“Are you all right?” he asked. “You know you can stop or rest or . . .”
Isabelle shook her head. “Not unless it’s too much.” She wrapped her tongue around the head and sucked before running her tongue over the ridge, closing her eyes and moaning a little herself.
“So good,” he whispered. “So, so good. Yes, please.” He leaned back as she resumed. Her ministrations were in no way expert, alternating between hesitant and eager. But her sheer enthusiasm, and the way she gazed at him and the noises she made, as if she really, actually enjoyed it and him, were a treasure. In no time, he was close to the edge. He reached down and tangled his fingers in her hair. “I’m going to—” He cried out in a half grunt, half groan. “Do you want me to pull—”
She shook her head, leaning forward, swirling her tongue faster. His hands fisted in her hair as he sailed through the stars, crying out her name the whole time.
When he was finished, she leaned back, wiping her face and mouth with the back of her hand, and stood up. Even through the hazy afterglow, it was clear she was shaking.
Aaron reached out and pulled her to him, lifting her to his chest so he could hold her as he traveled back to her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he nuzzled her breasts, reveling in her scent. “God, you’re . . . incredible,” he managed to say.
“Incredible in a good or bad way?” she whispered.
“In the best way.” He laid his head against her again as his heart returned to normal. As soon as he could breathe, he kissed her again, gentle at first, but soon the passion that could not be quenched flared again. He reached a hand between them.
“Yes.” She pressed her forehead into his shoulder. “Yes. Right here, like this.” She spread her legs around him as he brushed her curls aside, swirling his thumb above her bud before pressing one finger, then two inside her.
Her hips ground against him. “Like that.” She whined the words a little. “Exactly like that. Please.”
He continued as she grew impossibly wet against him. For him. She panted and moaned his name before biting into his shoulder as she shuddered around his fingers. And it was the sweetest, most beautiful, most satisfying feeling he’d ever experienced. It was as if nothing in the world mattered but them and they were each exactly where they should be. And for the first time in his life, he was enough.
“That was . . .” She sighed before kissing the area she’d just bitten. God, was it wrong that he was hoping she’d leave a mark? That he’d have a piece of her to remind him that this was real when he went back to his room?
“Good,” he growled, giving her a wicked grin. “For a starter.”
“A starter?” She raised both brows, but the corners of her lips twitched in amusement.
He bent down to kiss her nose. “We had an agreement. I’m going to taste you again.”
And again. As many times as she’d permit, for as long as they could. Because if he could make time stand still . . . make the night last . . .
“Well, I suppose we can’t go back on an agreement.” With a smile of her own, she wrapped her legs around him, and he lifted her once more before laying her on the bench. So he could have more of her, for as long as she still wanted.
For as long as they would have.
An hour later—a time both far too short but enough to give him memories he’d carry forever—Aaron practically skipped the entire way home to Aldgate. Five miles flew, and not just because he leaped over a few rooftops. Everything inside him sang. He should squash the joy—and worse, the hope—that made his chest near burst. Because anything more with Isabelle than what they’d already stolen was impossible. And yet his heart still leaped, and his toes itched to dance. Even at her final words to him.
Come back to me. At least for these last few days. At least until the end.
Her plea echoed in his head.Until the end.Until she had to choose someone who wasn’t him. Someone who’d fit the role of her husband, not just her secret, temporary lover. At midnight, when the festivals were over and he had to leave.
Because that would happen—in four days’ time. Neither of them had a choice. She had to marry Weiss, and he had to leave before the Berab brothers had him banished.
The price of the lesser of two evils.
One he was happy to pay.
For her.
Even if it hurt.
Aaron exhaled a long stream of air as he rounded a gloomy, dark, dank, empty corner. He paused in an alley and keeled over, panting, as a thought popped into his head. Or more a vision. The most dangerous one yet.
He knew better. He knew how easily dreams turned to wishes—and wishes that could never be only broke your heart. And yet . . . it was there. Clear as day.
What he wanted. Or more who.
But for it to be accomplished, it would take a miracle, and there hadn’t been miracles among their people in a very long time.
