Chapter 30 This Goes Nowhere
This Goes Nowhere
Ididn’t look at the King. I didn’t wait for permission. I just left the mask behind and crossed the marble the same way I had entered.
Tarran met me halfway. She didn’t touch me, but her eyes burned so bright, I could feel the heat. The Carls said something behind us, muffled by the music starting back up. I didn’t care. I barely heard the soft click of the ballroom doors closing behind us as Tarran and I walked alone.
We didn’t speak as we slipped through the gilded halls.
Her shoulder brushed mine, little pinpricks of electricity dancing across my skin.
She matched my pacer, silent next to me as we moved.
The Kingdom around us was perfect, but inside me, everything felt raw, shredded open by every question I’d let them carve into me.
I’d expected it to be hard and personal, as were most of the trials I’d faced so far, but I hadn’t expected them to know about Tarran, to throw that in our face when we didn’t even really know what was going on.
My hand found her wrist when we reached my door. I didn’t remember unlocking it, but the moment it clicked shut behind us, I pressed my back to it. Blocking out the world. Blocking her in.
For a heartbeat, we just stared at each other, breathing the same air, unspoken words and questions floating between us.
She moved first.
She stepped into my space, one hand on my cheek, thumb brushing the damp skin under my eye like she could erase what they’d asked me. Her other hand pressed to my side, right over my ribs.
“You shouldn’t have said that,” she whispered, voice ragged. “You shouldn’t have given them that. You were supposed to lie.”
“I meant it,” I shot back. My throat burned, but I didn’t look away. “Every word. And I still got the key.”
She laughed—a sharp breath, broken around the edges. “You don’t even know me, not really. I don’t exist.”
“I don’t need to,” I said, too fast, too loud. “You’re mine right now. That’s all that matters.” I was lying to myself, even if I was no longer wearing the mask, and maybe we both knew that.
A flicker of pain cut through her eyes—the same ache I’d seen back on the ballroom floor, one that mirrored my own. She leaned closer anyway, so close, I felt her breath against my mouth. Her fingers tangled in my hair, gentle at first, then rougher, pulling just enough to make my breath hitch.
“This goes nowhere,” she said, like she was reminding herself more than me.
“I know.” My chest hurt, my head hurt, but I wasn’t backing away.
“I know. I know I lose you when this is all over. But I also know I’m okay with that if you are.
” I was lying, I could hear it in my voice.
She probably could too, but it was all I could say in the moment to avoid how I really felt, how attached I could feel myself getting with her.
Something in her eyes splintered. Her mouth parted like she wanted to argue, but the words died before they ever escaped. The distance crackled between us, electric.
She kissed me—no hesitation this time, just heat and the slight tang of salt from the tear I hadn’t realized had slipped down my cheek. Her hands slid deeper into my hair, down my neck, clutching me like she could hold us together by sheer will.
I kissed her back harder, tasting everything I knew I’d have to let go of in just a few short days.
My fingers dug into her hips, pulling her flush against me, silk and heat and the faintest scent of roses still clinging to her skin.
She gasped when my mouth caught hers again, the sound hungry enough that it made my knees weak.
She pulled back, just a breath’s width, close enough that her forehead pressed to mine, close enough to taste her next words when they broke from her throat.
“When you leave,” she said, voice shaking, “I want you to promise me you’ll lie to me. Tell me you’ll find a way back. Tell me you’ll stay.”
My heart cracked open, raw as the mask at my feet hours ago. I didn’t care if it was a lie. Not tonight.
“I’ll stay,” I breathed. “I’ll find a way.”
And then, I kissed her again. I swallowed the ache, the fear, the truth we couldn’t say.
Her hands slid beneath my jaw, nails biting my skin just enough to make me gasp against her mouth.
Her hips pressed into mine, an unspoken urging, our clothes rustling.
Every point we touched was like sparks catching into an inferno that wasn’t going to ever be put out.
It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. But it was now, and I’d take now until the book decided to rip her away from me.
I kissed her like that lie might become truth if I wanted it bad enough.
Tarran’s kisses became more and more insistent, her tongue slipping past my lips to tangle with my own. Pulling her closer, I parted my lips further, exploring her mouth and sparring playfully back and forth.
