Page 47 of Starlit Bargains

That was all Eliar needed.

He tore at Kai’s clothes, stripping them away with frantic urgency, fingers roaming over every newly exposed inch of skin. Kai was fire beneath him, heat and muscle and barely restrained need, his breath hitching as Eliar’s mouth found the curve of his throat, teeth grazing over the rapid pulse there.

Eliar was already wet. Slick, aching, desperate. His body knew what it wanted, what it needed, and he had no intention of fighting it. He shoved Kai against the rough bark, palming his cock, feeling the way he twitched under his touch.

“Fuck,” Kai gasped, head tipping back, lips parting in a ragged moan.

Eliar grinned against his skin, letting his fingers stroke, tease, until Kai was cursing under his breath, hips jerking into his hand. He trailed kisses lower, lower, taking his time, savoring the way Kai trembled, the way he came undone beneath his mouth. But it wasn’t enough. It wasn’t nearly enough.

“Eliar,” Kai growled, half warning, half plea.

He shuddered at the sound of his name like that—wrecked, raw, demanding. His fingers tightened on Kai’s hips as he shifted, guiding him, pressing him back against the tree. He met Kai’s gaze, making sure he saw the hunger in his eyes, the need that had been clawing at him since the moment they met.

No more hesitation.

He pushed inside, sinking into heat, into tight, perfect pressure that made both of them gasp. Fuck, he was too far gone for this to be slow, too starved for it to be anything but frantic, punishing, desperate. He buried himself to the hilt, growling against Kai’s throat as Kai clenched around him, nails digging into Eliar’s back hard enough to leave marks.

They moved together, rough and relentless, each thrust sending waves of pleasure crashing through Eliar’s body. He couldn’t get enough, couldn’t be close enough. He gripped Kai’sthighs, pulling him tighter, deeper, drinking in every sound he made, every breathless moan and bitten-off curse. Kai met every thrust with equal intensity, driving them both higher, harder, until the world blurred around them, until the only thing that mattered was this—heat, skin, hunger, the raw, consuming need that had been waiting to explode from the moment they laid eyes on each other.

Eliar’s power surged, crackling over his skin, lighting up the night around them. He felt it curling in his gut, rising with his pleasure, spiraling higher, faster?—

And then he shattered, pleasure tearing through him like a supernova, dragging Kai with him, leaving them both gasping, shaking, spent.

For a long moment, neither of them moved, their bodies still tangled together, the air between them thick with the scent of sweat and sex and something deeper—something unspoken, undeniable.

Eliar let out a ragged breath, forehead pressing against Kai’s. “Fuck.”

Kai chuckled, fingers carding through Eliar’s hair, tugging lightly. “That about sums it up.”

Eliar smirked, catching his breath. He was still glowing, his magic still thrumming beneath his skin, but for the first time in centuries, it didn’t feel like too much. It didn’t feel like something he had to fight.

It felt right.

For the first time in centuries, Eliar allowed himself to feel not just the weight of cosmic responsibility or the burden of corruption, but something simpler and more human: hope. Dangerous as it might be, complicated as it would surely become, he could no longer deny that whatever existed between them was worth the risk of exploring.

The line had been crossed. There was no going back now.

And surprisingly, despite everything, Eliar found he had no desire to try.

Chapter 11

The Fall

The forest hummed softly in the early morning light, golden rays filtering through the canopy, painting shifting patterns on the forest floor. Birds called to one another through the trees, their songs blending with the gentle rustle of leaves in the breeze. It was peaceful, this liminal time between night and day—a stark contrast to the chaos that had followed them for days.

Kai woke gradually, awareness returning in lazy increments. First, the warmth—not just from the early sunlight dappling his face through the branches, but from the body pressed against his. Eliar was tucked against his side, an arm resting over Kai's waist, fingers just barely curled around his hip. The fallen guardian's face was softer in sleep, the constant vigilance and ancient sorrow temporarily erased, leaving something almost innocent in its place.

For a long moment, Kai simply watched him, cataloging details he hadn't had the chance to notice the night before: a small scar along Eliar's jawline, nearly invisible against his pale skin; the way his silver-white hair caught the morning light,seeming to glow from within; the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest with each breath.

It felt right in a way few things in Kai's life ever had. Like finding an answer to a question he hadn't known he was asking.

And for a moment, Kai let himself pretend. Pretend that this wasn't temporary. That Eliar wouldn't pull away when he woke, wouldn't retreat behind walls of duty and prophecy and ancient burdens. That what had happened between them last night—the desperate kisses, the clash of teeth and tongue giving way to something slower, deeper, more deliberate—wasn't some fleeting, stolen moment born of adrenaline and proximity, but the start of something real.

A dangerous indulgence, that pretending. Kai knew better. He'd always known better. People left. They changed their minds. They decided he was too much trouble, too unpredictable, too chaotic to keep around. It had been the pattern of his life since he was old enough to understand what abandonment meant.

And yet.

And yet there was something in the way Eliar had looked at him last night, something in the desperate intensity of his touch, that made Kai want to believe this might be different. That the connection between them—magical and physical and something harder to define—might be strong enough to overcome centuries of isolation and whatever darkness Eliar carried within him.

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