Page 31 of Broken Star

But the taste of him—the crisp bite of glacial wind and the ghost of winter-dark skies—ignites the traitorous part of me that desperately wants him. Not just as an ally who can keep me alive in this place, but in a way that coils desire deep inside my soul.

He responds immediately, one hand tangling in my hair as the other finds my waist, firm and possessive. His control is ironclad, but his urgency is unmistakable. And as he effortlessly guides me onto my back, I can barely register how we ended up like this.

This is strategy,I remind myself as I gaze up into the deep, midnight eyes that have carved themselves into my soul.It’s a game. It’s how I make him continue to protect me.

But when his wings unfurl to cocoon us both, strategy blurs with something far more dangerous. Because being surrounded by him doesn’t make me feel trapped.

It makes me feelsafe.

So, I hook my arms around his neck and pull him closer.

He murmurs my name, and I arch into him, his body a contrast of sharp cold and burning hunger.

“See?” He’s hovering over me now, on full display, his eyes drinking me in as if I’m something rare. Somethinghis.“I’m not going to let you waste away. I need you healthy for some extremely important activities.”

My pulse stutters at the confession—or whatever it is. Because when Jake and I fought in the garden, he told me something I haven’t been able to forget.

Aerix doesn’t sleep with humans. Or at least, that’s what they say.

But if high school taught me anything, it’s that rules always have exceptions.

And Prince Aerix Nightborne is already looking at me like I’m his.

“Then I suspect I’m going to need that strength,” I finally tell him, giving him a small, mischievous smile.

And then, I kiss him again.

The second I do, the control I thought I had slips dangerously through my fingers.

Because he kisses me back like he’s unraveling me. Like he’s peeling back every calculated move, every layer of pretense, and pulling me straight into his orbit.

Slowly, I slide my hand up his spine, my fingers trailing over the smooth, impossibly cool skin of his back.

I go higher and higher, eventually reaching the base of his wings.

“Don’t,” he commands, and wind bursts from nowhere, knocking my glass of juice off the nightstand as his wings retract so violently—so fast—that I’m lucky I still have all my fingers.

“Sorry,” I say quickly, my heart in my throat. “I didn’t mean to?—”

He doesn’t let me finish.

Instead, his mouth crashes against mine, hard and unyielding. There’s no hesitation this time. No calculated control. This is something raw and desperate—something that makes my head spin and my blood sing.

I don’t know if he’s punishing me or claiming me.

But as I melt beneath him, a reminder claws itself up from the sliver of my brain still capable of forming rational thoughts.

Because this is supposed to bemygame.

And I’m dangerously close to forgetting which one of us is playing who.

Zoey

“Wait,”I force out, but Aerix’s lips are already trailing down my neck, tracing the spot he always lingers over before feeding.

I clutch at the bed sheets, my mind spinning in a hundred directions at once.

I could let go. Give in to the rush of need pooling low in my stomach, to the way his hands are already mapping out every inch of me, to the way his body fits against mine like he was made to ruin me.

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