Most of the time in Stonehaven, I had felt as if I were too much somehow: too sexual, too barbed, too awkward. But Fieran took everything I had to give him, not as if he tolerated it, but as if it were a gift.
I leaned forward, changing the angle, and the ring fell forward, brushing over his chest. The friction against that perfect spot inside me made stars explode behind my eyelids.
Fear’s hands moved to my thighs, encouraging my movements but still letting me dictate the pace. I rode him harder, chasing the building pressure, the exquisite tension coiling tighter and tighter low in my belly.
“You’re beautiful like this,” he said, his voice strained. “Taking your pleasure. Taking me. I could watch you ride me for a thousand years, and I’d never tire of seeing the way your perfect breasts sway.”
He reached a hand to grip my breast, his thumb stroking over mynipple. “Look at these breasts. You were made for me. Made to be my undoing.”
His words pushed me closer to the edge. I could feel him pulsing inside me, feel the tension in his body that told me he was as close as I was. One of his hands slid between us, fingers finding the sensitive bundle of nerves at my center once more, and the touch was all it took to send me spiraling over the edge.
I felt him follow me, his hips bucking up, and when I collapsed against his chest, he pulled me close, thrusting upward a few last times as he finished.
My body trembled against his with the after-effects of my orgasm, my core squeezing against nothing. His fingers sunk into my hair to angle my face up, and his mouth found mine in a kiss that was consuming, possessive.
Before I could fully understand what was happening, he rolled us over, pinning me beneath him.
“I need more of you.” The raw need in his voice sent a fresh surge of heat through me.
He entered me again in one smooth thrust that had me arching off the bed. His hands captured my wrists, pinning them to the mattress on either side of my head. The position made me feel deliciously vulnerable, completely at his mercy. He began to move, setting a relentless pace that had me gasping his name.
The feeling of being pinned, possessed, claimed, combined with the exquisite friction of his body moving within mine, quickly rebuilt the pleasure that had barely receded. Fear’s mouth moved to my neck, sucking, biting gently, surely leaving marks that I would find in the morning.
“Gods, I love feeling your pussy milk my cock,” he murmured. “That little sound you make is driving me mad.”
His movements became more erratic, his breathing harsh against my ear. I wrapped my legs around his waist, drawing him deeper, meeting his thrusts with my own. The change in angle had him hitting that perfect spot with each thrust, and I felt myself climbing rapidly toward another peak.
“You’re my good girl—at least for tonight—come for me again, Never.”
His words were the final push I needed. The pleasure crested and broke, more intense than before, tearing a cry from my throat that might have been his name. My body clenched around him, and he stiffened, his release flooding me as he groaned my name like a prayer.
For several long moments, we lay together, our breathing gradually slowing, our hearts finding a steadier rhythm. Fear released my wrists, his fingers gently stroking the places where he had held me. He rolled to his side, bringing me with him, keeping our bodies connected.
His hand found my cheek, turning my face to his for a kiss that was impossibly tender after all that fierceness. When he pulled back, his eyes searched mine, and I saw in them a question he didn’t voice. I answered by pressing closer, my hand coming up to curl around the nape of his neck, drawing him into another kiss that conveyed everything I wasn’t ready to say aloud.
The ring on its chain rested between us, warmed now by our bodies, a silent promise of possibilities I had never allowed myself to imagine before tonight.
Fifty-Four
Waking up in Fieran’s bed came with a lot of feelings for me.
Some of them were purely physical. My head rested on the hard, broad warmth of his shoulder. My hand drifted over his bare chest. I’d found his physical contact comforting the night before, but waking up to it was something else entirely. Harsh light streamed in through the windows, the curtains jerking in the breeze.
Fieran had one arm draped protectively over my waist, and when I started to pull away, his bicep flexed beneath me, pulling me a little closer. His hand traced absentmindedly down my hip, even though he was still half-asleep.
I wouldn’t have pegged the manipulative bastard for a cuddler.
I eased out of the bed and out of his grip. He stirred, still reaching for me.
I touched the ring he’d threaded onto some once-priceless chain, dangling now between my breasts.
Marrying him might well be the clever choice, but in the cool light of day, I felt ashamed of my raw need and vulnerability. I’d had sex with men before; I’d never beenneedy.
And yes, he’d unspooled his secrets for me, too. But he was a liar, a charmer, a manipulative bastard.
He might also be the kingdom’s best warrior, the mortals’ champion for freedom, the future king we needed.
Fear was complicated, and so was…whatever I felt for him.
