Chapter 44
SERENNA
Three days of portaling and flight had borne Serenna, Fenn, Jassyn, and Cinderax over marsh and mire and rain-swollen rivers, until each of Serenna’s wingbeats trembled on the edge of collapse.
By the time they reached the broken coast of the Shattered Reef, exhaustion had pressed them into silence. When they finally landed on an island’s lonely cliffside, Jassyn fell asleep before the last embers of sunset faded, while Cinderax curled nearby.
Though weariness clung to her, Serenna found no rest as night deepened, knowing tomorrow they’d be hunting for the Maelstrom. She relieved Fenn early from his watch, and once he’d slipped into sleep, the hours of her vigil crept past slowly in a kind of quiet that made every thought louder.
The hush of the sea lured her to a hill above their camp where the moons spilled silver light across the bluffs.
Barefoot, she settled in the grass, drawing her knees to her chest. Salty air misted against her skin as she took in the dark sweep of the surface below.
The ocean whispered ceaselessly, waves wrapping the island chain like a serpent tightening its coil.
The bond stirred like a coal given sudden breath, and Serenna glanced down at their camp. Awake now, Fenn rose from his bedroll, hair tumbling over his shoulders, chest bare to the night.
He never needed a reason to shed layers, but the trousers clinging to his hips were unmistakably tailored—indecently close to a style she’d only ever seen Vesryn wear.
Serenna shook her head as Fenn drifted past Jassyn, curls tousled in the breeze, then past Cinderax, whose tail twitched once though he didn’t stir.
When Fenn finally lifted his gaze up the slope, his eyes flared as they landed on hers. In the space between heartbeats he warped, reappearing beside her.
Moonlight struck the piercings on his face and chest, skin shimmering like midnight ink. He joined her in the grass, legs sprawling before him, shoulder bumping hers.
“Can’t sleep?” Serenna asked, her voice barely carrying over the waves lapping against the cliffs.
He shrugged, leaning back on his claws. “Figured you could use the company.”
“But you’ve already spent hours on watch,” she protested, eyes following a streak of light searing a path across the sky.
The moons shone flawlessly, the stars so dense they bled together in a river of fire. Below, the ocean scattered the glow in rippling shards, as if galaxies had drowned in its depths and still glimmered beneath the surface.
Yet Serenna felt Fenn’s gaze settle on her alone.
“The view’s improved now.”
She huffed a soft laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”
“I think the stars must be jealous,” he said. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught the gleam of his grin. “They burn all night and still look dull with you stealing their light.”
Heat fluttered through her as she turned to face him.
Fenn’s gaze lingered as though she were some rare, brilliant thing he chose without hesitation every time.
He always knew how to make her feel wanted with nothing but a careless line, flirting with that reckless sincerity she pretended didn’t touch her.
“And how long did you rehearse that?” Serenna asked.
“Rehearse?” Fenn’s smirk slanted wickedly. “If I had practiced properly, you’d already be begging to come undone.”
“Begging?” She raised her brows. “That’s bold of you to say considering you’re the one who can barely survive a kiss without pleading for more.”
Fenn leaned to her ear. “Keep tempting me, and I’ll make you prove that.”
Serenna opened her mouth to retort, but he interrupted. “I’m only here to make sure you stay very alert.”
“So that’s why you’re checking on me, Captain?”
The title struck Fenn like a match, his eyes igniting. “Stars, I like it when you call me that.” His voice dropped to nearly a growl. “Say it again and I might forget there’s a dragon snoring downwind.”
Serenna’s lips twitched. “You’re shameless.”
“I prefer ‘ferociously devoted.’” Fenn reached over, tracing a talon around her knee. Sliding higher, he skimmed from the outside of her thigh to the hem of her tunic. “And if you plan to reprimand me, I’d rather commit a provocation worth your scolding.”
Serenna’s breath caught, but she gathered enough voice to whisper, “You should try going back to sleep. We have another long day ahead.” The deflection soured on her tongue while every part of her ached to lean into the dare of his warmth.
“Perhaps I’ll behave,” Fenn said, tone far too innocent to be anything but. “Right after you kiss me.”
The bond tugged, drawing her into his gravity until everything beyond them slipped out of focus. It undid her how he could grin as though the world weighed nothing, and still make her feel as if she meant everything.
Serenna splayed her fingers across Fenn’s chest, her palm resting over the steady thrum of his heart. She leaned in, breath snagging on his, their lips brushing.
