“Never wear this again,” he growled.

“I thought you liked this outfit,” I pouted, breathless.

He grinned when he undid the last clasp and slid the leather off my shoulders so that it fell to the floor with a heavy smack. In an instant, he wrapped one arm behind my waist and another under my knee, lifting me onto the countertop with ease.

“I like you better naked.”

And then his mouth was on me, lips sucking and tongue darting over the peak of my breast while his fingers toyed with my other exposed nipple.

“Oh, Gods,” I leaned into his touch, desperate for more, gasping sharply when he pinched that delicate tip between his fingers even as a pulse of desire coiled through my core.

“I see no Gods here,” he said, his voice thick with passion as he pulled back and wrapped his hands through my hair. “Just one fucking perfect Goddess.”

My fingers grasped the hem of his tunic, needing it off him, and he let me take control, sliding it off with impossible slowness.

Unblinking, he watched me as I explored the expanse of him, running my fingers across the bands of tight muscles, delicately tracing the thin faint scar lines that crossed his skin at odd angles.

I lingered at one particularly large scar across his side, the shape a half moon.

The scar from Camilla’s shadow beast nearly killing him when he fought for me.

“I’d do it a million times over,” he swore, reading my thoughts.

He tugged me off the counter, reaching for the waistband of my pants to pull them to the floor, only so that he could trace his way back up my legs with kisses pressed into my flushed skin.

I tangled my fingers in his unruly hair, grounding myself in his silky strands and breathing in his cinnamon scent.

When he arrived at the apex of my thighs, he pressed a gentle kiss there before his arm was around my waist and he was lifting my back onto the counter, fingers replacing where his mouth was, ripping out tiny breathless cries from me as he ran his touch from my entrance to that explosive spot I craved him most.

“My perfect Goddess,” he mused again, dipping inside me with aching slowness. “So fucking warm and wet for me.”

I whimpered, rolling my hips to chase his touch, imploring to go faster, harder.

“So needy,” he chastised, watching me as his fingers pumped in and out, building me to that place where the world faded from existence, but not quite letting me get there. “You’re so beautiful, far too beautiful for this realm.”

My eyes slammed shut as the muscles in my core locked around his fingers, only to cry out in anger when the feel of him disappeared. He stepped back, loosening the ties of his pants and shedding them without ever breaking eye contact.

Purposefully, I did not try to hide when my eyes trailed his body, lingering over the parts of him that made my pulse quicken. He was beautiful. And perfect. And everything.

He was everything.

“Come to me,” I commanded, and he obliged, stepping forward again into me, mouth slamming into mine as his fingers wrapped around my ankles and lifted, pushing them onto the counter so that I was spread open for him.

The position was entirely exposing, evoking enough vulnerability that my stomach flipped for a moment before his tongue darted over his bottom lip as he looked down at me.

“Fucking perfect,” he said, almost to himself with a shake of his head before he aligned himself to my entrance and gently pushed in.

I cried out, clinging to shoulders for support as I adjusted to the impossible fullness of him.

I let him stretch me until the shock of pain faded into the most exquisite of sensations.

Clay rolled his hips, slowly working into me, each motion sweeter than the last. I fell back, grasping onto the wall behind me for leverage to push my hips up to meet him, our bodies finding a perfect rhythm together.

He watched me with burning passion clear in his gaze, the muscles in his abdomen clenched and his jaw tight. Each movement sent me closer and closer to oblivion, my cries becoming more frantic by the minute.

“More,” I panted. “Faster.”

He obliged, grasping onto my hips and pulling me onto him to meet each thrust, the length of him reaching impossible depths inside me.

I was so close.

“Look at me,” he barked. I met his gaze, the pure abandon on his features sending another rush of warmth to my core that left me clenching around him.

He breathed in sharply as he felt it, but kept his steady pace in and out of me.

“This is what I can offer you, Thea. This is the place I can bring you that no one else can.”

