"A Flame that Fades"

Chapter 28: Falling Into You (new vers.)

Azgar's POV

"Be mine...forever," I rasped, low and rough, just for her. "Please..."

Gods, please.

She looked up at me with those fucking eyes. Those eyes that haunted my every thought, every goddamn sleepless night. Green like emerald fire, like some fae curse meant to ruin me. And fuck, I wanted to be ruined by her.

"Az..." she breathed my name like a prayer. Like a promise. Her lips were kiss-bruised and trembling from how I couldn't stop myself from devouring her moments ago.

I couldn't stop myself now.

"I mean it," I said, and I barely recognized my own voice — soft, desperate, raw. "You said this... dating thing matters to you. So I'm asking. Properly." My hand cupped her jaw, thumb tracing the delicate shape of her cheek like I was trying to memorize it in case the gods took her from me. "Be mine."

Be mine. My woman. My queen. My everything. I'd burn down kingdoms for her. Build her a fucking empire from the bones and blood of anyone who dared look at her wrong. I'd rip the stars down if she said she wanted one to wear around her neck. I'd carve her name into mountains, drown cities in gold and diamonds just to see her smile.

And fuck me, I wanted her to have my babies. I wanted her to carry mine. To watch her glowing with that impossible light she already carried just walking through this world. I wanted forever — not the kind written in contracts or vows, but in blood and bone, in shared breath and locked bodies, in promises I'd never break.

Her mouth twitched, lips threatening to curl despite the heat in her gaze. Then she laughed — soft, sweet, knocking the breath clean out of my chest.

She slapped my chest, barely a tap, but it made my heart trip over itself. "You're so adorable it's cheesy," she said, laughter fading into something softer, something almost...affectionate.

Adorable. Cheesy.

If anyone else said it, I'd break their jaw. But her? From her? It felt like a gift. Like sunlight on skin long starved for warmth.

"Yeah, well," I murmured, dragging my mouth to hers again. This kiss was slower, deeper. Like drowning. Like breathing her in was the only thing keeping me alive. "You bring out the worst in me."

Or maybe the best.

Either way, she had me.

And she would have everything.

"Okay, I'll be yours."

Her words landed like a spear to my chest. I felt it — sharp, hot, sinking deep where no blade ever had.

Then she smiled. That wicked, knowing grin. Mischief and command wrapped in one perfect mouth. Her hands framed my face, soft and possessive at once, and I fucking melted under her touch.

"Only if you be a good boy for me..."

My breath left me in a growl. Gods, did she even know what she was doing to me? Did she have any idea how those words punched through my ribs and grabbed hold of something dark and desperate inside me?

Good boy.
Hers.
Forever.

I wanted to drop to my knees. I wanted to promise her anything, everything. Build her a castle from the bones of my enemies, crown her in rubies torn from the earth with my bare hands, carve her name into my skin if that's what it took to prove it.

"I'll be whatever you want," I said, voice wrecked, raw with need. "Good. Bad. Doesn't matter. Just tell me what to do."

Her thumb brushed over my lower lip, teasing, soft — a mockery of the hunger burning between us. "Good boy, huh?" she teased, leaning in so close I could taste her breath. "We'll see if you can behave..."