With tantalizing slowness, Neirin slid one finger inside of me. The sound that escaped me was something between a gasp and a moan, and my body quivered. My muscles tightened. He withdrew, then slowly, so fucking slowly, he slid a second finger in.
I rocked against his hand, needing more, but he used the firmness of his body to restrain my movements, holding me to the wall. I relented and closed my eyes. When I did, I understood why he wanted me to still. Gods, the man knew what he was doing. He curled his fingers as he pumped, and the spot he struck was one I’d never even found myself before. It built the tension quickly, and just as I neared the edge, as my legs quivered and threatened to go out on me, Neirin withdrew his fingers, breaking the build.
“Damn you,” I cursed with a hiss as he denied me my release.
He laughed, the sound coming from deep in his chest. His hand moved over my leg, my slickness still wet on his fingers, and he cupped my ass. He released his grasp on my hands and pulled me with him, backing from the wall a step. I wrapped my arms around his neck, running my fingers through his long, silken hair, and devoured him with my mouth.
Working through the layers of my skirts, he found my thigh with his other hand and lifted me in a single movement. I gasped, breaking the kiss, and he held me, the head of his cock positioned at my entrance.Firm, pulsing.
In a single motion, he stepped, pushed me back against the wall, and thrust into the hilt. The wind rushed from my lungs on a cry as he stretched me, as I formed into him. I never had a man that felt like this before.
Panting, Neirin held me, his body rigid against mine, every muscle coiled but unmoving. The silence between us pressed heavy, broken only by the pounding of my heart. Then–a voice came from the other side of the closed door, which I suspected led into the castle’s interior, and I flushed.Heat flooded my face as the realization struck: the soldiers hadn’t gone far from their post. They were right there, close enough to catch every desperate sound that escaped me.I swallowed hard, whispering, “They can hear us—”
Neirin’s words were a sharp growl against my lips. “Let them listen.”
With my legs wrapped around his waist, Neirin began to move inside of me, and everything else fell away—the soldiers outside, my impending courtship, the rumors people spoke of me and their effects on our shop, all of it. His grip on my ass was firm, holding me in place, and the stone wall at my back grounded me as he claimed me with each thrust.
All that mattered was this moment, our ragged breaths, and the connection of our bodies.
With a gasp, Neirin adjusted my weight and moved one of his hands from beneath my skirts. He wrapped his arm around my back, and I arched into him. Pulling out to the tip, he moved his lips to the crook of my neck. His breath was hot and quick against my skin. He nipped, light and teasing.Then, all at once, he bit down hard and thrust deep. I swallowed my cry as pain and pleasure pulsed through my veins in unison.
“Mine,” he rasped.
Mine?I was too gone to care; he could have said anything. Nothing mattered but the fullness of him inside of me. Anyconscious thought left my mind.The coil within was tightening, building, my walls contracting. As if he could sense the change in my body, he quickened.
“Come for me,” he demanded.
His command was my undoing. I bucked against him, trembling as my orgasm shook me. He didn’t slow. He pushed me over the edge, rebuilding the tension in a way I hadn’t thought possible.
I sucked in a breath, and as Neirin moved the arm from behind my back, my right boot dropped to the stone. Trailing his hand up, he hiked my left leg higher, altering the angle, and when he thrust in again, his cock struck me in such a way that I lost all sense of myself. I gave in to the pure ecstasy of it, uncaring of who heard my cries.A sharp prick of pain struck where he hit, so deep that my barrier was reached. The pain shattered into immense pleasure as he throbbed inside of me. His body trembled, and as he moaned his release, I came again.
The aftershocks shuddered through me, and, gasping for breath, Neirin adjusted his grip on my leg. His cock pulsed, and he trembled, resting his forehead against mine. Around us, the dark room returned.
I gave him a moment as our breaths steadied. His hand trailed over the leather strap of the scabbard that held my dagger to my thigh. In the rush, I’d forgotten about it, but the stroke of his fingers told me that he’d known it was there.
I looked up at him through my lashes. Neirin held my gaze, and in the silver depths of his eyes, I saw such sorrow that it ached in my chest. He didn’t pull from me, as if remaining like this would make the moment last, if only for another breath. But what we’d shared was over.
He belongs to the Queen, and I … I don’t want to belong to anyone. At least not yet.
Bitterness rose in my throat.
“Stay for a while.” Neirin’s words came out thick with emotion, and my heart leapt at his vulnerability.
No.
I set my jaw and shook my head once. This was just sex. Incredible, shattering sex that had absolutely ruined me for anyone else. Nothing would ever again feel like he felt. But still … It was just sex. I was a commoner, and he was acastle guard.Bastard or not, we did not walk the same path.
A muscle at his jaw twitched, and Neirin cast his gaze aside. There was the faintest moment of hesitancy, then he lowered my leg. He pulled from me, and I drew a breath; the moment of breaking that connection—when a man withdrew—was always uncomfortable.Our combined spend coated the insides of my thighs, sticky and warm.
Neirin stepped away from me and drew his breeches back up, tucking his still-firm length in and working the ties. The air was thick and choking, and I straightened my skirts for a distraction from the discomfort in the air. I turned my head to the stone doorway, needing to set my gaze somewhere other than on the man before me.
Neirin rapped on the wood of the closed door the soldiers had left through. After no response came, he pounded heavier. Apprehension trickled through my blood. As if he sensed it too, Neirin stepped backward toward me and looked over his shoulder. Indistinct chatter carried from the courtyard through the archway as the festival goers mingled. The glow from the sconces outside and the warmth and mirth of those gathered drew all the more contrast to the dark stillness of the stone tower we shared.
“Something is wrong,” Neirin said, his voice low. “Return to the festival.”
His command cut, and irritation overcame my unease. “No,” I said on a hush. Though only moments before I’d been readyto leave the stranger, stubbornness now held my feet. He cast a sideways glance down at me, his jaw flexing. Before he could muster a response, I hitched my skirts and, with some struggle, unhooked the latch of my scabbard and drew my dagger. When my boot returned to the stone flooring, it caught on my dress, and when I stood upright, blade in hand, I lost my balance.
Neirin caught and stabilized me, his expression something between irritation and concern. I raised my chin and adjusted my grip on the worn handle.
