Page 115 of The Alien's Vicious Starflash Manor

CHAPTER 30

LARA

When we finally part for a moment, Ivrael’s expression is as close to warmth as I’ve ever seen it, though frost still glitters at his temples and collarbones. His usually perfect hair is mussed where I’ve run my fingers through it.

Around us, snowflakes begin to fall, melting as they touch my heated skin but remaining pristine on his shoulders and in his hair. Frost crystals dance in the air around him like diamond dust, catching in his eyelashes and sparkling in the moonlight.

For an instant, the maze looks like a snow globe caught in that perfect moment just after the shake, full of swirling magic and possibility.

I tilt my head back, offering more of my neck to his cool kisses.

“Please,” I whisper.

The resulting growl that rumbles through his chest is worth it.

When I open my mouth to say more, Ivrael pushes my back even harder against the ice wall. For an instant, I feel tiny bumps digging into my back—but then Ivrael presses his mouth to mine, and all other sensation fades away.

I expect his lips to be as demanding, as controlling as they’ve been every other time we’ve kissed. But they aren’t. He brushes them lightly against my lips several times, until he teases my lips open with his tongue.

Heat sparks between us, and I press against him, wanting more.

My nipples tighten and my desire for him, the need that’s been bubbling under the surface for the last year like molten lava, the wanting that never seems sated, no matter how often I try to sate it, moves toward the surface, glowing red-hot just under my skin. I return the kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my lips to his.

Ivrael allows me to control the pace of this kiss for a long moment, too, keeping it soft and gentle. Then, with a groan he deepens the kiss, taking control of it, plundering my mouth with his tongue, sending tingles of awareness flashing through my entire body, straight to my core.

His hand runs down my side. I shouldn’t want this man—this Icecaix lord—who kidnapped me.

But I do.

Ivrael pulls away and begins dropping kisses down my neck.

My heart pounds against my chest as if trying to break free as Ivrael presses his body against mine and whispers my name, his voice fluttering against my skin.

“Ivrael,” I breathe out, for once not thinking of our many differences—not of his rank, his title, his sheer Icecaix-ness—but only of how unbelievably male he is, how hard his body feels against mine.

“I have tried so hard not to do this,” he murmurs against my neck, “tried so hard to stick to the plan.”

I whimper as his lips glide across my skin, burning a trail back toward my mouth.

“I cannot stop thinking of you,” he says, his breath fluttering against my skin, as hot as his mouth. “Every moment of every day since that first morning in the Trasqo Market.”

His mouth hovers over mine, and I wonder at the heat of him—an Icecaix with a molten touch. I moan, unable to form a coherent sentence, and as I stare into his eyes, the pure need I see in them leaves me breathless.

His lips caress mine, and I slide my hand along the nape of his neck, fingers curling through his hair. He tilts his head back and smiles—a true smile, and oh, God, I was right. It’s amazing.

I am devastated.

Ivrael’s breath mingles with the frigid air, misting my face, heat and cold all at once.

“Look at me,” he commands, his voice a deep rumble echoing off the icy corridors.

I obey, lifting my gaze to meet his ice-blue eyes. The familiar golden sparks twirl within, but they blaze with an emotion I’ve never seen before.

“Say my name,” he insists, and there’s a vulnerability in his demand.

“Ivrael,” I whisper, my voice barely carrying across the ice.

That’s all it takes.

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