Tamlyn woke to the taste of iron and wild mint in the air, the cavern humming with a silence so complete, her own breath sounded blasphemous. She blinked against the low, fire-warm light, her body aching, used, possessed, ruined in the best way. Her thighs trembled as she shifted, the ache between them pulsing in time with memories.
Ruellan was gone.
The heat from his body had barely faded from the furs when she sat up, naked and flushed, wrapping a thick pelt around herself. For a moment, she thought he’d left her. Fled after claiming her like a beast and spilling himself so deep she still felt his phantom weight inside her.
But then, The sound of water shifting.
She stood, following the sound past a stone archway carved with symbols she couldn’t read. The corridor was damp and pulsing with something old ancient magic folded into stone.
She found him in a pool beneath a cascading waterfall, steam curling off his skin. Water dripped from his horns. His back was to her, broad and ridge
