Page 44 of A Kiss of Flame

His heart swelled with emotions he couldn’t comprehend as she tenderly stroked her fingers along his back. A few words nearly spilled out of him in the heat of the moment but were stifled when she sent a wave of magick skittering down his wings. Instead, all he could do was groan into the pillow beside her head.

Levian wrapped her slim legs around his muscled trunk, his hard length pressing against her thigh. Her body fluttered with waves of pleasure and anticipation. Barith was so wildly handsome and consuming it nearly stole her breath. She wanted this. Wanted him. It wasn’t just desire and the need for release but something more profound. She wanted this moment with him more than anything.

He kissed her neck, nipping along her ear. Levian responded by reaching down and taking his silky length into her hand. Barith gave a raw, luscious groan against her skin as she stroked him. Levian loved making those sounds of pleasure spill out of him. She loved how unbridled he was with his passion and how he was fed by her pleasure as well.

He kissed her, his tongue sliding into her mouth with possessiveness. Levian let him go to dig her fingers into his hair and slid further down into the pillows. Barith slid his hand down her front between them until his fingers reached the groomed bit of curls at her sex. He pressed two fingers against her wet core, and Levian gasped into his mouth. She moaned his name when he stroked her again, breaking their kiss.

He nipped at her jaw and her neck, pulling his hand away and lowering further against her. His chest hair tickled her peaked nipples as the tip of him pressed at her entrance. Levian dug her nails into his shoulders and wrapped her hips tighter around his thick thighs, her body humming with raw anticipation and need.

When he pressed the tip of himself inside her, they both moaned. He slid deeper, and she bit her lip, burying her face into his hair as he growled against the base of her neck. Barith was gentle, rocking out and slowly in, pushing himself deeper and deeper with each stroke to let her adjust to him. When he settled himself fully inside her, Levian gasped his name.

Barith kissed her, letting his thick length linger inside her as her body grew accustomed to him. When he pulled out slowly and thrust back in, Levian arched her back with a feral groan at how good he felt. She’d not forgotten how much he set her body aflame. She’d loved it so much that she’d worried after their glorious night during Beltane that if she ever let herself have him again, she may never be able to let him go.

The dragon rocked in and out of her in slow, decadent strokes until they were both groaning and panting. Levian’s body began to vibrate, already so close to climax, her vision spotted with sparks of violet. She cried out as she came apart, trembling beneath him, digging her nails into his skin. Barith growled her name, keeping his pace as she tipped over the edge and long past to draw out her pleasure.

Barith brushed a kiss against her lips, which was meant to be tender, but Levian deepened. When he began to pull away, he breathed, “Vi.”The way he did it made her heart hurt. Hurt so much she didn’t want to begin to unravel why. Instead, she just wanted to feel him. To cherish him. To be lost together one last time. She dug her fingers into his round muscled butt andpressed him back inside her, wanting him deeper. They both groaned in tandem.

He raised one of his hands to caress her breast, pinching her nipple as he pulled out all the way and slammed harder into her. She arched up with a moan. “Fuck, I love the sounds you make,” he snarled at her ear.

Barith leaned back on his knees and dipped one arm beneath the base of her back while he held her hip steady with the other, pulling her up to straddle him. He took her nipple in his mouth and sucked. At the same time, he thrust his hips and pulled her down harder over him. She groaned a sound of utter ecstasy, the pleasure so consuming she lost her vision for a moment.

Levian bucked her hips as he remained buried inside her. Barith snarled against her breast, releasing her nipple. She did it again, grabbing his shoulders to steady herself as she rode him. The dragon growled, leaning back to hold her hips with both hands and pull her harder against him like she wanted.

Lost in her passion, Levian threw her head back and felt herself growing close to the edge again. Her skin tingled with magick, filling her until it tipped over the brim. Her entire being felt as if it had exploded in ecstasy, skitters of magick washing over her, through her, and into Barith. The dragon gripped her hips harder; his wings shivered and spread taught at his back, sparks of fire slipping off them. His eyes burned with flames as he looked down at her. Barith growled, smoke and fire burning in his throat. He looked primal. Archaic. A male sun dragon flowing with her magick and his own.

Barith tipped back, pulling Levian entirely into his lap. She hovered over him, his eyes still glowing with fire. Another wave of magick washed over them as she bent down and kissed him, the sounds of their wet coupling adding to the intensity of her pleasure. He growled, sliding his hands up her back as she moved over him, taking his hard length fully with each rise andfall of her body. She moaned when he brushed a hand over her breast. His wings wrapped around them, cocooning them in the heat of his fire and the sparks of her magick until it was a swirl of violet and orange.

