Page 98 of Savage Crown

His hands tear at the fabric of my tunic, rough and impatient, dragging it over my head. Cold air rushes over my skin, only to be replaced by the scorching heat of him, his mouth trailing down my throat, down to the sharp curve of my collarbone.

I arch into him, nails raking down his back, drawing a growl from deep in his chest.

His hands are everywhere. Too much. Not enough.

I grab his shirt, yank it over his head, throwing it aside. My fingers find the ridges of muscle, the scars, the places where his body has been broken and remade.

Rylan groans against my skin, low, dark, pressing harder, rougher, his mouth sliding lower, lower.

I dig my nails into his shoulders, marking him, branding him the way I want to be branded.

“Rylan,” I whisper.

He freezes.

Just for a second.

Just long enough for something to flicker across his face—something fragile, something dangerous.

Then it’s gone.

He yanks me off the wall, turns, pushes me back onto the bed—if it can even be called that. Rough sheets, a mattress too thin to soften anything. But it doesn’t matter.

None of it matters.

Because he’s on top of me now, hovering over me, staring down like he’s still at war with himself, with me, with this.

Like he wants to stop.

Like he can’t.

I lift a hand, trace the line of his jaw, softer this time, gentler.

“I’m not afraid of you,” I murmur.

His eyes flash.

“You should be.”

I smile, slow and wicked, my lips curling with defiance and desire.

My fingers tightenin his hair, and I pull him down, hard, until there’s no space left between us, no room for doubt or hesitation.

We crash togetherlike a storm breaking, rough and desperate, consuming and consumed.

His mouth is on mine, hot and demanding, his teeth catching my lower lip, tugging until I gasp. He swallows the sound, his tongue sliding against mine, claiming, devouring.

Everything fades—thewar, the chase, the men hunting us. The world narrows to this room, to this moment, to him.

There is only this.

Only him.

Only the way he moves,his body pressing into mine, his hips grinding against me with a rhythm that drives me insane.

“Rylan, give it to me,”I moan, holding onto his shoulders.

He kisses me again,biting my lips almost drawing blood. I gasp, my body shivering from the overwhelming sensations.

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