Chapter 36
CHAPTER 36
I wake to warmth—to him. The dream slips away, and I’m back in the little hunting lodge.
Somehow, as we wandered through dreams, I ended up sprawled across Talan, my limbs tangled with his. Now, my head rests on his powerful shoulder. Heat seeps through his shirt, warming my muscles through my thin dress. His delicious scent wraps around me, making my pulse race.
I could move, of course, but I don’t want to.
The fireplace crackles. The moisture from my drying clothes has turned the air humid and sultry, making my muscles go supple against Talan. A slow, smoldering warmth pools deep in my stomach—the heat of being wrapped around him. And despite the haze of sleep still cocooning me, I’m acutely aware of every hard plane of his muscles—the tempting, dangerous power of the Dream Stalker.
I shift slightly, my body brushing against his in a way that makes desire coil through me. Then, his fingers move on me, lazy and teasing. Slowly, they trace the length of my spine as if he has all the time in the world.
I lift my head to see him watching me closely.
His eyes gleam in the dim light, copper burning like embers, his mouth faintly curved in a wicked smile. His expression is pure, delicious sin. “You climbed on top of me, little demi-Fey. Is there something you’re hoping for?”
Little demi-Fey. He doesn’t seem to be demanding answers yet, but that question lingers over us.
I don’t want to answer it now, though. Now, I still feel dreamy and soft, and I want to stay here, enveloped in our pretend world a little longer. I don’t want to break the spell.
Before the full truth comes out, and everything starts to burn.
As his fingers stroke down my spine, my skin warms, aching for more of him. I could shift away from him, but I like the feeling of being on top of him.
“Your magic made me sleepy,” I mumble.
He slides his fingers into my hair, tightening them. There’s a gentle possessiveness in the way his fingers curl. “That’s not the only effect on you. But of course, you’re so reluctant to tell the truth.”
Molten heat slides into my belly. I hate how well he sees me, and how much I want him to keep looking.
And then, in one fluid motion, he moves, and I’m on my back, my breath quickening as he shifts me exactly where he wants me, his body caging mine. One hand traps my wrists over my head, and my pulse spikes.
The other slides up my thigh, fingertips brushing the silk of my dress in an unbearably slow, teasing stroke.
I was always going to give in to him, wasn’t I? Even if I know exactly how it will end, I still want him. I’ll burn with him, even if we both turn to ash.
His mouth hovers close to mine. “I need answers from you, Nia. And I don’t think you will give them all so easily.”
My pulse races. “You once told me I could keep my secrets.”
“I’ve changed my mind. Secrets build fortress walls, and I don’t want to be on the wrong side of yours. I want to know every little thing about you.”
His mouth lowers to my throat, his breath a delicious whisper of sensation before his lips meet my skin.
I tilt my head back as he brushes his lips over my throat. He kisses me with lazy strokes of his tongue that send pleasure coiling through my body. I shift my hips against him, and he drags his hand under the hem of my dress, slowly, tortuously. The silky material of my gown shifts against my skin in an exquisite sexual torment. Need spreads low in my belly, pouring through me like melted honey.
But beneath the warmth, something sharper curls inside me. Guilt. I’m lying to him, always.
Talan lifts his head. “Now, Nia. Tell me about your parents.”
I run my hands down his chest and under his shirt. “That’s one way to kill the mood.”
A lie. Every inch of me craves his touch as my fingers trace the sculpted ridges of his abs. His muscles flex beneath my touch.
I pull his shirt off and run my hands over his finely carved body. His muscles flex under my touch.
Liquid heat pools in the coppery depths of his eyes. His fingers tighten on my thigh, moving higher. “You’re unpredictable and utterly alluring, and I need to know everything about you, including exactly how you’ll feel wrapped around me.”
Heat pulses through me, and I shift my hips against him. “I’m afraid I’m terribly boring, even if I’m a demi-Fey.”
“I doubt that.” He hooks a finger beneath the strap of my gown, tugging it down—first one side, then the other. As he pulls down the top of my gown, the air kisses my bare breasts, and my nipples harden.
Talan’s gaze brushes over me, and his breath catches, his eyes smoldering. “Fuck. I want to interrogate you.” His voice sounds rough, hungry. “But you look distractingly hot.”
