“Where?”
I suck his lower lip into my mouth before dragging my tongue along it. Nox likes hearing me tell himexactlywhat I want, even though I know that he has no trouble deciphering it on his own. At first, I thought it was because he wanted to make sure I never felt like he was taking advantage of me. Then I thought it might be his way of making me feel more comfortable with my desire, with being vocal in an intimate situation. But now I think he simply finds pleasure in me telling him what I want—what Ineed—and knowing he is the only one who can give it to me.
“Inside of me,” I whisper, smiling when he curses in response.
His touch is searing as his warm hands slide up the sides of my body, his thumbs tracing a delicate path along the underside of each breast before moving over my peaked nipples. I rock myself over him, the exhilarating anticipation making my entire body burn bright and my magic hum against my bones. When we’re both panting, the air thick with our magic, he effortlessly flips us and quickly removes what remains of our clothing.
“Say it again,” he murmurs against my neck, his fingers moving over my breast before gliding down to the warmth between my legs. “Tell me where you want me.Onlyme.”
Stars above, I love when he’s like this, when it seems like he can’t get enough of me. The first time he had ever said that I wasonly his, he froze as soon as the words left him. It was as if he hadn’t meant to say them out loud. I could see that an explanation of what he meant—or worse, an apology—was on the tip of his tongue, but I only pulled his face to mine and kissed him until I felt him relax. I love his possessiveness of me because it doesn’t feel like possession. It feels like longing and desire and…love.
I graze my hands up his torso, my breath faltering when I feel the slick tip of him brush against my thigh. “I need you inside of me, Nox.Please.”
I have had him every day since our first time, sometimes multiple times a day, and it never gets any less magnificent. The desire he draws out of me is only sated for a time before I begin to crave him all over again. I swear that every time we join, I discover something new. About myself. About him. About how our bodies meld and peak and fall apart together.
He doesn’t hesitate, and I don’t think either of us is fully breathing when he pushes in slowly, letting my body gradually adjust to every perfect inch.
“You feel so good,” he groans into my heated skin once he’s seated to the hilt. “Fuck, every time, you feelperfect.” He moves slowly—consciously—measuring each thrust of his hips.
The fire that simmers low in my belly is begging forallof him. I want him as uninhibited and lost in this moment as I am. “More,” I say with a gasp, my nails scraping down his back. His breath stutters in response, the arm bracing his body flexing near my head. “I need more.”
His eyes lift to mine, tendrils of his raven hair dancing above his eyebrows as his self-control disappears. The cadence of his hips slows, but each pump hits me deeper and deeper until I’m writhing beneath him. I groan out his name, praying to him with my body—my breath.
He snaps upright so that he’s on his knees with my legs thrown over his shoulders, his arms wrapping around my thighs until he’s hugging them to his chest. His thrusts are calculated and drawn out, the deeper angle torturously perfect. He’s a conductor, and my body is his choir as it hums and sings to his every command. My fingers reach to grip onto his knees while my back arches as pleasure, hot and sweet, rolls down my spine. Shouts that might be his name or a cursing of the gods or something in between leap off my tongue as my muscles flutter and spasm, my climax unraveling within me.
Nox tilts his head back, the sunlight caressing the column of his throat and his chiseled chest as his hands squeeze my legs tighter. All I can do is watch as the muscles of his powerful body contract as he joins it with mine. He separates my legs, brazenly looking at where we are connected. The sight alone draws a breathy moan from me, but then he pulls out, the fullness of him gone. I don’t have time to protest because his mouth is quickly on me—his tongueinsideof me—all while his hands slide up my body to my breasts.
“Oh gods,” I rasp, stars bursting behind my eyes as I cover his hands with my own. It doesn’t take long under the ministrations of his mouth for me to become undone again. Through the buzzing of my satiation, I hear him chuckle quietly, moving his lips intimately against me before crawling his way up my body. His mouth crashes onto mine, stealing my oxygen. My sanity.My existence. There will never be enough of this—of him.
Pulling back, he gently brushes the hair away from my face as his eyes roam over me. “I am sofuckingunworthy.”
“No more unworthy than I am,” I reply, though a small spark within me flares in defiance at that thought.No.Iamworthy of this moment, ofhim—of whatever I can make of this life in newfound freedom. If I dare to believe it, perhaps I am worthy of evenmore. And so is he.
My name is a tortured sound paired with a deep thrust as he fills me to the hilt again. I move my body with his, content to watch him come undone as I swallow his groan of pleasure with a kiss when he finishes. The room falls mostly quiet, nothing but our heavy breaths and joined magic sizzling in the air. Nox kisses my forehead as he slowly pulls out, murmuring his love for me before tucking me into his side when he rolls to his back.
“Will it always be like this?” I ask him, my body perfectly aching and languid.
His fingers drag back and forth on my shoulder as he takes his time to answer. “I will try my best to ensure it is.”
I smile as I look up at him, his face reflecting the same contentment I feel in my soul. “I think this is my favorite part,” I whisper after a moment, kissing his warm skin.
“I don’t know if I should be offended that it’saftersex that is your favorite.”
I laugh, lifting up slightly to adjust so that my arms are stacked on his chest with my chin resting atop them. “Oh, I like the sex too.” His eyes heat as he bends his arm back and rests his head in its crook. “I just meanthismoment. Where it feels like the world pauses just for us.”
He stares at me, that all-knowing gaze piercing me until my cheeks begin to flush. “Come closer.” His hand reaches up to wrap around the back of my head while he pulls me gently into a kiss. “I love that feeling too. Though, if I’m being totally honest, the little gasps you make as you come are my absolute favorite.”
Our laughs mingle together between more sweet words and the pressing of our lips. I don’t know for sure what happens in the Afterlife, but I can’t imagine it’s anything more blissful than this.
We’ve gotten a short reprieve from the council summoning Nox daily to talk about his time in the Mortal Kingdom. I know that he’s creating a barrier between their questions and me, but I can see what he won’t confess—it’s starting to wear him down.
“If the council wants to meet with me, I will do it. Not doing so makes it feel like we have something to hide,” I tell him as we walk to the training grounds.
“Wedohave something to hide, Rhea, and that ispreciselywhy I don’t want them to interrogate you.”
“Do you not trust me enough to know how to respond to their questions?” I try to keep my tone light, but it’s impossible to deny the pinprick of hurt in my chest. I know everything Nox does for me—everything—comes from a place of love and needing to keep me safe, but talking with the council seems like an easy way to eliminate one of the major worries I know he holds.
“Hey.” His voice is gentle as he lays a hand on my forearm to pause our steps. “That’s not it at all. It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with the fact that Iknowthey will pick you apart. There is a reason they wanted to suggest the betrothal to Haylee. Her uncle is on the council, and he is an affluent member of the kingdom. On paper,to them, it strengthens the kingdom to have the two of us as rulers.”
