Page 135 of Sworn to the Shadow Throne

My eyes searched his face, but they found only his raw honesty written in every crease.

He cupped my cheek. “I’ll be as happy to be the brunt of your constant teasing as your admiration. Anything, Luna. I’ll give you anything.”

Did he spend time thinking up these perfect answers? It begged the question: what did I want?

“Touch me,” I blurted. Because that was the only way I could seem to claim what I wanted. “I want to feel you.”

No taking it back now.

Owain shifted his weight to lean on one elbow above me, while his other hand trailed fire down my torso, making me wish his touch could burn my clothes off with magic along the way. Down and down he went until he paused, hand lightly gripping my knee.

My nod granted permission. He pulled his hand away, but instead of bunching up my skirts, he found my face again, holding it as if he were afraid the moment would fade away, like this was all a dream.

And yet, cool air rushed in around my legs. I’d had my skirts lifted before—but never with magic. “Mmm,” he said. “You used the soap.”

I couldn’t help but giggle. “You made me smell like a dessert.”

“Better than dessert.” His grin was wicked.

I felt his smile on my lips as he finally moved his hand back down to stroke my now-bared thigh. Warm, rough from sword work, but so gentle, his palm cupped my mound. My body unexpectedly bucked at the contact, but he held me there, not stopping. His firm, broad, circling pressure sent jolts of longing through my core.

He bit back a snarl and tried to cover his cursing while exploring. Soon he was plunging one dexterous finger in. “I’ve barely touched you, and you’re already wet. Delicious and ready for me. I’ll take care of you.”

His hard length pressed into my belly through our clothes. A glance down had me teasing him. “You’re promising a lot for someone who hasn’t proved anything yet, Your Highness.”

He gently nipped at my cheek, while adding a second finger to the first. “With you, I want to be just me…please.”

“Of course, I want that too.” Something about his tone, the wounded, weary sound, even as he acted playful, made me look at him differently. “Honestly, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to see you like they all do.”

Every part of him went still—his lips parted, his fingers paused, his lungs ceased their rhythm. I worried for one horrible, earth-shattering moment that I’d said the wrong thing, that I’d hurt him.

Yet, as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, he attacked my mouth and core with renewed vigor. The way he touched me—firm yet flexible, considerate of every stroke, watching for any sign that meant he should alter course—felt as if he were trying to tell me something. Something I suspected would make and break me anew. And if I placed my fear aside, I could admit to myself that I was already completely lost to it.

I longed to bask in the pleasure of his hands on me, but the moment his thumb reached up to caress my clit, holding out for more became impossible. Thoughts fled me completely. Magic shot through my body like lightning, racing to meet his touch, to tangle with the invisible parts of his aura I could feel reaching out to mine.

It felt so right that it tipped me over the edge. Far too easy and far too fast, my climax was a powerful surge pulsing through my body like a storm battering mountain peaks.

Benevolent—.

I nearly lost consciousness as Owain’s deft fingers continued to pump through my throbbing pulses, kiss swallowing the sounds I was too far gone to bite back on my own. Never in my life had my body responded with such intensity.

Still hovering over me, Owain drew his fingers to his mouth and licked and sucked each one clean. Watching him was pure indulgence—like he was dining on a lavish spread of confections and sex all at once. I could tell he was deliberately holding himself still, a bundle of tense energy, waiting for me to choose our next move.

I wanted him unleashed.

I reached down to caress the hard length trapped behind his trousers. I expected some sort of reaction from him. But not for his whole body to convulse. His hips drove forward into my touch in a way that had me imagining so much more. He was significantly larger than any of my previous partners…everywhere.

“Lunette,” he sighed, my name half-plea, half-curse, still continuing to suck his fingers clean as though that were the only thing distracting enough to stop him from coming undone.

I stroked up and down a few more times, holding his dark gaze, loving the way he responded to me. When he reached the last finger, his eyes fluttered closed, and he jerked forward again, even less controlled than before.

“Oh fuck,” he groaned. “My moonlight, my—”

A fresh shiver ran through him as his eyes snapped open, locking with mine. Gods below, I’d just made the Prince Regent release in his trousers with a few strokes of my fingers.

It was a heady feeling.

He collapsed beside me, apologies rolling off his tongue. “I didn’t… I’m sorry, Lunette. I—”