It felt so good this way—like it was where she should be—like this moment had always been destined between them. Levian looked down into Barith’s glowing eyes, and her heart swelled. He looked captivated. Enthralled. The sexy, charming, hulking sun dragon that drove her up the wall was enthralled byher. And she was enthralled by him. Her dearest friend. Her lover.

On the night of Beltane, they had gotten lost in each other, but Levian knew the limits of her heart. As much as she loved Barith, she’d known better than to give in beyond that one moment. As she looked into his face, she realized how foolish she’d been. Levian had always known she loved Barith, but she’d never realized how deeply until that moment. Her heart ached, knowing she would lose him. Her body trembled, and tears threatened, her pace slowing as raw emotions cut through her pleasure.

Suddenly, she was on her back against the soft, silken blankets with Barith over her. Their limbs tangled together, and his wings spread wide over them as he pressed himself into her, harder and harder, their moans and pants filling the library. Levian didn’t want to think; for once, she just wanted to feel. She wanted to feelhim.

The mage arched her hips, wrapping her legs fully around his middle to take him deeper. He growled and plunged into her like she wanted. She whimpered his name. He groaned hers, his body working inside her, as she began to see sparkles of violet again. When Levian gasped, he stole her breath in a deep kiss, shifting his hips just right until she spilled over the edge. She moaned into his mouth as she came apart beneath him, her bodyviolently shaking from the force, the magick washing over her in luscious waves, enhancing her pleasure.

Barith growled her name like an oath to the gods as the magick rushed over him, too, and he came apart with her. Flames filled his eyes as he found his release and growled with primal abandon. He drew out both of their pleasures with a few last long, lush strokes until he fell forward onto his elbows and his head dipped into the crook of her neck.

His skin was hot, and his breaths labored as he held himself up just enough not to crush her. Levian was delirious with pleasure and lay happily sated beneath him, stroking her hands along his damp lower back.

When Barith collected himself enough, he pulled out of her and rolled over to his side, one of his wings haphazardly folding over them.

They lay panting for a long while, savoring their pleasure, until their breaths began to steady, and the sounds of the crackling fire came back into focus. Barith brushed his hand along Levian’s stomach, then pulled her against his front. He nuzzled her neck and kissed her softly.

Barith was barely awake, she knew. His wing slid further over her like a blanket, and his tail slid through his legs and nestled over her thigh. Barith grumbled as he cuddled closer.

Levian swallowed, the emotions she’d held back during their lovemaking bubbling up into her throat. She hesitantly turned to look at Barith. He was already slumbering softly, his face slack and vulnerable with sleep. Her heart ached as she gazed upon him. His tail shifted to rub down her leg and curl along the edge. Levian’s breath held. She didn’t know how to describe it other than she felt—claimed.

Her heart began to beat faster even though her body protested with exhaustion and the desire to hold onto the sated pleasure that had just rioted through her. Memoriesflooded, years of friendship and adventure, fighting, betting, and squabbling over everything under the sun. There were times when she would have happily run Barith over with a horse cart but would’ve also turned any other creature that had tried to hurt him into a slug.

Levian knew she loved him. She’d always loved him in some way. As her dearest friend. Her closest companion. The most consistent, reliable man she’d ever had in her life. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at Barith’s sun-kissed nose. His thick brows. His peach lips, underneath his thick beard. She reached over and tucked a strand of his hair that had fallen over his forehead back like he’d done for her countless times. Her fingers lingered, brushing down the side of his face and along his jaw. Barith grumbled, kissing her hand in his sleep before pulling her closer and nestling his head into the pillows.

The tears welled, blurring him, and her heart began to break. She had forced herself not to overthink it while they’d been in the throes of their passion, but there was no stopping her now. She already knew how this would unfold. In a few hours, he would wake, and they would snuggle, make love again, and then be forced to deal with the stark, bitter reality of their circumstance.

Levian’s throat grew tight. She hadn’t thought one last night would do any harm, but it had. It had harmed her. As beautiful as it had been and as much as she knew she could never bring herself to regret what they’d shared this night, she felt an ache that struck too close to an ache she’d felt a long time ago. An ache she swore no man would ever make her feel ever again, as long as she drew breath.

Barith would leave. He had to. That was the hard truth that she’d already known. Falling in love with him would only break her heart, and she wouldn’t do it. She couldn’t.

This night had been perfect. He had been perfect. But the Fates had never meant it to be any more than this. Levian steeled herself, blinking away the tears that threatened, and very slowly slid away from his hold, careful not to wake him. When she stood naked at the edge of the love nest that she’d made for them, looking down at his beautiful dragon body, her heart hurt so badly she knew there was no other way. Levian took in a few steadying breaths and quietly collected her things.