Anticipation thrums through me as I place my palms against the crystal wall, and he kicks my feet apart. His hands slide up my thighs, over my hips, and around to cup my breasts. He squeezes, his thumbs brushing over my nipples, and sending a jolt of pleasure straight to my core.
“Jasce,” I gasp, my head falling back against his shoulder.
One hand slides back down, delving between my thighs and touching me.
“You’re so wet for me, Annora,” he says. “So ready.”
He pulls back long enough to remove his clothes, then he spins me around and pulls me into his arms. I straddle his hips as he enters me in one long, deep stroke.
I meet each of his thrusts, rolling my body to take him deeper. It’s instinctual, the way my body moves with his, the way I lean back to give him a more inviting angle.
I love the way he fills me, the way he possesses me so completely. It’s as if he’s claiming what’s his, and I want to be claimed. I want him to brand me as his, to leave his mark on my body.
With his full length buried deep inside me, he slams me against the wall. The sensation sends a shock of pleasure through me, and I welcome the force, the assertiveness of his movements as he thrusts harder and faster.
We move as one, a perfect synchronization of desire and need. He thrusts. I roll my hips. He growls. I cry out. He nips. I moan.
“That’s it,” he says, his words sparking a flare of heat low in my belly. “Move with me.” His hands move to my hips, guidingme, controlling the rhythm. “You like that, don’t you? You like being mine.”
“Yes,” I gasp.
He nips at the sensitive skin of my neck. “Say it.”
“I’m yours.”
“That’s my good girl.”
The coil inside me snaps as I shatter around him. My back arches. My nails dig into his shoulders.
Jasce’s lips find mine in a searing kiss that steals what little breath I have left. His tongue sweeps into my mouth, claiming me completely as the last tremors of pleasure ripple through me.
With a final, deep stroke, he finds his release, his body shuddering against mine.
We stay like that for a moment, our bodies still joined, our breaths coming in ragged gasps.
He cups my face and speaks in a husky voice. “I love you, Annora. I love you so damn much.”
Chapter Thirty
Jasce
I sinkto the marble floor and pull Annora down with me until she settles in my lap.
She shifts enough to wrap her arms around my shoulders. “Tell me more about Sharhavva.”
“We’re fortifying the city walls, doubling the guard rotations, and sending out more scouts.” I pull Annora closer as I continue. “The armory is working day and night, forging weapons and armor. We’re stockpiling provisions, ensuring our people will have enough to endure a siege if it comes to that.”
I ramble on, hoping the mundane details will provide some distraction from everything she’s endured.
“Will’s been asking about you. He’s taken to drawing pictures of you. They’re not bad. Though, he keeps complaining that he can’t get your eyes quite right.”
“I miss him. I miss all of them.”
“And they miss their chieftainess.” The word snag in my throat.Chieftainess.My chieftainess, who should be ruling beside me, not trapped in Bakva with my bastard of a brother.
“Tell me more about the defenses,” Annora says. “What else are you doing?”
I stroke her hair, letting the silken strands slip through my fingers. “Hector’s mobilizing forces in the north. And I’ve got teams patrolling the Giiana Desert, watching for any movement from House of Silver.”
