“Mostly,” he murmurs, though I know he understands.
There will always be a piece of sadness for all that we’ve lost. For what we’ve endured. But the happy takes up the most space.
And that’s a gift I’ll never stop being grateful for.
“I love you,” I tell him, watching his aura drift off his body, the black and the gold flowing together in gentle wisps.
“Oh, Goldfinch,” he murmurs. “If ever there was a person for whom love was created, it was for you.”
He presses a kiss against my lips, and I clasp his face with both my hands and kiss him back. Our mouths meet with devotion. Bonds pulsing in sync with our singing hearts that only play for us.
My ribbons come forward, strips plucking open the ties at his pants and loosening the ones at his collar. I peel open his shirt so my palms can smooth over the defined muscles of his chest before my mouth comes down to pepper kisses up his neck.
“My beloved paired,” he purrs with a tipping smirk. “I do believe you’re trying to seduce me.”
I smile against his skin. “Is it working?”
“Flawlessly,” he says against me as his hands come down to slip the straps of my dress off my shoulders.
The material easily gives—mostly because my ribbons help him.
He chuckles darkly as a couple of them tug at the front of his pants again, and I shrug. “They know what they want.”
“So do I.” Then his words rumble with command that makes me want to catch flame. “Stand up, Goldfinch.”
CHAPTER 71
AUREN TURLEY
My stomach flutters in anticipation, skin heating with want.
I carefully stand, and Slade gets to his feet in front of me. With one hand raised, he tugs his shirt off and tosses it away, baring his chest. My eyes feast, drifting over every defined muscle and vein, along the scales that spread from his heart in a bloom of gold and silver.
“You’re beautiful,” I tell him.
“You’re glorious,” he replies instantly. “Undress for me, Auren.”
I pull down my dress the rest of the way, letting the silky fabric pool at my feet while my ribbons twirl. I step out of it, and his eyes flare, tracking over my form with rapt attention.
“The rest,” he orders, throat bobbing.
Two ribbons hook over the edges of my panties and drag them down inch by inch, while my fingers come up to undo the pretty ties at the front of my bodice. Both garments are slipped off and tossed away, and then I’m bare to him beneath the starlight.
“Your turn,” I say as I step forward.
He watches me hungrily as I stop in front of him, hands clenching and muscles bunching like he’s trying to hold himself back. My eyes flick up to his face before I focus on the waistband of his pants. My fingers flick out the laces at the top, and then my ribbons spring forward and yank down his pants as soon as they’re able, making another chuckle roll out of him and scrape tantalizingly across my skin.
“Eager?” he teases.
I don’t even attempt to be coy. My body is wound tight, and I can already feel myself getting wet just by standing here looking at him. Feeling the heat of his attention as he devours me with his gaze. “Yes.”
His cock is already hard, and when he reaches down and slowly starts to stroke it, my mouth waters. I surge forward, shoving away his grip to replace it with my own.
He hisses beneath his breath as I squeeze my fist around him. The sounds he makes spur me on, and I drag my thumb over the drop of precum, smearing it over the head.
“Have I ever told you that you have a magnificent cock?”
His fangs flash in the night from his grin. “Have I ever told you that you’re utter fucking perfection?”
