Page 55 of Shadow and Smite

“Me too,” he replied.

We waited. Another second of silence passed, but neither of us stepped away. We held our embrace. We had outgrown our old boundaries. Enough time had already been wasted while we wrestled with our carnal attraction—it was time to surrender.

“Shall we?” Zayne nodded toward the small cabin.

Yes, please.

I stood, pulling his hand after me. My core clenched. I couldn’t consider this for too long. I wanted him—I had wanted him since the night we met.

Nobody had ever attracted me like this. Sure, I had flirted and kissed, but I’d never trusted another enough to move farther.

Instead, I’d read books and learned to make myself come. A nonfertility charm had hung uselessly at my wrist, carried just in case for years. Yet I had held my cards close—until Carson.

My throat tightened. Shame flushed through me, and I shoved the memory away.

That was then. This was now.

Zayne was hot. The chemistry between us made me tremble. Every kiss, every touch, made me burn for more.

Soon enough, Zayne and I would face a necromancer. If we trusted each other enough to do that, we could have sex first.

My core tightened, quivering as I led him to the cabin. This desire was more delicious than dates.

The cabin door opened, and Ninti stepped out. Sniffing the air, she took one glance at us. She spoke in a teasing tone. “It’s far too hot in there. Think I’ll be more comfortable sleeping on the deck.”

23 | Possession

Zayne

I followed Ayla into the cabin, heart racing, pushing blood to my cock. My brain grew hazy, focused on the female before me.

Ayla.

I had longed for her since I first caught her scent. Cherries and spice. I adored her beautiful red hair, her powerful muscles. I couldn’t imagine how it would feel to be inside her…

Not that I had experience. I’d carried a nonfertility charm for years—most unmated fae did—but I’d never needed one.

My life had been one of strict self-control in a palace of deception. There were few I could trust, and fewer who could unlock my heart, driving me to carnal hunger. Ayla made me impulsive, inflaming me in a way no female had done before.

The sensation gave me pause. Would she burn me?

Yet the way she pulled my hand, summoning me into the cabin… her confidence swept away my doubt. I wanted this. With her.

Ayla had lifted me from a self-dug grave. If she had more life to share, I longed to be taken into her embrace, accepted by her lustrous body.

With a growl—a sound so unlike me, yet as true as any laugh she had pulled from me—I grabbed her.

Starting with her wrists, my fingers traced up her forearms. I drew my lips into anOand blew a stream of air against her neck.

She shivered, sensitive to my simple caress.

Stroking myself in the dead of night, I’d daydreamed what I would do if I found a partner. I had countless ideas about how I could please her.

Cautiously,slowly,I laid a kiss behind her ear. My second kiss dropped a little lower. My third landed on her neck.

Her hands slipped under my shirt, and my skin burned where she touched me. I wasn’t used to human touch—over years of vigilant exile, my skin had become my private cage. Ayla unfastened me.

I graced her neck with more kisses, tracing my lips to theVof her tunic. I always imagined a long seduction. If I drew this out, I could drive Ayla desperate for release.

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