CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO TREW
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
TREW
Ilaid her on the bed like she might shatter if I handled her too roughly.
Moonlight streamed through the sheer curtains, painting her skin in shades of silver and cream that made her look ethereal, untouchable.
But she was touching me, her fingers trailing down my chest, tracing the fresh bandages with a reverence that made my breath catch.
“You’re really here,” she whispered, her palm flattening over my heart. “Really mine.”
The wonder in her voice gutted me. “As if I could belong to anyone else after you’ve carved yourself into every part of me?” I caught her wrist, bringing it to my mouth and kissing the pulse point. “So fucking mine. Only mine.”
She arched a brow, her lips curving in that wicked smile that used to make me growl with frustration but now made me growl with need. “That’s a bold claim from the man who once insisted I’d tried to kill him.”
I smirked. “It was a poor attempt.”
“Because I wasn’t truly trying.” Her voice was breathy velvet, teasing the sharp edges of our past even as her fingers danced lower, tracing the V of my hips with deliberate slowness.
I hissed, nipping her earlobe, the taste of her skin like moon-kissed honey.
She leaned in, her breath warm on my collarbone, carrying the scent of wildflowers and storm-kissed earth. Her fingers splayed across my chest, her nails grazing just enough to stake her claim. “Show me how a king claims his queen.”
Our magic sang, my golden threads twining with her silver like vines claiming a trellis, sending shivers of warmth racing through my veins.
I crushed my mouth against hers, pouring everything into the kiss. The terror of almost losing her. My fury about Lord Alfred. The desperate need to claim and protect and possess. She met me with equal ferocity, her nails digging into my sides as she pulled me closer.
Our magic sparked where we touched. The four-poster bed’s gauzy curtains created an intimate cocoon around us, blocking out everything except this moment, this woman and this need.
My gaze swept over her, and a fresh wave of possessiveness crashed through me. The silver light worshipped the curves of her hips, the dip of her belly, and the pale skin of her thighs. A look wasn’t enough. I needed to taste her.
Every scar on her body told a story of battles won, of a woman who’d faced down empires and emerged unbreakable. My fierce moonlit warrior. Our magic responded, golden tendrils curling around hers like lovers reuniting after years, throbbing with heat that made her skin flush.
“Are you going to spend all night only devouring me with your eyes, or do you have something more to offer?” Her husky challenge echoed the times we’d sparred on the mat, now softened by desire.
Her fingers trailed over my bare chest, mapping the fresh bandages with a tenderness that stole my breath.
I lowered my head, my lips tracing the line of her ribs down to the faint indentation of a long-healed scar on her side. I kissed it, a silent promise to protect her from any new ones.
“Beautiful,” I whispered against her skin, gliding my tongue lower.
She gasped, her fingers tangling in my hair, her hips tilting up to meet my mouth. My hands slid from her waist to her thighs, stroking the exquisitely sensitive skin on the inside. She was already slick for me, her scent filling my senses and shredding the last of my patience.
I was on the edge of losing myself completely, of just pushing her down and taking her right there. But I needed more. The image of her, waiting for me, offering herself to me, was a fantasy I’d held onto what felt like forever. I pulled back enough to look into her dazed eyes.
“Turn over,” I said. “On your hands and knees, Minx.”
She did as I asked. The sight of her like that, willing and wanting, made heat coil tight in my belly.
I positioned myself behind her, spanning her waist as I pulled her back against me. The soft curve of her rear pressed against my aching length, and I had to close my eyes to keep from exploding.
“Please,” she breathed, arching her back.
I entered her in one smooth thrust that pulled a gasp from both our throats. She fit against me like she’d been made for this, like I’d been unmade just to be remade around her.
For a moment I stayed still, buried deep, feeling her pulse around me. I tightened my hands on her waist as I fought against the primal urge to simply take.
“Move,” she growled, pushing back against me. “Trew. Move.”
I pulled back until I was nearly free, then drove forward again. Her cry echoed in the quiet room, spurring me on.
But she twisted enough to glance over her shoulder, eyes gleaming with mischief. “Is that all you’ve got, my king? I survived your enemies; I can handle you.” Her words were a challenge wrapped in affection, stoking the fire in my blood.
I grinned, feral, leaning forward to capture her lips in a messy, sideways kiss. “Careful what you wish for, love. I’ll ruin you for anyone else.”
She laughed, low and throaty, twisting further to nip at my jaw. “Darling, I’ve been ruined since the day I tried to hate you and failed spectacularly.”
Her words unraveled me. She was mine, body and soul.
I set a rhythm that was part desperation and part worship, each thrust deeper than the last, our magic flaring like auroras across our skin. Gold and silver sparks bloomed where we joined, heightening every slick glide to something divine, like fate itself knitting us tighter.
The angle let me reach places that made her whimper, made her fingers curl into the bedding. I watched my length disappear into her again and again, mesmerized by the sight of our joining.
“You feel amazing,” I growled, sliding one hand up her spine to fist in her hair. Not pulling hard enough to hurt. “Every perfect bit of you belongs to me.”
