When It Reigns (Cursed Reigns, #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO POINT FIVE

AERYN'S POV 

Rather than hearing the door creak open, Zoran's light footsteps returned to the side of my bed. The mattress sloped even more, and I cracked an eye open to find the shifter stretched out beside me. He folded his arms behind his head and stared up at the canopy over the bed. He bit his lip with a fang, and my stomach took a tumble, flaring with heat. I averted my gaze, willing the blush to disappear as my heart thumped. 

Zoran sighed deep and adjusted his position to lean on his side and peer down at me. His emerald eyes swirled with mischief and a slight smirk tugged his full bottom lip. 

"You know, princess," he drawled, grin widening to display both fangs, "since we might be thrown into this war sooner than we were expecting, we should make the most out of the time we have left." 

His smirk and the way he shrugged his shoulders were suggestive enough to cause my heart to attempt to leap out of my chest, but I rolled my eyes and failed to ignore his thick, dark eyelashes and wisps of midnight locks that fell on his forehead as he leaned closer to me. Not to mention, the muscles in his arm bulging as he supported his head. 

"And how do you think we could do that?" 

I wanted to take back the flirtatious words that spread even more warmth over my pale cheeks. 

Flicking a fang with his tongue, Zoran's hot breath hit my ear in a husky whisper as he moved in closer. 

"I can give you some fun ideas," he offered, making the butterflies in my stomach dance with more fervor as he backed away. "You know, spice things up a bit before the war strips us of any opportunity to release the heat that not only casts a beautiful shade of pink on your cheeks, but also fuels that fierce heart of yours." 

I kept my mouth shut as I processed his words. He took my silence as an opening to continue. Lifting a hand, he dragged his fingertips over the exposed skin on my chest and paused just over my heart. He flattened his palm and felt the organ pick up speed as he observed, "If I didn't know better, I'd say you wanted to discover every way I could help you extinguish that fire – or make it rage even brighter." 

My body was betraying me, but I was not going to let him know just how flustered he was making me. 

I twisted and his hand fell as I plopped my chin in a hand. I faced him and mirrored his position, giving him what I hoped was a sultry smile as I lifted a brow. 

"Oh yeah?" I murmured, focusing on his lips. "I'm not sure an ice wielder as cold as yourself is any match for all that fire." 

Zoran made a low noise at the back of his throat and his eyes fell to my chest where the swell of my breasts peaked above the not-so-modest nightgown. "Oh, don't tempt me with a competition you won't win, princess." 

I lifted my eyes to his smoldering gaze and offered, "I think it's time we had a rematch for our tournament face-off – the one that I only lost because you could use a power." 

"We both know that's not the reason you lost." 

"Let's see about that –" 

Zoran didn't give me the chance to finish my sentence before he had me on my back and pinned to the bed underneath him. He leaned most of his weight on his arms that were planted on either side of my body, but he pressed enough of himself on top of me that I could not move. I was all too aware of where his bare arms came into contact with mine, and where every inch of his body was pressed to mine. 

He slid a leg between my thighs and warmth pooled where we made contact. I bit my lip to distract myself and willed my body not to react to his. The action drew Zoran's eyes to my mouth and my stomach flipped as he lowered his face, grazing his lips against mine as he transferred all his weight to one of his arms.