Chapter 31
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
“Home?” Caelian shrieked, laughing. “We have a home?”
She grabbed Kjeld’s hand and dragged him behind her as she darted inside.
It was far more spacious than she imagined, not that she had any idea what the inside of one of these hollow homes should even look like.
But there was a lovely living space with a small hearth and a tidy kitchen with a window overlooking the Caelora Bay.
It would be the perfect spot to hang dried flowers and herbs, especially if she wanted to learn how to bake.
The two large stained glass windows facing the east would allow in a glorious amount of morning light, and there were three bedrooms off the back.
Kjeld gestured toward one, nudging the door open.
The room was large enough, with a closet and its own private bathing suite, but what impressed her the most was the skylight.
Framed glass displayed the night sky, but more than that, she could see the hundreds of wishes falling into the sea just beyond.
There were no decorations and the furnishings were scarce, but those two problems were easily remedied.
Sprawled beneath the mesmerizing skylight was an imposing bed with an intricately carved headboard and a pile of downy blankets and pillows.
Though she supposed it would have to be quite large if Kjeld ever expected to sleep comfortably.
He tucked his hands behind his back, regarding her with care to gauge her reaction. “This would be ours.”
Caelian rolled her lips, a half smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “As opposed to someone else’s?”
Absently, he rubbed his hand along the back of his neck, his gaze dipping to her womb.
Stars above, he wanted a baby.
Kjeld shrugged, a rush of color bleeding into his cheeks. “I just thought…one day.”
He wanted a family. With her.
“Yes!”
Caelian launched herself into his arms. He barely caught her in time, scooping his hands under her thighs so she could wrap her legs around his waist. Clasping her hands together behind his head, she wove her fingers through his golden locks.
She didn’t know if he was asking or implying, but her answer was yes.
Always. From now until her final breath.
“I take it you are fairly keen on the idea of being with child?”
Kjeld planted a trail of steaming kisses up her neck, his scruff rough and tickling, and the leftover tingle from the bloomfire wine that she desperately tried to ignore, reignited all over again.
The mere sensation of his touch caused her skin to pebble and her nipples to harden.
It was as though every inch of her was a live spark, and his attention was the wind that fanned the flames.
Her core throbbed and she squirmed in his hold, desperate for friction to ease the need pooling at her center.
“Nothing would thrill me more.” She nipped at his lip, massaged his neck with the tips of her fingers, and felt him thicken between the apex of her legs. Her nerves thrummed, connected to his touch. “Tell me, husband. How many babies do you want?”
He gripped her thighs, his fingers punishing. “I hadn’t yet considered it.”
She snaked her hand between them, sliding it under the waistband of his pants. Then she took him firmly in her grasp.
He choked out the word, “Two.”
“Only two?” Caelian arched a brow as she worked him. Squeezing. Rubbing. Stroking. Impressed with how rapidly he hardened and filled her fist. “I was thinking four or five.”
Kjeld made some sort of guttural noise then, a harsh cross between a grunt of disbelief and a groan of pleasure. “I will give you four or five. More, if you want.”
He took a few hasty steps forward, pinning her between himself and the wall of their room.
Cool, smooth stone pressed into her back, the scent of damp earth and warm woods filled her senses.
His lips crashed into hers, hot and delicious, a stark contrast to the wall behind her.
The tip of his tongue ran along the seam of her mouth, and she opened readily for him, her fingers tightening around the length of his shaft as their kiss transformed from a slow and promising taste to a frantic and crazed obsession.
She fumbled with the buttons of his pants, and her inability to unleash him fully caused her entire body to burn with need.
The bloomfire wine pumped through her veins, heightening her every touch, every breath, until she was mad with lust. She clawed at the top of her dress, yanking it low so the cool night air kissed her breasts.
Her head fell back against the wall, and a pleading moan tore from somewhere deep in her chest. But it wasn’t enough.
Shoving one hand through the gossamer layer of her skirts, she sought her clit and started rubbing the bundle of nerves furiously.
“Caelian.” Kjeld grabbed her wrist. “Are you that desperate for release?”
“Can’t…” she panted. “Wait.”
“The fuck you can’t.”