“Maybe now is not the time for talking, then?” My heart pounds like a drumbeat.
His eyes darken. “Then why don’t you tell me what you want?”
My smile deepens. “Only to stay warm.”
Talan chuckles, low and wicked. “Liar.”
He leans down. His mouth closes over my nipple, and I gasp. A deep, sensual ache makes my thighs clench. I run my fingers over the muscles of his bare back, desire pooling in my core. As his tongue swirls, tasting me, sexual pleasure plunges through me.
I shouldn’t let this happen. I should be keeping him at arm’s length. This is reckless and doomed, but I can’t resist him. I want to let myself go completely, just once.
He pulls his mouth from my breast, his gaze flicking to mine. Copper flares in his eyes. “Take off your underwear and lift your dress for me.”
“So bossy. What makes you think you can order me around?”
“I already know what you want, Nia. I’m just giving you permission.” His breath warms my breasts. “I know what you need from me. You want me to make you come so hard that you will never look at another male again.”
My fingers slide through his hair. “So confident.”
I reach under the hem of my dress and slide my underwear down to my ankles, then off.
His eyes gleam. “Good girl. I will make you come, Nia, but I’m not going to fuck you for real until you tell me all your secrets.”
That comment makes me bite my lip. As much as I want to hand the truth over to him and give him what he wants, it will break this spell I’m living in now.
I pull the hem of my dress up anyway, and his gaze sweeps slowly down my body, his eyes darkening with ferocious hunger. The way he’s looking at me like he’s about to lose control completely sends a dark thrill plummeting into my core. He’s desperate, the perfectly composed prince coming undone before me, and I want this moment to last forever. His expression is worshipful.
He opens my legs and lowers his face to my thighs, his breath hot against my skin. Slowly, his lips graze my inner thigh, his mouth warm and wet. He’s savoring me, teasing me, and making me ache for him. Liquid heat pools between my legs.
I coil my fingers into his dark hair, trying to shift him where I want him.
He looks up at me from under his long, dark eyelashes, his eyes burning with delicious sin. “Patience, my little demi-Fey. I’m savoring you.”
His mouth returns to my skin, warm, demanding, worshipful of my body. He’s teasing me, trying to make me unravel, to beg. Desire pulses inside me.
At last, he starts to kiss and lick me right where I need him. His tongue laves over my clit, each stroke an exquisite torment of pleasure, and I let out a moan.
Raw desire builds, winding tighter inside me, a tension on the verge of snapping. I move my hips against his mouth as my body clenches tighter, my thighs pressing around his head. Hot pleasure ripples through me, intoxicating, until I no longer remember my name, or his, or what the truth ever was. There is only this—his mouth against me, his fingers inside me, the heady pull of his touch. All I can think about is the overpowering pleasure where his mouth touches me.
As his fingers move faster inside me, I come hard, and stars explode behind my eyelids, my body tightening with a mind-shattering release. I clench around him and call out his name. My body shudders, back arching, until my muscles slowly start to relax again, aftershocks rolling through me like thunder.
I catch my breath, my body glowing and damp in the warmth from the fire. Talan pulls me firmly against him, wrapping me in his arms. I wish I could stay like this, in the in-between world where he hasn’t yet learned the whole truth.
I turn to look at Talan, and he stares into my eyes, a small, satisfied smile on his face. “I meant to get your secrets out of you, Nia,” he says softly, “but you gave me none. It almost never happens that I lose control. But since the moment I met you, I haven’t been able to think straight.”
His words light a warm, glowing fire inside me. That makes two of us. “And why is that?”
He studies me with a line forming between his eyebrows. “It’s like I was living in a world of shadows and mist, and then you showed up in my castle—wild, furious, insulting me. And you looked like dawn.” His voice drops. “Rose and honey. You felt like something I lost a long time ago. And ever since, I haven’t been able to clear my mind. Without you, now, I think it would feel like the air stopped moving through the trees. It would feel like the sun would never rise, the rivers would stop flowing, and everything would turn to dust.”
My heart stutters, and his words make my eyes mist.
Because my secrets are a ticking clock between us, counting down the minutes.
And perfect things never last, do they?