I laughed. He was so silly. “You can’t know that.”
“Watch.”
His smile smoldered as his long fingers grippedmy jaw, his thumb on my chin. Tilting it all the way back, he touched his lips next to his thumb.
“One.”
His breath ghosted across my skin in an eruption of velvet.
“Two.”
This kiss pressed more firmly and my skin tingled. I did my best not to squirm but he pinned my hip.
“Three.” Had just a hint of teeth and I stilled, sensing the danger. The fantasy of being trapped in his wolf’s maw flashed through my mind, making me wet.
“Four.” Gentle again, and the contrast made me shiver.
Five, six and seven accompanied little licks.
Eight took my collarbone in his mouth, where he worried it, sucking on my skin until it left a bright red mark that pulsed my clit against the underside of his shaft.
“Dec,” I said helplessly.
The small sound got me thrown onto the mattress where he attacked my nipples with the same vigor. His hips slid his dick over my clit, working both ends of me until I came with a shaking curse on my lips.
I made him spurt into my mouth next, amazed he grew hard again as soon as I touched him. Godds bless shifter magic.
“You taste like Igacot Bread,” I said, as I tried to wipe it back between my lips.
Declan made good on his orgasm count, one by one. Every touch we traded cinched us closer until I read every twitch of pleasure across his face and drew every ounce of bliss from the bond.
I clenched his cock, loving the fill of it deep inside me, as we lay sweating, panting in his bed. The glow slowly faded into the comfort of having Declan on top of me.
“I’ll never forget this,” he breathed into my hair.
I tightened at his words, my arms hugging him. As he breathed against my cheek, the truth settled into my bones even without knowing why. A tear slipped from the corner of my eye. For some reason, this felt like goodbye.
Perhaps that was best, because if Declan was the sunshine, I was the dark cloud. If he was a boundless fount of energy, I was the dour hole that could suck the life out of anyone. I would never be good enough for this man. What we just shared was a cursed miracle, but it only highlighted the fact that I wouldn’t have this forever.
In the past, men took my best days and told me they didn’t care about the rest. They were right for a time, but it always broke both of us. I didn’t want to break Declan.
That had to be why I sensed the wall rebuilding even as he slipped from the warmth of my body. I just didn’t know I would feel like a piece of my soul slipped away too.
Chapter 22
Declan
Page three hundred and forty-eight ofA Gryphon’s Cursewas all I thought about as I breathed in Honey’s apple and cinnamon scent. I innocently positioned myself between her legs and kissed every inch of her to wake her up.
It left me too much time to think. That meal was extraordinary. She’d done it. The months of lessons worked. If anything, they made Honey and Momma closer. Both respected hard work, a blinding level of dedication to their craft. The balance of my concern for her felt ephemeral next to that.
Even losing my virginity in the most spectacular way possible didn’t seem enough to conquer Honey’s singular focus. How did she question whether I wanted to go to the ends of the Harrowlands with her?
How would I tell her I couldn’t?
“Dec?”
The last act of our story was now clear as day and it wasn’t happy. I focused on her sleepy, sexy voice instead. My new favorite song. My fingers memorized the texture of her skin. I tucked every moment of last night into my heart and looked up at her through my lashes.
