My eyes flicked up to the shattered bedframe. “No one can fix everything they break.”
A slow, melancholy wave in the back of mind pushed his worry through our bond. I slid my hands through the roots of his hair, my thumbs tracing the braids above his earlobes. I responded to his tide of unease with my crackling fire.
Neither of us were all right, but we were only brave enough to say it through our magic. Riyan did not want to face his father. I did not want to face Alastar’s jaws.
We were stuck, but at least for one night, we could be stuck together.
Through my burning anguish, the little red ember pulsed in my heart.
I held back a frown. I had acquired more power than any other being alive, and yet that damn little ember remained. Once my servitude suffocated my flames in a few centuries, would that ember still be there, glowing strong? Would it still mock me with its presence? Would that ember be all that was left once my spirit had died?
Ice from my blue flame pricked my ribs. My chest rattled with a sob and Riyan lifted off my lap. He wrapped his arms around me and I buried myself in his shoulder as I let the tears run into his hair.
He slipped something soft into my hand. I sniffed away tears as I traced my thumb over the bumps of threads—it was the scrap of linen with the embroidered flowers.
I pulled away and met his soft smile. “Came to me out of the well when you went to speak with Daigen. Figured I would give it to you when you needed it the most, just like you did with me.”
I clutched the flowers and my worry began to wane. His thumb stroked my neck and I savored his touch. It was the last night that spot would ever be bare…
“Kiss my neck,” I whispered.
He brushed away my hair and pressed his lips in a feather-light touch just below my ear.
My eyelashes fluttered closed. “Again.”
He kissed me on my neck, then my jaw, then my lips. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. He lifted me off the chair and laid me in the middle of the bed.
I sank down on the plush mattress. Riyan’s arms bracketed me, his silken hair fell toward me, and the back of his hand gently caressed my cheekbone.
Riyan could not fix my bargain just as he could not fix the bed he had destroyed. Though there was nothing either of us could do about my eternal servitude…we could at least have a night thatearneda broken bed.
I kissed Riyan with a whimper and locked my legs around his hips.
He pulled away softly and gave me a wicked look. “Really? Three times in one day?”
My body ached to be with him just one more time, but heat spread across my cheeks from embarrassment rather than desire. “Too much? I was just worried with the army coming tomorrow—”
Riyan silenced me with a kiss. “Stop talking.” His calloused hands rounded my hips and he raised the hem of my nightgown. He planted a kiss in the center of my bare chest. “Stop worrying.” He kissed my lower belly. “Just enjoy this moment of happiness…”
He settled between my legs but his eyes stayed locked on mine. My heart pounded with anticipation as his arms wrapped around my thighs and he dipped his head.
I held back a gasp as the first long, gentle sweep of his tongue threw me to the edge of ecstasy. I rolled my head back onto the pillow and gripped the sheets as he took me slowly, so agonizingly slowly. I grinded against his face and he tightened his grip with a scolding grunt.
He raised his head, looking at me over the slight swells of my belly and my breasts. He licked his lips and smirked. “I wonder at what point in your immortality you will finally learn some patience?”
I huffed out a breath as desire pulsed within my hips. “When you stop pissing me off.”
His smirk softened into a smile. “I missed you.”
Riyan lowered himself again and I whimpered as he tasted me. His hand slid up and caressed my breast, his thumb tracing circles around my peaked nipple that matched the circles he traced with his tongue.
Each delicate touch sent a shock of pleasure through me. My legs started to shake, but I did not merely want his mouth, I wantedhim.
I raked my fingers through the roots of his hair and tilted his head up. My hand found his jaw and I brought his mouth to mine like I was starving. The taste of my arousal traced my tongue.
He held the back of my head, his fingers lacing with my hair, as he folded me in half.
“Right here,” I whispered against his lips, “just like this.”
