Page 103 of A World of Ruins

When we arrive back inside the castle, we hardly make it to our chamber before he drops my feet onto the floor, his hungry eyes all over me as I don’t waste any opportunity in grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and slamming my lips against his.

We’re clawing at each other’s clothes, kissing between each break with an aching, fervent thrill. His bottom lip runs over my chin, leaving whispering kisses along my skin that make me feel reckless.

Shimmers of gold coat my face and hands, and I paint it along my breasts, eliciting a groan from Darius.

I bite my lower lip, chuckling when he grips my bottom and lifts me onto the bed. His chest collides with mine, smearing the gold onto him now, but he loves it. He loves it so much.

‘You make me act so irrational sometimes, Goldie,’ he murmurs against my breasts, and the vibrations of his voice hitting the peaks of my nipples almost make me moan.

With eyes half closed in arousal, I look at him with a smile. ‘Sometimes?’

I can feel him smirk, and then he’s kissing me, worshipping me, loving me.

His palm comes between my thighs, causing me to arch my back and my eyes to roll in ecstasy. He doesn’t even need to do much, and I’m already tipping over the edge.

‘I was already addicted to you before, but seeing you naked, covered in gold for me?’ He shakes his head breathlessly, his fingers circling my entrance. ‘I’m infatuated.’ He nuzzles his nose against the curve of my neck. ‘Obsessed.’ He now gently captures my lower lip with his teeth. ‘Enamoured.’

A shuddering moan breaks past my lips at the word, and in an instant, he pounds into me with an intensity that takes my breath away. I cry out, only to be silenced by a tender kiss. And as he thrusts in and out, I sink my nails into his shoulders, making him hiss against my lips.

Every moment spent like this with Darius is different. He is never just one thing. He makes love to me, but he can also fuck me to oblivion. And I’ll always beg for it to never end.

When he pulls out enough to make me whimper, our eyes lock on each other, before he thrusts into me once more.

My legs tighten around him, my breath quickening to match his. I can hardly contain myself any longer. I’m trembling with an overwhelming surge of pleasure, wave after wave. It sweeps me away like the tide, leaving me utterly powerless over my own body.

And after he lets out a deep, satisfied moan at his own release, I succumb to exhaustion within seconds.

CHAPTERFORTY-FOUR

I jerk awake to the sound of a crash in the next room. Gasping, I turn to look at Darius, still asleep beside me. He doesn’t stir as I try to rouse him, and I wonder if it is just my imagination playing up when a shadow passes below the doorway.

Sickness lingers in the back of my throat as I still and suddenly hear the groan of heavy doors echoing all the way here.

Darius never moves, and my heart starts to hammer. I slip away from the bed, using a robe to cover my naked body as I flee the chambers barefoot in search of the noise.

I might be overreacting – I know my brothers or even Ruvyn could be awake and roaming around the castle, celebrating – but something in my gut tells me otherwise.

The double doors to the throne room are slightly open, enough for the dim glow of the moonlight to filter through the stained glass as I enter.

My fingers brush against the cold, rough surface of the wall, a futile attempt to ground myself as my breath stutters and I creep past the pillars.

A creak comes from behind me, and I whirl to find nothing there.

My eyes narrow, silence puncturing the room until I turn again, and all the warmth inside me drains as I face Aurum. His once-familiar features are now twisted into something grotesque, cracked skin oozing with a black substance across hiswithered face and a sickly aura of decay that makes my stomach turn.

‘Hello, Nara,’ he hisses, the words seeming to crawl along my skin.

This is just a nightmare. Wake up, Nara. Wake. Up.

He looks around the ruins of the throne and open ceiling, a green shadow circling him. ‘I see you have yet to fix things around here.’

I fight to keep my voice steady, taking a few steps back. ‘This isn’t real. You’re not here.’

His lips curl into a semblance of a smile, half of his cheek missing, showing the inside of his mouth. Bone and all. ‘Where do you think I am?’ He’s starting towards me, slowly, delighting in my discomfort. ‘The Isle?’

I shake my head, forcing magic to my fingertips.

He halts in his tracks, a faint amusement playing on his lips as my palm casts a glow. ‘Now, how impolite of you,’ he says, his voice laced with a chuckle that never reaches his eye. ‘I only came here to warn you, Nara, nothing more.’ His gaze locks on to mine with a sinister flare that sends a shiver down my spine.

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