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The wind bit at Violet’s cheeks as she tightened her glove strap, her breath rising in pale clouds above the flight field. The sun had started making its slow descent, stretching long golden shadows across the grassland, but sunset hadn’t yet begun. The sky was pale and cold, the kind of light that made everything feel brittle, like it could shatter with a single touch.
Snow hadn’t stuck yet, but it lingered in the air just like the heat coiled low in her belly, impossible to ignore.
Tairn snorted from behind her.
“It’s not my fault,” she muttered under her breath.
“I didn’t say it was.”
She turned. His golden gaze glinted with far too much amusement for a creature who had just spent the past night mating with Sgaeyl and practically radiating smug satisfaction. Their bond had flooded her with images and sensations that left her panting beneath her covers, aching in places she really didn’t want to admit, especially after that lingering kiss from Xaden that tainted her mind
She hadn’t seen Xaden since last night.
Not properly, anyway. He’d kept his distance, just like he always did when things between them grew too much. Like he knew she was one thought away from crossing a line she couldn't uncross.
Like he wanted her, too, and hated himself for it.
Which only made it worse.
“You’re brooding.” Sgaeyl’s voice sliced through her thoughts like frost on glass. The blue dragon circled overhead once before landing beside Tairn with a graceful thud, the wind of her wings sweeping Violet’s hair into her face.
“I’m not brooding,” Violet snapped.
“You’re brooding,” Tairn confirmed.
“You’re both insufferable.”
Sgaeyl huffed, a sound that was far too close to a purr. “You need to fly. Both of you. The Solstice air is electric. And it's not just us in need of release.”
Violet stiffened. “I don’t need to be released, thank you.”
Tairn growled low, and something in her gut clenched.
“Yes, you do,” he said. “And so does your other half. Get him in the air, Silver One. It’s time.”
“Time for what?” she asked warily.
The dragons didn’t answer. They just turned, wings stretching, muscles coiling beneath gleaming scales, ready to take off.
And from the corner of her eye, Violet saw him.
Xaden. Dressed in black riding leathers, wind whipping through his hair as he approached across the field. His eyes, always sharp, always unreadable, locked onto hers like they’d been waiting.
Her stomach dipped. Her mouth went dry.
And when he stopped a few paces away, he didn’t say anything. Just looked at her.
Her heart beat once. Twice.
And then he said quietly, “You flying?”
She swallowed. Nodded. “Tairn says it’s…time.”
His jaw flexed, and for just a moment, something flashed in his eyes, want, maybe. Or regret.
“I’ll go with you,” he said.
And this time, when she looked at him, she didn’t look away.
The wind roared past her ears, but it wasn’t enough to drown out the thrum beneath her skin. Violet leaned forward into the ride, fingers tight on the ridge behind Tairn’s neck, the dragon’s body a current of coiled heat and controlled power as they soared above the snow-laced treetops. Xaden and Sgaeyl were just ahead, dark silhouettes against the wintry sky.
She couldn’t stop the ache crawling through her, tight in her thighs, hotter in her chest.
It was Tairn’s fault. All of it.
“Stop radiating sex,” she snapped over the wind.
“Sex is natural,” Tairn said smugly. “Frustration is your own doing.”
She huffed and looked away. “You’re the one who turned my brain into a damn romance novel last night. I’m still trying to forget whatever it was Sgaeyl did with her tail.”
“You didn’t seem to mind at the time.”
She groaned and dropped her forehead against her wrist. The bond hadn’t just flooded her with heat, it had dredged up every damn thought she’d been trying to bury about Xaden Riorson. Every half-dream and stolen glance, every moment he touched her just a second too long.
And now she was stuck behind Tairn, chasing after him through the skies, arousal tangled up with resentment.
“You’re welcome,” Tairn said cheerfully.
She didn’t answer.
Not until the dragons dipped suddenly, veering toward a rocky rise tucked between two pine-covered slopes.
Violet narrowed her eyes. “We’re landing?”
“There,” Tairn said. “We won’t be disturbed.”
The dragons touched down with a rumble of wings and snow. Ahead of them, a wide cave yawned open at the base of the hill, its mouth dusted with frost but oddly, the air that drifted from within was warm.
