Chapter 29
Tristan
Igasp into the kiss, unwilling to let go even though my mind is only just catching up with what’s happening. My hands find Nate’s hips in an instant, and I squeeze, so very greedy for him.
I don’t know what’s changed his mind. Whether it was an impulsive choice or the slow erosion of his fears one promise at a time. All that matters is that he’s in my arms, his hot tongue sliding into my mouth, and I’m pulsing with so much desire my body can’t contain it.
I latch onto him, gasping when he arches into my touch, legs wrapping around my hips, fingers sinking into my flesh like hooks. He wants me closer.
He refuses to let me go.
I slide my hungry mouth over his cheek. I could eat him alive, suck on the delicate bones of his fingers and nip on his nipples as if they’re cherries.
“You did this. Just to be clear,” I mutter. “I wasn’t flirting.”
His face is right next to mine, but I see one of his eyes, his smile, the apple of his cheek. “Sorry,” he rasps, and my next kiss interrupts his half-formed laughter. There’s nothing polite about this moment.
We’re on the floor, with Lady’s claws tapping the wooden parquet as she paces, and our bodies rock together, as if we’re attempting to pull apart only for the force of attraction to bring us back together.
“You’re not sorry at all,” I say, elated as I pull on his ear with my teeth.
“And I’m not either.” A groan of relief and excitement, all in one, escapes my lips when I slide my hands to his ass and squeeze.
I’ve daydreamed about this so many times it’s hard to comprehend I’m allowed to touch him at last.
I’d love to talk, to hear his reasoning about what pushed him back into my arms, but that can wait until after I’ve had my fill. The warm feelings flooding me through our bond are enough for now.
He stalls, face tinted a wonderful shade of pink that can only exist on his sun kissed features. “Maybe…”
His hand glides up my flank, bunching up the shirt until I realise it’s now out of my pants, and Nate eases his fingers under my clothes.
Oh.
I get goose bumps.
His touch is like… it’s like moonshine. Like the warmth of a fireplace in winter. Like warm tea with a drop of booze.
His touch is exploratory, not at all shy as it learns the shape of my ribs, the curves of my muscles, and I dive in, sucking on a deliciously soft bit of skin on the side of his throat.
Nate gasps in appreciation, the noise soft but wanton as he rocks against me and I sense the shape of his cock.
If he wants me to stop, he’ll say it, but I doubt he will. Now I know I wasn’t going mad when I could swear I sensed his interest, noticed stolen glances, or his hand lingering in mine for longer than necessary.
I want him naked. Moaning. Open and vulnerable. Trembling under me.
I press my cock against his in answer as I slip my hands under his sweater and slide them up his back.
There’s a few scars I’ve been dying to kiss better since I brought him back from that forsaken tower, and maybe today I’ll get to do it, learning the complex geography of his body until I know it by heart.
His eyes are so dark, like deep holes in the ocean hiding treasures no one has ever been brave enough to pursue. I want him to be my adventure, and as I dive in, rubbing my hips against his until need makes my toes curl, he twists his fingers in my long hair and pulls me down.
I’ve kissed so many people, but none felt like this. A connection that can’t be broken.
His mouth raises the hair on my body and makes my blood gallop like herds of wild horses hurrying across the black steppes of Oravia.
It’s not just lust. Fate brought us together the moment I tightened my fingers on his wrist and took him out of the river, and now, finally, I get to worship him, aware what this means.
The world has gone quiet. I no longer notice the music, and the patter of paws is barely a whisper. Only the space between us exists, loud with our cherin-scented breaths and yearning.
My heart would love to crawl into his chest and beat next to his.
Maybe I cherish him even more because I almost lost him.
I don’t know, and it doesn’t matter. His mouth is so hot for my tongue.
I could spend all night kissing him, but I also want to touch so much more of him, and for that, I need to pull off his sweater.
That breaks our kiss for half a moment, and when I’m back at his warm lips—
Lady licks the side of my face.
“Fuck—No! This is—It’s not…”
I have to take a deep breath when Nate starts laughing.
It doesn’t feel very funny to me when the urgency to touch every inch of Nate’s skin is like a fire under my feet.
I grab a ball I spot under the sofa and throw it through the open door to Nate’s bedroom. “Fetch!”
Lady makes a happy yap and bounces over the floor. As soon as she’s inside, I force my shadow behind her, then use it to shut the door. Because I’m not moving away from Nate for a second.
