Zara’s POV

  Returning to Kage’s apartment later that night, exhaustion and desperation clung to us. The weight of another slain magical, another elusive step behind, bore down on me until I felt numb. Every time we closed in on The Cleansing, he danced away, leaving a trail of bodies—and shattered spirits. I was losing ground and feared I wouldn’t survive much longer.

  Inside the dim apartment, Kage paced with barely contained frustration. “We should have caught him. I should have been quicker.”

  “It wouldn’t have mattered,” I whispered, my voice barely holding together. “He’s always ahead. Always watching.”

  Turning, his face softened with a mix of sorrow and desire, revealing the intense fear and vulnerability swirling inside him. In that raw moment, as the weight of loss and defeat threatened to shatter us, I found solace in his arms.

  I didn’t resist when he pulled my face up to meet his eyes. And when I looked up at him, something inside me broke completely.

  I leaned in, and this time, Kage didn’t hold back.

  There was no thinking, no stopping. Just the overwhelming need to forget, to find something real in the chaos. Our kiss ignited like an uncontrolled fire, desperate and feral—a fierce need to erase the agony of the chase. Kage’s lips collided with mine, pressing with an animalistic hunger. His hands roamed my body, pulling me tight as if trying to claim every ounce of me. I felt the heat of his breath and the promise of forbidden comfort, igniting my skin in waves of desire.

  The world outside didn’t matter. Not the chase, not the killer, not the fear that had haunted me for weeks. Right now, there was only Kage.

  His lips pressed against mine with urgency, a restrained hunger simmering beneath the surface. His hands found my waist, pulling me closer until there was no space between us, just heat and the rapid thudding of my heart.

  I should have been afraid of this—of how easy it was to lose myself in him—but instead, it felt inevitable. Like gravity pulling me toward something I had been avoiding for too long.

  I trailed my hands eagerly over his chest, feeling the ripple of muscle beneath soft skin, I continued running my hands up his neck, through his hair, until I reached the base of his dark, curved horns. Tentatively, my fingertips grazed their cool surface, tracing every ridge as if memorizing their divine shape. Immediately, his whole body stiffened, a shiver of electrifying arousal running through him. His grip on my waist tightened as he murmured in a husky rasp, “Zara, what are you—”

  “I’ve wanted to touch them since the first time I saw you,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. “But I didn’t know if I should.”

  A shaky, captivating admission left him speechless for a moment. “No one’s ever dared before,” he confessed, voice thick with vulnerability. “Not even my own mother… she never dared touch them. Everyone feared the magic that burned inside me.”

  My chest ached at his words. How many years had he spent believing he was untouchable? That even those closest to him feared him?

  “I’m not afraid,” I whispered, letting my fingers move again, slow, deliberate. With deliberate caresses, I traced the smooth curves of his horns, warming them under my touch.

  Kage let out a sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a groan, his body pressing closer as if my touch unraveled something inside him. His head tilted forward slightly, allowing me better access. The ridges of his horns were smooth, warm beneath my fingers, like polished obsidian charged with energy.

  A shuddering groan, half plea and half command, erupted from him as he admitted, “Zara…”I could feel how much he wanted this—wanted me. His voice dropped huskily as I murmured near his ear, “Let me feel you, every part of you.”

  Kage exhaled sharply, his grip on me tightening for just a moment before he pulled back enough to look at me properly. His dark eyes were heavy with desire, but there was something else there—hesitation, vulnerability.

  I didn’t want hesitation. Not now. Not between us.

  Before any words could bridge the widening chasm, I reached for his shirt, sliding my fingers beneath its hem to feel the heat of his bare skin. He let out a deep, slow exhalation as I peeled the fabric away, exposing lean, sculpted muscles that shone with a dangerous allure. My hands became bolder, exploring every taut line as his skin flushed with desire.

  When I fumbled with my own shirt, overwhelmed by the raw intensity unspooling between us, Kage seized the initiative. “Let me,” he murmured with gravelly assurance, taking the fabric from my trembling hands and peeling it away to reveal my skin, warm and inviting. The thrill between us exploded into heat—a collision of flesh and shadow where barriers crumbled away.

  His gaze roamed over every inch of me, dark and hungry, as he drew me tightly against him. “Perfect,” he whispered along my jaw, lips hot as they trailed a deliberate path toward my neck. I gasped as he cupped my waist and pressed his body flush against mine, our mingled breaths fanning the flames of desire.

