Page 123 of Shadows of Ruin

His hand squeezed around my throat. “I can feel you, Little Rebel. You’re so close.”

“Yes,” I said. “Don’t stop.”

“Never.”

I wrapped my arms around him, letting my tongue take the lead as I took control of his mouth, using my arms to drive myself downward harder on him. I swallowed his own groans until the frantic way our bodies moved begged for that final release.

“Now come for me,” he ordered, and my body obeyed. Instantly.

His words flooded my senses as I screamed his name, throwing my head back.

“Fuck,” he bellowed. “Fucking Fates, Lana.”

As he spilled inside of me, another orgasm ripped through my body. Kade’s tremors coaxing it out of me until I thought I’d never stop. He held me in place, forcing my body further onto him somehow.

“Don’t move,” he whispered, pulling back and looking into my eyes. He brushed my hair back, holding me in place. He opened his mouth as if he planned to say something, but closed it again quickly, replacing the look of reverence with a stunning smile instead. “I missed you. I didn’t think I could miss anything. But fuck, I missed you, Little Rebel.”

I wanted to say something back, but I hesitated. These feelings were dangerous. They were exactly the sort of thing Andras would use against me. Andras or the king. I couldn’t risk it. Instead, I kissed him gently, trying to convey the words I remained too fearful to say.

Kade laid me down on the bedroll before rolling over and grabbing something from his pack. He took out a cloth and wiped between my legs, trailing kisses up my chest.

“If you keep that up, we’ll be going again,” I said, unable to stop my smile.

“If you go to sleep, I’ll give you more in the morning,” he chuckled.

My grin spread at the warm sound of his joy.

When Kade curled up next to me, he pulled my body firmly into his, wrapping around me until no space existed between us.

I soaked in his warmth. His shadows hovered, welcomed back and allowed to touch me again.

“Sleep,” he whispered.

I closed my eyes and allowed my heart to crack open enough to let in the scent of fresh rain and the safety of Kade’s arms. This time, I knew there would be no coming back from him. From us.

And that was one fate I realized I might not mind.

Chapter 35

Kade

My body jerked violently as I shot straight up in bed.

Beads of sweat lined my brow from the humid summer night. My breath came in short, quick successions. I reached out to feel Lana on the bedroll beside me to calm this unease.

But the bedroll lay empty.

Lana was gone.

A sense of foreboding permeated the air.

Yanking my clothes on took seconds before I shoved my feet into my shoes. I secured all of my daggers, pushing them into their respective sheaths before grabbing my sword. I exited the tent, desperate to catch a glimpse of her rose-gold hair in the moonlight to prove to me I had nothing to fear.

I stumbled away from the tent, clumsy for perhaps the first time in my life as panic swelled, blocking out my finesse. “Illiana!” I shouted.

How had my shadows not even noticed her absence?

She wasn’t sitting near the extinguished fire, nor wandering between the tents. “Lana!” I yelled again.

---