I did, warmth seeping into my limbs like summer wine. My skin cooled, kissed by the ghost of winter. Pleasure blossomed in contrast.
“It’s an aphrodisiac too. You’re meant to feel divine after consuming it,”Vaeron hummed down our mental connection.
My mate thanked the female, then wrapped an arm around my waist and guided me back toward Thalvireth. His hand drifted lower, thumb caressing my hip. Sparks shot across my skin, and I’d had enough fruit that the low, circular touch sent tremors between my thighs.
“Careful,”he murmured darkly in my mind.“If you keep looking at me like that we might not make it back to our room.”
I hadn’t realized I’d been staring up at him. The slight twist to his lips, almost hidden by the stubble he’d kept once I told him I liked it, revealed his amusement.
“Who said I want to wait that long?”
A growl vibrated in his chest. Desire, dark and hungry, surged from him and wrapped around me.
Overhead, Ilae and Ysolthe clicked, signaling their departure. I looked up, watching the crystalline pair circle the sky. A matched pair, flying together, as they should be.
Just like Vaeron and me.
The thought stole my breath as we entered the marble maw of the palace. I let his touch and the lingering notes of the sour juice ease the anxiety of what was to come.
For tonight, I would take this small, stolen peace.
We tumbled into bed, a tangle of limbs and teeth. I tugged on the leather binding Vaeron’s hair and tossed it aside. Stormwood curled in my nose as I threaded my fingers at the nape of his neck. He groaned—low and feral—as I scratched.
I arched into him, and he captured my good leg and hiked it higher, hardness digging into the place where I wanted him most. A gasp burst out of me as he rolled his hips. There was entirely too much fabric between us.
Breaking our kiss, he scraped his teeth along the side of my neck. Fingers skimming my flesh, he lifted my skirt higher. I gasped when he cupped my center.
“The heat of you here,” he rasped. “After that Goddess fruit, I need to taste you.”
His tongue trailed down my throat, dipping between my breasts. Luminous magic unfurled from his palms, sliding my skirt to my waist.
But it didn’t stop there. It starleaped to my wrists, guiding them above my head like strands of radiant silk.
My seam pulsed against his hand. A wicked grin bloomed on his face. He grazed the barrier between us with the backs of his knuckles, featherlight and promising sin.
“Do you like surrendering to me, little fugitive?” he crooned,snatching my hips. Energy crackled where our bare skin touched.
“Yes,” I croaked, because I could feel the evidence of it between my thighs.
His fingers hooked in the band and ripped, revealing the wetness seeping out of me. “Goddess,” he cursed, gaze locking on my core.
I strained against the white binds, aching to touch him, to remove the shirt and reveal the carved torso beneath.
As if he’d read my thoughts, Vaeron tugged off his tunic and tossed it to the side. Pupils blown, he drank in the sight of me as he settled low on the bed.
“Fuck, your smell.” His nose trailed along my inner thigh, his inhale brushing against my skin. “It’s even better after consuming the fruit. I fear I’ll never be able to stop once I taste you.”
I whimpered as his tongue flicked out, testing me, teasing me. With a groan, he licked my slit, dipping briefly between my folds before circling my clit
“Vaeron,” I gasped as he did it again. Breasts heaving, I watched him burying himself deeper. His stubble scratched my thighs, heat blooming low in my belly.
His mouth was ruinous rapture speaking the language of pleasure.
I rolled my hips, seeking his lips on the sensitive bud again. His possessive growl brushed over my skin, vibrating me.“No one else will ever see you like this.”
His tongue dipped inside me, drawing out a wanton moan. Again and again he fucked me like that, never giving me enough friction to unravel completely.
“Please,” I rasped as his teeth raked against my overheated flesh.
