Page 32 of Taken By the Storm King

She reached back, her hand finding my face. “Like what?”

“Like coming home.” The words slipped out before I could stop them, raw and honest.

She pushed back against me, taking me impossibly deeper. “Yes,” she gasped. “Exactly like that.”

I gathered her in my arms, drawing us both upright so she sat in my lap, her back against my chest. One hand splayed across her stomach, holding her steady as I thrust up into her. The other cupped her breast, thumb brushing over the peaked nipple.

“I want to feel you fall apart again,” I told her, nipping at her earlobe. “I want to feel you pulse around me.”

“Then don’t stop.” She turned her head for a kiss, awkward and perfect. “Don’t ever stop.”

LUCY

My world narrowed to just this---Thalassar inside me, his arms around me, his breath hot against my neck. The sensations were unlike any I had known. This was different. Overwhelming. Perfect.

“You feel so good,” Thalassar whispered against my ear.

I turned my head, seeking his mouth, needing to taste him. Our lips met in a clumsy kiss, the angle all wrong but somehow exactly right.

“Did you know?” I asked between kisses. “That it would be like this between us?”

The blue-green light from the ceiling cast Thalassar’s features in sharp relief. Sweat made his bronze skin glisten, highlighting the scales along his shoulders.

“No,” he answered, his breath coming faster. “I hoped, but I didn’t know.”

Without breaking our connection, he shifted our position, the movement sending pleasure spiraling through me.

“Lucy,” he groaned. “Do you know what you do to me?”

I ran my nails down his back, feeling the contrast between smooth skin and textured scales. “Tell me.”

“You make me forget who I am.” He rested his forehead against mine. “You awaken possibilities I never considered.”

“What things?”

“A future.” His words were broken by his ragged breathing. “With you.”

Something in my chest cracked open at that---something I’d kept walled off for so long I’d forgotten it existed. I tilted my face upward, meeting his lips in a kiss that tasted of salt and promises.

“I never expected you,” he murmured against my lips.

“Expected what?”

“Someone who sees me.” His hands cupped my face, thumbs brushing my cheekbones. “All of me.”

My heart tightened at the vulnerability in his voice. How many years had he lived, carrying the weight of his responsibility, never truly seen by anyone?

“I see you, Thalassar.” I covered his hands with mine. “And I’m not looking away.”

Our movements became more urgent, carrying us both toward completion. When release finally came, it crashed over me in waves, Thalassar following moments later with my name on his lips.

We lay tangled together afterward, his weight a comforting presence as our breathing gradually slowed.

“Stay with me,” he whispered, his voice vulnerable in a way I’d never heard before. “Not just tonight. Always.”

I traced the patterns of scales along his shoulder, memorizing their texture. “I want to, but my mission---“

“Can’t they survive without you?”

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