They’d spent so many weeks training and fighting, always bracing for the next threat, the dangers on the horizon, that she hadn’t let herself admit the struggle was for more than peace.
It was for this. A future measured not in victories, but in closeness—in moments that didn’t have to be rushed or stolen.
Fenn’s mouth curved against hers before he began to pull back. Serenna snatched him so he couldn’t retreat, fingers curling against the solid line of his shoulders. She drew him in, deepening the kiss with silent demand.
When she parted her mouth, Fenn answered instantly—talons threading gently through her hair, his thumb sweeping her cheek in a touch both tender and hungry as his tongue met hers.
The heat between them tipped the kiss into something reckless, something that threatened to pull Serenna under entirely.
Fenn’s fangs grazed her bottom lip and caught, dragging it between his teeth. Serenna’s breath slipped free on a moan before she could smother it.
“Careful,” he murmured against her mouth, words velvet-thick with mischief. “You’ll wake the others.”
Serenna tensed, heat flushing molten through her, the warning winding more like a promise than a deterrent.
Scarcely twenty paces down the grassy slope, Jassyn slept in a shallow rhythm of breath, Cinderax beside him with faint curls of steam unfurling from his nostrils. One wrong sound and they’d both wake.
Fenn’s mouth left a trail of heat as he moved to the side of her neck, lingering below her jaw. His fingers found her thigh again, spreading slowly over the curve before sliding higher. Talons flexed, his thumb brushing just enough to tighten her stomach and send want spiraling lower.
When Serenna dared to look at him, she found his eyes burning in the dark, reflecting her desire back.
“Tell me,” Fenn breathed, his voice a whisper against her cheek. “If I touch you here…” His fingers drifted higher. Unbearably slow. “How quiet do you think you can be?”
Serenna inhaled sharply as the warmth of him hovered near the seam of her trousers. One gasp too loud would betray them. But before that thought could anchor, Fenn’s mouth claimed hers.
As if time itself bent to his will, he kissed her with devastating patience, his claw slipping beneath her tunic.
Calloused fingers traced along her ribs until her body arched into him.
Another sound escaped her—barely a whimper—yet he caught it with his mouth, stealing it before the night could hear.
Serenna tangled her fingers in the dark sweep of his hair, angling him closer until caution dissolved. Fenn growled against her lips, the sound vibrating through her. Then he shifted, muscles coiling with intent, one arm braced low around her back.
“Hold still,” he whispered.
In one fluid motion he lifted her, drawing her into his lap until she straddled him facing the sea. Her spine melted against the furnace of his chest, her knees framing the width of his thighs.
Like her own shadow made flesh, warmth spilled from Fenn’s breath as he nipped lightly beneath her jaw. Serenna gasped and his chuckle rumbled dark against her throat.
“Wouldn’t want to distract you from your watch,” he murmured.
Words deserted her. A shiver rippled through her body, an ache bending itself into demand as she leaned back into him.
Stars blurred at the edge of her vision, the sky suddenly too near, her own inhalations too shallow as Fenn’s fangs kept teasing the tender slope below her ear.
Each kiss sank lower, unhurried, his fingers grazing the bare strip of skin above her waistband.
“Stay quiet for me,” he breathed, thumb caressing the base of her spine. “Wouldn’t want to rouse the others.”
A sound crept to her lips—half laugh, half moan—but she bit it down as his palms closed over her hips. He guided her back with the faintest pressure until she felt the unmistakable length of him, heated weight nudging into her with every lungful of air he drew.
“Fenn,” Serenna warned through the bond, though her body curved into him even as her mind scrabbled for restraint.
“Shhh.” His mouth brushed her ear as he rocked his hips once, a dark provocation that sparked every nerve. “Eyes on the horizon, she-elf. You’re still on watch.”
Something rustled down the slope—Jassyn turning in his cloak, or maybe the wind threading through the grass. Either way, the night cinched taut, and every breath Serenna drew balanced on the precarious edge of being caught.
Fenn’s grip tightened at her waist. “Lift for me,” he urged, low and commanding in a way that left her spine tingling.
Serenna obeyed, knees sinking into the cool grass, one hand braced against the earth for balance.
Fenn’s deft fingers worked the ties at her waist. The fabric surrendered beneath his touch, easing over the swell of her hips until the night air skimmed bare skin.
She moved for him to strip the rest away, all remaining clothing whispering down her legs in a single sweep.