Page 78 of A Sun Scorched Bloom

It wasn’t fast enough.

Quickly and fluidly, he reached behind his neck and pulled the shirt over his head as he ordered his shadows to unlace his boots. He kicked them off, then removed his trousers.

Lea began to sit up, reaching toward him, but he pushed her back down with a long, inky black trail of darkness. He wanted, needed, to look at her. He needed to be in control, to give her every part of him, body and soul. His shadows caressed her body up to her chin, gently holding her head against the bed before sliding down her chest, her stomach, pinning her down.

Lifting her leg and pulling her to the edge, he knelt on the stone balcony, glancing up at the sky once more to ensure that not a wisp of clouds remained. He pressed a kiss to the inside of her calf, just above her ankle, and the moan that left Lea’s throat made him almost lose all restraint.

Slowly, tenderly, he worked his way up, kissing a path up to her thigh. Lea reached for him again, grabbing his face and trying to pull him higher, but he wrapped his shadows around her hands and raised them back above her head.

"I’ve dreamed of this moment for years." Gray rasped as he continued to kiss his way up her thigh. "Gone through every scenario in my mind of exactly how I would make you mine. Iwilltake my time. You will not rush me, Little Flower." His eyes darkened as he lowered his chin once more and resumed kissing her soft skin, starting at the top of her other leg and working his way down. Teasing her, tasting her.

And gods above, did she taste sweet.

Lea didn’t argue, her breaths turning to pants as she writhed beneath his touch. His palm splayed across her stomach, joining his shadows to hold her down as his lips reached the back of her calf.

"I want you, Gray," Lea urged, her arms pulling at the shadowy restraints pinning her down.

It was too soon. He wanted to taste every inch of her skin, spend hours building up her pleasure before finally giving in and pushing inside her.

"I need you," Lea moaned. "Please," she cried out, arching her back.

Whatever semblance of control Gray was hanging onto snapped, his eyes darkening and a growl ripping from his chest. He couldn’t deny her. "Whatever you need. Forever," Calling more shadows, he spread her legs wider as his tongue found her center, swirling firmly against her. Lea arched into his mouth.

"Gods!" she cried out, throwing her head back.

"I do not share a bed with the gods," Gray said as he slowly pushed a finger inside her.

"Gray," she moaned as he swirled his tongue and crooked his finger.

"Better," he growled, adding another finger as he began to push in and out, trailing kisses up to her navel, then her breasts.

Electricity crackled in the air, his skin becoming impossibly warm. Gray raised his head to meet Lea’s eyes.

What—

"Don’t stop," Lea cried out, love and need flooding the bond so strongly it would have taken his breath away if it hadn’t already been stolen by the sight of his mate.

Shadows surrounded her body, twisting and floating through the air and along the ground between the flames that flickered from her skin. Jet black fire filled with ash and soot mixed with red and orange sparks, warming the cool air blowing off the sea. And inside of the tornado of magic, his mate arched and moaned, her eyes closed tight, completely unaware of the display of magic she was creating.

Gray smothered the flames beneath her with his darkness, forcing a layer of shadows between her skin and the singed bedding below.

"You are the most stunning creature," Gray breathed, his heart thumping erratically at the display of pure power and raw sexuality. He lowered his lips to her throat, needing to feel the intensity of the heat of her fire. He wanted all of her. Every last piece of what made her who she was, but as his mouth touched her skin, the flames moved for him, warming his lips but not burning them. Everywhere his hands wandered, the flames parted, allowing him access to every inch of her glowing flesh. It was as if the very essence of her power knew that he belonged to her and refused to hurt him.

It was wild and beautiful, intense in a way that made him vibrate with need. Her magic was right. He was hers, wholly and irrevocably. And she was his. Gray was unable to restrain himself as he lined up his thick, impossibly hard length against her entrance, staring into her eyes as he pressed inside his mate slowly. Lea cried out as a groan ripped from his throat, the mate bond becoming so taut it wasalmostpainful.

The balcony shook as Gray began to move. He released Lea’s arms from his shadows as her nails drug down his back, meeting him with every thrust, her own shadows wrapping around them like a gentle breeze.

Their movements quickly became frenzied, teeth clashing and lips swollen as Gray moved faster, deeper. He lifted her leg, angling her to allow him to fill her completely, and gods—he could feel the very center of her.

Gray couldn’t tell where he ended and his mate began, their bodies so entangled that he felt as if they were merging into one.

The ground shook, small pieces of sandstone cascading from the walls of the castle as the bed crashed to the ground, the legs collapsing as shadows and flames exploded out from their joined bodies. Gray barely even noticed.

The blanket caught on fire, and Gray ripped it off, throwing it onto the stone of the balcony as he rocked back onto his knees, pulling Lea along with him.

Her legs wrapped around his waist, straddling him as he pulled her against his chest. She began to rock, sliding up and down, but Gray pinned her hips to his. He needed more. Impossibly more.

Lea threw her head back as he continued to thrust, her breasts sliding against him as the wind blew harder. Enormous, powerful gusts that ripped the curtains from the rods and put out the fire now trailing from beneath Lea and Gray’s bodies across the balcony floor.

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