Cheeks puffing with a blown out breath, Serenna’s question was resigned. “What did you have in mind?”

Vesryn cocked his head. “Do you want to visit Naru and fly with me?”

“Fly?” Serenna’s hands froze in the middle of unraveling her hair. She blinked, taking a moment to determine if he was joking. “As in, ride Naru…in the air?”

“That would be the definition of ‘flying.’” Pursing his lips, Vesryn’s humor faded. “I received word that one of the human settlements spotted a group of three wraith skulking in the western realm.” He glanced at the sliver of light spilling in through the curtains. “It’ll be dark soon, so we’ll hunt at dawn.” Finally bored with the ring, Vesryn tucked the band into a pocket. He shrugged. “But if you don’t want to go, I understand.”

Serenna dropped her freed hair and scowled. “Of course I want to go.” Excitement spun through her at the prospect of soaring the skies, slightly dampened by the thought of tracking down the wraith.

“In the meantime, there’s something we haven’t finished,” Vesryn said. His attention flicked over her shoulder to the bed before he took a predatory step forward.

Heart bolting, ready to combust from that heated look in his eyes, Serenna scrambled to stand. Likely reading the effect he had on her, the prince grinned. Serenna’s pulse pounded into a gallop as the bond flared like a beacon, flashing his desire.

What little common sense Serenna possessed had her sidestepping toward the closed door leading to the sitting room. Even though all she wanted to do was grab Vesryn and finish what they’d mindlessly started on the dungeon floor earlier in the week, Serenna was hesitant to encourage him further. It didn’t matter what she wanted, she had to be realistic about what could be between them. I’m not interested in being cast in Ayla’s shadow as the prince’s courtesan.

Vesryn hadn’t mentioned the invitation he’d offered to the Summer Lunar Solstice again, where—ironically—the king would announce the prince’s engagement to Ayla. Serenna couldn’t say why she’d expected to go, considering Vesryn was half dead and delirious when he’d brought it up. Holding onto the last scrap of hope that she had a place in Kyansari was foolish.

Jassyn had informed Serenna of her shaman ancestry and she had yet to wrap her head around her ties to those ancient elementalists. With him divulging the secret, it seemed her usefulness to the realm only existed in her blood—and furthering the population like her sire had been so adamant about. She didn’t know if she wanted to belong in that world anymore. Not that she really had a choice.

Serenna retreated to the threshold of the room, facing the prince across the bed chamber. “I—I’m not sure this is proper,” she stammered before she lost her nerve in denying his advances.

Vesryn arched his brow, glancing at her bed. “And when have I ever given you the impression that my intention is to be proper?”

The calculation in his tone sent Serenna’s pulse lurching as she directed her thoughts away from being tangled in her sheets with him. Steadying herself, she gripped the door handle. She didn’t want an argument, but she had to be honest with herself—and him. Though trying to reason with Vesryn is as pointless as sparring with the wind.

“You’re engaged.” An acidic question rolled off of Serenna’s tongue before she could bite back the remark. “How many times do I have to ask what that means for us and this bond?”

The prince’s eyes flashed with a look that could only be called dangerous, making her reckless heart skip in her chest. Courage splintering, Serenna opened the door, fleeing to the sitting room. Where it was brighter and more appropriate for a conversation that would likely turn heated if she didn’t leash her erratic emotions.

Vesryn’s boots struck the hardwood floor, sounding furious. Serenna spun around in time for him to seize her shoulders. He dragged her back into her bed chamber, shoving her against the wall. She squeaked as the swift motion pinned her beside the door. Snatching her chin, Vesryn angled her face to meet his eyes.

“You know that engagement means nothing to me.” The rumble from the prince’s cadence reverberated through her chest, low and sensual, flushing her with a wave of heat. His other hand trailed up her arm, palms rough, but fingers gentle. Serenna’s magic shivered in response as static built where their bodies touched.

Her protest was feeble. “That doesn’t mean you have the option of ignoring your duty.”

“I’m handling it,” Vesryn growled, his hands tensing against her.

Struggling between the weight of the prince’s combative glare and her established unworthiness of him, Serenna whispered, “I want to belong somewhere, but I don’t have a place in the realm.” Blinking back a sting of disappointment, she glanced away after the confession.

“Fuck the realm,” Vesryn snarled, his fury scorching her through the bond.

Serenna tensed in his grip when he slammed the door shut. Her heart rattled along with the wood shaking on its hinges.

The prince’s jaw tightened before he gently cupped the sides of her face. Lowering his mouth to hers, he growled, “I’ll show you exactly how much more you matter to me.”

CHAPTER 14

SERENNA

Serenna’s heart stopped as the prince’s mouth hovered a whisper away from hers. The pressure of his fingertips on her face and the simmer in his eyes fractured her concerns about his duty. Serenna’s chest bumped against his while the offer floated between them. She swallowed, struggling to see beyond the haze of desire obscuring her thoughts.

