Page 85 of The Serpent Prince

He held her face with his hands, kissing her tenderly. “I’ll never get tired of those perfect noises you make for me when I’m inside you.” He kissed her again.

Whatever had broken in her was like a dam. Recklessness poured through her.

All Imani knew was that right now, perhaps at this moment only, he adored her, revered her. Imani was his. And she was safe.

“Kiran,” she breathed. “Make me forget.”

“About what?” He held her face tighter.

“Everything.”

Light from the lanterns outside filtered in through the luxurious curtains as dawn descended on the mountain above.

Kiran stood, but she barely noticed him slipping on his pants as she tipped her head to the side, trying to catch her breath. Was he leaving?

She dipped her gaze to his inked torso for a moment, and she paused as she spotted a new brand that curved over his left hip bone and disappeared beneath his pants. But before Imani could get a good look at it, he hitched his pants an inch higher and hid it from view.

Lying back down, he settled next to her again, and she wondered if he was purposely trying to hide his new mark from her.

As she lay on her side, Imani searched his mismatched eyes. Emotions flashed one by one in those depthless entities. A fierceness collided with fear and, deeper still, want. Imani’s blood warmed at that expression, something hot and heavy jolting through her core.

“Why do you look so smug?”

“Because that’s exactly what I have constantly been since the second we arrived here with you as my heartmate.” He ran his nose along the column of her neck, shutting his eyes as he breathed her in. “But is that what people call me? Smug?”

“I’ve heard the word prick thrown around, too.”

“Naturally.”

Imani gave him a nonplussed look.

He laughed then paused. “I love these, by the way,” he added softly, moving his thumb slowly across her face, tracing her freckles. “I want to see them every day.”

They didn’t speak after that, but their eyes never left each other. It wasn’t like that awful time with Malis, Saevel, or anyone else. Never. Her thoughts fractured with ecstasy. She was with Kiran in their own world they had here when they fed together. This had to be what it was like to be in the fourth realm, the heavenly realm, she thought … this sense of perfect completion, of wholeness. Sublimity.

As he pulled Imani even closer, his exhale poured over her. He rested his forehead against hers and shut his eyes, both of them feeling blissful and sated from feeding.

He threaded his fingers through her hair, tugging her close, fitting her against him so perfectly, as though they were bound together by something greater than themselves.

Imani clung to him desperately, her heart filled with something she couldn’t name. Something more than simple lust.

Her eyes stung, and Imani sank into his embrace.

During this moment, she realized the resentment she’d felt for his betrayal had been dimming and she didn’t want to fight against him. She wanted to fight with him.

Malis’s comment echoed back to her. I’d like to watch him eat you alive. At the time, she hadn’t known it was Kiran that Malis had been working alongside, but now she was absolutely certain he was the prince the merchant had talked about, and it both chilled and excited her.

Kiran was cunning and slow to trust, like the fox carved above his chamber door. But the Serpent Prince was starting to trust her. She could feel him opening up cracks for her.

Still, there was a lot they didn’t know about each other. More secrets—the currency their strange relationship was built upon. Trusting him was not the same oppressive thing to her … the more layers she forcibly peeled back from him, the more she knew him. The more she learned, the more she understood him. A person had to bend to break through defenses like Kiran’s. They wouldn’t give willingly of themselves, which meant a person needed to ply them enough then take it for themselves.

A part of her had to admit that, after these few days together—of being on the same team—she was starting to trust him, too. He felt so easy to talk to like this … she felt so relaxed and strange from the magic. An uninhibited part of her wanted to tell someone the truth.

“Kiran Illithiana, you are full of surprises,” Imani breathed, almost choking on the words.

“Likewise,” he murmured, touching his nose to hers.

Turning, Imani kissed him gently. Searching. His answering kiss was tender as he opened to her, exploring her mouth with his tongue, pressing his full lips to her own. Imani lost herself to that kiss, her hope and joy surging through every twist of their tongues. When at last they pulled away, breathless and hot, he smiled at her. A true smile, one unmasked and innocent in its entirety. His eyes were soft, gentle, and her heart might have stuttered at the sight of them.