“Yes.” Sorrow fills his dark eyes. “Much as I wish otherwise, no one has ever felt like him.”
I say nothing more. Colden said many years had passed. His love could be gone now, taken by time that is a cruel dictator over Colden’s existence.
I reach for him and pull him toward me. He puts up no fight, even smiling as he slides atop me, resting on his forearms.
“My paramour.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “Thank you for this. For tonight. And any other night you choose to give me.”
I slip my hands up and tangle them in his hair. “Many. I choose to give youmany.”
He arches a brow. “Until you meetThe One.When he arrives, you’ll walk away from me with no guilt and live a happy life. Swear it.”
I don’t know love like that. The closest I’ve ever been to it was seeing the relationship between my parents. It feels like a far-way thing for me. An impossibility. But I give Colden what he needs anyway.
“I swear, my king. But for now, you’ll swear to defile me often and vigorously, in the most daring of places.”
A delighted grin spreads across his handsome face. “I swear it.”
He presses his erection between my legs and winks, then he rips the covers off us and grabs me, whisking me across the room, carrying me like a child, my legs wrapped around his waist, my arms around his neck. When he opens the door to the balcony that overlooks the south garden, where people still mill about, and beyond to the dwindling festivities, a swift, cold breeze rushes past, blowing out the lanterns hanging on either side of the door, casting us in shadow.
I let out an uncontainable squeal at his magick, and his choice for our first lewd act.
Colden laughs but covers my mouth. “I can’t fuck you in the wide open if you howl like a wolf, woman,” he whispers. “Tame yourself. We’re going for clandestine sexual acts in the vicinity of the public, not everyone thinking I’m murdering you.”
I giggle against his hand, and he uncovers my mouth before setting me down on my feet. Gripping my waist, he spins me toward the balcony wall and the gardens.
My eyes bulge. “Likethis?Here?”
“Oh yes.” He lifts a hand and caresses my nipples, while the other grabs a handful of my hair. “Lean forward, hands on the wall. Hold on as best you can. You’d better be quiet, too, or I’ll have to spank you.”
The next thing I know, he’s rubbing the tip of his cock up and down my slit. I gasp when he enters me in one brutal thrust.
Colden lowers his fingers to my clit as he begins fucking me in the balcony shadows, all while villagers and servants linger two stories below.
“Let’s give the night our first show, Miss Bloodgood,” he whispers against the back of my neck.
I smile and spread my legs wider for him.
And we do.
Rattle the City
From City of Ruin
A Continuation of the Final Love Scene Between Raina and Alexus
1
ALEXUS
It’s early evening when we meet at the main courtyard for dinner with Fia.
We’ve scrubbed all proof of our journey away and have been groomed by the palace’s maidservants until we look like we haven’t been through any difficulty at all these last days.
The outside table—decorated with colorful glass lanterns and tall vases of red flowers—is set for eleven, with Fia residing at the head. She’s dressed in black tonight, regal and lovely.
On the side of the courtyard sit musicians with stringed instruments including a harp, each one playing their part in a quiet song. Raina sits beside me, smelling like a rose and dressed in red again, her neckline plunging to her bellybutton.
I lean over to whisper in her ear. “That dress might be the death of me. Who needs food? All I want is to take you back to our room and make love to you for the rest of the night.”
