Page 20 of A Sun Scorched Bloom

"What if it’s something I don’t want to know, Gray?" Lea was terrified of the truth, but why, she wasn’t exactly sure. The sound of the rain outside their safe haven pattered against the leaves of the trees as Lea tried to hide her emotions from the mate bond. She didn't want to worry him. Still, she knew he felt them all: uncertainty, fear, curiosity.

Gray placed his forehead against hers, nipping at her lip. "We can handle whatever we learn. You and me together. And wewillget answers to all our questions. But you won’t find them hidden deep in your own mind," he said as he slowly slid his hand up her leg.

Chapter 12

Gray

"Butwhatif—"Graycut her words off with a kiss as he threaded his fingers through her hair, pinning her firmly against his chest.

"There’s time for 'what ifs' another day. Just let me kiss you before we rest. There’s been too much worry for one evening."

Lea sighed, melting against him, and Gray felt himself grow hard immediately.

"How can I say no to that?" she asked him with a smile, rolling her hips against his.

Gray leaned up to capture her mouth, his hands sliding down her bare back and finding the arch of her hip bones. Their magic coiled around them as she rocked against him again, already growing wet and beginning to slide up and down his shaft.

"Gods," Gray rasped, bending his neck to take a pink nipple into his mouth. "So beautiful," he murmured against her skin as Lea worked herself against him, her moans a chorus to the melody of an ancient song.

Flipping them over, Gray placed himself against her entrance, staring at her flushed cheeks. He paused, making sure his clouds firmly covered the moon. There were two things he was certain of at that moment. One, he needed to be inside Lea like he needed revenge. He couldn’t survive without touching her any more than he could survive knowing that warm blood still ran through the king’s veins. And two, he might not live through this war. And he’d be damned if he tied his life to his mate's if there wasanychance his heart might stop beating.

"Gray, please." Lea writhed against him, pleading for him to fill her. The movement yanked him out of his thoughts. Satisfied that the clouds were covering the moon, he sheathed himself inside her in one long thrust, pushing until he reached her end.

"Yes, more…" Lea groaned as he settled inside, stretching and filling her. The vision of his mate beneath him, bare under the sky and calling for him, filled him with fire. He began to move, slow, deep thrusts that caused his muscles to tighten with restraint. He wanted to claim her again, roughly and savagely, but the way her body undulated with pleasure as he fucked her slow and hard gave him the strength to resist.

Lea’s nails dug into his back as he drove deeper, needing to mark himself inside her as much as he longed to mark their bond on her skin. He bit her just below her collarbone, hard, his teeth imprinting into her flesh as she moaned his name. "Oh gods, Gray!" Her voice was filled with ecstasy, and he felt her begin to tighten as he kissed the indentations of his teeth on her skin.

Gray couldn’t hold back anymore, couldn’t move slowly as their passion became frenzied. Their rapid, pounding rhythm increased until Lea arched beneath him, going still as her walls convulsed around him.

"Gray!" she cried again, and the sound of his name on her sweet, swollen lips caused him to tip over the edge, going rigid as he followed her into oblivion. He kissed the mark he had branded her with, a small bruise blooming beneath her freckled skin. Lea reached up, tracing her fingers along the grooves.

"I didn’t mean to hurt you." Gray kissed her skin again, apologizing with affection as he gently pulled himself out of her.

"You didn’t hurt me," Lea whispered breathlessly, a blush warming her cheeks. She tilted her head up, placing her mouth just above Gray’s heart and looking up at him with questioning eyes, as if asking his permission.

Gray craved her teeth marks with a visceral need he’d never felt before, and his eyes darkened as he lowered his chin.

Lea leaned closer and sank her teeth into his flesh, swirling her tongue against his skin as her teeth cut into him.

Something primal erupted in Gray’s chest, an animalistic demand to claim her again. He felt himself growing thick and hard against her stomach and he growled, a low rumble that caused Lea’s eyes to flash back to his, a challenge in her expression.

"Wicked girl." Gray thrust inside her once again, their magic answering his movement, so intense the ground shook, and the trees swayed, and Gray wondered if the gods might seal their bond despite the fact that he had hidden them from their view. He needed her so much, healmostdidn’t care. And when she collapsed against him once again, falling asleep almost instantly, he saw only the mark of his passion through his heavy, tired eyes.

Chapter 13

Lea

Sleephadnevercomeeasier, and Lea woke to the beginnings of orange light creeping into the sky. She wasn’t sure if it was the fact that her body was spent from her lovemaking with Gray, or if it was more that her mind could finally relax now that she wasn’t at war with herself over loving the Night Prince, despite who his father was and what he’d done. For her to know that Gray had been working for years to overthrow him, to stop him from murdering innocent people, Lea was truly at peace for the first time since she had left Bearswillow.

A fist-sized red and yellow bird flitted from branch to branch above Lea’s head, leaves rustling as the branches shook from its weight, and she smiled at the normalcy of it.

"We’re still accused of treason and on the run, you know," a gruff, sleep-filled voice said behind her. Gray pulled her closer, kissing her hair as he tucked the furs more snugly around them.

"I’m well aware, thank you, oh mighty Eclipsed King," Lea teased.

"It doesn’t feel like you’re aware," he scolded, ignoring her teasing. "It feels like you’re happy. Relaxed and calm. You should be anythingbutcalm."

"Do you not want me to be happy?" Lea forced herself to replace her grin with a frown.

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