“But what does this mean for us?” Serenna asked, searching the prince’s face.

I know I’m powerless against what the realm requires of him, but I want to have a place somewhere in all of this. “What about this bond?” Seeking reassurance, she clutched his forearms. “We haven’t discussed completing it. Can we talk—”

Vesryn’s mouth crashed into hers. The prince’s tongue swept past Serenna’s parted lips, swallowing her startled gasp, silencing her worries. Shattered air rushed out of her lungs from the intensity of the kiss. Her hands tightened around him, all resistance vaporizing completely.

Cradling her face, Vesryn angled Serenna’s mouth into his, shoving her further into the wall. She explored his corded muscles, palms skimming over his tanned skin, winding up his shoulders to thread through his hair.

Vesryn’s hands slid torturously slowly from her neck to her hips. His fingers cinched against her leathers, digging into her curves in a possessive way that sent Serenna’s heart thundering.

The prince must’ve sensed her desire rising because his mouth abruptly turned feverish, a wild clash of tongues and teeth as he battled to kiss her senseless.

A moan slipped past Serenna’s lips when he ground the evidence of his hardened body against her stomach with a savage thrust. Vesryn growled into her mouth in return as she eagerly rolled her hips against his, knotting her fingers against his scalp, dragging him closer.

“Vesryn,” Serenna pleaded in a voice pitched embarrassingly high, hoping she didn’t need to say anything else. Their bodies writhed together against the wall as a throbbing ache for more built urgently between her thighs.

The prince pulled away and Serenna caught her ragged breath with him. Head spinning, she untangled her fingers from his hair, counting her heartbeats as she anxiously waited for him to make the next move.

The prince studied her through hooded lashes, lust pitching his voice low. “I don’t want my duty to the realm—that absurd engagement—to taint this magic between us.” Vesryn cupped her face, thumbs sweeping over cheeks. His gaze shifted to rake a trail over her body, heating Serenna’s skin like he dragged her over coals. “I don’t deserve another bond, but if the stars gave me a second chance, I’m not denying this power.”

Serenna’s heart clenched against a sliver of confusion, questioning if he only wanted her for the bond. The desire she sensed from him ignited something in her chest, even if she couldn’t decipher if his feelings extended further.

But in this moment, perhaps there was an irrational part of her that didn’t care. She had him to herself and the realm couldn’t snatch that away. We all might be dead if the wraith return, so what does the future really matter?

Serenna squeaked when Vesryn suddenly hoisted her in the air, fingers squeezing the backs of her thighs. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he walked them toward the bed. The prince tossed her in the middle of the mattress and she bounced with a squawk. Kicking off his boots, Vesryn smirked before joining her on the covers, prowling over her.

Hooking her arms around the prince’s neck and her ankles over his legs, Serenna yanked his body on top of hers. Demanding everything he’d denied her in the dungeons, she arched up to him, crushing her body into his.

“So greedy,” Vesryn chuckled. His mouth pursued hers as he settled in the cradle of her thighs.

A sweeping wave of his hips thrust Serenna deeper into the bed. The rigid length straining against his trousers drove into her, the fires of the prince’s hunger incinerating her mind. Riding every roll of his hips with mirrored urgency, Serenna writhed against him, desperate to feel every honed inch of muscle.

Her pulse scattered when Vesryn slid a hand between them, squeezing her waist with a tantalizing grip. Warm and firm, his fingers spanned across her leathers, gliding down her body with a purpose.

Serenna’s breath came in rapid bursts, requiring more air than his mouth allowed. Clinging to his arms, she whimpered as he circled dangerously close to her core.

Finally reaching where she wanted him, the prince cupped her center, swirling his fingers. The pressure from his palm built an exquisite riot of sensations, flooding her with heat from the inside out. As he rubbed the outside of her leathers, a delicious ache began to pulse. Serenna rocked her hips against him, chasing the offered friction.

Needing more of him, Serenna quested lower, seeking the hard ridge concealed by his trousers. When she reached him, Vesryn’s body jerked as he cursed. Serenna shuddered at the primal way he grunted approvingly against her mouth. Running her hand down his solid length, her core clenched when he bucked into her palm, urging her on.

Curling her fingers around what his leathers permitted, Serenna squeezed with a slight pressure as she stroked. The prince growling into her throat sent her into a lust-fueled frenzy. She mindlessly grabbed at the clasps and laces of his trousers, her teeth scraping into his as she furiously sparred his tongue with her own.

“Easy,” Vesryn rumbled against her.

Serenna huffed a laugh against his lips at his ridiculous warning but didn’t slow her efforts in untangling the ties. A pulse of magic drew her short.

She couldn’t move.