Page 206 of The Dryad Storm

Clear I’m literally playing with fire—monumental, scorching Wyvernfire—I recklessly send out a hotter rush of heat to brush Yvan’s neck and slide under his clothing.

Yvan’s eyes widen, and he turns to face me fully, his smile gone, his eyes narrowing. His full aura hits me in a shimmer of heat, cascading over my body like rain made of tingling embers.

My breath hitches against the wildly arousing sensation as I latch hold of his daring look and send out a dare of my own—a rush of spiraling fire that cascades over his chest.

Yvan’s head arcs back a fraction, his jaw and neck tensing. My breathing quickens as I ripple invisible heat over his hard stomach, his hip bones, lower...

Yvan’s arm lashes out in a quick arc, deftly capturing my invisible prismatic fire before drawing it into his palm and tethering it there, his hand glowing as he tenses it into a fist, and I thrill to his display of mastery over both my power and his.

No longer playing, he bids a quick farewell to Kam Vin and the others and strides toward me, horns up, wings fanning out, his eyes aflame. The powerful beauty of his lithe, muscular grace sends my heartbeat into a faster rhythm as I make my way toward him as well, the two of us rapidly closing the distance between us.

He reaches me and arcs his wings around us, a more fervid hunger entering his gaze as his hot hand slides around my waist, trailing sparks. “I can’t control the drawof our bond any longer,” he murmurs, tugging me closer.

I smile. “I noticed. Your fire has been on my lips for hours.”

His mouth ticks up as he gives me a look so knowing, a flush blooms on my face.

“The Zhilaan Forest,” he says, glancing at it, “it wants us to be fully together, as well. I know you can feel its pull through our bond.”

I nod, swallowing. “It’s as if there’s something essential about us taking each other as full mates. Something we don’t yet understand. Something important to this fight.” A tremor kicks through me, suffused with desire for him I have no wish to suppress.

Yvan draws me into a close embrace, his warm breath brushing my cheek. “I want to give you my fire, Elloren,” he murmurs in Lasair. “Allof it.”

My flush sears into a pleasurable burn, every tendril of my magic straining toward him as I nod in breathless assent.

“Do you have Sanjire root?’ he whispers.

I nod again. “I found some in the Forest. Where should we go?”

Amusement sparks in his eyes. “Somewhere fireproof,” he suggests, his voice a silken thrum.

Oh, my.

I can’t suppress a returning, teasing smile, excited and intimidated and amused all at the same time. “You’re a bit stoked up, Wyvern.”

He doesn’t blink. “After that fire you just sent me? I’m about two seconds away from burning all your clothes off. And mine.”

Sweet holy gods on high.

“Well, we better go somewhere fireproofandprivate,” I manage, throat dry.

“We’d better.”

“The room I was given?” I suggest.

He nods, and we depart without hesitation, hand in hand, toward the section of unoccupied barracks Hizar’drile offered us all for rest this night and the next, the key to my room hanging from a cord looped around my wrist. Yvan’s fire aura burns hotter and hotter, my body lit up by the sheer strength of the love and desire blazing through us both.

We reach my room, and I unwind the cord around my wrist before taking hold of the brass key, my hand quivering slightly as I insert it in the lock, which refuses to give. Yvan gently takes hold of my hand, his fingers a warm caress as he guides it away then proceeds to thrust out his palm and blast a violet-hot bolt of flame at thelock, melting it to glowing liquid before firmly pushing the door open.

Overtaken with want, I step inside then turn to find him inside as well, melting the door’s metal edging shut before he fixes his eyes and fire on me with such volcanic intensity, it elicits a dizzying rush of warmth through my lines.

In a blur he closes the distance between us and catches me in an embrace.

I thrill to the feel of his warm body against mine as I pull him close and he pushes me against the room’s stone wall, his wings arcing around us, his lips meeting mine with a sudden jolt of flame that lights up my entire body, every one of my lines catching glorious fire.

I grab one of Yvan’s horns and urge him nearer, unable to hold back my moan as he deepens the kiss and I open my mouth to his, our tongues brazenly stroking each other while I send a sizzling rush of flame over his entire body.

Yvan groans and presses himself against me, hard sparks of want flaring at the most brazen point of contact. A ravenous heat surging, I wrap a leg around him to draw him tighter against me, desperate to meld straight into him.

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