Page 83 of Court of Secrets and Flames

We’re too low. Going too fast.

A yelp escapes me, and fear mingles with exhilaration. My heart drums in my ears. Flipping over, I break our embrace and beat at the wind, cupping my wings to hold the air and slow our fall.

Knox attempts the same to no avail.

The ground rushes up to meet us.

Below us is a marshland, with shallow muddy pools speckled throughout the soggy terrain. I didn’t realize we were so close to the sea. I do my best to get my legs under me again, feet readyto hit the ground running. We both aim for a stretch of solid-looking ground, waiting until the last second to release each other’s hands.

We overshoot the landing, slamming into the edge of a salt marsh in a tangle of limbs and mud. My senses immediately go into overload. The briny scent of the sea. Mud splattered on my body. The calls of distant gulls. Their cries echo over the expanse of waterlogged grasses and open pools reflecting the afternoon light.

Somehow, in this messy, unceremonious descent, I’m grateful for the softness of the wet ground beneath us where the land meets the ocean. I’ll take that over broken bones.

In a shrugging motion, I roll my shoulders to dislodge my mud-caked braid.

My wings. They’re gone.

Vanished. Leaving nothing but the sensation of lightness behind.

For a second, I’m too stunned by what just happened to do anything but stare at my naked back where my wings once were.

“How did…”

Knox’s laughter, deep and throaty and warm, breaks the spell. “I told you it would happen when you were ready.”

“No one likes a know-it-all.”

I can’t help but laugh, too, the sound bubbling up from deep within me. With my wings gone, my eyesight has settled down to normal. Or at least what it used to be.

I don’t know what normal is anymore.

And in this moment, I don’t care.

Knox appraises my mud-spattered, half-naked body, the heat in his gaze warming me to my core.

And then his mouth is on mine again. It’s sweet and fierce. Soft, yet demanding. I melt into his kisses—into him—like the last rays of the sun sinking into the sea.

Despite the uneven footing in the moist soil, I manage to wrap my leg around him.

His hand skims up the back of my thigh, his long fingers reaching the apex. “You’re a fucking goddess.”

The words re-form my blood into liquid fire.

My fingers fumble with the clasp of his shirt, urgency lending a clumsy haste to my movements. His hands are no less eager as they slide under the hem of my shirt-tangled belt. We’re a mess of limbs and desire, shifting around to undress the other.

Finally, I rid him of his clothes, and he shimmies his hips, causing his trousers to slide low.

I run my hand over his erection.

With a groan, he clasps a hand over my wrist. “Fuck.”

I ease my hand from his grip so I can instead spear my fingers through his hair. “Is that your favorite word?”

“It is when I’m with you.” His arms settle around me, pushing my breasts against his hard chest.

Fuck is right.“Is that a fact?”

He nips my lower lip. “Yes.”

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