He whipped away from the wall with her in his arms, then tossed her gently onto the bed so her legs hung over the edge.
Caelian sobbed his name.
“Please,” she begged, thrashing against the blankets, fisting the linens tightly to keep herself from shoving her hips into the air and offering herself to him like a sacrifice. “It’s the…the wine.”
Caelian swallowed, daring a look up at her husband.
Kjeld stood at the end of the bed, his thick shaft in one hand, his blue eyes swimming with violent desire. “To be clear, you are not in pain?”
She shook her head no and lifted her hips, skirts tumbling around her waist, and bared herself to him. His pupils expanded, swallowing the whole of the blue. He ran his thumb down her slit, and she nearly bucked off the bed.
“Kjeld, I swear to the stars.” Caelian grabbed her breasts, then pinched her nipples for some kind of reprieve. “If you don’t—”
Without warning, he took hold of her thighs and closed them, pushing her knees toward her chest. Her first thought was to revolt, because how dare he deny her?
But then the swollen tip of his length nudged against her slick entrance, and his breathing grew heavy.
With his palms spread on the backs of her thighs, Kjeld surged forward, pumping the entirety of his shaft deep inside her.
Stars exploded behind her eyes, the exhilarating effects of the bloomfire wine making it impossible to catch her breath.
Kjeld was not gentle. He speared her, stretching her, forcing himself to fit.
It didn’t matter if she was wet for him, she was still impossibly tight, and every frantic thrust made her want to find a way to keep him buried inside of her forever.
She convulsed around him, squeezing, clenching, unable to hold back the high wave of pleasure she’d been treading all night.
But it wasn’t enough.
Caelian shattered around him, but she barely had time to recover before the pressure started to build again. Her body was on fire. Scorching.
“Don’t stop,” she begged, glancing up at him. “Please.”
His eyes were jaded with lust, and he rolled his shoulders back, slowly pumping his slick shaft as he watched her writhe upon the bed.
The bloomfire wine turned her blood to honey, so it was thick and sluggish.
It transformed her bones into pliant clay, ready to be molded and shaped to Kjeld’s liking.
She was wanton, absolutely shameless as she rolled onto her stomach and lifted her backside into the air for him.
The layers of desire were amplified, making his every touch intense and overpowering.
His hands roved over the backs of her thighs, and she bit back a moan, shivered when he grabbed and squeezed her cheeks.
“Are you in need something else, wife?”
“Yes.” Caelian squeezed her eyes shut, backing up on her hands and knees until she felt his erection pulse between her thighs. “Again, Kjeld. Please.”
“Is this what you want?” he asked, slowly pushing into her, sinking deep.
“Yes,” she hissed, her head falling back on a moan. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and held her in place. “Just like this.”
Kjeld took his time with her. His pumps were leisurely and deliberate.
He would thrust all the way in, hold for a moment, then slowly withdraw.
It was agonizing, the way he made sure she felt every inch of him.
He kept one hand splayed on the middle of her back as he dragged her toward the edge, his other hand reaching around to toy with her clit.
When she tried to buck, to rock her hips into him, he urged her onto her stomach, pinning her to the bed.
And then he continued his lazy strokes until she was screaming his muffled name into the bedding.
She needed release three more times afterwards, and Kjeld willingly obliged her, but Caelian swore she would never touch another glass of bloomfire wine again.
Three weeks had passed without any return letter from Ariesian, and Caelian was struggling to keep calm about the fact that she had yet to hear from her brother.
She told herself it was because he was likely busy, that it was the height of the Midsummer Season, and he was sure to be setting the final arrangements for Nyxian’s marriage to Lady Aria Skyhelm.
Not only that, but there was also a chance he was trying to marry off Sarelle and Tovian as well.
So, while she was out in the Myrkwild with Kjeld and the dragons, she convinced herself that Ariesian was otherwise engaged and simply did not possess the time to write her back.
Caelian’s toes sank into the warm sand, and she lifted her hand to her forehead to shield her face from the sun.
Out over the glittering turquoise waters of the Caelora Bay, Kjeld was high in the sky on the back of Odryss, while the three young whelps circled over the cresting waves below him.