His arm looped around my waist, and before I could come up with any sort of clever, teasing comeback, his lips were on mine.
In less than a second, he had me pinned up against the wall behind me, his hands everywhere, his skilled mouth claiming mine, giving and taking at once. There was no hesitation, no reservations.
Just hot, wild desire.
And I sighed beneath his kiss, opening to him as easily as breathing.Thiswas what I’d wanted—pleasure, and heat, and breathless magic. Something enchanting and exhilarating to cling to in this strange world, if only for a moment. And I clung to him, my fingers clawing at his shoulders, his back.
With Radven, there was no shame, no embarrassment, for indulging this side of myself. Just the thrill, the fire.
“You taste like Nectar,” he rasped against my lips.
“I’m not drunk,” I insisted.
“Good,” he said. “Because I want to know that you want this.”
“I do,” I breathed.
His smile was lazy, devilish. “And I want you fully present forthis.”
He pulled further away, despite my sounds of protest, but he didn’t go far. He moved down my body, his lips brushing against my collarbone, then at the neckline of my dress, then over my bellybutton, until he was on his knees in front of me. One hand slipped beneath the flowing layers of my skirt, finding my ankle, while the other lifted all the layers of gauzy fabric until he could dip his head beneath.
I slumped against the wall, my body already flooding with heat. I knew we shouldn’t be doing this here, with crowds of people literally fifteen feet away, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask him to stop. We were in the shadows of an alley, I told myself. And everyone else was too focused on their celebrations to notice two lovers stealing a moment to themselves.
But mostly I didn’t think at all, except to notice the way the wordloverspooled warm and liquid in my belly.
Beneath my skirts, Radven’s lips landed lightly on the side of my shin. Then my knee. His hand skimmed up the back of my leg, his callused fingers drifting lazily across my skin, his touch so light it would have tickled if I hadn’t been so caught up in the fire it left in its wake.
His mouth touched my thigh next, and my breath caught. His hand paused, then gently gripped the back of my leg.
His next kiss came against my inner thigh, and this time I bit down on my bottom lip to make sure I didn’t make any noises I might regret. His nose nudged me, urging me to spread my legs wider, and I obliged, grateful the wall was there for support.
And then he lifted his mouth higher.
Sweet mercy.
The moment his tongue touched me, my knees attempted to buckle. My fingers gripped desperately at the wall behind me as I silently thanked Ary for forgetting to bring me any underwear when she furnished me with clothes for tonight.
I’d never felt anything like this in my life. I had no idea a tongue could feel so different from my own fingers, wet and warm and—
I nearly choked as his tongue shifted, dancing over me with a skill that made stars spin across my eyes.Whyhad I waited so many years to let myself experience this?
My head tilted back against the wall, my eyes falling closed. With every stroke of his tongue, the heat in my core bloomed further, building, swelling until even the music and the scents and the energy of the festival seemed far away. Like a distant dream.
But the magic of it all still lingered, wrapping around me, enveloping me as the pleasure inside me continued to build. Up and up, until I felt like I was floating, flying, carried like a fallen blossom on the wind, completely at the mercy of those sweet gusts.
I wanted more. Needed him to—
“Ahem.”
My eyes flew open, at the same time that Radven’s head jerked up. Unfortunately, he was still under my skirts, and he practically knocked me over as he scrambled to free himself. By the time he emerged, though, he already had a knife in his hand, and he swung around to face the intruder.
It was Alastor.
“Gods, Brother,” Radven said, relaxing immediately. “Was it truly necessary to sneak up on me like that?”
Alastor didn’t look amused. “I wasn’t aware you’d be preoccupied when I came to find you.”
“Well, I’d appreciate it if you tried to be less of a cockblock in the future.” Radven shoved his dagger back up his sleeve. His hair was ruffled, and his cheeks slightly redder than usual, but otherwise he was recovering with enviable quickness.
