I sighed and shook my head. “I really am sorry you’re having to deal with all of that. You don’t need to worry about me. I’m not the one who has to spend time with the man.” I shuddered. “He reminds me of a very large rat.”
Roland giggled at that, leaning in and resting his head on my shoulder as he trembled with laughter. “He does, doesn’t he?”
He picked his head up, and his face was so close to mine. His everything was so close.
Without thinking, I closed the tiny gap between us, and pressed my lips to his.
5
ROLAND
Aderyn’s lips were magical.
One touch, and every thought and worry that’d plagued me throughout the day blew away. There was just the warmth of Aderyn’s mouth, the soft hitch of his breath before he dove in again.
We’d only ever kissed, and maybe I hadn’t known what it meant each time we did, but this time, when he ducked his head and bit his bottom lip, I chased him. I leaned in, catching his mouth once more, my hands framing his perfect, elegant face.
He was so beautiful. When I’d first seen him, I never could’ve imagined that he’d be every bit as gorgeous in skin as he was in his green scales.
I felt his jaw move, the hollow of his cheek softening as he opened wider. The brush of his tongue against my lips invited me inside, and I drew him closer, turning toward him on the couch so my bent leg slipped behind him.
His moan vibrated into our kiss, and he buried his fingers in my hair. His hand moved up and up, until his knuckles pressed the golden edge of my crown. It toppled to the floor and rolled.
The sound made him flinch, and he pulled back, and?—
And fuck, that was the last thing I wanted.
“Sorry,” he whispered, shrinking down into his neck, though it was far, far too long and handsome for him to manage it.
I shook my head. “Doesn’t matter.”
He moved to the side as if he meant to abandon me to pick up the blasted thing. Nothing had ever mattered less than that damned crown.
“Leave it,” I rasped, reaching for his wrist to draw him back to me.
His expression turned pinched, worried, as if he feared doing something wrong. I’d seen the look before, many times—the fear my friend had learned while he was at a monster’s mercy—but I never wanted him to look at me like that.
“Aderyn,” I whispered. My voice came out thick and choked, and I didn’t know what to say.
He held my eye for a moment before he swallowed, and when he stretched out his arm, it was to comb his fingers through my hair again. Without the weight of the crown, the feeling of his nails dragging across my scalp sent a tingle down the back of my neck.
My eyelids fluttered and I moaned, and next thing I knew, he was kissing me again, open and hungry with his arms around my neck, his fingers buried in my copper hair.
He pressed against me, and my blood rushed straight to my cock. My thoughts turned hazy. His chest was firm against mine, his body warm and sensuous as he moved against me.
“I love you,” I gasped against his lips.
My eyes flashed open. I had to know—had to see how that made him feel.
Nothing I said had ever been truer, and I needed to know that he heard it. If we were going to kiss like this, hold each other like this, he had to see that he meant so much to me.
His irises were green as the hills in late spring, glittering with joy as he stared at me. His lips curved upward, then he caught himself like he hadn’t meant to let the feeling in.
Finally, it got the better of him. He smiled, and a sigh escaped me, lost between us as I was lost in him.
Then he dragged me in again. His teeth teased my bottom lip and he fell back on the couch, pulling me along. I kissed him for what felt like hours, just feeling his body beneath mine, the close press of us together, the way the familiar lines of him felt when I let myself touch him without worry or hesitation.
When I slipped my hand beneath his shirt, his breath caught. Another flinch from him, and I pulled back, holding my weight on my outstretched arm.