  “Zara…” he began, but I silenced him, my words a fervent command, “No, Kage, don’t stop.”

  He released a sharp, primal sound as his fingers danced higher, unhooking my bra with deliberate care. The pulse of our desire echoed as Kage’s hands grazed across my breasts, ignoring all inhibitions. “Zara…” His voice was rough now, mingling possessiveness and longing, and every fiber of his being seemed to shudder in anticipation of what was to come.

  “Kage…” I moaned his name as he gripped my thigh.

  His control snapped.

  Then, in an eruption of lust and desperation, Kage lifted me effortlessly, my back pressing against the cool wall of his apartment. His lips found mine again, more desperate this time, as if my words had shattered the last barrier between us. His shadows wrapped around us like living silk, coiling tighter with every gasp and whispered demand. I wasn’t afraid of them. I wasn’t afraid of him. I felt the intoxicating pull of his magic as his hands roamed, caressing my body with a mastery born of longing and tradition.

  Our half naked bodies pressed together amidst a haze of dim light and swirling shadows that responded to our passion. My hands eagerly roamed over him, feeling his heated skin, every scar and contour telling its own story of pain and beauty. As he pushed me harder against the wall, I trembled with desire and a need to be completely known.

  I deepened the kiss, my hands roaming, my fingers sliding through his hair and tracing the base of his horns again. He let out a sharp breath, his grip on me tightening, and suddenly, I knew—this was uncharted territory for him.

  He had never let himself be wanted like this. And I was going to show him just how much he was.

  His forehead rested against mine for a moment, his breath heavy, his body flush against mine. “Zara… tell me if you want me to stop.”

  I cradled his face, my glowing green eyes locking with his dark ones. “I don’t ever want you to stop,” I whispered, my words saturated with need. With that, the shadows around us pulsed with unspoken promises, holding us captive in our secret realm.

  His pupils dilated, his restraint hanging by a thread. “Then I won’t.”

  And with that, the shadows around us deepened, wrapping us in something entirely our own.

  Kage sucked in a breath, his head tilting slightly as he glanced around the room. Shadows curled along the walls, shifting and pulsing like they had a mind of their own, responding to every flicker of emotion rolling off him. They weren’t threatening—not to me—but they were alive in a way I had never seen before.

  He exhaled sharply, his grip on me loosening slightly. “Zara, I—” He hesitated, looking at the darkness surrounding us. “I didn’t mean to pull them in like this. They… they respond to me. To how I feel. If it’s too much, I can—”

  I reached up, tracing my fingers along his jaw before letting my hand slide down to rest against his chest. “No.”

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  His brows furrowed slightly. “No?”

  I met his gaze, my glowing green eyes locking onto his. “Your shadows are a part of you. I want all of you.”

  Something inside him cracked at my words. His eyes darkened, his pupils dilating as he let out a slow, shuddering breath. The tension in his shoulders eased, but the intensity between us only grew. The shadows curled tighter, as if wrapping us in a world entirely our own, sealing us off from everything but this.

  I had never seen him like this—so unguarded, so undone by something as simple as touch. His magic pulsed around us, shadows flickering like a living thing, responding to his emotions. And yet, I wasn’t afraid. If anything, it only made me want to pull him deeper into the darkness with me.

  In a moment of heated abandon, Kage’s control disintegrated completely. In a blur of motion, he shifted our positions with carnal precision, lifting me higher so that he had full access to my breasts. He trailed light kisses down my chest, when he reached my nipple, he began fervently sucking and nibbling. “Kage…please…” I breathed, arching my back so that he had better access. I heard a small chuckle before he moved his mouth to my other nipple.

  I ran my fingers with bold insistence along every inch of him that I could reach, savoring the heat of his body and the subtle tremors of his horned head. Every time he nibbled my nipple, I brushed my nails against the ridges of his horns, sending sparks of pleasure through us both, heightening every sensation until nothing remained but raw desire.

  He slowly lowered me trailing kisses the entire way until we were face to face once again.

  His dark eyes were hooded, heavy with desire, but there was something else in them too—fear, like I might change my mind and be afraid of him, like everyone else he has ever cared for.

  “Kage…” I breathed, tilting my head to look at him.

