Page 153 of Crowned In Venom

With a slow, deliberate movement, I caress his body, lower and lower. He’s beautiful, powerful, and the sight of him, completely vulnerable before me, sends a wave of heat through me. I reach out and touch him, my fingers wrapping around his length. He gasps, his hips bucking upwards.

I lower myself onto him, slowly impaling myself on his hardness. He fills me completely, stretching me, making me his. A wave of pleasure washes over me, so intense it makes my eyes roll back.

He groans again, the sound echoing the frantic beat of my heart. I begin to move, rocking against him, the friction building the pleasure.

“Tell me what you want, Varkos,” I whisper, my voice thick with desire.

“You,” he groans, his voice raw with need. "I want you, Anya. Always." His hands grip my hips, guiding my movements, urging me on.

His words are a spark that ignites a fire within me. I move faster, harder, driven by the need to please him, to give him everything he desires. His hands grip my hips, pulling me down, urging me on. The world narrows, shrinking down to the feel of him inside me, the sound of our mingled breaths, the frantic rhythm of our bodies moving as one.

He arches beneath me, his pleasure mirroring my own. The feeling of him inside me, so deep, so good, is driving me wild.

I move faster, harder, lost in the sensation. I can feel him reaching his peak, his body tensing. "Varkos," I cry out, his name a desperate plea on my lips.

I feel the first tremors of release building within me, a wave of heat that threatens to consume me. "Varkos," I cry out, his name a desperate plea on my lips.

He answers with a guttural groan, his body tensing beneath mine. We shatter together, a mixture of moans and gasps, our bodies locked in a desperate embrace. The aftershocks ripple through me, leaving me weak and trembling, but utterly content.

I collapse against him, my heart pounding against his chest, our breaths mingled in the quiet of the room.

For a long moment, we lie there, tangled together, the silence broken only by the sound of our beating hearts. Then, he shifts beneath me, his arms tightening around my waist, holding me close.

"I love you, Anya," he whispers, his voice hoarse with emotion.

The words are a balm to my soul, a promise whispered in the darkness. I bury my face in his chest, my heart swelling with a love so fierce it terrifies me.

"I love you too, Varkos," I whisper back, my voice thick with unshed tears.

And in that moment, surrounded by the shadows and the silence, I know that I would burn the world for him, just as he would for me.

46

VARKOS

Anya lays against me, her breath slow, even. The firelight casts soft golden shadows over her bare skin, the bruises and wounds she’s suffered in this hell carved into her like battle scars. And yet, even in the ruin of everything, she is beautiful.

I memorize her.

The curve of her cheek beneath my fingers. The way her lips part slightly as she sleeps. The faint crease in her brow, as if even in slumber, she cannot let go of the weight pressing on her soul.

I trace my knuckles over her arm, committing every inch of her to memory.

I love her.

It is a truth that no longer terrifies me.

It should have, once. I should have fought against it, clawed my way back to the cold, empty void where I was safest.

But she changed me.

She has unraveled every layer of ice I wrapped around myself, ripped open my chest, and left me exposed. Vulnerable. Alive.

I want to be better for her.

I want forever with her.

But we have only borrowed time.

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