58. A Bright Future
58
A brIGHT FUTURE
*Raven*
I press kisses along Kieran’s neck as he carries me through the palace I felt so alone in for so long. Now, not only am I its queen, but there’s no shame in my husband dragging me out of a party after announcing he needs to fuck me. I feel beautiful and wanted for the very first time within these walls.
His skin burns under my mouth, rich with his scent. I want him, need him, even with the baby already growing in my stomach. It’s lucky we want a big family because I don’t know how I could ever stop feeling like this.
Kieran kicks open the door to our room, and I expect him to toss me on the bed. His scent is growing headier, proof of how much he wants me. But he lays me down like I’m glass, nothing like the brother I thought I grew up with.
“I love you,” he says.
“I love you too.” I grab the collar of his royal robe. “Now come here.”
He obliges with a smile and crushes his mouth to mine. When he joins me on the bed, flattens his body against me, I can feel his cock already responding. I grind up into him, resenting the layers of robes and my dress. He’s so close and so far away.
I break the kiss in frustration. “Do you think they dress us like this in the hopes we’ll have a small family? Something lesser nobles dreamed up so they could steal the throne more easily?”
Kieran chuckles. “Antsy, my love?”
I meet his gaze, trying to press all my love, trust, and hope for the future into him. The man I’ve come to know as my mate won’t deny me. “Tired of waiting for our happy ending.”
His amusement softens, and I see my love reflected back in his face. “Then stop waiting.”
He reaches down then slides his hand up the inside of my leg. There are a thousand layers of fabric between us, but beneath my dress, there’s only a little cotton. He presses kisses to the tops of my breasts, light and teasing. When he cups my wet heat, already soaked through the thin barrier, I groan and start unlacing the front of his pants.
But Kieran knows how to drive me even wilder. He stills my hands, presses them against his bulge, and rocks into me. I repeat the rhythm against his hand. He slips beneath the final layer and circles the bud at the apex of my legs. I moan his name.
“Louder,” he murmurs. “Let everyone know you’re mine, and I’m yours.”
“Kieran!”
His thumb settles against the sensitive bud as he fucks two fingers into me without hesitation. Pleasure builds in my gut, but I need more. I pull one of my breasts, the one marked with his sun-shaped mating bite, out of the top of my dress and press his head toward it. He doesn’t disappoint. Kieran scrapes his teeth over the mating bite, sending bolts of euphoria down my spine, then takes my hardened nipple between his lips and twirls it. I groan and squeeze his cock harder.
“Please,” I gasp. “I need you.”
“Louder.” His voice is sing-song, teasing against my skin.
“I need you!” I shout. “Please, Kieran, fuck me!”
“Beautiful.” He ducks his head back to my breast, sucking into my mating bite, and pulls out of me to yank down his pants.
I squirm at the loss, shameless. This is my castle, my home, my mate. Our child in my womb, my promise of a brighter future. Kieran shoves my underwear aside, pushes up my skirts, and slides home in a single, smooth motion. I nearly scream. Happy tears bead at the corners of my eyes. I’m so full, so surrounded by his scent. I could spend forever here, pinned beneath my powerful mate.
And then he starts moving. I realize his teasing was a flimsy facade as he sets a punishing pace. He’s just as hungry as I am. He needs me as badly as I need him. I claw at his shoulders, writhe, moan at the top of my lungs. He grunts in rhythm, muttering half-nonsense praises. I’m beautiful, perfect, exactly what he never knew he was looking for.
Pleasure explodes through my body, and my vision nearly goes white. Kieran follows me a second after with a stuttered groan of my name. Then, he collapses onto his side, still half-hilted within me. I suck in deep breaths of cool air, those happy tears sliding down my cheeks.
“My love?” he says with a note of worry. “Is something wrong?”
I shake my head. “I’m just so happy.”
He laughs. “Well, that’s okay.”
“No.” I twist onto my side so I can face him, trying not to dislodge his cock. I don’t want to be any further away from him than I am right now. “I’m so happy. Happier than I ever thought I could be.”
He cups my cheek, his eyes shining. “So am I.”
“We’re going to fix this place.” Visions of a kinder Dun’s Crossing, one where no one ever goes through what I did, dance through my head. “Us–and our child, our heir.”
He puts a hand on my stomach. “And we’re going to raise our children better than my mother and father raised us.”
“That won’t be hard.” My smile fades as the years of pain here try to force themselves into my focus.
“Don’t think of them now,” he says.
“What should I think of instead?” I ask.
He smirks. “Our future.”
“I know you, Kieran Solberg.” I trace his lips with one finger. “You’re not thinking of the kingdom anymore.”
His smirk deepens. “Well, when a man’s future also happens to involve stripping his very sexy wife out of her clothes and making love to her all night long, can you blame him?”
“Not when my future involves the same.” I grin and reach for the clasp on his royal robes. We’ll lead tomorrow. Tonight, we just get to enjoy each other.