Eris's heart was pounding with such force it felt like a bird trapped in a cage, battering against her ribs. Her face was burning... not with the steady, controlled heat of her magic, but with the searing, humiliating flush of raw embarrassment.
What is wrong with me? she screamed internally. In public. In the middle of a festival. I kissed him like... like I wanted to devour him.
She tried to take a steadying breath, but the cool air did nothing to quench the fire in her blood. The want was still there, an insistent, heavy ache between her thighs that felt entirely indecent.
She was an Empress, a ruler, a woman who prided herself on her iron self-control. Yet, with one touch from Soren, she had nearly unraveled in a dirty alleyway.
The realization was the most terrifying part. In her past life with Caelen, she had believed she had reached the peak of human desire. She had felt an insatiable pull toward him, a need she thought was her limit.
