Page 65 of Unravelled

She smirked, shifting lower, her hands dragging over his chest, nails scraping lightly along the ridges of muscle.

Her lips brushed the center of his stomach before flicking her tongue against his skin, copying what he had done to her.

Mira hummed, her fingers toying with the waistband of his trousers, her mouth hovering just above his navel.

Her fingers making quick work of the belt at his waist.

Ren's hands flew to her face, his grip rough, demanding she look at him. Lust had swallowed the color of his eyes, his breath uneven, his chest rising and falling with barely leashed restraint.

Mira smiled up at him, "I know what I want Kalren"

She knew exactly what using his full name did to him, how it stripped away the last of his control. That was the point.

"Fuck… Mira." It was a growl now desperate.

Ren’s restraint burned away in a flash and he lost his mind.

In a single, fluid motion, Ren moved. He pushed up and hauled her against him with a force that made her gasp.

His hands were firm, unrelenting as he lifted her with ease, carrying her across the room.

Mira barely had time to react before he tossed her onto the bed, her body bouncing slightly against the plush sheets.

He stood at the foot of the bed. Mira saw how he’d pulled himself back from the edge, his posture rigid with restraint, his eyes burning with everything he wasn’t allowing himself to do.

“We shouldn't" he rasped, his voice strained, held together by the thinnest thread.

Mira stepped off the bed with a quiet, deliberate grace, her gaze locked on his. She reached behind her, loosening the laces of her corset with practiced ease.

“I won’t be able to let you go. Not again. And the Emberbane, it’s still…” His words faltered as she let the fabric slip from her shoulders and fall to the floor. Ren’s breath left him in a harsh exhale.

Mira stood there, bare before him, her skin glowing in the dim light, her chest rising and falling in slow, deliberate breaths.

In an instant, he was on her, his mouth crashing against hers, hands gripping her waist as he pushed her back onto the bed.

His body covered hers, heat radiating from him, his need pressing into her, undeniable, unrelenting.

He pulled back but his grip on her wrists was possessive, pinning them above her head. His jaw clenched tight, his entire body vibrating with raw hunger. Mira arched beneath him, breathless, the ember of her want fanned into a blaze. Every nerve was alive, reaching for him, aching for more.

The feeling of his body against hers wasn’t just pleasure, it felt inevitable, like gravity, like truth.

Her pulse thundered as she met his gaze, no fear in her eyes, only desire, sharp and sure.

She wanted this, wanted him, with a clarity that outshone the Emberbane’s fire.

This wasn’t just craving, it was conviction.

Her choice. Every stolen moment, each flirty remark, every undeniable pull had led them here .

With a slow, deliberate roll of her hips, she reversed their positions, her body sliding over his as she pinned him beneath her.

“Gods, Mira.” he groaned, as he watched her. A growl of approval rumbling deep in his chest.

Slowly and deliberate, she crawled down his body. Her lips trailing heat against his skin. Ren shuddered, his hands twitching at above his head, his body taut with anticipation. She met his gaze, sultry and certain, her smirk curling like smoke.

“Mira” His voice was tight, almost a plea.

Her only answer was removing the final barrier between them. Mira moaned, quiet and breathless, as her eyes roamed over him.Over the unmistakable evidence of the effect she had on him. Ren choked on a breath, his entire body jolting as her tongue dragged along the length of him, slow and teasing.

“Fuck,” he groaned, his head pressing back against the pillows.

Mira took her time, teasing, tasting, torturing him as her mouth worked him. Her tongue flicked, curled, dragging over the sensitive tip. She could hear Ren's moans and gasps as she explored him.

She hollowed her cheeks, taking him deeper. Ren gasped, his hips bucking slightly. Ren’s breath hitched, raw and uneven, and he drove his fist into the sheets. An attempt to ground himself.

“Don’t stop,” he begged against a moan.

She hummed in response, the vibration sending a sharp pulse of pleasure through him. His hands flew to her hair, his fingers tangling in the strands, guiding her as his breath came in sharp, uneven gasps.

“Yes..” he groaned, his voice a growl, his control slipping. “You feel so fucking good.” Mira moaned against him, taking him deeper, swallowing around him.

His entire body was shaking, his grip in her hair tightening.His muscles tensed, his breath coming in sharp, broken gasps as he tried to hold on, to prolong. Mira moved her mouth lower, slow and deep, her tongue flicking just over the base.

