Vera let out a sharp, gasping cry, her nails digging into the muscles of his back. She felt the possessiveness in his words like a physical brand. He wasn't just loving her; he was claiming her, marking her as the sovereign territory of the Red Tyrant.
He moved his mouth down to her breasts, his tongue swirling around her nipples, which were peaked and hard from the contrast of the cool water and his boiling skin. He sucked her deeply, his throat working with a rhythmic, desperate intensity.
"Drink, Kassian," Vera murmured, her head falling back against the obsidian wall of the pool. "Take the cold. Take the peace. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."
"You're goddamn right you're not," Kassian growled.
