Chapter 33
Chapter
Thirty-Three
KILLIAN
“Iwould die for you, Killian. I would die for you, kill for you, and everything in between. But this—this—I will not fucking do!”
“Oh, come on,” I taunt from atop Isolde’s back, settled just between her shoulders. The ridges of scales seem to be made specifically for a person to sit—or two people, if someone’s wife would stop being such a damned sissy. “It’s amazing!”
I could spend the rest of my life soaring through the skies with the dragon. I’ve never felt so free, so close to the Makers and my kingdom, to myself, as I do flying so high that even the clouds can’t touch us.
“Absolutely. Fucking. Not,” she says through gritted teeth.
-I promise I won’t drop you,- Isolde teases.
-You are acting like a child,- Soren adds. -Actually, the child loves flying with the dragon, so you are acting even worse than that.-
It’s true: Mia may love flying even more than I do, begging to be taken up as often as possible.
It’s become a nice way to ensure she completes her chores, according to Dessa.
Everything Mia is responsible for is done by mid-morning in hopes of getting to go out with Isolde in the afternoon.
Soren allowed Isolde to grasp him in her talons and take him high up into the mountains to hunt game he’d never seen before.
Dessa and Tristan, Yara, hells, even Jonathan took a flight around the kingdom and he’s terrified of heights.
He came back looking a bit green, but he still admitted that it had been exhilarating. Thea is the only one who refuses.
She crosses her arms over her chest, jutting her chin. The very picture of stubborn.
“We could make the journey in a few days if you’d agree to fly,” I remind her, hoping that perhaps the idea of cutting the length of our trip considerably will entice her—and actually allow us to fly there.
We’ve decided not to wait for the Alliance to come to us.
We’re taking the battle to them. We leave tomorrow to meet Ryker and his forces in Tithmoore, and then we march for Lyanna where Barony and the Alliance are mustering their own armies.
The reports from Ryker’s ravens are saying that Barony, Tesni, and a handful of others have holed themselves up within Castle Lyanna.
We assume it’s because they’ve gone through with taking Gifts upon themselves and are learning to handle that in private.
I can only imagine what the process might be, how their bodies might react when trying to adjust to all of that unnatural power thrust inside them.
I don’t know what Gifts they might have stolen or if they’ll use them in battle against us—most of the royals don’t seem like the type to actually fight—but whatever is waiting for us, we’ll be ready to face it.
“I’m perfectly happy to endure a sore ass and chapped thighs from weeks upon Zaro, thank you very much.” Knowing I won’t sway her tonight, I shift objectives and slide from Isolde’s back, landing on the balcony attached to our bed chamber and stalking towards her.
-I know that look. I’ll be in the caves, far, far away from here,- Isolde says, sounding amused.
-For the love of all the Great Makers, take me with you,- Soren begs, wholly unamused, jumping lithely up onto the stone railing lining the balcony.
They’ve only spoken to me, so Thea watches the silent exchange with a quirked brow, her fiery hair blowing about her in the crisp wind.
Isolde chuckles inside our minds and blue flames spark from her nostrils.
She launches into the air without warning and Thea gasps, eyes following the dragon up, up, up.
She makes a wide arch from the balcony and circles back, grabbing Soren from the ledge as she glides past as if they’ve done the maneuver a thousand times.
“And where are they off to in such a hurry?” Thea asks, eyes sparking with the knowledge of exactly why they’ve escaped. She takes slow steps backwards as I keep advancing, through the doors from the balcony into our chambers.
“A sore ass and chapped thighs, you say...I think I can arrange that...” My voice is low, gruff, desire coursing through me like the lava deep within the mountains around us. She swallows hard but her lips curl upward and she gives me that challenging look that sets my blood afire.
“Promises, promises...”
She keeps backing away across the room towards the bed.
I tug my shirt off and throw it aside as I follow.
Her eyes widen as they rove over my bare chest, the tattoos that she has an affinity for tracing with her tongue.
Her teeth dig into her bottom lip as her gaze dips lower.
