Her swollen lips quirked up at the side, her eyes twinkling, and he took that as agreement.
He climbed down the side of the mill, jumping over piles of old stone left from some long-forgotten project as she flew down far more elegantly. Then he took her small hand in his and pulled her at a half-run back to the house.
Mathos and Jos were standing together in the hallway, and Tristan had a sudden strong urge to shove Nim behind him where they couldn’t see her. Couldn’t see her mussed hair and flushed cheeks.
She washis.
His men knew better than to push him when he was so close to the edge. Neither one of them so much as glanced at her.
Mathos cleared his throat. “Captain, we’ve assigned a roster of watches. You’re off duty.”
He gave a rough grunt, grateful and hoping they knew it, and then pulled Nim up the stairs.
“Val is still asleep. I’ll call you if anything changes,” Jos called from behind them.
He didn’t know if the reassurance was for him or Nim, but he appreciated it. Especially when he saw Nim’s shoulders soften ever so slightly.
And then they were in her room.
He pushed the door shut and locked it before turning slowly. She was standing next to the bed, waiting for him, and he stalked slowly toward her. The beast inside him dropping its relentless vigilance for the first time since their carriage had reached the palace gates.
He no longer had the rush of danger flooding his veins. Instead he had a roaring hunger. And only one person in the world could sate it.
She must have seen it in his face, because she laughed and then took off running around the bed.
His response was entirely instinct. He flung himself at her, catching her as she reached the corner. He pulled her against his body and then threw her onto the mattress as she giggled breathlessly.
He crawled over her, his beast pushing hard against his skin, as she squirmed beneath him, caged between his arms. He lowered his head to suck hotly at her neck. Mark her as his.
Her giggles faded into panting breaths as he moved lower, running his open mouth down her throat, over her pulse, tasting her skin.
He lifted a hand and stared hard at his fingers, willing claws, and the beast responded. He gave a satisfied grunt and then ran the blade-sharp points ever so slowly up the middle of her shirt, tearing off the buttons one at a time until it fell open, revealing the soft creaminess of her breasts, the dark rose of her puckered nipples.
He drew one perfect nipple into his mouth and worried it with his teeth, sucking and laving against it until he released it to stand hard and wet. He turned to her other breast as she arched and whimpered beneath him.
A slow flush spread over her chest as she groaned, and a deep, possessive rumble vibrated through him. Fuck, she was beautiful.
He retracted his claws and ran his sensitized fingertips over the soft curves of her waist and into the band of her trousers, reveling in everything about her. Her smooth skin, her hungry moans.
She lifted her hips, and he drew the too-loose trousers down, taking her socks with them, off her body in one movement before returning to lay succulent kisses over her belly, flicking his tongue through her belly button and along the ridges of her lower ribs before meandering slowly down again.
He slid down and pushed her thighs open, and she let her legs fall apart, her blue eyes half-closed with lust. His cock ached as he nuzzled against the sublime skin of her inner thigh and bit gently on the apex of her leg, then nosed, slowly, through her tight curls, luxuriating in her scent, her intoxicating flesh, before running his tongue, hot and slow, through her folds.
Her hips jerked, and he wrapped his arms around her thighs, holding her open as he tasted her again and again, relishing her soft whimpers, the way her hips shuddered and pushed up against his mouth.
Releasing one thigh, he used his free hand to hold her open as he swirled his tongue around her clit, twisting and torturing as she panted, and then, achingly slowly, sank a finger deep into her.
Her hips pushed restlessly against him as he drew his finger back out and then added a second and smoothly thrust again, searching for just the right.... Her eyes closed, fists clenching in the bedding beneath her as she arched her back and moaned helplessly. That was it.
He thrust again, pumping slowly as he flicked his tongue against her clit, the sweet musky taste of her arousal flooding his senses as he took her right to the edge, and then before she could go over, he pulled back. He had to be inside her when she came.
She whimpered in protest and he ran his tongue up her quivering belly, through the channel between her breasts, soothing her with hungry kisses and the vibrating rumble of his beast, before returning to her mouth to ravish her with open, panting kisses. Kisses that tasted of Nim and hunger as she kissed him back, her tongue sliding against his in an all-consuming sensuous dance.
He pulled himself completely over her, and then balanced on one arm to guide her legs onto his shoulders, first one side, then the other, until he was holding himself over her. Nim completely open beneath him, his aching cock nudging at the wet heat of her entrance. This was what he needed, to feel her under him, held within his arms, connected to him in every way.
“Open your eyes, Nim.” His voice was half beast. “Look at me.”
Her eyes fluttered open, pupils wide with lust, her lips swollen and cheeks flushed, dark hair spread all around her. He had never imagined anything so breathtaking. It was the first time he had ever said the words to another person, but he couldn’t hold them back. “I love you.”
