With no warning at all, he scooped me up and tossed me over his shoulder, hand plastered over my ass, my hair hanging down over my face.
“Kaden, put me down. Now,” I hissed. “I mean it—I can’t see a thing and?—”
One second the world was solid. The next…
Everything was moving, flying past…and then I landed on something soft, my hair tangled around my face, no sense of up or down or?—
Oh.
I pushed up to my elbows. Shoved my hair out of my face.
I was in Kaden’s room, on my back…in a sea of black sheets that reminded me of his shadowy magic, like he’d dumped me into a thundercloud.
There were still books stacked everywhere, and with a wave of his hand, a fire crackled to life in the grate, golden light painting the high-beamed ceiling and plain walls with warmth.
Then all I saw was Kaden—legs braced apart—taking his time unbuttoning his shirt, black silk parting to reveal that pale, toned chest, then the line of black hair leading to his waistband as he shrugged it off, revealing square shoulders and magnificently muscled arms, looking like hebelonged not down here with us mortals, but somewhere up among the gods.
“I’ve been thinking about that kiss last night,” he said roughly. “How good you tasted.”
“Really?” My voice was practically a squeak.
“Really. Because that was only mythirdkiss.” He undid the button at his waist, and my heart tripped over itself, breaths coming fast when he leaned in, dragged his nose down the side of my throat—slow enough I felt every breath skate across my dimpled skin.
Wait…what did he mean…?
“I’ve been aching for this, ever since you got here. Every night, every day, every hour I’ve spent wondering how I could lure you into my bed.” My entire body turned to butter when his teeth closed over the tendon in my neck, fingers skimming the underside of my breast. “And now that you are, Lyrae Antares, I want to learn what you like. I want you to show me everything, and teach me how to love you.”
He pulled back, looked me straight in the eyes, something tender and sweet and vulnerable gleaming there as he quietly confessed, “Because I’ve never done any of this before, and I want to make this perfect for you.”
Oh gods.
Of all the things I’d expected to come out of Rooke’s mouth…that was not it.
And just like that, I found myself on shaky, never-before-trodden ground.
“Kaden.” I scrambled up, reaching for his face, brushing back his hair, tucking it gently behind his ear. “I’m…notoriously bad at…” I pinched my lips together as he waited, patient, watching me intently.
“Your first time should be…special.” I swallowed, nervous and off-kilter, my heart beating as fast as a bird’s. “I’m not sure…not sure I’m quite up to the task.”
“Just…” A hard swallow moved in his powerful throat. “Kiss me again, and we’ll see where we end up,” he urged, stepping close enough my stiff, sensitive nipples brushed his bare sculpted chest.
So warm.
So fucking perfect.
“Give me anything,” he pleaded. “A touch, a word—anything. I will take whatever you can spare, and be happy.”
“Gods, Kaden.” I captured his wrists. “Never settle for scraps when you deserve so much more. You deserveeverything. You’re a prince. In another reality, you would have ruled over us all. If anything, I should be kneeling to you.”
His smile turned into a sweet, tender thing that made my heart ache. “I have no need to rule. I don’t want power, Lyrae, or control, or a crown on my head. All I want is you. By my side. I’m sorry you ever doubted that. And I know your heart already belongs to Ryland and Varian, but…I had hoped…maybe…”
Oh, Kaden. If you only knew…
“There is room in my heart for you, too.” My voice went thin. “There is so much room, sometimes I can’t handle what I feel for you. The force of the…love that hits me whenever I’m around you…” My voice broke. “It’s too much sometimes,” I whispered, guiding his hands to my waist, his fingers digging in deep like he was hanging on for dear life. “Like I could lose myself in you forever and never come up for air.”
“Then let’s not,” he whispered, bending to take my mouth—tongue slipping between my lips not with practiced ease, but ravenous hunger—and just like that, I was lost.
Lost in the feel of him as my hands skated over all thatbare, firm flesh, memorizing every sculpted line, while he took his time with my mouth—hand gripping my jaw as his tongue traced my teeth, the top of my mouth, then my lips, like he was conquering new territory. I relaxed, pliant, willing, letting him explore.