She ran her hand over my back, then over my thigh, her hand finding the hem of my dress and slipping under, slowly enough that I could stop at any moment. The warmth of her against my bare scan stoked the flame inside me, and I groaned.
She broke our kiss, searching my eyes, her violet eye bright in the dim lighting.
She was flushed, her lips parted. She pulled further, my dress now bunched high enough that I was nearly on full display, her hand only inches from my bare breast. I took the question out of her gaze and gripped her wrist, moving it up to my chest.
Tarran’s eyes widened, and she drew a breath then cupped me firmly, massaging and feeling the weight in her hand before stroking her thumb across my achingly hard nipple, sending jolts straight through me.
My head was hazy with need, and the overwhelming urge to make her feel as good as she made me took over.
I skimmed my hand underneath her shirt, grateful in this moment that she had opted for a two piece outfit instead of a dress like I had.
She jumped a little and sucked in a breath when I mirrored her movements, sighing against my mouth as I pulled her in for another kiss.
“You are so fucking sexy,” she whispered to me when we came up for air. Her touch drove me crazy, how she moaned and pressed against me while caressing my sensitive breasts, making me squirm each time she thumbed my nipples.
Frustrated with the fabric, she pulled the dress over my head, tossing it away, and I was suddenly grateful the dress had required I didn’t wear a bra.
One less layer to get between us. Her eyes roamed over me, delight on her face as I fought the urge to cover myself.
I’d never been the most confident in my body, but the way Tarran looked at me made me feel like I was the prettiest girl in the world.
Naked from the waist up, I tugged at the hem of her blouse, grinning when she pulled it off and tossed it away.
We drank each other in before she pulled me close again, her naked breasts pressing against mine in erotic torture.
Tarran kissed my neck, continuing to stroke and massage my breast. I explored her neck and shoulder, grazing the skin with my lips, planting light kisses and little nips everywhere I went.
The gasp she made when I thumbed her nipples threatened to snap my self-control.
She edged her fingertips past the elastic of my underwear, smoothing them back and forth across the sensitive skin like a medieval torture device.
My every nerve yearned for her to go lower.
Tarran continued to tease her fingertips over me with feathery touches, reaching further and further until she was just grazing the top of the place I wanted her touch most.
Unable to take it anymore, I pushed her hand lower until she was firmly in contact with my pussy. With her middle finger, Tarran pressed in, parting me easily. I groaned against her, arching back, trying to pull her closer.
My hand found her ass, reaching easily down the back of her formal slacks before slipping them right off her hips with a soft thump as they hit the floor. She sighed and squirmed at the contact, teasing her fingers through my wetness as I caressed her.
She worked me into a frenzy, her fingers teasing and stroking between my legs until I thought I might burst. When my hand slid from her ass to the front of her thigh, she parted her legs invitingly, her scorching heat radiating against my hand.
Tarran moaned when I touched her slick pussy, groaning deep in her throat when I slipped my fingers down to gather her arousal from her opening. Her hips bucked when I teased my fingers back and forth before tentatively pressing in and out.
She dipped her head, kissing my neck and shoulders, sending me higher and higher as she continued to tease my clit.
Two fingers slid deep into her at almost the same time as she pushed into me.
We groaned together, and I almost came right then and there.
In and out, in and out, she teased, and I did the same, circling her clit with my thumb in time to the motions.
My mind was a spell of want and need, our bodies moving in a seductive dance fueled by desire. Tarran’s skin against mine, the little sounds she made as I touched her, the cresting pleasure from her hand as it threatened to send me over the edge as our movements became more and more frantic.
With the most erotic cry I had ever heard, Tarran hugged me in a tight embrace, her hips crushing mine as she bucked hard against my hand.
Her fingers plunged deeper inside me, her thumb pressing and sliding against my clit with a renewed sense of urgency.
My pussy clenched around her fingers as the orgasm building inside me burst, my moans nearly echoing around the room.
Ecstasy hit me in waves as she continued to thrust, riding out the aftershocks of my pleasure.
My breath came to me in hot gasps. I had never come so hard, and I never wanted it to end. Slowly, the world came back to me, and I opened my eyes to see Tarran grinning at me, breathing just as hard.