  “No one’s ever looked at me like this before,” he admitted, his voice raw. “Like I’m… something to be wanted. Everyone I have ever cared for has been afraid of me, of my magic.”

  I cupped his face, my thumb brushing against his cheekbone, with my other hand I reached up once more to graze his horn. “I know what it is like to be feared, I am not afraid. I want you… all of you.”

  With a low growl, he captured my lips again, pressing me fully against the wall, his body molding to mine, his magic curling around us like it never wanted to let go. And neither did I.

  Kage’s POV

  I lost myself completely the moment Zara’s hand grazed my horns. Every ounce of restraint, every ember of control, crumbled as her touch ignited a fervent, raw hunger inside me. There was an intoxicating, erotic certainty in her movements—no hesitation, no fear, just the pure, unbridled need to possess every part of me: the man, the shadows, the darkness I always claimed.

  With effortless strength, I lifted her, feeling her body meld perfectly against mine as if it had been sculpted to fit. My shadows swirled thickly around us, reacting to our shared intensity, binding us with every heated glance and every desperate caress. I laid her down on my bed with a reverence that took me by surprise—an almost sacred awe at the sight of her glowing green eyes that seemed to strip away every hidden layer of my being.

  I trailed my fingers along her jaw with deliberate slowness, marveling at the soft curve of her throat, feeling the pulse of her desire beneath my touch. “Your eyes… they burn brighter with every touch,” I murmured, voice thick with reverence and lust.

  A teasing, sultry smile played upon her lips as she whispered, “That happens when I feel… intensely.” Her words enflamed me further, I reached up, letting my fingers slide against her cheek, then drift lower, tracing the delicate line of her collarbone, before my palm settled over the rapid beat of her heart. Her glow followed my touch, responding to me, to this. The sight of it was mesmerizing, a beacon in my darkness, drawing me deeper into her.

  As my fingers drifted along the curve of her breasts, they uncovered the smooth territory of her bare skin. When her hand found me once more—tracing along the ridges of my horns with a boldness that sent shockwaves of pleasure through me—I groaned, a deep, shuddering sound that betrayed the new vulnerability I had always hidden. No one had ever dared to be so audacious, to explore the forbidden contours of me.

  Her sensual whisper reached my ear, “I’m not afraid. I want every part of you, all that you are.” And with that command, my last vestiges of control shattered completely. She reached for my belt, our eyes locking for a long, charged moment. With deliberate, slow movements, she undid my belt and unfastened my pants, revealing every inch of my waiting, exposed flesh. The sensation of her hands, confident and insistent against my heated skin, sent ripples of delight through my body.

  Before she could take any more from me, I responded in kind—my fingers teasing the waistband of her pants, letting her know that she was equally possessed. When she didn’t resist, her eyes burning with need, I slid my fingers under the fabric, pulling them down to reveal her naked, radiant skin.With a swift, surprising strength, Zara flipped us over, straddling me deliberately, her warm body merging with mine as she pressed her naked body against mine.

  She leaned down, her breath hot against my lips before capturing them in a kiss that was anything but gentle. It was deep, claiming, leaving no room for hesitation. I let her take control, let her explore, let her push me past the boundaries I had always held firm. Her hands roamed my chest, my abdomen, tracing the scars and muscles with an almost reverent touch, like she was memorizing every part of me.

  The glow of her eyes pulsed in sync with her racing heart, her pleasure reflected in the way her magic flared brighter with every movement, every sigh, every whisper of my name. She was beautiful—dangerous in the way she unraveled me, in the way she made me crave more, made me want things I had long told myself I could never have.

  “Zara…” I groaned, my hands gripping her waist, steadying her as she moved against me, sending waves of fire through my body.

  She pulled back just enough to meet my gaze, a teasing smile curving her lips. “I want all of you.”

  I surged upward, flipping her beneath me in one fluid motion, my mouth trailing down her throat, tasting the pulse hammering beneath her skin. She arched into me, her nails raking against my back, pulling me deeper into the shadows where only we existed.

  I reached for the drawer beside my bed, my fingers just brushing the handle when Zara grabbed my wrist, stopping me.

  I frowned slightly, turning my gaze to her.

  “We don’t need it,” she said, her voice soft but firm.

  At first, I didn’t understand. Then, I saw it—a flicker of something in her expression. It was quick, almost imperceptible, but it was there.

