Everett takes my face between his hands, holding me as if I’ll shatter, belying what the world says he is and every single lie I’ve been told about the Unseelie fae.
“You are certain about choosing me?” He searches my face for any hint of hesitation, but he will find none.
“Forever,” I vow even as I cling to his broad shoulders, holding on so I don’t faint away. Reminding myself that every moment of this perfect dream is real.
His fingers slipping into my hair.Real.
His head lowering until we’re only a breath apart.Real.
I lift to my toes and anchor my lips against his. My fingers dig into the muscles of his shoulders, demanding he take whatever he wants. Ever angles my head, giving himself better access for the slow, thorough assault of his sandpaper tongue against mine, plundering like a pirate, conquering like a king.
I press my body into his, until every part of me feels the sensual heat radiating from his bare torso. His taut stomach. His sinewy thighs. His groan of pleasure vibrates against my mouth as he shifts his lips to the side, dragging them down the column of my neck. Licking and nipping at my pulse. The wing of my collarbone. The hollow at my throat.
This man and his persistent mouth steal every thought from my head, the strength from my body, and the breath from my lungs.
Ever urges me toward the bed, stopping when my legs collide with the mattress.
His thumb drags along my bottom lip as he stares down at my mouth. “Do you remember all the things you asked for that night at the lake?”
My throat tightens as I nod, desire pooling low in my belly.
He eases forward to whisper against the shell of my ear. “Do you still want them?”
Yes. Yes. “Yes.”
With his hands bracketing my hips, he drops to his knees in front of me. “You wore this dress the first day I saw you.” He tugs on the end of the ribbon holding my corset closed, loosening the knot. “You looked like a ray of sunlight.”
And he looked like an ancient god of war, striking a handsome yet fearsome figure atop his onyx steed.
My corset falls to the floor. He holds out a hand, helping me step out of the silk before folding the garment atop the table. He handles the skirt with the same care, until it, too, is folded and forgotten.
Calloused hands skate up my thighs, bracing around my waist as Ever wordlessly turns me so that his back is to the bed. The mattress whines when he sinks onto the edge, pulling me between his spread knees. Everything about him makes me feel delicate and dainty—and those are two words I would have never used to describe myself before.
His fingers trail along the edge of my shift’s lace sleeves, slowly peeling them down my shoulders, chasing every inch of my skin with his lips. “These have driven me mad since the night you first came across the bridge. Every time they fell, you insisted on fixing them. You cannot imagine how badly I wanted to tell you to leave them be.”
“You should have.” I never would’ve covered my shoulders again.
His soft hum vibrates against my neck; his tongue darts out, dragging along my collarbone.
Heat spreads like liquid fire between my thighs.
My shift falls to the floor in an ivory puddle, and I stand before him with nothing more than a scrap of lace between my thighs.
His pupils swallow his dark irises, his chest rising and falling as if he’s been running too fast for too long. He traces my ribs and along the swell of my hips, all the way to the mottled skin of my thighs.
“When I look at you,” he begins, taking my hand and pressing my palm to his chest, “I am overwhelmed.”
To think that I could overwhelm someone like him is ridiculous, yet I hear the sincerity in his voice and feel the way his pulse skips. He drags the backs of his knuckles down my neck, between my breasts, all the way to the line of lace. “You are so soft. So delicate. Every part of you is beautiful.” His head lifts, dark eyes meeting mine. “May I touch you? I promise to be gentle.”
I nod. Waiting. Anticipating. Desire licking at my skin as he toys with the tips of my breasts, skimming and stroking with featherlight fingertips. Gripping and kneading. Groaning as he finds me with his tongue. Teasing. Tasting.
I melt deeper into his embrace, relaxing against him as his lazy fingers make their way to the juncture of my thighs. “Has anyone ever touched you here?” he rasps.
“No one but me,” I confess as he delves deeper, massaging. Exploring. Tantalizing.
His teeth drag against where my neck meets my shoulder. I think of those women in the village. Of what he told me about Unseelie mating bonds.
I tip up my chin, giving him more of me. All of me. A willing sacrifice. “Mark me as yours.”
