Page 113

Less than ten seconds later, Sterling yanks my shirt off. He strips his own off next, with the rest of our clothing quickly following suit.

The sight of all that naked, sweat-glistened skin encasing muscles sculpted from years of training temporarily collapses my lungs.

I trace a faint scar on his chest. “I’ve missed you. Just the two of us, training together, spending time together. Life has been chaotic lately.”

“Chaotic is an understatement.” He brushes a windswept strand of hair from my face. “But do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Forget about everything outside of us, right here and right now.” He hooks two fingers under my chin, tilting it up so my eyes are on his. “Can you do that for me?”

“Yes.” I barely breathe the word before his lips crash onto mine.

I don’t care that we’re in the middle of a desert, or that our days might be numbered, or that thousands of responsibilities vie for attention once we return to the palace. In this moment, only the feel of Sterling’s arms around me and the sensation of his tongue stroking mine matters. The delicious sensation of bare flesh touching bare flesh. He groans and kisses me senseless, stoking a stream of desire and need within me.

He pulls me down beside him so that our bodies touch along with our magic and minds. The contrast of his coolness against my heated skin sends delicious shivers prancing down my spine.

“I’ve wanted you all day,” Sterling murmurs against my neck, his lips tracing a path that has me arching against him. “Watching you throw fire, commanding the dragons…the fierce, focused way you react. It drives me wild.”

“Mmm.” Coherent thought slips away as his hand finds exactly the right spot and slips between my thighs. “In a good way?”

“In the best way.” His caresses tease me…light where I want pressure, slow when I crave quick.

I retaliate by using my knowledge of his body, nibbling the sensitive spot below his ear and scraping my nails over his scalp. Stroking the delicate flesh at the crease of his thigh.

We’ve played this game before, each trying to distract the other first. By now, we understand our respective desires, but the chilled fingers rippling over my center of need is new, startling a low moan from me.

Today, I forfeit the game, surrendering myself to his skillful touch and the heat of his mouth. He waits until I’m writhing before finally slipping inside me. Our bodies join with practiced ease, like two halves coming together to form a whole.

I need to bite my lip to keep from crying out. “Sterling.”

“I love watching your face when I fuck you.” Strain crackles Sterling’s voice. “The way you can’t hide anything you’re feeling. And now it’s indescribable, how I can experience everything you experience too. How much you love the way I fill you up, and how right we feel together.”

He shares every sensation, just as I share his, all of them bundled together, joining, tangling, strengthening. The overwhelming feelings are too much for me to put into words.

Instead, I tug him closer as we move in time on the blanket, the desert around us forgotten.

Twisting my hips, I surprise him by pushing him over so I can straddle his hips.

He wants to watch? I’ll give him a good view of more than just my face.

“Yes, love. Just like that.” Sterling’s eyes roll up in his head as I rock my hips. His hands encircle my thighs, lifting me up and then yanking me down so that his erection slides inside me.

“Agreed.” I tremble, taking a moment to savor the sensation. Rotating my hips, I revel in the fullness, in the way his hard flesh presses into my softness. How his breathing becomes ragged each time I lift and lower myself. The way the angle provides delicious pressure to my sensitive bundle of nerves.

At this rate, neither one of us will last long. I already feel the tension mounting, leading me closer to the cliff. Still, I hang on as long as I can to this little sliver of paradise. I never want this glorious handful of moments to end.

He plunges into me as I ride him, bucking his hips up to meet me while his hands release my thighs to splay around my waist. As I fight the building pleasure, a whimper escapes me.

Sterling shudders beneath me, changing the pace from steady to frenzied. “Come with me, love.”

That soft command is all it takes.

I come apart, falling over the edge as my body shakes with my release.

Our magic rises with our pleasure. Sparks literally fly where our skin touches, a miniature storm of fire and water that cocoons us in a haze of steam and light. Sterling groans through his own climax before collapsing beside me. We both pant, dazed and replete while our magical connection slowly fades.

He leans over and strokes my face, planting lazy, drugging kisses against my mouth.