Oh Gods, yes.

Fuck yes.

“ Yes ,” I cried as his thumb dipped to circle that bundle of nerves and every muscle in my body clenched.

I screamed his name as shockwaves of bliss pulsed through.

My magic roared, filling every part of me with impossible energy while Clay continued to circle and thrust and whisper sweet words while the shockwaves slowly ebbed and steadied.

I was limp and spent, my body hardly able to handle the ecstasy but desperate for me, desperate for him to find that same release.

He reached for me, pulling my head to his shoulder.

“Hold on to me,” he instructed, and I did as I was told, wrapping my arms firmly around his neck, nails digging into the skin as he let go of all sense of control.

His hips pounded into me, measured movements abandoned for frenzied thrusts, each harder than the last. He lost himself in me, growling as scales erupted down his spine.

His head fell back, exposing the vulnerable line of his throat, his golden eyes blazing with unguarded emotion and in that moment, he was entirely mine, unraveled and laid bare.

His fingers dug into my hips, pulling me onto him until with a final deep thrust he exploded, an animalistic snarl escaping as he stilled deep inside of me.

We stayed like that for a moment, panting sweaty messes, clinging to each other. I watched as the scales slowly sank back into his skin again.

“We should do that again sometime,” I mused dreamily.

Clay laughed, pulling back to press his lips against my forehead before reaching to collect my clothes and pass them to me.

“We will, princess. Believe me when I say I want to do that with you every chance I get.”

I joined Clay as he continued preparing dinner, following his instructions for chopping the onions and laughing as I mangled the process entirely.

“An all-powerful Goddess who can’t cook a single meal,” he quipped, taking the knife from my hands with a kiss to my forehead. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

I giggled. “Careful, don’t piss off a Goddess; it’s typically not recommended.”

Clay chuckled but didn’t respond, pushing me aside instead so he could take over the task.

The back door creaked, and I turned to watch Elaina and Camilla step inside, bringing a burst of frosty air with them.

Elaina smiled warmly at us, gently guiding Camilla forward.

Camilla walked tall, her dark eyes sharp and alert even with a hand pressed gently to her side.

“How was the walk?” Clay asked over his shoulder.

“It’s definitely cold, but the snow is quite lovely,” Elaina responded, unhooking her cloak.

“It was torture,” Camilla grumbled, slowly making her way through the room.

“She’s a bit of a whiner,” Elaina whispered to us, with exaggerated drama, ignoring the gesture Camilla shot over her shoulder. “With enough rest and food, though, she’ll be back to full strength in no time.”

“We’ll get some stew ready for you both,” I told her.

Elaina offered a grateful smile, placing a hand on Camilla’s arm to steady her as they turned toward the living space.

“I’m not eating a damned thing until every surface in that kitchen has been scrubbed clean,” Camilla called over her shoulder.

“Camilla!” Elaina scolded, a grin obvious from her tone.

I laughed softly as they left, pulling out two bowls in the cupboard and slowing when I looked at Clay’s furrowed brow.

“What’s wrong? ”

He glanced up at me briefly, the corners of his mouth tugging downward. “It’s nothing.”

I nudged him with my elbow as I began ladling the stew for Elaina and Camilla. “I thought we just covered the no more secrets thing.”

He sighed, setting down the knife and tugging the ladle out of my hands before pulling me flush against him. His arms circled my waist, the warmth of his embrace soothing against the winter chill still clinging to the room.

“I’m just realizing how lovely it is to be living in a house with my former lover, my betrothed, and the woman I’m now sharing a bed with.”

I laughed so hard I snorted, hand flying to my mouth in embarrassment.

“It’s not funny,” he deadpanned, though the corner of his mouth twitched upward.

I grinned. “It’s kind of funny.”

“Oh yeah,” he agreed sarcastically, brushing a stray strand of hair from my face. “It’s every man’s dream.”