Page 78 of Wild Flame

It felt like the most natural thing in the world when he bent down and touched his lips to mine. It was soft, tender, and slow, and held a promise that both terrified and thrilled me.

When we emerged from the tent, all those assembled erupted in cheers. The cheering became even more outrageous when Malik bent down and kissed me so thoroughly that I forgot where I was for several moments until he pulled away. He clasped my marked hand in his and together we stepped through the archway. I didn’t feel any differently, but I could have sworn the talisman in my pocket hummed with some kind of energy.

I didn’t have long to think about it, though. Malik raised our clasped hands high for all to see and the crowd began chanting something over and over.

“What are they saying?” I asked.

He grinned back. “All Hail our Dragon King, and his Blessed Queen of Flame.”

The celebrations lasted all day and into the night, and it was late when Malik and I finally made it back to our chambers. I was tired, but my nerves were such that I didn’t feel it as Malik shut the door behind us. Azrun had wisely found somewhere else to sleep tonight, and I wondered if that was my new husband’s doing or not.

I stepped to the vanity and removed the veil from my hair, carefully laying it across the seat there. I suddenly couldn’t bring myself to look at Malik, so I removed my bangles and armbandas well and began fidgeting with the oils and perfumes on the table.

“I have something for you.” Malik’s voice came from behind me.

I turned, thankful for the break in the tense silence, to find Malik had retrieved a small black lacquered box and now held it out to me.

I walked over to him and took the box.

“I wanted to give you this earlier, but there never seemed a good time,” he murmured.

I opened the box and gasped. Nestled in velvet sat a beautiful obsidian ring. The polished stone band was twisted through with silver, the midnight gem contrasting beautifully with the shocks of gleaming metal.

“Malik,” I breathed. “You didn’t have to—”

“Yes, I did,” he interrupted. “Now, may I?” He gestured to the ring, and I nodded. He set down the box and removed the ring, then turned and slid it slowly onto my finger.

I remembered Sura telling me it was customary to give gifts of obsidian jewelry in honor of a binding.

I stared down at the ring, then back up at his face. “Thank you,” I said sincerely, touched by the gesture. His eyes smiled down into mine and I couldn’t help but be reminded of our kiss in the tent—and suddenly become aware of how close he stood.

“You’re welcome, siren,” he said, reaching to cup my cheek. His eyes dropped to my lips and a small thrill went through me as he leaned closer. His eyes travelled slowly over me, my hair, my dress. Then his hand slid downward, his thumb tracing over my throat, and my heart leapt in my chest.

“Seeing you today,isholet. . .” He let his fingers skim down over the sensitive skin of my collarbone, my shoulder. “Looking so beautiful in my colors, watching you present yourself to my people.” He hummed, the sound a near growl of pleasurethat zinged through my body like a warm shot of lightning, heightening my senses, attuning me to him. “It undoes me,” he confessed.

I couldn’t help the small smile that briefly touched my lips as his fingers pushed my hair to the side and off one shoulder. He took a step around me, circling me slowly.

“So you like the dress, then?” I teased. Nervous desire and a whole host of other emotions competed for dominance inside of me as he huffed a dark laugh close to my ear. I could feel him at my back before warm lips suddenly grazed my shoulder.

“I more than like it, siren.”

Realms! This man.

One large hand slid over my stomach and pressed me back into him, his addictive scent of amber and sandalwood enveloped me.

The shoulder of my gown slid down as his mouth blazed a hot trail over and down it, then back up to my neck. A whimper escaped my lips, and his hands tightened as they gripped my waist.

My whole body shook with nervous anticipation. Was I going to let this happen? Did Iwantthis to happen?He is your husband now.Some of the guilt I felt in that regard lessened, but did I want this—him? This man who made me feel so much. So many things I had never felt before.

“Malik, I—”

I was turned in his arms and the heat in his amber gaze had the blood thundering in my veins.

His mouth lowered to mine. His lips and tongue demanded entry, and I gave it. His hands slid into my hair and gripped the back of my neck, holding me to him. Something hot and wild melted through me at the dominance of the gesture, leaving me desperate with want. I gasped into his mouth, my body involuntarily pressing into his.

“Realms, I need you,” he declared. I knew he spoke the truth. I felt the evidence of his arousal hard against me, and from the beginning he had made no secret of the fact of how much he wanted me.

The realization made me tremble.

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