I grinned as I let go as well and came all over his pretty blankets, just as I'd warned him I would. And he was right; it was worth the wait. Feeling him fill me as I emptied myself was another layer of pleasure that made the moment special.
Tae bent over me, still inside me, his hot breath stroking my cheek. “That was the best sex of my life.”
“What was it that you said?” I looked back at him. “Oh, yeah—this is just the beginning.”
Taeven laughed, loud and free, and the sound did something to my heart. I had the Falcon Lord; he was all mine, and I had no doubts about my worthiness anymore. But there was one problem; even after seeing my soul, he still hadn't said that he loved me.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I stuffed myself on the treats my friends had brought me while Taeven planned our trip to Varalorre. I was wearing his clothes and the smell of him was nearly as distracting as he was. He was standing right before me, talking with Nelos, another knight in his Guard. Nelos was a golden brunette with tan skin and brilliant turquoise eyes. In short, a beautiful man. It's a shame that beauty was marred by the nasty looks he kept giving me.
Yeah, it was going to take some time before Tae's guards forgave me for refusing him. There were only five left, and they took their duty even more seriously now. Evidently, guarding Taeven included his emotional wellbeing. And then there was the way he'd ditched them on the battlefield to save my life. From what I'd overheard earlier when I was getting dressed, they were not happy with Taeven about that. One of them, I think it was Tasothor, said that Tae had prevented them from doing their jobs and had abandoned his army for one soldier. To which Taeven had replied that their jobs were exactly what he told them they were, and that he was right to save me since he'd also been right about me being his valorian. If I had died, the whole war could have been lost so, in essence, he'd been supporting all the armies when he'd left his to save me. And they hadn't needed him at that point anyway; the battle had been nearly over. The Falcon Guard couldn't say much to that, but they could continue to glare at me and took every opportunity to do so.
“Hey, I'm gonna go tell my friends goodbye and thank them for the food,” I said to Tae as I headed out with a platter of bite-sized chocolate cakes in my hand. “You guys want any of this before I take it?”
“No, thank you,” Nelos said stiffly.
Taeven lifted a disapproving brow at his knight before taking a cake. “Don't be long. We're leaving soon.”
“All right.” I grinned at him.
As I walked away from the tent, I heard Tae say, “You need to let it go. He's my valorian now, and that makes him your valorian too.”
“It took him long enough,” Nelos muttered.
“It was three fucking days!” I called back to Nelos, making him blush and Taeven snicker.
I snorted to myself and headed around back to the cooking tent where Tod and Vanessa worked. I found Vanessa prepping vegetables while Tod cleaned a fish.
“You can probably stop all that,” I drawled. “We're leaving for Varalorre soon.”
“Holy fuck turds!” Tod shouted as he pulled off his gloves. “Look at you! You're so fucking fae! Look at your eyes! That's wild, man. Wild.”
Vanessa set down her knife and came over to peer at my face. “Shit, youarefae. But you still look like you.”
“Weird, right?” I grinned. “Cake? Evan made them. And thanks for all the fancy food you sent me. I almost licked the plates, it was all so good.”
“That's the best compliment.” Tod slapped me on my shoulder, then grabbed me there. “Fuck, you're ripped. Feel these muscles, Van.”
Vanessa didn't need any encouragement, she started running her hands over my chest. “Oooo nice. Mr. Big, Strong, Faerie Valorian.”
“Thank you.” I preened, then noticed that the rest of their crew was gawking at me.
Tod followed my stare to his crew and shouted. “All right, fuck-faces, get back to work. Just because the Falcon Lord is leaving doesn't mean we let this food go to waste.”
“Yeah!” one of them cheered.
The rest grinned and went back to cooking. Not letting food go to waste was chef code for “it's all ours.”
“Congratulations, Shane,” Van said as she took a cake. “I'm really happy for you.”
“We'll see how long my happiness lasts,” I muttered.
“Are you still worried about him chucking you to the side?” Tod rolled his eyes. “You're his valorian now; he's not going to do that.”
“Being a valorian doesn't make me immune to dumping.”
“Uh, I kinda think it does.” Tod smirked. “I mean, let's go with the worst-case scenario. Say he does miss pussy and decides to wander. That'll suck, but do you think he'll cast you aside? Hisvalorian? No way.”
