Part One
Three Days Before The Meeting
CHAPTER ONE
THUNDER RUMBLED OUTSIDE Aydra Ravenspeak’s window.
She’d heard the patter of rain on the grand windows late in the night and had urged her raven inside before closing it. But before she’d gotten back in the bed, she’d taken a moment to look around the mess of her room.
The clothes ripped and thrown on the floor.
The boots by the door.
The sword and belt lying over the lounger.
The pillows tossed. The fireplace crackling.
And the Venari King in her bed.
Her heart swelled at the sight of him lying sprawled on the mattress. He slept like an animal. Taking up most of the bed with his grand stature. If he laid straight on his back, his feet even hung off the end of it.
And yet, every time she would lie against him, his arms curled around her as though he’d been waiting for her his entire life.
Draven Greenwood. Venari King and Alpha. King of the Noctuans and King in the South and East. Her equal. Her lover. Her King.
Her comforting shadow in a world of blinding sunlight.
Moons’ light ricocheted off his tan skin and rippled muscles—the sheet only lying over his hips. He’d only arrived at Magnice the day before, and she’d been so scared he wouldn’t want to see her after the fight they’d had, but Draven…
She wasn’t sure how she deserved him.
As she stared at him, her heart began to ache. Years wasted thinking of the other as the enemies. Years of her wondering if true love were anything more than the pain she’d felt over the years.
And he’d been sitting across from her this entire time. A glare on his beautiful face as people spewed hatred for him and his people. He’d sat there and taken every word, knowing these people were scared of him, using that power to his advantage.
Aydra poured herself a glass of water from the dresser, gulped it down, and then crawled back into the bed. Draven hardly stirred with more than a grunt. Seeing him lying there naked made her mouth dry, and she took his relaxation to her advantage.
She laid herself at his side, mouth pressing to his lips softly, hand trailing up his chest and entwining in the hair. Draven shifted as she moved to kiss his throat.
“My Queen… It is still the night,” he said in a sleepy rasp that sent a chill down her spine. He grabbed her ass and gave it a hard smack, to which she moaned against him. “A King needs his rest.”
She almost laughed. “You don’t have to do anything,” she whispered. She reached beneath the sheet for his thick length, feeling it hardening as she tugged gently. “Relax, my King.”
His brow raised, one eye peeking open, and she noted the smirk in his sleepy gaze. A gentle, amused huff left him, and he pushed his arm behind his head to prop himself up. “I’ll allow it,” he decided, to which her smile widened.
“Yeah, you will.”
A slow smirk rose on his lips just before she kissed him, her heart sighing into him. His other hand caressed her side with his knuckles. Up and down. Sending chills down her flesh. He was half-asleep, and she nearly laughed at the surrendered Venari King in her arms. Completely trusting in her. Vulnerable and open as he was with no one else except perhaps his best friends.
His length slowly stiffened beneath her light tease. Low groans vibrated her mouth with their kisses until she nuzzled her face into his neck and gripped the head of his cock tighter, making him curse out loud.
By the time she was on her knees between his thighs, he was a little more awake. She leaned up, hands pressing into the mattress as she gave him a long kiss and moved her pelvis against his hardened length. He wrapped his free hand lightly beneath her chin, dominating in nature, still leaning back with the other hand behind his head. She reached between them to stroke his length, and his fingers wrapped around her throat in response. His groan filled her mouth before she moved down his body. He left his hand in her hair and massaged her neck, short nails scratching her skull lazy and slow.
His cock was erect and waiting on her when she lowered between his thighs. She wrapped her lips onto his tip, and his hips shifted in response, eager for her to go further. That light scratch on her neck encouraged her swirling tongue. His thickness quickly filled her mouth, and she relaxed her throat to go further. With every bob of her head, he seemed to awaken. Hands threading tighter. Hips moving with more intention. Until he stilled her head and thrust firmly down her throat, making her choke when he held her in place. Her lips wrapped firmly around him upon his relaxing, and he cursed aloud. She felt as one of his hands left her hair and heard the creak of the wood as he grasped onto the headboard.
“Aydra…” Her name was a plea on his lips. She pushed her breasts against his sack, and he groaned, cursing her name again. She could feel him beginning to strain in her mouth, feel as he began to lose control.
She pulled back to kiss his tip and look up at him, finding his eyes closed and the veins in his neck puckering as he fought his release. She teased him again, licking his length and making him jerk. His hand tightened in her hair, clenching on her neck. She opened her mouth to him once more, and he filled her mouth and throat, forcing her to choke and take in the entirety of him. She hummed over him as the chills rose on her flesh from him taking that control, and Draven lost it.