Not just bearable, inviting.
Violet slid from Tairn’s back, legs trembling slightly from the flight and from… everything else. She tried not to watch Xaden dismount Sgaeyl with the kind of grace that made her stomach flip.
“This place is…” she trailed off, stepping forward.
“Thermal vent system,” Xaden said, his voice deeper than usual. “The dragons found it a few years ago. Heat travels up from the stone.”
She stepped inside. Instantly, the tension in her shoulders began to loosen. Warm air wrapped around her like a heavy blanket. A small trickle of water ran down one wall, steaming slightly where it hit the stone floor.
But it was getting darker. The sunlight filtering through the cave’s mouth was already beginning to fade, shadows stretching long across the stone.
Violet opened her mouth to ask if they should leave before it got too dark, but before she could speak, Tairn exhaled, low and controlled. A stream of golden fire spilled from his jaws, curling toward a raised stone basin near the far wall. The flame caught instantly, coiling into a steady, flickering burn that bathed the cave in amber light.
A moment later, Sgaeyl stepped forward, her sharp claws clicking softly against the stone. She tilted her head, and with a sharp exhale, a ribbon of cool-toned blue fire spiraled upward. It struck the damp ceiling with a hiss and scattered into dozens of smaller flames that clung to the rock like glowing stars.
Soft, flickering light filled the cave, warmth in every corner, shadows dancing like whispers.
It was beautiful. And utterly otherworldly.
Violet blinked in the soft light, gaze sweeping over the cave and then she saw it.
A natural pool shimmered in the center, steam rising off the surface, curling into the warm air like breath. The water was impossibly clear, glowing faintly where the light from the orbs flickered across its surface. Smooth stones ringed the edges, and moss grew in soft patches along the walls.
It looked like a secret. A sanctuary.
Her breath caught. “Is this… a hot spring?”
Xaden nodded, stepping up beside her, his shoulder brushing hers. “Thermal runoff from the mountain core keeps it warm. Sometimes hot. Sgaeyl says it’s good for sore muscles. Or clarity of thought.”
She laughed under her breath. “I don’t think anything in this cave is going to help me with clarity.”
His jaw tightened, but he didn’t move away.
Behind them, Tairn and Sgaeyl paced toward the pool, their claws quiet on the stone.
Then, all at once, everything changed.
A low pulse rippled through the air, like magic bending, folding inward.
And then…
Light.
White-hot, blinding light.
Violet stumbled back as both dragons reared slightly, their bodies glowing from within, scales turning molten silver and dark gold. Their forms twisted, shimmered, collapsed inward with a crack of air and raw magic.
She blinked.
And where two dragons had been, now stood two people.
Naked.
Radiant.
Utterly breathtaking.
The woman, tall, with dark hair and luminous golden eyes, was unmistakably Sgaeyl. Her features were regal, sharp, commanding.
Beside her, Tairn stood broad, long dark hair brushing his shoulders, deep-set amber eyes smoldering with amusement and age-old fire. His bare chest was carved with scars and muscles taut as if carved from the mountainside itself.
Violet’s jaw dropped. “What the fuck.”
Xaden caught her arm lightly, steadying her. “I was going to warn you.”
“You were ?” Her voice came out a squeak.
He nodded, fighting a grin. “They take human form once a year. Only on the Winter Solstice.”
“Why?”
Xaden’s gaze flicked toward the two figures now stepping toward the edge of the hot spring. “Because magic runs deepest today. Strong enough to let them take shape, just for one night. They say it’s about bonding. Renewal. Desire.”
“Desire,” she repeated, voice flat.
“Dragons… aren’t shy,” he said dryly.
Tairn looked over his shoulder, one eyebrow arched. “Neither are you, Silver One.”
“I am very shy, actually,” she shot back, turning scarlet.
Sgaeyl smiled, an expression that managed to be both indulgent and knowing. “You won’t be for long.”
The cave had gone quiet but for the soft lapping of water and the hum of heat that clung to her skin.
Violet’s throat was dry. Her heart pounded in her chest, a fluttering ache stirring low in her belly. Sgaeyl and Tairn had vanished into the water, their bodies pressed close beneath the steam. The echo of their bond still thrummed in her chest, intimate, satisfied, wanting.