A raw, wrecked groan tore from his throat as his pleasure surged, his entire body trembling beneath her.

She swallowed every last drop, her mouth working him through it, milking him until he was spent, his breath coming in ragged pants.

Mira pulled back, wiping the corner of her mouth as she smirked up at him.

Ren lay there, utterly wrecked, his chest heaving, his head still pressed against the pillows, his hands still tangled in her hair.

Slowly, lazily, he cracked one eye open, his lips curving into a dark, dangerous smile.

Mira barely had the strength to move, the warmth of satisfaction settling deep in her limbs.

The rush of fire that had burned so hot between them, was slowly ebbing, leaving her body heavy, her mind drifting.

She sighed, her lashes fluttering as exhaustion started to creep in.

Slowly, she crawled up the length of his body, pressing herself against his side, her cheek resting against his chest. His skin was warm beneath her, his heartbeat still rapid.

Ren hummed, his arm sliding around her, pulling her close, his fingers tracing slow, absentminded circles along her spine.

“It’s the Emberbane,” he murmured, his voice lower now, softer. “The crash is hard.” Mira’s lashes fluttered, her head tilting slightly to look up at him. She felt safe, wrapped in his warmth, lulled by the steady rise and fall of his chest.

“Sleep, Mira.” She hummed in response, her body already giving in, already drifting.

Ren pressed a slow kiss to the top of her head, his fingers still moving in lazy strokes down her back.

And as Mira slipped into sleep, the last thing she heard was his voice, low, deep, almost distant.

A whisper against her hair, a promise she wasn’t quite awake enough to grasp.

???

Only a few hours passed before Mira stirred.

Shadows stretching longer across the walls.

The air had cooled slightly, clinging damp against her skin, but the lingering scent of tahla and sandalwood still hung in the silence.

She blinked against the low light. Ren’s arm lay draped over her waist, heavy with sleep, his breath warm at the back of her neck.

For a moment, she didn’t move. She listened, to the stillness, to the quiet hum of her thoughts, to the way the Emberbane no longer howled, only murmured beneath her skin.

She slipped free from the bed with care.

The room welcomed her with its hush. The bath still waited, the water still warm and fragrant, the petals bobbing lazily at the surface.

Mira padded across the stone floor, the cold touching her bare feet like a whisper.

She stepped into the bath with a soft sigh, the warmth embracing her.

For a heartbeat, she simply stood in the water, watching the petals shift around her.

Then, with a slow exhale, she sank down.

She dipped her head beneath the surface and the world went quiet. Mira opened her eyes. Beneath the water, everything was muted, the light, the sounds. The Emberbane's grip on her mind slackened, its claws retreating until all that remained was a quiet, echo at the edges of her consciousness.

Ren had been a choice, her first choice. The first thing she had done purely for herself. Not for survival. Not for duty. But because she simply wanted him. And yet, beneath the water, the vision Danlea had shown her stirred.

The boat drifting through stars. The glowing knot of threads, golden and waiting.

The convergence that pulsed with consequence.

Mira had the sense that the real choice was still ahead looming, inevitable.

Mira blinked the vision away. Her heart beat, slow and deliberate.

She exhaled beneath the surface, bubbles rising fast from her mouth.

Slowly, Mira broke through the water, drawing breath into her lungs. Water lapped gently at the rim of the bath. Droplets clung to her lashes as she pushed her hair back. She leaned back against the smooth curve of the bathing pool, letting the warmth settle around her like a second skin.

Soft sound of footsteps broke the quiet Ren stood just within the threshold, the light from the hearth silhouetting him.

Mira saw the tightness in his jaw, the tension in his posture as he move through the room.

The water rippled as he stepped into the bath, slow, almost tentative, until it reached his waist. He stilled.

“Mira,” he said softly.

She met his gaze, and in the silence that followed, he searched her face like he was trying to find the edge of a storm. His voice was careful, stripped of its usual charm, and laid bare.

"I know what tonight was. I know what the Emberbane can do. But what we did... what I said...” His throat worked. “I meant it. Every word. But if it wasn’t real for you... if it was only the fire”

“It wasn’t,” she interrupted, “I wanted you.”

His breath left him in a slow exhale.

Mira met his eyes, “I choose you, Ren.”