Page 163 of Celestial Combat

I kissed him – slowly at first, but with building need – until I couldn’t tell where his mouth ended and mine began. Hishands stayed where I left them, even as I rolled my hips forward, lining myself up, the head of his cock nudging just beneath me.

There was a pause – a breath, a heartbeat – where everything felt suspended.

And then I sank down onto him, inch by inch.

My body stretched around him, heat blooming through me in slow, beautiful waves. He was big, thick, the piercings dragging along my inner walls in a way that made my toes curl under the water. I let out a soft gasp against his mouth, and he groaned, his grip on my hips tightening just enough to ground me.

“Feeling okay?” he asked, voice strained but still careful.

I nodded, forehead pressed to his. “Better than okay.”

When I couldn’t go any lower,I started to move, slow and deliberate, rocking my hips with quiet moans I couldn’t hold back. Every drag, every slide of his cock inside me sent pleasure curling through my stomach, and the water splashed gently around us with each motion.

He kissed me again, deeper this time – tongue gliding with mine, fingers splayed over my hips like he was holding something sacred.

I cupped his jaw, breathless. “Zane…”

His eyes flickered open, pupils blown wide. “Baby… You feel unreal.”

We stayed like that – me on top, in control, taking what I needed, and him letting me. His pleasure mine to pull. Every thrust, every kiss, every brush of his hands was slow, like he was memorizing the way I felt wrapped around him.

And when I came – hips trembling, chest pressed to his – I felt like the rest of the world fell away.

Zane held me through it, kissing me like a promise.

And then he came too, body shuddering beneath mine with a rough masculine groan that made my whole body thrum with pride.

We stayed like that in the water, wrapped in each other and quiet, breathing in the steam.

It didn’t feel like a first time.

It felt like the beginning of something we would do for along, longtime.

Chapter 41

Present

Manhattan, New York City

THE AIR WAS CRISP AND smelled like pine and roasted chestnuts as we wove through the Christmas market at Bryant Park. Everything sparkled – the twinkle of string lights overhead, the glass ornaments spinning slowly on wooden stalls, even the icy edges of the rink just beyond the crowd. Early December magic had wrapped the city in its gentle embrace, and I felt it everywhere, especially with Zane’s hand warm around mine.

Steam rose from mugs of cocoa strangers carried past, and I tugged him toward a stand overflowing with handcrafted ornaments. Tiny glass reindeer and silver snowflakes glinted as I picked up a wooden star and showed him.

“See? You’d look cute with one of these in your place,” I teased.

He smiled, the easy kind that reached his eyes, then nodded toward a small game booth nearby. “Hang on. Let me win you something.”

I followed, laughing as he took the wooden ball and focused far too seriously on knocking over a tower of tiny pins. A few throws later, the tower crashed, and the vendor grinned as he handed him a shimmering ornament – a tiny glass Christmas tree – and a white baby seal plush with big stitched eyes.

“You’re such a show-off,” I murmured, my voice warm.

“You love it,” he shot back, smirking as he pressed them into my hands.

And he was right. I held them close against my chest like treasures. The glass tree caught every light as we moved, casting tiny rainbows onto my coat. The seal was impossibly soft, and I tucked its tiny face into the crook of my arm.

“You know,” I said, grinning up at him, “I’m keeping these forever.”

“Good,” he replied, kissing my temple as we passed by a display of tiny carved wooden nutcrackers.

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