"I'm not reconsidering anything," Aerin replied, her hands already working at the remaining barriers between them. "I'm choosing you, Leo. Completely. Whatever the consequences."
When they came together on the cleared stone floor beside the betrayal sigil, it wasn’t composed. It wasn’t sweet. It was a collapse—violent, sacred, necessary.
Leo’s mouth crashed onto hers like a storm breaking over the cliffs, a kiss that stole the breath from her lungs and replaced it with heat and hunger. His hands dragged over her ribs, down her back, anchoring her to the moment as if the magic pulsing between them might otherwise tear her away.
He kissed her like she was already his, like the claiming had happened long before either of them admitted it.
His fingers tangled in her hair, pulling just enough to make her gasp. That sound lit something inside him. The way he devoured her was nothing short of carnal reverence, and when his hands slid down to the waistband of her pants, she didn’t hesitate. She arched into him, her body demanding more contact, more friction, more of him.
“I’m not going to be gentle,” he rasped, his voice frayed and raw, lips dragging fire along her jaw. “I’ve wanted this too fucking long.”
“Then don’t be,” she whispered, already tugging his shirt up and over his head. The silver blaze of the curse mark glowed against his skin, reacting to their proximity. It pulsed like it had its own heartbeat, hungry and waiting.
She touched it—barely a brush of her fingers—and felt her magic respond instantly. No resistance. No threat. It welcomed her, threaded through her like it knew her.
Her shirt and bra came off in one motion. Her pants were next, her panties following fast. She stripped for him with the urgency of someone who didn’t care if the sky fell tomorrow.
He looked at her like it already had.
“Lie back,” Leo ordered, and the rough edge in his voice had her obeying before she could think.
The carved stone beneath her spine was cool, grounding. But Leo’s body above her was heat, lightning, possession. He knelt between her thighs and kissed the inside of her knee, then trailed up slowly, deliberately, eyes locked on hers.
“Keep your legs open. Don’t look away.”
She didn’t.
Not even when his mouth landed on her pussy in a long, slow lick that had her biting down on a moan.
He hummed against her, pleased by the taste, then licked again. Slower this time. Teasing. His tongue circled her clit, then flicked it—again and again—until her hips bucked.
“Fuck, Leo—” Her hand fisted in his hair. “More.”
His response was a low growl. He wrapped his arms under her thighs, anchoring her to his mouth as he devoured her. There was nothing restrained in the way he ate her—it was relentless, dirty, perfect.
When he slid two fingers inside her, curling them just right, she gasped his name. He pumped them slowly at first, then harder, matching the rhythm of his tongue on her clit.
“You’re soaked,” he rasped against her. “Dripping for me. Fuck, you taste—gods, I could stay here forever.”
She didn’t answer. She couldn’t. Her body arched, her magic flared, and pleasure slammed into her in a blinding wave that ripped a scream from her throat.
The sigil beneath her pulsed brighter.
Leo rose, mouth wet, eyes burning gold.
“I need to be inside you. Now.”
She grabbed at him, dragging him into a kiss that was like power and need and the edge of disaster. She shoved his pants down. His cock sprang free—thick, hard, leaking at the tip. Her breath caught, stomach tightening.
“Condom,” she said, breathless.
“Not tonight,” he growled. “This is a ritual. It has to be real. No barriers.”
She hesitated. Only for a second. Then nodded.
He lined himself up, head of his cock sliding through her slick folds.
“I want you to feel every inch,” he muttered.
