The thorn crown

The cave was cold.

Not that it mattered.

We were burning.

Kael paced. Jaw tight. Magic crackling faintly across his skin like static begging to spark.

I leaned against the stone wall, arms folded, pretending I wasn't watching him like a starved thing.

But I was.

Gods, I was.

His shirt clung to him with sweat, cut and mud-stained. His hair was a mess of ink and stormlight.

He looked like violence sculpted into temptation.

"You keep looking at me like that," he said without turning, "and I'm going to lose what little control I have left."

I didn't answer.

Because I wasn't sure I wanted him to keep it.

We'd run all night.

Hunted.

Hollowed out.

Now we were alone. Cornered. Breathing hard.

And the bond between us was thrumming, hot and hungry and dangerous.

"You feel it too," he said, turning slowly, voice low and wrecked.

"Feel what?"

His eyes locked on mine.

Unapologetic. Unforgiving.

"You."

The word hit me like a bruise.

I should've stepped away.

I stepped forward instead.

"So what if I do?" I said, heart racing. "You going to kiss me or kill me, Kael?"

He didn't move.

Didn't blink.

"Maybe both."

Then he crossed the space between us in a single breath.

And kissed me like it was war.

Teeth. Tongue. Fire.

His hands gripped my waist, rough and desperate, like he was trying to anchor himself or burn me down.

I kissed him back.

Hard.

Like I was tired of pretending I didn't want him.

Like I needed to feel something after nights of ghosts and whispers and unraveling.

He pressed me to the cave wall, his mouth devouring, bruising, real.

I gasped into him, and he caught the sound, swallowed it.

His hands slid under my shirt.

Hot. Calloused. Hungry.

I didn't stop him.

Didn't want to.

The magic surged between us, violent and sharp, light exploding under my skin.

I arched into him, and he cursed softly, forehead pressed to mine.

"I shouldn't want this," he said, voice shaking. "I'm cursed."

"I know."

"You could break."

"Maybe I want to."

That made him freeze.

Eyes wild. Gold blazing.

Then softer... softer than I deserved he kissed me again.

Slower this time.

Like he knew it might be the last.

And in that moment…

I didn't care what broke.

As long as it was with him.