Page 34 of Salt & Blood

He dragged his fingertips down her cheeks, his touches tender and delicate. Her form wilted, and she made a sound that was a cross between a sigh and a sob.

Cyrus pulled away to look at her, and she was weeping freely. “What—What was that?” she asked in a strained voice.

“That was my answer.” Cyrus’s voice was low. “I choose you, Prue.”

She shook her head, still crying softly. “I don’t understand. You choseApollo.”

“It’s a game, Prue. I’m playing the game the only way I know how. I’m weak and powerless, so I needed an edge. Without it, Apollo would have killed me easily. But now, I can get close to him and figure out his plan. I can feed you all the information I learn from him. I’mon your side,Prue.”

She shook her head, biting her lip. “How am I supposed to believe you? Just days ago, you were yelling in my face about how much you despised me.”

Cyrus’s chest constricted at her words, because she was right. He had made awful choices lately. He was weak and angry and utterly foolish. He blinked rapidly as heat burned behind his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Prue.” He couldn’t stop his voice from breaking. “I’m so terribly sorry. As soon as I said those things, I wanted to take them back. I just—I couldn’t rein in my emotions. They are so overwhelming, and my need for power is so strong, that… Gods above, Prue. You don’t know how much I wish I could change it. How much I wish I could erase all the pain I’ve caused you. I was weak. And I will spend every day of the rest of my pitiful existence proving to you how much you mean to me.”

Prue’s brows knitted together as if she were still confused by his words. She still believed he hated her. She believedthiswas the act. Not what she had seen with Apollo.

She truly thought he was despicable enough to betray her.

And that broke him more than anything else.

At a loss for words, Cyrus gripped her waist and kissed her again, this time with more force. His mouth claimed hers with bruising intensity, his tongue gliding between her lips and colliding with hers. She moaned in his mouth, her hands gripping his shoulders to bring him closer. He tasted her thoroughly, again and again, willing her to believe him, if not with words, then with actions.

He walked her backward until she was pinned to the wall, his hips aligned with hers. She gasped, arching against him, her head thrown back as he ran his tongue along the column of her throat. Gods above, she tasted divine. Her scent, her skin, was so much sweeter than he remembered. He thought he could resist her. He thought that, for the good of his kingdom, he could refuse her touch. But this right here was like a starving man given a feast. He was dying of thirst, and this was a bottomless well for him to drink from.

He groaned in part agony part satisfaction as her hips ground against him, rubbing directly along his hardened length. His skin burned from her touch, his blood boiling with an intensity he’d never known before. Ever since he’d awoken as a human, he had loathed himself for how weak and pitiful he was. But this… He could feel everything so acutely. Each sensation rippled over him with more force and fervor than he could ever imagine.

He couldn’t help himself from whispering her name, dragging his hand through her soft curls. He wanted to worship her body, to show her just how devoted he was. Each touch, each movement sent fire coursing through him, and gods, it was the most delicious and exhilarating feeling.

Prue was panting, her hips moving, her lips parted as she stared at him with a dark and heated look that he knew too well.

“I am yours,” Cyrus rasped. His body was so consumed by her that he almost couldn’t find his voice at all. But he needed her to know. He needed her to understand. “I amyours, Prue.”

Her cheeks flushed, her eyelashes fluttering as her hands came around his neck to pull him to her again. She kissed him violently, teeth and tongue scraping, devouring him completely.

He growled in her mouth, hoisting her up until her skirts came up and her legs wrapped around him. He was weak—much weaker than before—but he could still carry her. His hands gripped her thighs, holding her against him as he brought her to the bed and lay her before him.

He wanted her naked, but the growing need pulsing through him demanded he take her like this. There wasn’t time to remove all the layers of clothing. He needed hernow.

Her dress was already bunched up well past her thighs, revealing the tanned skin of her legs. His fingers danced up and down those legs, and her back arched as she sighed with contentment. He worked the fabric up higher until his thumb skirted over her slick center, and she cried out.

Gods, she was pure perfection. How had he denied her before? How had he not seen how perfect this goddess was?

In this moment, power didn’t matter at all. As he removed his trousers, watching as Prue’s eyes dipped to his firm arousal, he realized there hadneverbeen power between them when their bodies tangled together. He hovered over her, his black hair forming a curtain over them as he brought his mouth to hers in a long and slow kiss, running his tongue along the seam of her lips. Her tongue met his, coaxing him forward until he plunged deeper into her throat, tasting as much of her as she could.

Her hand gripped his arousal firmly, and he jerked wildly with a strangled gasp.

“You are mine,” she whispered. “Only mine.”

“Only yours,” he echoed in a strained voice.

She guided him closer, and he felt the heat of her surround him when he entered her slowly. He slid in, deeper and deeper, letting her fit around him so perfectly, so fully, that he couldn’t see straight. Pure pleasure rocketed through him like a violent tidal wave, and he let it overtake him, let it drown him completely.

“Oh, gods,Prue,” he groaned when he was completely inside her. She rocked her hips, and he met her movement with a thrust of his own.

Here and now, power and magic did not matter. He lost himself in her and the feel of her body. Human or not, god or not, he was still hers, and she was his. When he was with her like this, everything else fell away. Politics, power struggles, court responsibilities, looming threats… There was nothing but Prue and Cyrus.

He gripped her thighs, shifting his angle so he could drive even deeper inside her. She cried out, her arms around him, fingernails dragging along his back. Sweat trickled down Cyrus’s face and neck as he pushed into her again and again. Her legs wrapped tightly around him, her heels digging into him. His movements became more wild, more unhinged as feral sounds escaped him. She met his thrusts with her own, hips bucking, making the bed frame rattle.

“Cyrus,” she gasped. “Cyrus.”

---