Page 274 of Elemental Becoming

“Is this becoming a problem for you, Warlord?”I taunt, myvoice honeyed with amusement.“Can the council tell something has your attention?”

The silence stretches.

I feel another pulse of irritation through the bond, followed immediately by reluctant amusement.

He’s struggling. And I am absolutely victorious.

I could stop. I could let him recover. But after the week he’s put me through, why would I?

“Poor Warlord,”I purr.“Always so composed. So controlled. But right now?”

And then, because I can, I push further. I send him the image—the exact moment from last night.

The way my body arched beneath him, helpless and writhing. The way his name ripped from my lips, raw and wrecked. The way I clenched around him as he thrust deeply, claiming every inch of me.

I don’t just let him see it. I let him feel it. The heat. The desperation. The way I had come undone beneath him. The way every ounce of his legendary self-control disappeared the moment we were alone together.

“You’re unraveling for me.”

The bond flares with searing heat. Across the connection, I feel his entire body tense. Like a bowstring pulled too tight. His patience finally snaps. And then his response slams into my mind like a firestorm.

“Run.”

Shit.

I scramble upright, nearly tangling myself in the blankets as I shove off the bed, laughing the entire time. I definitely pushed him too far.

“Thane—”

“Run, Amara.”

His shields slam into place like a wall of fire between us,leaving me with no doubt that I am in a spectacular amount of trouble.

A grin spreads across my face anyway.

Worth it.

I glance toward the bathing chamber.

The day’s training is over. There are no council meetings waiting for me, no lessons with Valen, no weapons to clean, no reports to study. A bath suddenly sounds perfect. By the time Thane decides to collect his revenge, I intend to be warm, relaxed, and entirely unrepentant.

Still smiling to myself, I slip into the bathing chamber.

The bathing quarters are grand yet purposeful, much like everything else in Thane’s domain. The walls are carved from dark stone, their surfaces smooth from age and time. Flickering sconces cast pools of golden light across the chamber, chasing shadows into the corners.

At its center sits a massive bath, more small pool than tub, sunken into the floor with wide stone steps leading into the water. Steam curls toward the vaulted ceiling, carrying the scent of heated minerals and faint traces of lavender from the oil Lyra slipped into my satchel.

The water is deep, warm, lapping at my skin as I sink lower, letting the heat pull the soreness from my limbs. I close my eyes.

Gods, I needed this.

Only now, as my body finally begins to relax, do I realize just how thoroughly Jarek dismantled me this morning.

The ache in my shoulders. The bruises blooming along my ribs. The stiffness in my legs. Every sore muscle is a reminder of the hours we spent in the training yard.

Jarek’s relentless combat training. His blade swinging in avicious, unyielding rhythm, forcing me to react faster, move cleaner, think quicker.

“Again.”