Page 106 of Court of Secrets and Flames

I sink against him, kissing his jaw, then his mouth. Teasing. Tasting. I slide my hands up under his shirt, running them over his chest as I settle myself over his lap.

Each kiss grows deeper, more heated. I suck his lower lip, pulling it between my teeth. His hands glide over my legs, bunching and stretching the silk higher and higher ’til his fingers trace over the curve of my ass.

I roll my hips forward, stretching up. My breasts graze over the fabric of his shirt, eliciting a moan from me. “Mmm.”

He pulls me closer. “While your dress is beautiful, I think it would look better on the floor.”

“That wouldn’t be?—”

“Wise.” He nips my lower lip. “I know.”

His mouth claims mine once more, and I lose myself in the possessiveness of his kiss. The heat. The longing surging through me. The yearning that zips straight to my core.

“Sterling.” I whisper against his lips, a plea and a reprimand all at once. The fire he kindles within me is not so easily doused, and for a moment, I allow myself to drown in the depth of his desire.

But as quickly as the blaze of our illicit kiss has ignited, a chilling wave of clarity extinguishes it. I’ve yearned for this, yet it’s laced with peril.

A strange warmth blooms up my spine, a comforting embrace that whispers of home and happiness while also holding an inexplicable sorrow. My heart swells with a sense of safety that’s tinged with grief, as if something precious has slipped through my fingers. It’s all too bewildering and overwhelming.

“Are you feeling okay?” Sterling’s voice cuts through the fog of my musings.

I blink, struggling to find myself in my maelstrom of emotions. “Why do you ask?”

“Because,” his eyes search mine, “you’re smiling, but you look as if you might shatter into tears at any moment.”

Though the words catch me off guard, they resonate within me. Recognition dawns.

These feelings…are not mine to claim. They belong to the dragons.

He pulls back, brow creased with concern as he strokes my cheek. “What’s wrong, love?”

“Sterling, I can feel the dragons again.”

Our eyes meet, and we need no further words. Sterling unlocks the door, and we flee.

My breath catches as the first of the dragons cuts through the azure sky, its massive, outstretched wings a silhouette against the sun. One by one, they descend, majestic and terrifying, swooping into the fire paddock with the grace of dancers.

The thrum of excited chatter rumbles through the air like the beating of a thousand drums.

We push our way through the gathering crowd, finally reaching the end of the throng of onlookers.

The sight that greets us punches the air from my lungs. There, at the center of the tumult, are the dragons, their scales shimmering like a sea of embers on the rock and sand of their paddock. But it’s not their beauty that holds the bystanders captive.

“By the gods…”

Sterling curses as the blood freezes in my veins.

A blue dragon’s body lies at the feet of the mightiest.

Small, limp, and lifeless.

The dragons’ eyes convey a bottomless sorrow. Whispers snake through the crowd.

“Who could do that?” someone murmurs.

“Is it a message of war?” another questions, their voice tinged with fear.

As I step closer, the dragons, recognizing my bond and my right to stand among them, part to grant me passage. My gaze fixes on the fallen figure, and I brace myself for the truth that awaits.

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