I shove the jacket off shoulders broader than sin, tug the shirt free. Moonlight tattoos silver across cut muscle; faint scale traces gleam along his ribs, gorgeous and lethal. I press my mouth to the brand on his chest—our sigils aligning. Power surges—low and molten—between us, as intimate as breath, sinking into every nerve ending, throbbing beneath our skin like buried flame laced with heartbeats. I feel his heartbeat match mine, the flare of connection as tangible as skin on skin, heat on heat.
He groans, sound rumbling out like thunder behind a ridge. His hands cup my hips, thumbs stroking the tender indent at my waist. When he slides one hand beneath my shirt, his rough palm sears a path across overheated skin. I gasp, breath hitching as fire doesn't just surge—it floods, licking through my nerves in a sudden rush that leaves my spine arched and thighs quaking.
My shirt goes next—overhead, discarded—cool cave air pebbling my bare breasts before his mouth seals around a nipple. White heat arrows straight to my core.
“Kade...”
“Turn around,” he orders, voice velvet-steel.
I obey, palms braced on the basalt wall. He skims fingers down my spine, hooking thumbs in my waistband. Pants and underwear slide to my boots. A blush blooms across my chest—part embarrassment at the vulnerable position, more arousal than I can hide.
He kneels—large hands framing my thighs—presses an open-mouthed kiss to the curve of my spine before gripping my waist and turning me to adjust my stance. With my back against the wall, I’m angled just enough for his mouth to reach me. His tongue finds me slick and ready; pleasure licks up my spine in electric surges, behind my eyes a riot of stars bursts into color.My hands press harder against the basalt, hips bucking as heat floods through me, wild and sharp and unbearably good. The cave spins. I bite my arm to stay quiet; he merely chuckles against sensitive flesh and doubles down.
When my legs quake, he rises, strips me of what little clothing remains. A hand curls in my hair—gentle yet firm—guiding my head back so his mouth catches mine, sharing the taste of me. With the other, he lines up the blunt head of his cock with my entrance. The stretch steals my breath as he fills me in one slow, claiming thrust.
“Mine,” he growls against my ear.
“Yours,” I pant, arching back to take him deeper.
He sets a rhythm—pistoning inside me with sure, relentless strokes. The slap of flesh ricochets off the cavern walls in sharp, thunderous bursts. Firelight ripples across sweat-slick skin, casting it in a primal glow. My breath stutters, fingers splaying against the stone as heat surges through my spine, every thrust fusing urgency and need. The cave becomes our crucible, shadows writhing in rhythm with each fierce collision.
Outside, wildfire crackles and spits, a primal counterpoint to the intimate violence within. Its glow ripples over the cave walls in erratic flashes, casting them in blood-orange and soot-gray. The scent of burning pine pushes into the narrow passage, thick and acrid, while distant pops of igniting brush crackle like muffled gunfire. Each flare of flame outside throws their shadows into stark relief, limbs tangled, breath mingled—an elemental silhouette carved by fire and fate.
Each drive thrusts my back against cooling stone; each withdrawal drags exquisite friction. Pleasure knots tight inside me.
His hand slides across my belly, fingers circling the aching center of my desire. Pressure builds in tightening spirals; heat crests higher with every thrust. The sigil over my heart ignites,silver-gold light painting the cave walls. I’m tumbling, shattering around him—crying out his name as release crashes through me.
He follows with a hoarse shout, heat spilling deep, fierce and claiming. For a long heartbeat we’re locked—breath mingling, sweat cooling—until he eases free and turns me into his arms. He brushes damp hair from my forehead, kisses me softly—reverent contrast to the rough lovemaking.
The cave's silence hums around us, broken only by our breath and the distant wildfire's growl. His smile—crooked, firelit—does more to center me than any cave wall.
His breath stills for a beat, then steadies—stronger, deeper. The fevered shimmer on his skin fades, leaving clean heat instead of corrupted fire. “The poison’s gone,” he murmurs. “Feel it?”
I lay a hand on his healed side—smooth skin, strong heartbeat. “I feel everything.”
A distant boom rattles the cave, dislodging dust and pebbles from the ceiling. A jolt runs through me—not fear, exactly, but something sharper. It scrapes down my ribs and anchors fire in my gut. I blink against the sting in my eyes—part grit, part what-if. Flashes come hard and fast: Kade’s body convulsing in pain, the cave collapsing behind us, Bitterroot reduced to ash. I draw a breath, thick with smoke and resolve, and brace—muscles coiling as I pull heat inward.
We’re alive—but the cost is still climbing. The air is thick with ash and scorched minerals, every breath scraping the back of my throat. My muscles tense, already bracing for the next sprint, the next impact, the next impossible choice.
I drag in a breath and force my pulse to slow. Panic won’t help. Precision will. I need a plan, and I need it now.
“The exit is clear,” I say, scanning the canyon rim. “But Greer’s getting closer.”
Kade nods, eyes narrowing. “There’s a secondary path on the south side—steeper, but faster. We can cut him off before he hits open ground.”
I follow his gaze. The slope’s narrow, loose underfoot, but manageable. My fingers twitch with the need to move, to act, to do something that matters. “Let’s take it.”
He reaches for me, his grip grounding. “We do this together. Then we end it.”
The words settle between us—heavy with meaning, sharp with intent. I swipe soot from his cheek, leaving a streak across my thumb. “Still with me, dragon-man?”
His mouth twitches, just barely. “All the way.”
We bolt for the trail, skidding down shale and fractured rock. No room for hesitation now. Every second is borrowed. Every breath a countdown.
Then I hear it—Greer’s stolen siren wailing across the canyon, distorted by distance and terrain. The sound rises, bending sharp as it ricochets off stone. Not a warning anymore. A declaration.
Kade stiffens beside me. “He’s pushing it too hard.”
