Chapter 21 #2
Gods. The blue light from sconces dances over his sculpted chest, and his damp hair is curled around his pointed ears, falling in waves over his broad shoulders and down his back. I’m so entranced by his masculine beauty that I cannot look away. I stare at him, and he stares at me.
“Come, my dearest. Dinner is on the table.” He moves to my side and places a hand on the small of my back, guiding me into the kitchen.
As promised, a hot meal is waiting—roasted chicken and vegetables, seasoned potatoes, mushroom soup, berry cobbler, and thick slices of warm bread served with whipped butter.
There’s also a large carafe of wine, a jug of mint-infused water, and frost-apple cider.
Oh, and tea with honey. My mouth waters as I take it all in.
Merak helps me into my seat and joins me, gazing across the table with a look of affection as he pours me a glass of frost-apple cider and some tea.
We eat quietly, lost in our own thoughts, giving each other space to think in private, while enjoying the sumptuous meal. But eventually, I feel Merak reaching out to me, his mind tentatively brushing along mine, a loving caress that fills me with warmth.
Our eyes meet, and we exchange a smile.
My heart thumps rapidly, and I push my plate aside, no longer interested in the food.
Merak rises to his feet, walks around the table, and helps me out of my seat.
He turns me in his arms and simply stares down at me for a moment.
The blue light from the sconces flickers across his face, bathing his sharp features in moving shadows.
The glow accentuates his high cheekbones and traces the hard line of his chiseled jaw, somehow making him appear even more devastatingly handsome than usual.
His black hair falls around his face, and his dark eyes seem almost unreal in the lantern light, glimmering with heat.
The blue light catches on his thick, curved horns as well, tracing their rough contours and making them gleam faintly.
Gods.
Sometimes I still cannot quite believe this breathtaking male is mine.
As he holds my gaze, I sense his thoughts, and heat instantly floods my face.
He’s having similar thoughts about me. Through the bond, I feel his wonder, his affection, and the fierce possessiveness that I know will always accompany his love.
The blue light is accentuating my beauty too, at least in his eyes.
He’s admiring my wavy hair, my dark eyes, and the flush in my cheeks.
Just as I cannot stop staring at him, he cannot seem to stop staring at me.
Heat pulses between us, a sudden surge of longing that makes my entire body tingle. He emits a faint growl and sweeps me into his arms, unable to wait any longer. He wants to claim me now, and I want the same.
He carries me into the bedroom and lays me atop the soft covers.
Breathless desire grips me, and I lean up on my elbows to watch as he loosens the towel at his waist and lets it fall away.
His massive cock springs free, thick and long, jutting out almost like a weapon.
His eyes glimmer when he senses this thought.
I glance down at my nightdress, then start to remove it, but my hands are suddenly trembling. For one fleeting moment, nervousness flits through me. Not fear. Just… an overwhelming realization of what tonight means.
This is forever.
Merak sits beside me and places his steady hands over my trembling ones, and he gives me a solemn but affectionate look.
A look of understanding. He leans his forehead against mine and continually sends me waves of warmth.
The nervousness leaves, and I shift my hands beneath his, trying to pull my nightdress off, only for him to take over.
He draws the garment up, his hands gliding along my thighs, my waist, and higher, as he draws it over my head.
He tosses it to the floor near his discarded towel.
My pulse quickens as he turns back to me, his eyes gleaming in the dimly lit room. The sconces here aren’t as bright as those in the rest of the suite, casting a softer glow that makes the room feel especially cozy.
“Gods, Gwen, you are so beautiful,” he murmurs.
As he looks at me, heat surges through the bond once more, and all at once I cannot seem to remember how to breathe.
He helps me into the center of the bed, thoughtfully placing a pillow beneath my head, and then begins to brand every inch of my body with his lips, kissing me everywhere, even dragging his teeth over my skin.
I arch into him and thread my fingers through his hair when he latches onto a nipple, teasing me with slow licks followed by a devious bite.
I gasp as the achiness in my core builds, and I try to reach for him, try to reach for his cock, but he’s so much taller than me, so much bigger than me, that our bodies don’t quite line up that way.
My eyes flutter shut as he continues kissing his way all over my body.
When I grip one of his horns, he growls and I sense his pleasure through the bond.
At last, he situates himself between my thighs. But he doesn’t push inside immediately, not even when my hips lurch and I try to entice him to thrust into my aching center. Instead, he hovers a hand over my lower stomach as blue light gathers in his palm.
Remember, I only want you to feel pleasure, my dearest, he reminds me.
To my shock, my lower stomach gleams with blue light even when he lowers his hand.
My breath catches. When I first saw him in the mountain village, I knew he was a highborn fae lord who commanded winter magic, but I never imagined he would one day use that same power to care for me with such tenderness.
He grips my hips and meets my eyes.
The whole realm seems to go very still around us. The voices of faefolk wandering the streets fade. The distant sounds from the inn below grow faint. Even the wind quiets. For this moment, there is nothing beyond Merak… nothing beyond us.
Warmth pulses through the tether between our souls, stronger than ever before. I feel his steadfast devotion and his certainty that we are meant to share our lives, and my throat tightens.
I love you, my dearest, he says through the bond.
I love you, too, Merak.
He searches my face as his mind continues brushing gently against mine, then he gives a sudden, purposeful thrust, pushing the tip of his thick shaft inside me.
Oh, gods. Oh, yes.
I gasp at the fullness, but not because it hurts. Just as he promised, there is only pleasure. It quakes through me, an endless current of bliss, as he pushes deeper and deeper still.
He withdraws slightly before driving back into me, and I whimper at the deliciousness of that first proper thrust. He does it again, and I reach for him instinctively, needing to touch him.
My fingers dance over his hard, muscular chest, and when he growls, the sound vibrates through me, causing my clit to pulse harder.
He sets a rapid pace of claiming me, of loving me.
Not slowing his thrusts, he leans down and presses his lips to mine.
The kiss nearly makes me swoon. Around us, the whole realm seems to disappear again. There is no Frost House. No distant mountain settlements. No fae armies and no war. Only us.
And just like that, everything suddenly makes sense.
All my life, restlessness has followed me. Loneliness too. But now I know why I used to sit on the walls of Braemar, staring at the road, aching with all my heart to follow it. I was never searching for a place. I was searching for him.
My savage lord. My heart. My forever mate.
A quaking release sweeps through me, stealing the breath from my lungs, and Merak growls against my mouth.
His hold on me tightens as warmth surges through our bond.
He tenses for a heartbeat, then drives into me faster.
His shaft pulses inside me as his thrusts turn rougher, more urgent…
until he finally erupts in my depths with a fierce growl that echoes off the walls.
Our bodies still joined, he lifts his head and rests his forehead against mine, his breathing ragged as affection continues flowing between us.
Mine, he says into my mind. My Gwen. My dearest.
And you are mine, I tell him softly through the bond. My mate, my heart, and my home.