She took a shaky breath. “Do they want us to—”
“No.” Xaden’s voice was calm. Steady. “They want us. But only if we want it, too.”
When she turned to him, he was already watching her. And not the way other men had watched her before. Not like he was waiting to devour her. He was just there, anchored and still, like he could wait forever if she needed him to.
Which made it worse.
Or better. She wasn’t sure.
Her hands curled and uncurled at her sides. Her heart thundered.
Then she muttered under her breath, “Screw it.”
A spark lit in his eyes, something flickering behind the steady, storm-dark gaze.
“Is that an invitation,” he said smoothly, “or a battle cry?”
She snorted, lips twitching in spite of herself. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“I very much would,” he said, with just enough heat to make her pulse flutter.
Her fingers found the hem of her tank top. She hesitated. And then, in one breathless motion, she pulled it over her head and dropped it to the stone floor. Her breasts were bare, nipples already tightened by the warmth, and something far deeper. She didn’t cover herself.
Xaden’s gaze swept over her, slow, reverent, undeniably aware.
He shrugged off his shirt in answer, muscles shifting beneath scarred, golden skin. The firelight kissed every curve of him, from the sharp cut of his collarbone to the broad stretch of his chest. Her mouth went dry.
Her turn.
She stepped out of her boots, then worked the buckles of her leathers, pushing them down her hips and legs in one smooth motion. She straightened again, standing proud in nothing but a thin scrap of underwear. The heat rising off the pool was nothing compared to the heat spreading across her skin.
Xaden’s brow arched slightly, but he didn’t say a word. He simply began to undo his belt.
Deliberately.
Slowly.
“I’m starting to think you’ve practiced this,” Violet said, her voice light, teasing, barely steady.
“You’re not the only one who said ‘screw it,’” he murmured.
The belt dropped. Then the pants.
And now, he stood before her in nothing but black fitted briefs that did nothing to hide the thick shape of his cock pressing against the fabric.
Her breath caught. Her eyes dipped. She didn’t bother pretending otherwise.
“You’re staring,” he said, and gods help her, he actually smirked.
“I’m appreciating.”
“The appreciation is mutual,” he said, gaze dropping to her hips, her breasts, back up to her face like a reverent caress.
She took one step forward. Then another. Her fingers slid to the waistband of her underwear.
And she dropped them.
No hesitation now.
The fabric fell to the stone, and she stood fully bare, flushed from heat and adrenaline, and for the first time in a long time, completely unafraid.
His mouth parted slightly.
She tilted her head. “Well? Your turn.”
His breath shuddered out.
He slipped off the last piece between them.
Now they were both bare.
Not just naked, but exposed.
And it felt like power.
He didn’t speak for a long moment. Just looked at her like she was made of fire and starlight and every temptation he’d ever had to resist.
“You are the storm I never saw coming,” he said softly. “And I don’t even think I’ll mind being wrecked by you.”
Violet’s heart thundered as she turned toward the water, steam rising in soft spirals around her bare skin.
She glanced back at him, heat blooming at the edges of her smile.
“Then what are you waiting for, Riorson?”
Violet stepped into the pool first, the warmth sliding up her legs, enveloping her skin like a sigh of relief. The heat was intoxicating, sinking deep into her muscles, melting tension she hadn’t even realised she was holding.
She let out a soft moan as the water reached her hips, her eyes fluttering shut. “Oh gods… that feels so good.”
Behind her, she heard Xaden suck in a breath. “You moan like that and expect me to behave ?”
She glanced over her shoulder, a smirk tugging at her lips. “You’re the one who said this was for clarity.”
“Clearly,” he said, stepping into the water after her, “I was lying.”
She waded in deeper, until the water brushed the underside of her breasts. A natural stone wall lined the back edge of the pool, worn smooth with age and heat, moss-covered in places, curving just enough to cradle the water like a basin. She moved toward it, letting her back press lightly against the warm surface, anchoring herself as the steam licked at her skin.
