Page 154 of Savage Crown

My hands grip his shoulders, my nails digging into his skin.

His tongue sweeps against mine, demanding, consuming, taking everything I offer and demanding more.

It should be too much.

It should be overwhelming, too sudden, too intense.

But all I can think is I am alive.

And I want him to feel it.

I want him to know that I came back for him.

He pulls away just enough to breathe, but his lips still hover over mine, his forehead still pressed to mine.

His eyes burn like emerald fire, wide and wild, filled with something raw and open and real.

Something I have never seen in him before.

A tremor lingers in his fingers as he cups my face.

"You stopped breathing," he whispers, voice ragged. "You—" He swallows, his throat working. "I felt you go cold."

I reach up, pressing my palm over his chest, feeling the erratic thump of his heart.

"I came back," I murmur.

I don’t tell him about the whispers.

I don’t tell him about the price.

Not yet.

In this moment, none of that matters.

Only this.

Only him.

His hands slide down to my waist, his grip tightening, grounding.

"You scared the hell out of me, little thief," he mutters, pressing a rough kiss against my temple.

I smile, just slightly.

"Good."

But even as I say it, something in me stirs.

A slow, creeping sensation in my veins, like cold fire curling beneath my skin.

Not pain.

Not quite.

Just… different.

Like something inside me has been rewritten.

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