My heart seemed to skip a beat as it sank in, the gravity of the moment. While I was melting, the rumble kept growing in intensity until it vibrated through his entire body, including his tongue, still swirling and teasing and—my head fell back as the sparks burst into flame, pleasure ripping through every part of me from the inside out, raging with an intensity I’d never felt before. Not with a lover, not alone.
Valens switched to pressing tender kisses against my skin as I shook and trembled my way through the pleasure, and when I tugged on his shoulders, he rose, wrapping me up in the best hug of my life. Because for the very first time, all the walls I’d so carefully erected between us were gone. Destroyed under the force of his touch, his kiss.
He’d rebuilt me, even as he worshipped me.
“You rumbled for me,” I murmured, hiding my face against his neck. I felt too vulnerable, too raw to do anything else yet.
“I did. Was it too much?” His hands stroked lazily over the bare skin of my back, as if he wanted nothing more than to hold me, even though I could feel the hot line of his cock pressed against me through his clothing. Because, yeah, he’d completely unraveled me without even taking off his shirt.
I couldn’t be bothered with embarrassment, not after what we’d just shared.
“No, never. It was incredible.Youwere incredible. I’ve never…” I trailed off, embarrassed to admit we hadn’t even had sex yet, and he was already better than any other lover.
He pulled back just enough to look down at my face. “You’ve never had oral sex before?”
I whacked him on the shoulder, hiding my face again. “Of course I have, just… not that good.”
“Ahh. Well, much as I’d love to takeallthe credit forthat, you’ve also never been with your mate before. Things between us are always going to be on a different level. Even just a simple kiss,” he whispered against my ear, then ducked to press a kiss to the tender spot just below it.
“Let me get your clothes. I don’t want you to get cold, and the temperature is dropping now that the sun’s gone.” He kept one hand on mine as he bent down and gathered up my clothes, but I stopped him before he could slip the bra over my head.
“What about you? Don’t you want me to return the favor? I’m not selfish.”
He chuckled, hauling me against his chest again. “Oh, I want you to. But that’s not what this was about. It was about what you needed. And now… you need to get where we’re going, so I can den up with you in our room, and you can get a good night’s sleep before our meeting with the IGC tomorrow morning.” He held up the bra again, gesturing for me to lift my arms so he could slip it over my head.
I glared up at him, not convinced.
“You’re not selfish, because your body, your pleasure, is my gift too. I enjoy making you feel good, and you’re just going to have to be okay with that. Now, arms up.” He nipped my bottom lip, eyes glowing again with his wolf’s demand for my obedience.
With a sigh, I let him help me get dressed again, and the stubborn man picked me right back up and carried me to the SUV. He wouldn’t even let me buckle my own seat belt. Ifany other manhad tried that kind of power move with me, I’d have wanted to rip his head off and stuff it up his ass.
But Valens? He wasn’t arrogant or domineering about it. He was caring and kind and… tender. He treated me softly, but not as if he found me weak. It was because he wanted me to experience letting go, letting him in.
Damn if a girl couldn’t get addicted to being treated like that.
Chapter 32
Valens
Elodie slept in the passenger seat as I finished the drive to the council building. A quick touch of her wrist told me her temperature was high, her heat drawing ever closer. I just hoped it would hold off until we were done with this task and had gotten back to our pack lands. I’d already spoken to Lucien, and since neither of us lived alone and we didn’t have a home together, he’d offered me the pack’s bonding cottage. It was quiet and private, the perfect place to ride out a heat in comfort and solitude.
But we weren’t there yet. First, we had to find out what the council knew, if anyone was pulling strings and hiding reports of missing supes, and who else might be siding with the pixie king in his quest for world domination.
I pulled up in front of the grandiose stone building, trying not to curl my lip at what was basically a shrine to the power wielded by those inside. If ornate carvings and posts fit for the American White House pushed it over the top from the curb, I couldn’t imagine how gaudy an eyesore the inside would be.
Someone came out before I’d even put the SUV in park, probably expecting us. She was dressed in a simple skirt suit, probably the secretary Lucien had mentioned before we left.
I rolled down the window, and the woman stepped right up to the side of the car, her wide smile a little too toothy to be truly friendly. I got the first whiff of her and immediately picked up that she was lesser fae.
“Mr. Farkas, Councilman Vasilescu notified us that he’d be sending a delegate, and that you’d need a courtesy apartment for yourself and your… companion.” One eyebrow shot upward as she noticed Elodie snoozing peacefully in the passenger seat.
“Yes, that’s correct.” My words were sharp, urging her to move on. My wolf didn’t like the way she was scrutinizing our mate.
“Right, of course.” She was visibly flustered as she handed me a pair of cards. “Here are your key cards, and the entrance and parking are both around the back. If you need anything else?—”
“Lucien, ah, the councilman told me room service was available if needed?”
“Yes, twenty-four hours a day. Just text your order to the number on the bedside table.”