The heat settled into her bones, her limbs turning to honey. She reached up to undo the braid she’d hastily twisted before the flight. As her fingers worked through it, loosening the strands, she tilted her head back and slid down into the water until her hair fanned out behind her beneath the surface.
She dunked all the way under, briefly disappearing in the steam, then came up gasping softly, slicking her hair back from her face.
When she blinked, Xaden was watching her like she was made of lightning.
He followed without a word, bending his knees and slipping under the surface for a moment. When he rose, hair drenched and clinging to his brow, droplets sliding down his shoulders, she forgot how to breathe. His eyes locked on hers as he slicked his hair back with both hands.
She felt devoured by that look.
When he moved toward her, the water barely reached his abdomen. She tilted her chin up automatically, but before she could speak, he bent lower in the water, sinking to his knees until they were eye to eye.
Just like that, the power shifted.
The air between them stilled, charged with heat and something unspoken.
“You’re staring again,” he murmured, lips curling.
“So are you.”
His hand skimmed the surface of the water to trail along her arm, then to her shoulder. Then lower. His fingers brushed the curve of her breast, barely there, just enough to make her shiver.
“You’re a tease,” she whispered, breath catching.
He smirked. “You started it.”
“You’re unfairly tall.”
“I’m being considerate.” His voice dropped. “The view’s better from here anyway.”
She laughed, low and warm. “You kneeling for me might be my new favorite thing.”
“I kneel for no one,” he said, leaning in closer, voice dark with promise. “Except maybe you.”
Her breath caught again. The steam curled between them like a sigh.
Then she shifted.
The water made her buoyant, but not steady and instinctively, she let her legs rise, wrapping them around his waist to anchor herself. Her arms slid around his shoulders, her back still pressed against the warm stone wall.
Xaden went still.
Then his hands came to her thighs, strong and sure, holding her as though she belonged there.
She could feel every inch of him beneath the water, his bare chest brushing hers, his hardness nestled between her thighs, the heat of him burning through the spring’s warmth.
“Do you want me closer?” he asked, voice hoarse.
“I do now,” she whispered.
But he didn’t kiss her yet.
His forehead dropped lightly to hers. Their breaths mingled. His thumbs traced lazy circles on her legs as her fingers curled at the base of his neck.
“You’re killing me,” she whispered.
“You think this is easy for me?” he replied, voice rough.
“Then why are you holding back?”
“Because if I kiss you…” He paused. “I won’t stop at just one.”
“I want this. I want you.” she urged.
His hands were no longer tentative, one cradling her jaw, the other gripping her hip with something bordering on desperation. His lips grazed her neck, not quite kissing, not quite pulling away.
“You don’t know what you’re asking for,” he breathed, voice shaking.
“I do,” she whispered, her hand cupping his jaw, thumb brushing along his upper lip. “And I want it.”
Xaden groaned and lifted his head, eyes blazing.
She wrapped her legs tighter around him, holding him to her, the stone wall at her back grounding them both.
“You don’t have to hold back anymore.”
She leaned in, nose brushing his. Her voice trembled on a breath. “Kiss me.”
Something in him gave out.
His lips found hers in a kiss that started soft, slow and reverent, like he wanted to memorise the shape of her mouth before hunger took over.
But she opened to him with a soft sound in her throat.
And that was it.
He groaned, one hand sliding up her back, the other wrapping tighter around her waist as he deepened the kiss, devouring her like he’d been starving for this. Like he’d waited for this. Their mouths moved in sync, fast and hot and real.
She kissed him back just as fiercely, rocking her hips against him, needing more friction, more him. Her hands tangled in his wet hair, pulling him closer. He didn’t resist. He wanted it.
Wanted her.
Their kiss grew messy and desperate, water sloshing softly against the stone. She couldn’t tell where he ended and she began.
They broke the kiss on a shared gasp, warm mist drifting between their lips as their chests heaved in tandem. Water lapped gently around them, but the rest of the world had narrowed to the feeling of skin on skin, heat against heat, and the ache that had nowhere left to go but through them.
Violet was still wrapped around him, her legs cinched at his waist, stone at her spine. But the water was growing shallower here, too shallow for what they both wanted.
Xaden’s hands shifted beneath her thighs, lifting her easily as he began to wade them slowly along the edge of the pool.
