Page 154 of The Ascended
"Look at me, starling," he demanded.
I forced my eyes open to find his gaze burning into mine—gold and black, night and day, fixed on me. The hand at my hip slid to the small of my back, pressing me closer. Every point where our bodies touched was a brand on my skin.
"I can feel your power," he whispered against my lips, not quite touching.
I felt it too. It simmered just beneath my skin, fire racing through my veins like liquid starlight. But just as it began to crest, it slammed against an invisible barrier. My magic crashed against it, hissing and spitting like waves against a cliff face. But it wouldn’t splash over.
"Xül," I breathed, my voice cracking.
“You’re such a stubborn little thing,” he growled.
And then his lips claimed mine.
The kiss shattered every expectation, every experience that had come before. This wasn't the tentative exploration of the boys in Saltcrest. This was possession, pure and primal. His lips were firm and demanding, coaxing mine open. When his tongue swept into my mouth, tasting me, a sound escaped my throat—half gasp, half moan.
My body pulled against the restraints. I wanted him closer. To feel more of him. His hand tightened on my waist, pulling me harder against him as the kiss deepened, grew more desperate. His teeth grazed my lower lip, sending sparks roaring through my veins.
I was drowning in sensation. The hard press of his body against mine. The way his hand slid from my waist to my hip, fingers digging in possessively.
As I surrendered to the kiss, to him, my power swelled, threatening to burst from my skin. The stars above us pulsed in time with my racing heart, responding to my hunger—to my desire.
Xül smiled against my mouth, his hips pushing forward against mine. The hard length of him pressed into my stomach, sending a shock of need through me.
"That's it," he growled against my lips, his voice rougher than I'd ever heard it, "now be a good girl and let go."
Images flashed in my mind—his body over mine, under mine, his hands on my bare skin, his mouth everywhere. I moaned, unable to stop myself, and his kiss grew fiercerin response.
I was burning from the inside out, ready to combust, to surrender everything?—
And then he pulled away.
His sudden absence left me cold. I sagged against my restraints, chest heaving, mind reeling, body screaming for his touch.
Xül stood a few feet away as if nothing had happened. If it weren't for his swollen lips, I would have thought I'd imagined the whole thing.
"Now," he said, his voice unnervingly steady. "Use that power."
The hands released me, and I stumbled forward, flustered and embarrassed and annoyed and oddly bereft. But beneath all that churned the power he'd awakened. It was a torrent now. I reached for it, no longer grasping but surrendering to that wild energy that threatened to consume me.
The wall caved in on itself—a barrier I'd reinforced with every fearful moment, every time I'd pulled back instead of pushing forward. It shattered like glass, and power surged through the breach, flooding every cell, every nerve ending, every corner of my being.
I threw my head back and screamed as the energy ripped through me. My skin glowed from within, light seeping through my pores like I'd swallowed the sun.
I lifted both hands toward the sky and pulled the heavens down.
But no swords formed. Instead, seven motes of starlight descended, each blazing, scorching the air as they spiraled downward to circle my head.
The ground shook. Wind whipped around us in a frenzy, carrying my hair upward as if gravity no longer applied. I felt weightless, boundless, untethered from everything but this moment and this power.
"Fascinating," Xül breathed, the words almost reverent as he shielded his eyes from my radiance. "I've never seen anything like that."
I stood there, heart pounding, body still thrumming as the starsdanced around my head, as the earth trembled beneath me, as the very air seemed to bow to my will. I had done more than access my power—I had unleashed it, embraced it fully.
But at what cost?
"How does it feel?" Xül asked, his voice gentler now.
I took a deep breath, assessing the sensation. Power coursed through me, different from the focused energy of my sword. This was wilder, singing through me violently.