The muscles in my stomach flex in response, her gaze whispering over my body like the softest caress, memories of her trailing soft kisses down my torso just this morning, lower, her tongue running teasingly along the crown of my cock as it strained toward her greedy little mouth, desperate.
A low growl rumbles through my chest and her eyes meet mine, sparking with amusement, knowing exactly what I was recalling.
I smirk and as she takes another step backwards, she freezes.
She gasps quietly and tries to move again, but she’s stuck, held fast by this mirrored Gifted.
That’s what Thea has come to call them: mirrored Gifts.
I’m not taking them, only borrowing them for a time, reflecting them back to the world.
“Thought this one had left you already,” she says softly, watching me as I stalk closer, circling her as she remains held steadfast, imagining all the things I have planned for this last night in our home for a while. It could be our last night here...ever.
I try not to let that thought creep in, but we both know it’s true.
We’re riding into a battle unlike anything either of us has ever seen, up against things we’ve never even dreamed of facing.
Our eyes meet and the unspoken understanding passes between us.
We know what this night might mean, and we plan to make the most of it.
I stop circling, stepping up behind her and gripping her hips.
I shift my own against her ass, showing her just how ready I am.
She moans softly and then gasps when I move my hands to the collar of her tunic and rip, tearing the soft wool in two and letting the pieces fall to the floor, her corset following a heartbeat later.
I lean down and kiss her now bare shoulder and she tilts her head, giving me all the access I want.
I smile against her skin, so soft beneath my lips.
“Not gone quite yet,” I murmur, planting another kiss to the side of her throat while I palm her breast with one hand, kneading as I run the pad of my thumb over her nipple, already pebbled and desperate for my touch, my tongue, my teeth.
I trail the other hand downward, tunneling my fingers beneath her silk panties and making her groan and buck as much as she’s able while still held fast by my power.
I massage her clit. Slow. Torturous. And trail open-mouthed kisses up and down her throat.
“Killian,” she pants, the word a plea and a curse and a prayer.
I chuckle darkly against her skin before pressing two fingers deep inside.
She moans loudly and I ease the hold off of her enough that she can grind her ass against my cock, her pussy against my hand.
“Don’t stop,” she begs, arching and desperate. “Fucking hells, don’t stop.”
“I mirrored another Gift today,” I tell her low in her ear, keeping up the slow thrusts of my fingers, the light pinching of her nipple.
She trembles and pants, still rocking her hips, still chasing her release that I won’t let her reach.
Not yet. “A man named Harlon has the Gift of incredible stamina.” I bite at her ear as the word sinks in.
She inhales sharply and snakes one hand up behind her to tunnel in my hair.
“You were already fairly gifted in that regard,” she says, voice shaky, chest rising and falling quicker and quicker, anticipation thick and sparking in the air.
“You aren’t wrong there, love,” I agree with a smile.
Inside her mind, I purr, -But Harlon...well, he can do extremely demanding physical activity for days without tiring...-
“Days,” Thea repeats out loud, voice choked with shock and anticipation and maybe even a bit of concern. I shift my hand from her breast to pinch her chin between my thumb and forefinger, pulling back as I tilt her head up to meet my gaze. Her eyes are blazing, her pupils blown.
“I’m going to fuck my queen until the sun comes up,” I promise her.
“I’m going to make you scream so loudly that you won’t be able to speak for days, Thea.
I’m going to make you come so hard and so many times that you forget your own name.
I’m going to kiss and lick every inch of you, fuck this smart mouth, this perfect pussy, and this magnificent ass, and worship you until even the Makers are jealous.
” She shudders at my words and I curl my fingers inside her on my next thrust, making her gasp and moan.
“And then, when you think you can’t possibly take any more—I'm going to do it all again, love.”
“Makers,” she whispers, rocking her hips into my hand again, desperate.
-Is that a promise, Your Majesty?-
I barely stifle a shudder, the feel of her voice inside my mind like the softest, most sensual touch.
My blood sings at that challenge, the sexy curl of her lips, that intense look in her eyes telling me that not only does she accept, but she plans to meet me each step of the way, giving as good as she gets, doing this together. Always together. No matter what.
“It’s a fucking vow, Red.”