Chapter Thirty-Six
Skylar Cathal
Heat rolled out from the oven in slow, heavy waves. The pasta dishes baking inside released a delicious aroma of cheese, charred tomato, and a hint of basil, drifting through the kitchen.
Beyond the shutters, Silver Meadows was locked in its frigid season, giving a bite of cold that crept under doors and nipped at ankles.
Frost light seeped through the narrow windowpanes, but it couldn’t quite reach us in here.
The kitchen stayed a pocket of comfort, all steam and spice and soft clatter as Daxton and I cleaned up the mess we’d made.
Daxton didn’t need to help me cook tonight’s meal, but he insisted. After all, it was our first gathering as high king and queen.
“Working in the kitchen with you brings back a fond memory, Spitfire,” Daxton said as he cleaned the bowls we used to smash the tomatoes for sauce. He leaned close, his hair brushing my cheek, and whispered, “Care to revisit the memory and make a new one?”
I turned, meeting his gaze. Desire and deep satisfaction rippled along our connection, making my knees weak. I was thankful for my magic lessons with Adohan, or else the Summit would have been set ablaze.
“Absolutely,” I rasped, glancing toward the open flames where our meals were baking. “But we have to wait until—”
His smile cut me off as my eyes flicked back to him.
The dimple along his cheek caused my stomach to flip.
A soft chuckle escaped him before he brushed his lips against mine.
The kiss was feather-light, like the touch of a cloud, yet it sent me soaring.
My eyes fluttered shut, with heat coiling low in my belly.
“Dax.”
“Yes, Spitfire?” He breathed heavily. His deep voice was laced with a promise of the pleasure we’d both missed for weeks. “It’s been too long since—”
“I know,” I whispered, barely able to breathe.
His hand cupped my jaw, thumb tracing over my bottom lip. “I need you.”
I opened my mouth, allowing his thumb to slide in, sucking on the tip and causing his eyes to roll back. Gods above, I needed him. I missed the feel of his body pressed against me, the taste of him, the sensation of him filling me as I came undone.
“Skylar,” Daxton groaned, closing the distance between us.
Fuck it. I was giving in.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close, kissing him like he was the only thing I needed in this life to survive.
His lips were warm and soft, tentative at first, as if he was waiting for me to pull away. But I didn’t dare break our connection.
I needed him. And through the bond, I could sense he needed me as much, if not more.
I pressed into him, letting the kiss deepen, feeling the rush of warmth spread through me as our mouths moved together in perfect rhythm. His hands gripped the curves of my waist, pulling me closer. The heat of his body was a magnetic force I could no longer resist.
My hands traced over the firm muscles of his chest, feeling the rapid thrum of his heartbeat. I threaded my fingers into his shirt, pulling him closer and needing to feel every inch of him against me. His lips parted slightly, and I melted into him, letting his kiss take over every thought.
His arms slid around me, gripping my backside and pulling me closer, making my core ache in the best way.
I tilted my head and kissed him harder, with more urgency, more devotion.
I wanted him to know, through this kiss alone, how much he meant to me, how completely I trusted him with every part of my heart and soul.
His hands glided along my spine up to my hair, gripping it in his calloused hands and releasing my lips to trail kisses along the column of my neck. I moaned as his teeth scraped against the claiming mark on my skin.
“Daxton,” I rasped as he pulled back to meet my gaze. His breath mingled with my own as the taste of him lingered on my lips. I swallowed heavily. “I need more.”
I quickly knelt before him, unfastening the belt at his waist, and his hard length sprang free.
I wrapped my hand around the base of his perfect cock, the pink tip gleaming with precum, making my mouth water.
I moved my lips to his tip, taking him in slowly, savoring the moans of pleasure emanating from my mate above me.
“Gods, yes,” Daxton said with approval, fisting my hair as his hips began to move in rhythm with my mouth.
I gripped his thighs as his pants slid down his legs. His cock slammed into the back of my throat as I sucked him down. He released my hair to lift his shirt, and I stared up at him, mesmerized by the beauty of the male I held between my lips.
“Touch yourself,” he said.
And I obeyed.
Reaching between my legs, I loosened the tie of my pants to find the slickened heat between my thighs.
“Pleasure yourself with your fingers as I claim your mouth, Spitfire.”
The dominating heat in his voice nearly had me coming undone. Sliding my fingers inside me, a moan escaped my lips as his cock thrust inside my mouth. I could barely swallow the length of his shaft, causing me to gag as he bucked his hips forward and grasped my head to hold me in place.
I couldn’t breathe as I choked around him, my fingernails creating crescent marks in his upper thighs. Tears formed in the corners of my eyes before he released me. I gasped for air as he pulled me to my feet. Slowly, he grasped my wrist, bringing my fingers to his lips to lick them clean.
He hummed with approval. “You taste exquisite.”
He leaned in to kiss me as desire flowed through our bond.
“Bend over,” he said against my lips. “I’m taking what is mine.”
His hand cupped the back of my neck as he spun me around before pushing me forward and kicking my legs wide as he stood behind me. I lay flat against the counter, heart pounding wildly in my chest at the sheer dominance of my mate.
Daxton would never hurt me. But it didn’t mean he would be gentle.
Thank the gods above.
In one fluid motion, his fingers gripped my pants and ripped the fabric covering my body away, bare to him from the waist down.
“No undergarments, Spitfire?”
I blushed as I tilted my head to the side. “Disappointed?”
He chuckled darkly as he slapped my backside, causing me to gasp. “Not in the slightest.”
I didn’t have time to say anything as he positioned himself between my spread thighs and, in one powerful thrust, seated himself to the hilt.
My heart raced as I closed my eyes and saw stars exploding behind my eyelids.
He gripped my hips, and I held on to the edge, splayed out before him.
My legs trembled as he thrusted into me, his length hitting so deep my breath hitched.
Daxton’s right hand moved from my hip to stroke the bundle of nerves at my apex, and I melted at his touch. The friction between us built higher and higher as he pounded into me from behind.
“You’re so wet,” he said. “I fucking love it.”
I moved with him, meeting each of his thrusts with my own as I chased the pleasure building between us.
“Daxton!” I screamed.
“That’s it, Spitfire. Come for me.”
I moaned, collapsing as I reached the peak of the mountain and plummeted over the edge.
He lowered himself over me, his teeth scraping my mark as he roared against my neck, coming with me. A wave of love washed through our bond—a connection reestablishing after so much time spent apart in these last weeks.
“That… That was—” I couldn’t finish the thought. Nothing I could say matched how desperately we’d both needed this.
Still seated inside me, Daxton drew me against his chest, leaning in to claim my lips. I smiled into our kiss, reaching behind me to thread my fingers through his hair. This time, I kissed him more slowly, savoring him in this perfect moment together.
“Come on,” he said against my mouth. “Let’s get cleaned up before I leave to retrieve our guests.”
“If we must,” I teased before kissing him once more. “The pasta dish is about done.”