  Shame.

  “Zara…”

  She hesitated, her fingers tightening around mine, like she wasn’t sure she wanted to say it out loud.

  “I’m sterile.” The words left her lips in a near whisper. “A side effect of necromancer magic.”

  A slow, dull ache settled in my chest. Not because of what she said.

  But because of the way she said it.

  Like it was something broken in her. Like she thought it would change how I saw her.

  It didn’t.

  I cupped her face, gently guiding her gaze back to mine, my thumb brushing over the soft curve of her cheek. Her green eyes searched mine, waiting, bracing for something—rejection, maybe, or pity.

  She wouldn’t find either.

  “That doesn’t change anything.”

  Her lips parted slightly, like she hadn’t expected that.

  I tightened my grip on her waist, pulling her closer, my fingers sliding over the curve of her hip, pressing her against me so she could feel exactly how much I wanted her—all of her.

  “Not to me.”

  A sharp breath hitched in her throat, and then I kissed her.

  Deep. Slow. Intentional.

  I felt the moment she melted into me, her body molding against mine, her fingers slipping into my hair, pulling me impossibly closer.

  My hands roamed down the length of her spine, savoring every curve, every shiver that ran through her at my touch.

  Zara exhaled softly, her breath mingling with mine as I let my lips trail lower, along the delicate line of her jaw, down the pulse at her throat, tasting the warmth of her skin.

  Her nails bit into my shoulders, a silent plea for more.

  And I had every intention of giving her exactly that.

  Her eyes flashed an even brighter green as I entered her, a gasp escaping her lips. My shadow magic swirled around us, tendrils of darkness caressing her flushed skin. I began to move, slowly at first, savoring every sensation. Zara’s legs wrapped around me, urging me deeper.

  “More,” she breathed, her voice thick with desire.

  I obliged, increasing my pace. Each thrust sent waves of pleasure coursing through me. Zara moved her hips in time with mine, taking me in to the hilt. Her inner walls clenched around me, drawing me further into blissful oblivion.

  My shadows pulsed and writhed with each movement, responding to the intensity of our coupling. They enveloped us in a cocoon of inky blackness, blocking out everything but Zara’s glowing eyes and the sensations of us coming together.

  I plunged deeper into Zara, savoring her warmth enveloping me. My thrusts grew more urgent, more primal. Zara’s nails raked down my back as she arched into me, taking me impossibly deeper.

  “Kage,” she moaned, her voice thick with desire. Her glowing green eyes locked onto mine, pulsing brighter with each thrust. The sight of her, flushed and trembling beneath me, only fueled my passion further.

  Zara’s body arched beneath me, her breaths coming in ragged gasps as I drove deeper. The pulsing glow of her eyes intensified with each thrust, mesmerizing me. I angled my hips, hitting that spot that made her cry out in ecstasy. Her inner walls clenched around me as I maintained my relentless pace.

  “Zara,” I groaned, my voice thick with need. “You feel incredible.”

  She responded by wrapping her legs tighter around me, pulling me impossibly closer. My shadows swirled around us, caressing her flushed skin and amplifying every sensation. I could feel her magic responding, intertwining with my own in an intoxicating dance.

  The pressure built within me as our bodies moved together in perfect synchronicity. Zara’s nails raked down my back, spurring me on. I gripped her thigh pulling her ever closer and thrust one last time hitting a spot that sent Zara reeling and screaming my name. We exploded together as a shockwave of pleasure rippled through our bodies.

  I collapsed still inside her, rolling so that I was on my back and Zara was laying on top of me. I pressed a sloppy kiss on her lips as we both panted hard trying to catch our breaths.

  She nuzzled her face into the crook of my neck, I could feel her lips break into a smile as she moaned in pleasure against my neck.

  A few seconds of quiet pleasure passed by as we lay there catching our breaths.

  Zara lifted her face toward mine with a sleepy smile on her face, her eyes glowed so intensely, the only light inside the cocoon of darkness my shadows created around us. “We will definitely have to do that again.”

  I chuckled then rolled back on top of her before kissing her deeply and slipping out of her which caused Zara to whine in displeasure.

  I rolled onto my back and Zara curled into my side resting her head on my shoulder.

  The shadows curled around us, weaving through the air like they were alive, binding us in a cocoon where time no longer existed. And in that moment, I knew there was no going back.