“Estela,” I all but growl, pressing my forehead to hers. She sucks in a gentle breath. “You still have to tell me what you want. Though, I’m a curious creature. I’ll settle if you only tell me how you feel.”
Her eyes open again, and her brows draw together. “Hot. Everywhere. It only gets worse with your small touches. I want—need—you to ease this tension inside.”
I smile, pull back, and brush my lips against her forehead, but shehas other plans. Her hand pulls me into the sweet, wet heat between her legs. The soft hair pads my hand as she guides me exactly where she desires.
The gentleness inside of me fades as my other hand moves to support me while I catch her mouth with my own. Her lips part for me without any coaxing. Desperate. Tasting. Tentative, but maddening.
The slickness on my fingers helps me glide to the small bump at the apex of her thighs. I remember it well from the night before.
So small, just like her, and utterly different from the body of an Enduar woman.
Just the motion makes her hips move, and I smile through our kisses, proud of the trust she shows in me with each shifting sway. I would spend the rest of our long lives ensuring that I make her feel safe enough to abandon every fear and show this unblushing creature as she works in time with me to find her climax.
I pull back when I feel the small shakes in her thighs.
“You’re close,” I say, and she nods as her beautiful chest rises and falls with heavy huffs.
“Don’t stop,” she pleads.
I shake my head fiercely as I lower my mouth to her nipple. She arches when a broad stroke from my tongue escalates her pleasure. As her fingers thread through my hair, I’m encouraged to continue. I could never tease her.
“You are such a marvelous woman. You take each movement so well,” I murmur.
The taste of her on my tongue is beautiful, but not as beautiful as the desire I have for my tongue to take the place of my fingers. And then to fill her up to the point of ecstasy.
“Every part of you is so song-shatteringly perfect,” I murmur as her hands grip my head tighter, and then my index finger slides further down, its noble duty replaced with my thumb as I insert one digit into her canal.
She moans. Loudly. The perfect harmony to our song.
From there, it takes a mere moment for the delicate muscles inside of her to take flight, fluttering around my finger as every part of her tightens and pulses.
“Teo,” she begs. “Come inside me. Now.”
I suck in a sharp breath but don’t hesitate to remove my hand, despite her protesting whimper, and promise to make it right as I position myself at her entrance. Every part of me is ready to satiate my own ache in her giving body. Slowly, I savor the feel of pushing inside and…
A loud, insistent beat stops the moment. It isn’t a gentle fade, more an abrupt shutting off of the moment as the lights turn on in my room.
I bolt upright, immediately sore and groggy. My head thrashes from side to side, and I feel the uncomfortable stickiness on my thighs. I lift my blankets to find my undershorts coated in seed.
Dragging a hand across my face, I let out a long exhale and grab the partially soiled blanket. When I reach the bathroom, I peel off everything and run it under the water before I start scrubbing the cloth and leather with soap.
Once it’s hung up, I reach the tub in the corner and lower myself in. Soft ghosts of dreams brush across my skin, but I force myself to hurry.
I need to help the others pack, and I need to leave. Leaving means finding the elven assassins that Turalyon told me about. Finding them will permit me to gain their trust, find allies, and go to rescue Estela.
Once clean, I finish using the bathroom, tend to my pack of clothing, armor, and weapons, and head out and down the hallway. Ra'Salore is waiting near the bioluminescent fountains at the tops of the steps.
I pause, take in his traveling gear, and he nods to me. I nod back.
“Good morning,” I say as he bows and murmurs a quiet, “My King.”
We walk in silence, across the moving walkways, past the residential area, and into the mines. As we descend the tunnels toward theglacialmarastables, I focus on breathing.
For the first time, I allow myself to consider what it would mean to be leaving Enduvida for more than a few hours. The last time I laid down and rose with the sun’s cycles was when we were at war five decades ago.
As the crystals around us glint in time with the stunning metalwork of our ancestors, I get lost in the past, when the city housed a metal bending academy. It isn’t until I hear the familiar tinkling sounds ofglacialmarasthat I’m drawn away from the memories. The crystal wraiths have been our mounts since the dawn of civilization for the Enduares. They are long, floating serpent-like creatures with razor sharp tails and eyeless faces.
Coan, the stablemaster, gazes at everyone with hard, steel-colored eyes.
