My lips tremble. I lie back in the blankets, release a breath, and allow myself to feel.
One hand pins down my hip, the other reaching up to cup one of my breasts. His thumb plays with the nipple: red-tipped, painfully sensitive. A gentle pinch sends tingling heat branching through my limbs.
And then his mouth is between my legs, wet, sucking heat tearing a moan from me. I snatch a pillow and slam it over my face to mute the embarrassing noises. Another tug on my drenched folds, and I cry out brokenly, my hips moving instinctively to prolong the flaring pleasure.
Suddenly the pillow is gone. “What—” I blink in confusion at where he kneels at the foot of the bed.
“Don’t hide from me.” That wintry gaze pins me against the headboard. “Not after everything.”
Everything. As if we have traveled through hell and back to get here. I do not think he is wrong.
“Yes,” I whisper, my head falling back and my eyes fluttering shut.
His mouth returns to its cruel ministrations. As his lips seal hotly over that small, tender bud, he stretches two fingers inside me, pressing them against my front wall. I buck against his mouth with a garbled plea, delirious with the pleasure scorching my veins. Boreas makes a sound of indulgence as he licks my skin clean, and I clench around his fingers reflexively, trying to draw them deeper. I’m barely aware of the words falling from my mouth.More. Please. Faster. Yes, there.My skin tingles as the tension crests and, with one last suck, I come undone.
A wild scream claws through me as my back bows and my hips snap upward, and I’m spiraling, grinding against his mouth as he continues to feast, to pluck my every nerve. My toes curl and my heels dig into the mattress, and I’m yanking on Boreas’ hair while moving through the throes of a beautiful, life-altering, shattering pleasure, carried far on the wave until it loses momentum and deposits me ashore.
I stare at the ceiling, sated, skin prickling with sweat. The king bestows a gentle kiss to the inside of my thigh before crawling up my body, nuzzling those warm, soft areas. He kisses the subtle curve of my breast, the sweaty dampness of my neck, my temple, and finally, my mouth. This kiss is the best one yet. A tender, hungry thing.
“You almost killed me,” I whisper when we break apart.
The corners of his eyes crinkle. “But you’re still alive. So you’re saying I failed?”
“I’m saying we still have a ways to go.”
Time spins out. With our mouths fused, our hands stroke and our fingers bite into pliant flesh, and together, we begin to climb.
Later, much later, Boreas positions himself at my entrance. His gaze meets mine, and holds. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
I’ve bedded men who treated me roughly before, but I don’t believe Boreas will do the same. I trust him.
“You won’t hurt me,” I say.
He dips his chin. “Very well.”
“Wait.” I press a hand to his chest before he can enter me. “What about pregnancy? I don’t have a tonic to prevent that.” I’m not ready to bring a child into the world. And I’m not sure Boreas would want one anyway, given the death of his son. We’ve never discussed it.
He tugs on a lock of my hair, smooths his thumb along my jaw. “There’s no worry. Alba can provide you with a tonic tomorrow morning.” The concern in his gaze gives way to something else. “Would you want children? Not now, but someday?”
I see it—the hope and the fear.
I’d never given much thought to children because I never saw myself in a position to raise them. All my focus went toward survival. However, I can see that future with Boreas so clearly. I imagine he would be a wonderful father. He thrives when he has something or someone to care for.
But it can’t be that simple. One day, I will grow old. Boreas will outlive me. What of the children? Will they, too, be immortal?
“I don’t know,” I whisper honestly. “I suppose I never saw childrenas an option in my life. Things never felt stable enough.” I bite the inside of my cheek. “Your son, was he immortal?”
“Calais was mortal, but he possessed traits that revealed the divine blood in his veins. He was very strong for a child.” His smile fades. “You are worried about the child’s lifespan?”
“One day, I will die,” I murmur, touching the corner of his mouth. “If the child is mortal as well, what will happen when that child is gone?” I don’t want Boreas to grieve alone. And the thought of him taking another wife after me… I fight down a surge of jealousy.
He considers this. It’s hard to read him.
“I’m not saying no, but I would like time to consider the implications.” Will he still want me when my skin begins to sag? When my teeth rot? It’s too unpleasant to think about. “But you should know that if I were to bear and raise children with anyone… it would be you.” The immortal who stole my heart.
He closes the space between us, fitting his mouth to mine for a long moment. I feel his smile, and that in turn makes me smile.
With one hand braced on the headboard near my head, he uses the other to guide himself inside me, rocking his hips forward bit by bit, sinking deeper each time as my body stretches to accommodate him. When he’s fully seated, I manage, “You are rather large.”
