“Princess, you have to stop,” he begged and tried to pull me off. I clutched his ass and held on, swallowing again.
My eyes watered, and my jaw ached, but I wasn’t letting go until he finished.
“I’m gonna come,” he warned.
I brought a hand back to him and squeezed around the base while my tongue lapped at that ridge just under the head. I looked up. His eyes went dark as he came, and the back of my throat was coated with jet after jet as he roared his release. I tried to remember to breathe through my nose, but it was still too much.
Coughing, I pulled off and prayed I hadn’t ruined everything by quitting right at the very end. Kaiden sank to his knees in front of me, still trying to catch his breath. Grabbing my head in both hands, he slammed our lips together, forcing my mouth open until our tongues tangled. He didn’t seem to mind the taste of himself as he owned me with only a kiss.
“Thank you,” he said against my mouth, before resting his forehead against mine.
I felt him smile down the bond and tentatively opened my side enough to allow the barest of touches. I didn’t know what bullshit I tried to convince myself of before. This definitely meant something. It meanteverything.
twenty-one
Kaiden
I stared down at Eryn, watching her sleep. There was a feeling of contentment, of satisfaction I didn’t expect to feel without completing the bond. I thought we were a long way off from this—years away—but Eryn’s wide-eyed admission hit me right in the center of my chest. This wasn’t all one-sided.
Shefeltsomething for me. It wasn’t a love declaration by any means, and me revealing the true depth of my feelings for her would probably unravel all our progress, but…it meant something. Gods,it meant something. What though? That was the newest question hounding my every thought.
It’s why I wasn’t asleep, and instead, watched my bond with this new, excited thrill I couldn’t shake. It was why my bag sat packed at the door, ready for the four-hour drive I nowreallydidn’t want to make because it would mean leaving her side, even for just a short while.
The tribunal called an emergency meeting. All faction seats and their heirs were required to attend. Our enemy would bethere, the one pulling the strings behind Eryn’s attacks. I knew who it was the second I saw that illusioned pit bull snarling at my bond yesterday. The damned dog was the calling card of Kol Von Bauer, the heir to the djinn faction.
Combined with Eryn’s description of who stabbed her along with what he said, it was a perfect fit. And not at all unexpected. I couldn’t make a move against him outright, but his presence was also required at the meeting. Eryn should be safe until I returned. Ezra could handle any low-level hunters still lingering in my absence.
Forcing myself to leave was a harder task than I anticipated, however. A cascade of dark curls fell across the pillow she’d stolen from between us. On her back, Eryn’s shirt rode up, revealing her soft green panties and a slice of her toned stomach. The sheets were clenched in her fists, and her face was crumpled in a frown.
Nightmares plagued her as of late, often waking us both with their potency and tendency to make her thrash. I was usually too late to stop them, waking at the same time as her, but not tonight. Tonight, I watched as the terrors in her memories took hold and spun their web of pain. I planned to redirect those thoughts and leave her with other memories to keep her company while I was away.
Before the nightmare grew strong enough to reach me, even through the blocks in our bond, I ran a gentle finger from her shoulder to elbow and whispered her name. Waking her too suddenly could have the opposite effect of what I was trying to do. Her head jerked, one way and then the other. I maintained my gentle touch from her elbow, down her forearm, and into her palm.
“Wake up, princess.” Her eyes fluttered behind clenched lids. “You can do it. Follow my voice.” Deep emerald orbs, glinting with moonlight and confusion met my steady gaze. “You wereslipping into another nightmare,” I told her, my finger still dancing across her skin.
“I thought you’d be gone by now.” Her voice was raw with sleep, and the deepness of it did funny things to me. “Shouldn’t you have left already?”
I really should have, but I couldn’t go after seeing her like that or without leaving her with something to help fight off the darkness in my absence. Who knew how long this meeting would keep me away?
“I have a present for you first.” That tiny smile was reward enough and worth whatever punishment awaited me if I was late. “Turn on your stomach.”
She hesitated, her trust in me still so new, but eventually rolled and tucked her arms under her pillow. I took a moment to admire the slope of her lower back and where it met the delicious curve of her ass, before rising to my knees and settling over her. She tensed, but the first touches of my hands on the muscles in her shoulders had her melting into the mattress with a groan.
I smirked. “Working some of this tension out of your body might help your mind relax as well.”
She responded with another low groan, and my dick jumped behind the fabric that confined it. Working my way down the sides of her spine, I soaked in her little moans of pleasure: both a gift and the most exquisite form of torture. Our bond awoke at the first sign of interest from one or both of us.
It burned in my chest, likely hers as well, and egged us on. I was cautious of its influence but allowed it more rein than usual. Eryn wasn’t afraid of it like she was before. That gave us more room to play. I reached the small of her back and dug my thumbs into the tense muscles there. The sounds that left Eryn’s lips were needy, desperate.
Her hips lifted the slightest bit. Pushing her shirt higher, Ipressed on those muscles again, testing. She deliberately lifted and wiggled that ass at me. Hint taken, princess.
“Tell me again,” I demanded, slipping under the waistband of her panties to get at the muscles there. Another deliberate wiggle and my control broke. I threw myself back and spread her legs. She mewed in response but didn’t speak, so I ran a finger down her center. Gods. “You’re fucking soaked.”
I did it again, making her squirm, but she didn’t deny my touch, not even when that finger slipped beneath the near-transparent cotton.
“If you want more, it’s going to cost a little honesty.” I delved deeper, drenching my finger to the first knuckle. “If you can admit what this means, I’ll let you come.”
Sliding her panties off, I returned to her wet heat with one fingertip. She writhed and lifted her hips once more in invitation, but nothing slipped past those lips other than her frustrated whines.