Our magic flared brighter. I could feel her through our bond, feel her building pleasure with each thrust.
But I needed more. Needed to see her face, needed to watch her come apart beneath me.
I pulled out despite her protest and rolled her onto her back. Before she could process the change, I hitched up her legs and entered her again in one quick thrust that made us both groan.
She tightened her legs around my waist, pulling me deeper. I braced my weight on my forearms, caging her beneath me, covering her completely.
Her hands came up to frame my face, her thumbs stroking across my cheekbones. “I love you,” she whispered, her eyes shining with tears. “Whatever happens next, whatever we face. I love you.”
I dropped my forehead to hers, our breath mingling as I moved inside her with long strokes.
“I love you,” I said against her mouth. “So much it terrifies me.”
Tears spilled from her eyes, tracking down her temples, into her hair. I kissed them away, tasting salt and everything we’d been through together. Our fights. Our fragile trust. And the slow unraveling of walls I’d thought unbreakable.
She laughed through the tears, a sound like wind chimes in the night, her fingers threading into my hair. “Terrifies you? The mighty Trew, brought down by what most see as a fluffy princess?”
“You’re anything but fluffy,” I growled.
“Perhaps I did stab you hard enough.” Her tone was light, but her eyes held the depth of oceans, pulling me under.
“I’d choose you a thousand times over, enemies or not.”
My control was fracturing with each stroke and each breathy sound she made. The claiming urge rose inside me. I wanted to mark her, brand her.
I dropped my mouth to her shoulder, scraping my teeth across her sensitive skin. Not hard enough to break the surface, but enough to leave a mark. She arched beneath me, her nails dragging down my back in response. Careful of my wounds but still marking me as hers.
“Harder,” she gasped. “I need you harder.”
I drove into her with a force that made the bed shake. The gauzy curtains swayed with our movement, and the whole world narrowed to the feel of her beneath me, around me, consuming me.
Her inner walls began to flutter, and I angled my hips, hitting the spot that made her cry out.
She shattered, coming with my name on her lips, her body clenching around me in rhythmic pulses that dragged my own climax from me. I buried myself as deep as I could, pouring everything into her as waves of pleasure crashed through me.
For long moments we stayed locked together, trembling, gasping for breath. I was dimly aware of our magic still sparking between us, the threads woven so tightly now that they might never fully separate.
I started to pull out, but she tightened her legs around my waist.
“Stay,” she whispered. “Just a little longer.”
I settled my weight partially on her in a way that didn’t crush her. She traced patterns across my sides, careful of the bandages that caught the moonlight as I breathed.
Her touch was a balm, her fingers weaving invisible sigils of protection over my skin, as if she could heal every wound I’d ever received just by willing it.
I buried my face in the crook of her neck, inhaling the sweet tang of us mingled together. “You’ve claimed me more thoroughly than any crown ever could.”
“I’ll do so every single day of this lifetime and others the fates may grant us once we’re gone.”
“Then I will spend every lifetime proving I am worthy of being chosen by you again.”
Sleep pulled at both of us. I couldn’t bring myself to move, to put even a bit of distance between us, though I eventually eased from her and to the side, taking her with me, keeping us entwined.
Her breathing evened out, her body going slack. I rose onto my elbow and watched the moonlight dance across her face.
She was beautiful with her lips swollen from my kisses, her hair tangled across the pillow, and a faint flush still coloring her cheeks. The pendant rested in the hollow of her throat, rising and falling with each breath.
Gavelle and Pherin landed on the balcony railing with barely a whisper of sound. Comfort flowed through our bond, their contentment at being with each other mixing with satisfaction from their hunt.
I sent them gratitude and love, feeling Isi stir as similar emotions filtered through her connection with Pherin.
I kissed her cheek before I settled back and let sleep take me.
She nuzzled into my neck, her breath a soft caress against my pulse. “Promise me you’ll still be this insufferably possessive come dawn?” Sleepy mischief filled her voice.
I chuckled, the vibration coasting through our joined bodies. “For you, I’ll chain the dawn and make the night eternal so we never have to leave this bed.”
“And I’ll reach up and collect the stars, giving them to you one by one. We’ll make you a new crown with them, one that will show the world how amazing you truly are.”
Her words wrapped around my heart, as strong as forged steel. I pulled her closer, our bodies still entwined. “Then wear my heart as your pendant, love. It’s yours to command.”
I slipped from the bed and went to the bathing area, returning with a cloth dampened with water.
I gently washed her.
She sighed, her eyes half-lidded as she watched me, a lazy smile curving her lips. “My fierce king tending to me now? Careful, or I’ll start expecting this royal treatment every night.”
I kissed her inner thigh, then got rid of the cloth and returned to bed, drawing the sheets over us both, tucking her against my side where she fit like she’d been made for it.
“Always for you,” I said, combing my fingers through her hair until her breathing deepened into true slumber.
Only then did I allow myself to follow, my arm banded around her waist.
War and the Skathes could wait as long as I held this woman in my arms.