With the sink of her onto his length, he groaned into her chest and held her close, having to remind himself to breathe.
He hadn’t had her this way since the night of the Berdijay, and it brought back every memory of the first time he was inside her. How his heart had skipped, and he’d wanted her to stay in that spot the entire night just so he could feel her around him. How a warmth had pooled in his stomach, and a heated shiver ran over his shoulders. How he’d known right then that this was more than the physical attraction and bantering.
She rocked up slowly, her wet body against his, wearing his thin, soaking tunic that fell off her shoulder and exposed her freckles to the sun. He wrapped his hands around her back and held her as she moved. Every stroke made him curse and groan, and each time he heard her own gasp, he moved further out of himself.
Was it possible that they could have this? he wondered. Was it possible that he could have her, or would it forever be something they would have to keep out of sight of her people? Would he ever be able to dance with her at a banquet or hold her hand as they walked her streets… Was it possible to love her without her losing her kingdom…
Or could he ever truly love her the way she deserved…
Her grip on his hair tightened with the rise of her shoulders, and he gripped her ass in both hands as she moved faster. Her release cresting again, and he stifled his own. He captured her taut nipple between his teeth and sucked, making her whimper and cry out. She tasted like salt from the ocean. Her movements became erratic, loud moans echoing off the cliffside as she clamped around his cock, and Draven cursed against her skin.
“Aydra—“ he barely got her name out before she came apart around him, and he quickly followed. He buried his head between her breasts as their releases shook them, and she finally limped in his embrace.
But Draven didn’t move. He couldn’t. He needed to feel her heartbeat there, so he knew they were not a dream. Even when her fingers relaxed in his hair, and she simply began to stroke the strands, he refused to move.
And for a moment, he let her hold him.
He had decided months before that he was okay if she never said the words he knew they both felt. He knew her position and how such a relationship would affect her title and love from her people. He would give her all of him in the meantime, and he would stand with her whenever she would let him, give her space when she needed it.
But it didn’t stop him from fantasizing about a life with her—marrying her. Ruling with her. For now, though, he would take this life with her and every moment it allowed him.
“Draven?”
Her voice brought him back to himself, and he picked his head up to meet her eyes. The sun cascaded behind her, making her hair look like curling fire embers, shadowing his face from its radiance. Its strength behind her made his ears ring with its striking abundance.
She was the darkness that saved him from a world of blinding—no,deafening—sunlight.
And there, hidden in her shadow against the sun, was where he decided he wanted to be.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, fingers curling at the nape of his neck.
He swallowed and exhaled a deepened breath. Then, a dark grey cloud passed over the sun, and the light behind her vanished. He took her hand from behind his neck and kissed her palm as her eyes darkened to match the sky.
Words seemed not to match anything he felt for her.
And as he held her gaze, the only thing he could do was lay his forehead against hers and whisper, “Nothing less.”
CHAPTER FOUR
NYSSA WATCHED FOR a while in the afternoon as Dorian and Bala battled in the sand. Dorian, of course, was the worst, and every time Bala managed to knock him on his back, he made comments about liking the view of her from there.
Nyssa calculated their steps as she watched, noting the new moves Dorian seemed to have from training with Lex, memorizing the steps and swipes Bala took at him that were of a different way than their own. Bala’s fighting style was more savage than what she was used to, and she wondered if the other races fought with such aggression as well.
By the time Nyssa decided she was ready to fight, the rain had let up. They had taken a long walk down the beach and laid in one of the alcoves to rest for a while, chatting about the difference in duties and Magnice, getting to know Bala.
Target practice was set up after, and Nyssa rose to its challenge. She’d been practicing every chance she could since the debacle in the forest with Lex and Aydra, and ever since, she’d been getting better and better. To the point that Dorian had stopped trying to compete with her.
Dorian’s grin filled his face as he stood to the side when Nyssa and Bala returned from fetching her bow and arrows. He’d set up targets for them while they were gone, and Nyssa nearly slapped his stupidly grinning face.
“You’re going down, Windwood,” Dorian said confidently.
“Am I?” Bala smiled, looking at Nyssa.
Nyssa ignored Dorian as she threaded the arrow. “He’s exaggerating,” she muttered. “I can hardly hold this damn thing.” She pulled her arm back, steadying the arrow as she aimed, and then she winked at Dorian before letting it fly.
Bala crossed her arms over her chest when the arrow thudded directly in the middle of the target. “Just hardly, huh?” Bala teased.
Nyssa let the bow sag and gave the Second a shrug. “Beginner’s luck.”
