I prowl my full body over hers and place a hand softly on her throat. “Call me that one more time.”
A teasing smirk tugs at the corners of her lips. “Or what… Tin Man?”
Fire ignites throughout my body, and I mount her, pinning her to the ground with my legs. One of my hands grips the base of her hairhard. The other one wraps tighter around her throat. “Is this what you wanted, naughty girl?”
Her mouth opens in a soft gasp, and her eyes nearly roll to the back of her head. “Oh, yes,” she whimpers.
“You can still talk. I must not be squeezing tight enough.” I press more of my weight down upon her. “Blink twice if it’s too much, alright, Baby Girl?”
She bucks her hips up against me in response. I growl, my cock raging against the restraints of my armor. Fuck, she looks exquisite with my hand necklaced around her throat. I pull her hair harder, and see the movement mimicked by her own hands in the moss.Sorry, Caspian.
I release my hold on her and sit back. She gasps for breath, and her eyes are wet and shiny. “Ezryn…”
I run a hand across her cheek. “What a good girl.”
She lets out a frustrated mewl and starts clawing at my armor. “How do I take this off?”
I laugh and ease her arms back down to her side. “Close your eyes.”
She raises that brow again, her mouth soft and questioning. But then she does.
I take in a shaky breath. I’ve… I’ve never done this before. Never with any other lover. But I’ve also never been with someone who sees the world with such joy and positivity; never known anyone who cares for everyone, even those they barely know. I’ve never known someone willing to face the world with the innocent bravery in which she does. Never had anyone seenmethat way.I want to be in your world.
Carefully, I grip the edges of my helmet and pull up. The cool air in the arboretum catches my hair. For the first time, I look at her not through the tinted lenses of my visor, but with my own eyes. Stars, she is beautiful.
I am stupid. If she disobeys me and opens her eyes, I will dishonor my house. I will be banished from the Spring Realm, and worst of all, I will betray every commitment I have made to our creed and way of life.
But one moment to look at her like this is worth the risk. I set my helmet down and place my hand over her eyes. She exhales quickly, and I bend to capture her sweet breath. Then I lay the softest kiss upon her mouth.
“Ezryn,” she whispers against my mouth.
The kiss is slow, intimate, tender. A kiss as vulnerable as I am. Aching, I pull away. “Keep your eyes closed.”
I pick up my helmet and ease it over her head. My hands are tender as I lift her by the base of her neck, twisting the helmet so the visor is at the back.
Within the depths of my sacred steel, she is blind.
Her hands tentatively come up to feel the helmet. Yearning tremors through my body; her gorgeous soft skin draped in the inky black fabric, crowned by a helm of the Spring Realm… I can only imagine her drifting through the cherry blossoms outside of Meadowmere dressed in only her own helm and nothing else.
“Wait.” Realization trembles through her voice. She sits up, movements frantic, and reaches for me. Her fingertips dust over my face, across my eyebrows, along the curve of my nose. I sigh against her touch, softly kissing her hands anytime they drift by my lips.
“It’s like I can see you,” she whispers. “I mean, I can’t actually see you. But when I touch your face, I can see you in here.” Her hand hovers over her heart.
A knot forms in the back of my throat, and I need to do something before I’m eaten alive by my thoughts. Her hands tangle in my hair. I push her back to the mossy bed and run my lips all over her throat.
“Now, Petal, I am starving for you.”
Slowly, I work my way down her body, raining kisses and nips on each piece of bare flesh. It’s as if she can’t bear to take her hands from my hair. I have to pull my head free as I lower to the mound between her thighs.
I push aside the ribbons of her skirt, revealing her dripping heat. Stars, she smells good. I nuzzle my face against her, inhaling deeply.
She moans as the cold air hits her skin, and her hips undulate toward me. My mouth waters with need.I am going to devour you.
“Ezryn,” she whimpers. “Please. I need—”
She doesn’t have to finish the sentence; I know what she needs.
I cover her heat with my mouth. Her hands find my hair again, and she pulls hard. I grin against her wetness and tease her with the tip of my tongue, swirling and dipping, before plunging it deep into her warmth.
