Page 191 of A Dawn of Gods & Fury

“No,” I admit reluctantly.

“Do you like me?”

A weak chuckle escapes my lips. “At this very moment? I like one part of you very much.”

He thrusts hard in answer, his length filling me, drawing out a cry.

“The truth is, I am beginning to like you very much. More than like you, even. Every part of you, especially your vicious tongue.”

My chest tightens. What is this? Is Tyree about to profess his love? But … “You helped kill my parents and destroy my kingdom,” I remind him.

His hips stall again. This time, I don’t chase after him to continue.

Suddenly, Tyree’s weight is gone. He flips me onto my back, sprawled out before his kneeling, naked form. He scoops me up into his arms, my thighs straddling his hips. His cock is still hard and waiting, but he doesn’t angle to push inside me.

Dismay twists his handsome features. “Annika, if I could summon the fates and beg them to undo all that my family has done, believe me, I would.” His voice is hoarse, pleading. “But I can’t change the past. All I can do is tell you how sorry I am, beg your forgiveness, and promise to spend the rest of my life trying to be worthy of you.” My ears catch his hard swallow. “Because I am yours, even if you are not mine.” He stares at me earnestly, waiting for my response.

I search for a shred of the hatred I used to feel for this Ybarisan so I can shun his words and protect my heart. I can’t find it. But I also can’t find it in me to forgive him. That feels like a betrayal to my family. Maybe one day I will be able to, as Zander has absolved Romeria of her crimes. But that day is not today, no matter how sincere his proclamations.

Still, I do not hate this Ybarisan prince anymore.

Far from it.

But I don’t know how to voice these thoughts, so I say nothing, tilting my hips until the tip of his cock slides through my slit.

Tyree groans, his hands grabbing hold of my thighs. He yanks my body down onto him until he’s seated inside me again, his eyes burning with something unreadable. “Okay, Annika,” he whispers, his hand clamping over my nape as he presses his mouth against mine in a passionate kiss.

My hands roam his muscles and curves as our bodies chase our pleasure. The slow pace from before is replaced by a desperate one, my muscles tightening in anticipation, my fingertips digging into Tyree’s shoulders as I search for purchase.

I may be struggling with my feelings but this, we do very well together.

My cries are the first to fill our tiny attic chamber as my body clenches around Tyree. He follows a split second later, emptying inside me, his length pulsing with the waves of my climax, his arms holding my body close.

We collapse onto the bed in a sweaty heap, our breaths ragged.

And then, perhaps because I am not ready to give Tyree answers I can’t yet find, I untangle myself from his limbs and shimmy down.

Tyree’s body stiffens with a strangled cry as I seal my lips over his sensitive flesh.

I stare up at the ceiling, my body sated like it has never been before. My worries about unsatisfying sex are groundless. Or perhaps it’s Tyree who makes them so. “What are we to do in this Espador?”

“What do you mean?” Tyree tosses an elderberry up at a mouse that sits in the rafters.

It scurries after the food. I guess it worked up an appetite, after watching us fuck for hours.

“I mean, based on what Destry has said about the sea wraiths, there is little chance of us ever returning home. We are members of royal families. What are we to do in a foreign land where we have nothing at all?” We may as well be paupers.

There is a long pause, and Tyree shifts onto his side to face me. “We have each other.”

I roll my eyes, even as my heart flutters.

If my reaction bothers him, he hides it behind a grin. I think he has caught on to my act, though. “Where is your ring?”

“Which ring? My one-of-a-kind ruby that you bartered away to that traitorous captain, or the one that burns me?”

He reaches over and collects my hand, his thumb stroking my bare index finger. “I will get you a new ring that does not burn you, and you will promise to never take it off.”

Another flutter stirs, this time in my stomach. “What are you suggesting?”

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