“Tarran?” I asked tentatively, a mischievous tone in my voice. I gripped my hips, stepping her backwards, closer and closer to the bed.
“Yeah?” she squeaked in surprise as her back hit the soft duvet.
“I want to taste you.”
She smiled as I stripped the damp panties down over her ankles, pausing a moment to take in her body.
She was stunning, curvy in all the places I wasn’t, her ample breasts heavy on her chest against her dark skin.
My mouth nearly watered as I looked at her.
I didn’t think I’d ever seen seen somebody so perfect in my life.
Our gazes caught, and ever so slowly, almost as if she was daring me, she spread her legs wide. I dove on her, closing my eyes and inhaling the delicious scent of her arousal as I moved into position between her legs. Her pussy glistened with wetness from her earlier orgasm.
Ever so slowly, I kissed both sides of her mound before allowing my tongue to slide from the very entrance of her opening all the way to the top to circle her clit, relishing in the way her hips bucked at the sensation.
Then, I did it again, even more slowly.
And again.
“Liss, I can’t!” she gasped around heavy pants, and I nearly chuckled against her.
“Yes, you can.”
The deep moan that rose from her throat was almost animal in nature, and I squeezed my legs together, fighting my own arousal as I pleasured her.
My tongue circled her clit, again and again, until she was squirming against my mouth, pushing herself as firmly into me as she could manage. Her legs spread even wider as her hips lifted off the bed, but I gripped her hips tightly, holding her down as I continued my relentless torture.
“Liss!” she moaned, her hips fighting harder against me.
I knew she was close. As her moans reached a fever pitch, I deftly slid my hand down, plunging two fingers deep into her as I sucked for all I was worth.
It worked, her orgasm crashing over her like a tsunami, and I guided her through it, feathering kisses along her as she came down.
I slowly brought myself up to her face, pressing my body against hers on the plush bed.
Heavy lidded eyes looked at me, a lazy smile spreading across her face as she leaned forward, capturing my lips with hers.
It was slow at first, as if we had all the time in the world, but it didn’t take long before I was squeezing my thighs together, the taste of her still on my tongue.
“Tarran…” I warned, my voice breathy as we broke apart.
A slightly deranged giggle escaped her as she gripped my hips, and with a yelp, I was on my back, her lips kissing their way down my body.
With a quick movement, my underwear was off and cast to the floor, my body completely bare to her.
I could smell my own arousal, the cool air kissing my exposed flesh.
She grazed my inner thigh with the edge of her fingernail, tracing a tantalizing trail across my skin that both tickled and turned me on.
My head fell forward so I could see her better.
She was beautiful, and I didn’t want to miss a moment.
I wanted to drink up every possible second I had until I no longer had a choice.
It was exhilarating.
When she noticed I was watching, she met my eyes and did the hottest fucking thing I’d ever seen in my life.
Slowly, deliberately, she licked her lips, a devilish grin splitting her face. My clit throbbed in response.
“Gorgeous,” she whispered, and without warning, she pushed my legs wider, spreading me open with her fingers and dragging her nose across my clit.
She closed her mouth around me, sliding her tongue from top to bottom with one, heated stroke.
I shouted her name, and she responded with two fingers settling deep inside me, immediately setting a punishing rhythm as her tongue attacked me.
I could feel my orgasm building at the base of my spine, rocketing toward me at warp speed.
“Holy fuck…” I moaned, my legs struggling for purchase as my back arched off the bed. She clamped one arm across my stomach, forcing my ass back down to the bed and holding me in place. Just when I was about to hit my limit, she looked up at me, meeting my gaze.
“Tarran,” I barely managed to say before my orgasm took over, crashing into me with wave after wave of pleasure.
Stars burst in my eyes, everything flashing bright from pleasure until the next thing I knew, she was at my face, placing gentle kisses across my jaw as she settled in next to me.
A soft hand touched my cheek, pulling my face to hers as our tastes mingled in a languid, satisfied kiss.
I reached for her, encircling her in my arms as I settled my head on her chest. Soft fingers stroked my hair, and as I felt myself drifting into oblivion, her quiet words echoed in my brains and haunted my dreams.
“No matter what happens, Liss, I’ll never regret you.”