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“Enjoying yourself?” he asks slyly as I plunge back downward and cry out, the head of him hitting a particularly sensitive spot inside me.

“Yes,” I breathe, then quirk a teasing eyebrow. “Aren’t you?”

“Immensely,” he says, running a hand across my slick breasts. “But this isn’t what I promised you.”

I give him a questioning look.

“I said I’d fuck you. And you seem to be doing all the work yourself.”

I laugh, then kiss him hard, our tongues fighting for dominance.

He takes my waist in his hands as we break apart.

“Lean back,” he orders.

I do, slowly, until the water kisses the back of my head and my hair spreads out around me. Leon pulls out and thrusts back into me with force, and I inhale sharply. Water pools in the space between my breasts as the motion makes me rise and fall. I spread my arms out, embracing the heady mix of sensations as the cool liquid moves against my skin, and Leon moves inside me.

He builds speed, taking me roughly, and all I can do is murmur his name in desperate gasps.

“You can take it, Ana,” he tells me, as much an order as encouragement.

The water lapping around me, coupled with the bursts of pleasure as Leon drives into me, is too much. My climax is building, but he pushes my hands away as I snake them down toward my clit.

“Not yet,” he orders, snapping his hips forward to claim me again. I settle for running my hands over myself, marveling at the way the water slows and softens everything, my fingers slipping around my nipples and stroking them as Leon thrusts into me.

It’s so good tofeel, to be swallowed up by something other than pain and fear. At this moment, I can only focus on my body and the sensations rippling through it—there’s no room for anything else. It grounds me in the moment, making me feel real again.

Then comes the sweet slide of Leon’s fingers against my clit at last. I buck into his hand, making the water froth and splash as he brings me to climax. The rays of the sun above me merge with the stars bursting in my vision as waves of ecstasy flood through me. My body tightens around Leon until he gasps and comes inside me.

We drift together afterward, holding each other, listening to the gentle lap of the water around us. But eventually, I get cold, my skin goose-pimpling. Leon presses a kiss to my dimpled shoulder before leading me back to shore.

We lie at the edge of the pool, letting the sun dry us off. I try to hold on to the feelings of peace and satisfaction, but with every passing minute, the joy of what we just shared fades.

“What’s wrong, my love?” Leon says, gently drawing my face toward him.

“I was just thinking,” I say honestly.

“Heavy thoughts?”

I hesitate, wondering if I want to put this on him after we were just so happy a moment ago. But he prompts me with a kiss that makes it impossible to hold anything back from him.

“If I ever manage to get my powers back, I’ll never take them for granted again,” I say, inches from his lips. It’s easier to say it here, so close to him that we don’t feel entirely separate. “I spent twenty-one years thinking I was powerless and weak. To return to that…” I swallow, my throat tight. “It feels like I’m being locked back up in that manor house.”

He lifts my chin so I’m staring into his eyes.

“Listen to me, Ana Angevire,” he says sternly. “It doesn’t matter what state your magic is in. You arenotweak. You never were. You’ve been strong from the first day they took you to that manor. Strong in mind. Strong in heart. Your magic is the very least of the things that make you special. That said, it is yours, and Iwillsee it returned to you.” His eyes darken, silvery shadows dancing in them. “And then I will make sure no one—not even the gods themselves—locks you away ever again.”

Voices carry to us from between the trees, and I realize some of the others must have woken.

“I love you, Leon,” I say as I reach for my clothes.

He gives me a dazzling smile. “I love you too, Ana.”

And at least for those few seconds, everything is perfect.

Chapter 18

Corrin