He cocks his head, licking those pouty lips.
“Smooth. I knew you had more tricks up your sleeve,” he drawls, so very kissable in the flowing shirt he was wearing under the sweater.
A shiver trails down my back when I spot the dark circle of his nipple through the fabric, and I lean down to lick it through the fine spider silk.
Gloombane’s eel is forever frozen under Nate’s skin, a sad reminder of what my beloved has been through.
Maybe one day it will be just a faint memory.
Nate moans. His body moves like a wave, and I squeeze his hips while poking at the little bud of flesh through damp fabric. “Oh, Tristan…”
“Oh, Nate,” I repeat. “You’ve got no idea how much I’ve wanted to do this.” I rock my hips to give him a taste or what’s to come. I remember how he yielded under me so beautifully, how he moaned and asked for more. The sliver of shadow that binds us only makes every touch and whine sweeter.
I roll his shirt up and dip my head under it so I can press my forehead to his chest. He’s still slim, but there’s none of that sickly thinness which made him look as if he was about to break. Every day, I’ll feed him so much cake he will never have to suffer hunger again.
He nips on my chin, hands fiddling with the buttons of my own top, but I couldn’t care less.
I want this soft, warm skin that smells of the sun, and the sea, and the unique sweetness that is only Nate.
The thread between us pulses with emotion, and while there’s so much heat in this moment, so much urgency, there’s an understanding in the way we’re holding one another.
For once, we’re both fully present, because all pretense has crumbled, leaving us both ready to reconnect.
I groan when Nate pushes my shirt off and squeezes my back, as if enchanted by its texture. “You’re so sturdy… I bet you could dance with me all day.”
“You like that about me? That I can wrestle a bull for you?” I flex my muscles as I reach for the fastening of the loose pants he wears when at home. So many times I fantasized about how easy it would be to pull them off.
It gets me hotter by the second that he might want my cock inside him as much as I wish to fill him with my cum. Destiny or not, we just fit together. I have never wanted anyone this intensely, and he’s right here, under me.
He raises his hips to help me, and his hard cock bobs as I drag the fabric lower, revealing his lovely legs.
I lean down, nipping and sucking on the soft, hairy flesh as he places both feet on my shoulders, shivering for more of my touch.
“You put yourself between that bull and me. We were in danger, but I never felt so safe,” he rasps, kneading my flesh as I stroke his legs, hovering above his hard cock.
I realize that back then it didn’t even occur to me there was another option. I had to make sure Nate was safe. I just had to.
Just like I have to kiss the tip of his cock. Then lick the droplet of pre-cum.
“I promised,” I rasp. “You will always be safe by my side.”
I’ve been so preoccupied with him, so obsessed, I didn’t even consider looking for an outlet for this physical need in another person. How could I when Nate is all I can think about?
I run my hands up and down his thighs. Rumbles of fury roll through me every time I sense the long scar on his left leg, but I can’t kill Gloombane again, no matter how badly I wish to.
All I can do is be there for Nate as his rock.
And I can only hope that also involves my cock inside him every day.
He tastes so damn good.
Greedy. Rich. Desperate for more of my touch.
“Yes,” he whimpers, squeezing my hair as I rub my palm up and down, gently massaging his balls in the process. “You’re my hero. My knight in shining armor. And you’re real.”
I couldn’t have felt prouder. That’s who I want to be, and he sees the most perfect version of me. I failed him, but it will never happen again. I’ll spend the rest of my life proving that to him if I must.
But all those lofty ideas get fuzzy when my mind overflows with the need to fuck him. To suck his stiff cock, to tease him open and slide in.
“So very real,” I mutter and swallow his dick with a happy murmur. My hands explore every crevice, every follicle of hair, every drop of sweat I itch to claim as mine.
He utters a soft whine, and as his dick stiffens on my tongue, he gives me more of his delicious essence, body going soft under mine as Nate caresses me, rubbing every inch of skin he can reach.
“I missed you… No matter what I did, I just couldn’t forget about you.
And even when I was losing hope, I kept thinking you would come for me.
And you did….” His voice breaks as he captures my gaze.
I look up at him with my mouth obscenely full of his cock. Be still my heart. How can he be both so sexually needy and vulnerable at the same time? I want to make him come, then cradle him to sleep while giving him forehead kisses.