She clung to him, kissing his throat, his jaw. Her fingers skimmed along his shoulders as he walked, her skin tingling from the constant slide of water and body.
The cave’s natural stone wall curved with them, moss-slick and warm, and the further in they went, the deeper the water grew, rising to his waist, then higher. When he stopped again, the water reached just below Violet’s breasts where she clung to him, the steam thick around them.
And they weren’t alone.
Tairn and Sgaeyl were near the far end of the spring, half-submerged, their human forms looming and silent in the mist. Watching.
Violet stilled slightly, her breath hitching.
Xaden must’ve felt it too. He turned his head, eyes narrowing slightly before glancing back at her. “They’re not just watching,” he murmured, voice low, “they’re… witnessing.”
“Witnessing?” she breathed.
“They see this as part of our bond. Part of what strengthens it. They’re ours, Violet. And we’re theirs.”
Her chest rose and fell faster. The idea should’ve unsettled her.
But it didn’t.
It fit.
It felt sacred. A rite. A storm long in the making, finally about to break.
Xaden pressed her gently back against the slick stone wall, water swirling around them, and kissed her again, slow and deep.
When her fingers slid down between them, wrapping around the hot, thick length of him, he hissed through his teeth, forehead resting against hers.
“Tell me,” he breathed. “You want this.”
She guided him to her entrance, eyes locked on his. “I want you.”
That was all it took.
He pushed into her slowly, inch by inch, until he was fully seated inside her, her slick heat clenching around him. The deeper water helped her float just enough to take him easily, but the wall behind her held her steady. His hands were on her thighs, keeping her open, grounded, claimed.
Violet cried out softly, her head falling back as pleasure bloomed, full and overwhelming.
Every stroke after that was deeper, more deliberate. His chest brushed her breasts with each movement, water slapping softly with the rhythm of his thrusts.
“You feel—fuck, you feel like heaven,” he groaned, mouth dragging along her neck.
She tightened her legs around him, hips rolling to meet his thrusts, and moaned, “Don’t stop. Gods, Xaden, don’t stop.”
Their breath mingled. Their skin slid together in the water, steam clinging to every kiss, every moan. And when her pleasure began to spiral, Violet’s fingers gripped his shoulders, her thighs trembling as her body started to break open around him.
Then it happened.
The moment she climaxed, her back arched, cry echoing off the stone, a bolt of lightning cracked through the air outside the cave. It lit the sky white and reflected off the walls in a burst of energy, illuminating everything in a flash of raw, elemental power.
Her signet.
Xaden cursed into her neck, thrusting deeper as he followed, his release crashing into her in perfect time, their bodies trembling, slick, lost.
They stayed there, tangled together in the water, breath mingling, his forehead pressed to hers. Her thighs still cradled his waist, his arms locked around her back like he couldn’t quite let go.
The cave had gone still, only the soft ripple of water and the faint aftertaste of lightning in the air remained.
Violet brushed her fingers through his soaked hair, her pulse finally slowing. A small smile played at the corner of her mouth, stunned and sated.
“You okay?” Xaden murmured.
She nodded, lips brushing his cheek. “More than okay.”
He kissed her again, soft, reverent.
“You lit up the sky,” he whispered.
“I felt it,” she said breathlessly, a flicker of laughter in her voice. “Hope we didn’t scare anything off.”
The steam drifted.
From across the water, a low voice rumbled through the mist, deep and dry, ancient and amused.
“Well done, Silver One.”
Tairn.
His molten eyes gleamed in the soft glow, watching them from the far edge of the spring like a mountain carved from darkness and approval.
Violet barely had time to register the heat flooding her cheeks before a second voice cut in, cool and clipped.
“About time.”
Sgaeyl’s tone rang with sharp satisfaction. “If I had to endure one more moon of unresolved tension between you two, I might’ve incinerated something.”
Violet let out a choked laugh and buried her face against Xaden’s shoulder.
He only chuckled, low in his throat, his mouth brushing her temple.
“Remind me never to have sex in a dragons earshot again,” she muttered.
Xaden grinned. “Pretty sure it’s too late for that.”