Page 192 of A Warrior's Fate

“Yes—” She moaned again, louder. It echoed off the high ceiling. Pressure building, she bit down hard on her lip. Release shimmered just out of reach. “And no. We more celebrated the—oh, fuck—Solstices. Summer…Winter…Goddess, Kai, I’m going to…” She breathed, her eyes sliding closed as she fought it off just a little longer. Her voice strained. “But Summer was always my f—favorite.”

Kai’s mouth went to her ear as he muttered, “Should I keep going?”

Isla snapped her eyes open, narrowing as they met his. Enough to say that if he stopped, he’d regret it. He chuckled, keeping up the pace that had her breath laboring further and legs shaking.

“You’ll find we make a big deal of the Equinox here. The ‘winds of change’. I always felt the gala was overkill, but the festival, the lanterns, those were always fun.”

She couldn’t hold it back anymore, but she tried, despite the fact she could feel herself tightening around his fingers, couldn't keep from moving with his thrusts, wanting more.

Kai cursed as if recalling the feeling when she’d been wrapped around him earlier. “Isla…”

Say it again. Say it again.

“A gala means a—a dress,” she battled out one more time.

She could feel Kai hardened against her back. “Seems to be my weakness with you.”

Isla writhed, both at the pleasure about to wash her away and what she knew would come for her next, if they had the time. Goddess, she hoped they did.

“When do we need to…”

She never finished her sentence.

Kai’s hand left her breast to tilt up her chin, and he swallowed her cry out with a kiss so heavy, it took away what little breath she had. Her fingernails drew blood as they pierced his skin, her climax roaring through her again. She bowed off him, but he wouldn’t let her get far. Stars exploding behind her closed lids, he continued to stroke her as she clenched around him.

He didn’t withdraw his mouth or his fingers until she’d finished trembling, leaving her empty, sated, and yet still aching for more.

Limp against his shoulder, her body coated in a new layer of sweat, her lashes fluttered open. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, and she could feel his heart thundering against her back as he panted too. He never broke her stare as he brought his fingers, the traces of her, up to his mouth and sucked them clean.

A fire ignited within her again.

Fuck it. They had time.

In a quick movement, Isla twisted and rose to her knees. She kissed him so harshly, their teeth nearly collided before she pushed him down onto his back. Kai grinned up at her, his lip finding its way between his teeth as she straddled him, taking a hold of his length. He sucked in a breath, his eyes roaming her body, his fingers grazing the skin of her waist, her hips, her ass. As she lowered herself onto him, they both groaned.

Another moment of stillness overtook the room.

Isla leaned down, bracing her arms on either side of his head as her hair, gilded by the sunlight through the window, fell like a curtain around them. Shielding them.

She swallowed as that wrenching feeling settled in her gut. As she remembered that dark abyss waiting for them outside the door. As she sensed the bond in all its strength. Recalled what it had felt like for it to fade, even just a little.

“We’re going to be okay,” she panted softly, more a question than a statement, even if she’d intended for the latter. She should’ve said everything. They weren’t the only ones whose lives hung in the balance. A familiar sting began in her eyes, but she willed it away.

Kai’s throat bobbed, and though he’d exuded confidence, there was the smallest flicker of uncertainty in his stare. Still, he nodded, his thumbs drawing soothing circles over her skin. “We’re going to be okay.”

CHAPTER 40

Deimos’s Pack Hall comprised three structures which didn’t include the House, which loomed large at each side of the courtyard. Of them, the North Hall—the original Hall, adorning the stained-glass window with corridors having been walked by the Original Alpha of Deimos himself—stood the greatest.

It was where most pack business was taken care of—Kai had explained it to Isla as she dressed after having cleaned herself up in the small bathroom attached to Alpha Orin’s study. He’d already done so since he had to go down to a phone in order to call for a member of the House staff to bring over some extra clothes. Isla pursed her lips at her former attire that he’d left in scattered ribbons on the floor.

What she donned now was one of his plain shirts, a deep maroon that ended mid-thigh on her frame. Another dress, only now she swam in the fabric. She’d taken a deep breath as she threw it on, warmth, woods, and spice flooding her nose. Even if it had been freshly cleaned, it somehow still smelled like him. Home.

As she worked on gathering her hair in a way that didn’t scream what they’d just been doing for the past hour, she caught Kai eyeing her from his spot against the wall. She turned, tying half of the tresses back out of her face while the rest flowed down her back. “Can I help you with something?”

Kai took his time, trailing his gaze from her face, down the length of her bare legs, and back up. He pushed himself up, taking the few steps across the room to close the distance. When he reached her, close enough she could feel the heat of his body, he danced his fingers over her waist, two applying the most pressure, in particular. “Have I ever told you that you look great in red?” Another sweep up and down. “And my clothes?”

Isla bit the inside of her cheek, not allowing herself to get caught up in the gruff words, his stare, the way certain parts of her still fluttered and felt him.

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