Page 102 of Crowned By the Fae King

He curled his toes over to grab the tips of my fingers and gave my hand a playful little shake. "I liked hearing you in my soul a great deal, but if you're snarling that I'm yours out loud I suspect you'll earn some answering surrender."

My skin flushed and nipples pebbled at the thought. "Can't snarl anything with my tongue in your mouth."

Those beautiful bicolored eyes flashed with the same heated desire that spiked through my blood and made my heart beat harder. "Tease," he breathed.

"Hardly," I purred back, running my thumbs down the center of the sole of his foot. "I'll kiss you again right now if you want."

I saw him considering it; weighing his desire against everything else. The vulnerability, the overwhelming power of it, the way it required him to trust that even in the tempest of his soul I could stand my own ground; all of it posing such a danger to his safety and balance.

Desire still won.

A slow smile spread across his face, and Cass sprawled back with a bit more decadence. "Come here, then," he said in a low croon, "and prove it."

Soft as Snow

It wasn't quite like jumping in the deep end the second time, or the third, or the fourth. It was more like wading into the ocean. Sometimes the waves were bigger than expected, or the drop-off steeper, but we were feeling it out. By the time we'd finished the champagne and the sun was setting, I'd laughed so much I was sleepy, and I could feel the way to his yearning heart even without his mouth on mine.

Cass leaned up and kissed me with sultry care, his whole body relaxed and easy. His heart whispered to mine, love you need you have me keep me, and I knew he could hear my answer: hear you want you be mine you're mine.

"World's most possessive soulmate," I murmured against his mouth, happier than I could ever remember being. "How embarrassing."

"How perfect," Cass murmured back. His callused hand stroked down my bare back. "I need someone who will drag me back, no matter how far I go or how lost I get. Maybe I should start calling you 'dragoness' instead of 'lioness.'"

I huffed a laugh and nuzzled his nose. "I like 'lioness' better. Female dragons are called 'queens,' anyway, so you're good on that front."

"Are they?" he asked, sounding delighted. "Are male dragons 'kings,' then?"

"Nope!" I leaned back, looking up at the pale winter sky, painted soft pink from the setting sun. "They're drakes. The girls are the bosses, and the boys fall in line."

"Ah," he said with a bright smile. "So it's fitting for us, then."

"Is it?" I asked with a laugh. "You've held your ground just fine when you've squared up with me. I like that you can. Makes me feel like I won't walk all over you. You should do it more often."

He dragged his damp fingers through my hair, looking up at me like I was his forever. "I didn't like fighting with you," he said with warmth. "It was miserable."

"Mm-hmm." I draped my arms over his shoulders. "That's why you should do it more. Tell me I'm being stupid before I've devoted weeks to it. I promise I won't like you any less. I might even like you more."

Cass smirked up at me. The gold in his eyes reflected the setting sun, brilliant and beautiful. "Make me a bargain about it, dove," he said in a low purr. "I'm a fae King. Give me something I want in return."

I raised a brow. "And what's that?"

"Hm." His lips twitched. "If I challenge you on something, tell me something true that you like about me."

"Hah! Okay, but it better be things you actually think I shouldn't do." I scrunched up my face as I thought. "Let's put a time limit on that, too. I don't want to do that until we're ten billion."

He laughed, the warmth of his good humor curling through me and his bright grin lighting the evening. "How about a year and a day?"

"A classic," I said with as much of a serious expression as I could muster, my eyes dancing. "Sold. Seal it with a kiss, ông già, and be grateful I'm in such a giving mood."

His nose brushed against mine as he leaned up. "Deeply grateful," he murmured against my lips. His fingers tightened in my hair, and he kissed me sweetly, putting his whole heart into the press of his lips. Affection thrummed through me. "Incredibly grateful," Cass said, his voice going rougher. His warm mouth captured mine again.

I moaned, a helpless sound, my lips parting and all my skin hypersensitized.

Don't-want-this-moment-to-end grateful, he said into my mind with a deep groan in the back of his throat. His tongue brushed against mine, hot and slick.

I broke. I fisted my hand in his hair and kissed him with all the fervor in my soul, licking along his tongue like I might devour him. Cass let out a low whine, his desperate want flooding into me. I broke the kiss, panting down into his face, predatory hunger lighting my eyes.

"Wicked fae," I crooned. I licked across his open mouth, getting another panting whine from him. "Are you trying to trick me into keeping you here long enough that we miss our dinner date with the Misted Duke, your splendor?" Holding his gaze, I traced S-T-I-L-L-O-K-? on my cheek.

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