Page 34 of May: Bloom & Bane

“Lavá va solun, Saevúra,” I whisper into the hollow of her neck.

She shivers, goosebumps rising over her skin. “What does that one mean?”

“You bloom for me,” I confess, my hands sliding to her waist, thumbs brushing the thin cotton at her hips. I have to fight the overwhelming need to pull her flush against me.

“Eden, if you don’t want this,” I murmur against her mouth, “you must tell me to stop. Because my body does not know how.”

Her breath catches against my lips.

“I don’t want you to stop,” she whispers. “Something inside me is reaching for you.”

Her lips brush mine.

“Kiss me.”

I claim her mouth in a hungry kiss, my tongue sliding against hers. She moans, her nails dragging lightly over my shoulders.

I can feel her arousal as if it’s my own.

“Please,” she whispers into my mouth. “Touch me.”

I break the kiss just long enough to look at her. Her pupils are blown wide, and her lips are swollen.

She arches into me.

My thumb brushes the corner of her mouth. “May I taste you?”

The petals around my wrist tremble with need as I wait for her answer.

Please say yes… please.

“Yes,” she says breathlessly, leaning in for another kiss. I place my finger over her lips.

“Not there, luváel.”

I trail my finger from her lips down the column of her throat, leaving a path of gold in its wake.

Soft green tendrils slip through the floorboards beneath us, coiling gently around her ankles.

I dip my head, my mouth grazing the pulse point just below her ear. “I want to know if you taste like The Sun I’ve been chasing through the dark.”

Her fingers tangle in my hair, pulling hard enough to sting. I groan against her throat. The vines around her ankles wind up her calves.

I drag my mouth down her neck, tasting salt and the faint sweetness of honey. My tongue traces the rapid flutter of her pulse. I hook one claw under the strap at her shoulder.

Someone is in the meadow, the voice rasps in my mind.

I freeze, my breath hot against her collarbone. I pull back slightly.

“Please,” she whispers, tugging my face back down. “Don’t stop.”

“Eden,” I rasp, trying to think clearly through the swirling haze of pollen and her need. “I have to go check the meadow.”

Her hips roll forward, seeking anything.

I press a kiss to the hollow of her throat, tasting her one last time before I force myself to step back.

“Stay here,” I say, my voice thick. “I’ll be right back.”