“What do you mean, properly?”
“I just mean I want to court you. I want to know everything about you. I want to walk down the street holding your hand. I want to kiss you goodnight on the doorstep of your home,” the prince answered as he nipped at her jaw with his lips.
Adalia smiled and ran her hands through his hair. “Well, if you want to take it slow, you’d better go sit on the other side of the room, because I want to do things with you right now that are definitely notslow.”
Matthias laughed and pulled Adalia closer. “Let’s just lay here and do our best to behave.”
“I take it you finally got my message? Is that why you’re here?” Adalia whispered softly.
“Do you actually mean the words you wrote?”
“Every single one of them.”
Nuzzling her neck, Matthias breathed her in. “Then yes, that is why I’m here. I am finding it very, very difficult to stay away from you.”
“Then don’t.”
Hearing her confirm that the words she’d secretly left for him to find were true, the heart inside of his chest swelled in a way that almost caused pain. It was as if, over time, it had turned to dust and each loving word she spoke to him, each kind gesture, each laugh that escaped her lips, watered it, and it was blossoming into something new.
Reaching one hand out, Matthias cupped her face and leaned closer to place a tender kiss on Adalia’s lips. She sighed against his mouth, black feathered wings twitching as his trousers became tighter. The silk fabric of her nightgown brushed across his bare chest as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Feeling her soft breasts pushed up against his skin confirmed that her arousal was just as real as his.
Trailing a hand down her side, over her hip and across her thigh, Matthias gently pulled it so her leg lay over his. The nightgown, slipping up towards her waist, revealed her smooth honey coloured backside and the princes’ feather light fingers traced gentle patterns over it.
“If you keep doing that, things are going to get very heated—very quickly,” Adalia whispered against his mouth.
Matthias grinned and gently pulled the hem of her nightie back over her hips. “Shall I go and sit in the chair?”
“Don’t you dare think about leaving this bed,” Adalia giggled as she lay her head against his arm. A soft hiss from Matthias had her sitting right back up. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“I am totally fine. I just got a new tattoo today, and it’s quite tender,” the prince replied.
Adalia viewed it through the clear wrap, and Matthias sensed she was pleased with what she saw by the smile that skittered across her face.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
Adalia simply nodded as she held back tears. “It’s perfect.”
Matthias chuckled and patted the space beside him. “Come, lay beside me. I want to feel you close.”
Adalia lay back down, turned in towards his side and snuggled herself against his skin.
“Want to tell me about these tattoos?” she asked as she traced a finger over the black markings on his chest.
“I will tell you anything you want to know.”
“Tell me about this one.” Adalia pointed at the rose on the back of his hand.
Matthias shifted to his side so he could face her better. “That’s my favourite flower.”
“It looks like the black ones that grow near your home,” Adalia said.
Nodding, Matthias traced the outline of the rose on his hand. “They are the only flower to grow abundantly in Oscuro despite the lack of sun. It gave me hope that even beauty can grow in the shadows.”
Adalia smiled. “We should plant some roses for you here, too.”
“I would like that very much.”
Adalia traced another with her fingertip. “And what about this one with the red hair?”
