Page 56 of Wild Flame

Warm hands encircled my waist from behind, and even warmer lips pressed to the small piece of skin at my shoulder exposed by my neckline. I sucked in a breath. “Siren . . .” he breathed in my ear. I had to bite my lip to keep from groaning at the contact as his lips continued to travel, dropping feather light kisses on my skin until eventually I turned my head towards him, meeting his gaze.

His warm eyes were haunting pools in the darkness as they slid over my face with what I now recognized as desire.

My eyes fell to his mouth. And I was suddenly achingly aware of the fact that I would be leaving soon. After the coronation tomorrow, we’d be returning to Halmar, and I’d lose all this—him—whatever this was between us. And I hated that thought. I wanted him to kiss me again. To be kissed.

For so long, I had let others control my life and dictate my actions. Just this once—I wanted something for myself.

My eyes returned to his.

I wasn’t sure who moved first, but in my next breath, his lips were on mine. The kiss was slow and heated and perfect. I turned to face him, and he deepened the kiss. His hands gripped my face, and I fed my fingers into his silken hair. He made a sound like a growl against my lips, and heat pooled low in my belly at the sound.

He pulled back. “Leida, I need to tell you something . . . to ask you—” he began.

But then I whimpered. It was a desperate, needy sound I had never made before and Malik’s resistance snapped, and whatever he had been about to say was lost as our mouths met and tangled once more.

I gasped as he clasped me by the waist and lifted me so I was seated on the stone balustrade. My legs naturally parted for him, and he stepped between them, pressing close, our chests brushing. Honeyed, molten heat slipped through my entire body as our tongues, teeth, and lips dueled and danced with one another.

His hand slid from my waist to grip at my thigh. Then lower. . . to my calf. His deft fingers played at the hem of my gown as he pulled back, a question in his eyes.

“I want to make you feel good, siren,” he breathed. “I want to watch you fall apart in my arms.”

My heart was pounding, and I was breathing hard, but I hesitated only a moment before I nodded. My mind whirled, but any uncertainty was brushed away as I stared into his eyes, and he kissed me again. More slowly this time.

His hand slid under my skirts, moving slowly up my leg to my thigh, then higher. His mouth continued to devour mine, but I still gasped when his fingers rubbed against my entrance.

“Siren.” The name was a tortured groan. “You’re so wet for me.” Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I should be blushing at his words, but I was too lost in the sensations his touch was creating in my body. I had never felt anything like it. The almost painful pleasure of it.

Naively, I thought that this was all he had intended, but eventually his fingers slid beneath the fabric and one sank inside me, and I realized how wrong I was.

“Malik!” I panted as I gripped his shoulder.

His mouth moved down to the side of my neck, teasing it with hot, wet lashes of his tongue. His free hand cupped my breast over my gown. His thumb brushed my nipple, and the sensitive bud tightened.

I gasped his name again into the sultry night air.

“That’s it, siren,” he rasped as his finger curved and pressed into me. Slowly at first, then building his pace until he was relentlessly driving me higher.

I opened my eyes, and my gaze was immediately snared in his. I began to rock slightly against his hand, the building pressure intense as my entire body wound tighter. Our faces were so close, my entire world became him as he watched me, those dark eyes filled with heat as he slipped another finger inside. Our breaths mixed and tangled as his thumb began to circle my sensitive bud, causing my hips to buck against him.Maiden, help me! It felt amazing.Heartbeats later he pressed down on a particularly sensitive spot, and I clutched at his shoulder as everything inside me felt like it spasmed and tightened at once.

“Malik!” I wanted to weep at the pleasure of it as his fingers pushed even deeper and I cried out against his mouth—falling over a precipice I hadn’t even known existed. My whole body went white hot and for a moment, my vision blurred. I had never felt such an intense sensation in my life.

“That’s it,isholet,” Malik murmured sometime later, as his smooth voice coaxed me back downward. I had unknowingly slumped against him, all my strength having left me, and my mind had gone momentarily blank.

As I slowly roused, it was to find Malik watching me. His amber eyes still burned, as if he had enjoyed every second of watching me fall apart, but he also looked stunned, as if the intensity of what we had done had surprised him as much as it had me.

“Leida,” he murmured, “there’s something I need to discuss with you."

My name on his lips jolted me into awareness and brought me out of whatever spell I had temporarily fallen under. And I suddenly became aware of my surroundings and what we had just done—whatIhad just done—with Malik. I was all but sitting in the king of Zehvi’s lap, with my skirts rucked up around my waist, during a party, in the middle of a public garden where anyone could just happen upon us at any moment.

Whore. Tramp. Filth.The words hurtled through my mind, and I cringed internally, feeling like I could hear my mother’s voice in my head, calling me all manner of vile things.

“I have to go,” I said, my voice shaking slightly as I fought to disentangle myself from him. Errantly, I had the thought that my father would probably be proud of what I had done. He had wanted me toput myself in his path,after all. Somehow, that thought made it even worse.

“What’s wrong?” Malik asked, stepping back.

A violent blush was coloring my cheeks when I finally managed to stand and right my skirts, and I hated it. I hated that I couldn’t be like a Zehvitian and be free and flippant about what we had just done. I just felt dirty and ashamed as all my mother’s hateful words bounced around in my head. I hated how unsure and inexperienced I suddenly felt as I stared at the man before me and tried not to relive the stark intimacy of the moment we had just shared. “I have to go,” I said again, unable to meet his concerned eyes any longer, when moments before they had been filled with such passion. “I—we shouldn’t have . . .” I trailed off, clutching my skirts, unable to untangle the conflicting emotions fighting for space in my head. “I—I can’t be here.”

“Leida, wait,” Malik tried. “What—"

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