The laugh she released rang through the air like a melody. “What did it feel like?” she asked.
“I don’t understand your question,” he said, mindlessly rubbing the sigil on his palm.
“The awareness,” she clarified. “Did it hurt?” She sounded worried.
“You didn’t feel it?” She was aRoyalnow; why would she not?
“No. I didn’t notice anything.”
“It’s a warm sensation that starts here,” he said, pressing the bottom of her sternum. “It moves up like magic filling your body.” As he spoke, he trailed his fingers up her chest until they skimmed her neck before dropping his arm to his side. “When it first happened, I didn’t know what it meant because I’d never felt it before. The transfer of power to Gedeon wasn’t immediate. It wasn’t until Adila arrived to see Atarah’s dead body that he glowed, and then I felt it. My siblings and I never mentioned it to one another, but I knew what it was.”
He thought for a moment. “I assumed we all felt it, but it’s possible Gedeon didn’t since he was the one who transformed into aRoyal.”
She couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. “He wasn’t already aRoyal?”
Caius shook his head slightly. “You aren’t considered aRoyaluntil you take one of the threeRoyalpositions. As kids, they called us theRoyalchildren orRoyalheirs, but we weren’t actuallyRoyalsyet.”
She ran her hands up his chest, getting a bit of blood on his shirt. “I don’t want to talk about him anymore.”
Caius didn’t either. All he wanted to talk about,thinkabout, was her.Tonight, he wouldn’t ravish her; he would cherish her.
Reading his mind, she stepped forward and pushed his jacket from his shoulders to kiss his neck. His arms slipped around her waist, lowering the zipper of her dress, and it slid down her body, pooling at her feet.
There were no undergarments in sight, and he licked his thumb to brush over one of her nipples. “You were bare for me?”
Nodding, she reached for him, removing his shirt before unbuttoning his pants. “Take off your shoes.”
Soon they were both naked, and when she lifted her foot behind her to remove the sexiest shoes he’d ever seen, he stopped her. “The shoes stay on.”
Once she was on the bed, he crawled over her, memorizing every inch of her. “I have waited for you my entire life,” he whispered.
“I’ve been waiting for you too,” she murmured. “I just didn’t know it.”
He sucked one of her breasts into his mouth andmoved a hand down her stomach, feeling it quiver beneath his touch. Her hands went to his hair, and he smiled against her soft skin.
The arousal he found between her legs made him groan and bury his face in her soft chest. “Fuck, Rory, you’re always so wet.”
“Mmm,” she hummed. “You would be too if someone who looked like you couldn’t keep their hands off you.”
Hetugged her nipple between his teeth, making her squirm. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
His two middle fingers entered her with ease, and he groanedagain. “Oh,” she breathed as he stroked in and out while lightly grinding his palm against her clit. “Caius.”
“Tell me what you need,” he commanded softly. “Tonight is about you.”
She brought his face close to hers. “I only need you.”
Her lips parted when he moved his hand in a circular motion, pleasuring her inside and out.When he added another finger, she squirmed, and his strokes came easier with each passing second as she drenched his skin.
He pressed his knee against the back of his hand to drive it deeper and watched as her head thrashed to the side.
When her pussy spasmed, he curled his digits and put more pressure on her clit with his palm. She cursed as her orgasm took over her body, and he let her ride his hand until her limbs went limp. After sucking his fingers clean, he moved between her legs, capturing her eyes with his to convey every ounce of love he had for her.
Reaching up to thread her fingers through his hair, she whispered,“I love you.”
He pushed into her and hissed. The feeling of her warmth encompassing him would never get old. “I love you too, Umbra Queen.”
Pinning her arms to the bed, he clasped his fingers through hers. Their bodies moved in perfect harmony because they were made for each other, and now that the bond was complete, the pleasure between them was unlike any other.
