Chapter 23 #2
We haven’t moved for hours, but my muscles feel as if we’ve battled. Before I slipped into the memory with him, I’d been marveling at the many facets of his power. A world of possibilities, and I’d do anything just to return it to him.
I’m never going to be able to learn it all, am I? I can’t speak the words aloud.
You will, in time, he answers. “And we don’t expect you to know everything.”
“I know.” I flash him an apologetic look. “But the kings and RAC clearly expect me to. I expect me to.”
“That’s unfair to you.”
I shrug. “Life is rarely fair, is it?”
Pierce purses his lips, and it’s an effort not to smile at the pouty look he’s giving me.
“Have we reached the pessimistic portion of our training?” he asks, his tone slipping into that low, seductive lilt that sends warm shivers dancing over my skin.
He shifts to his knees, crawling across the small space toward me.
The sight alone is an undoing, but I hold my position. “I think a bit of pessimism is earned,” I say, but I’m already breathless as he reaches me.
“Is that right?” he whispers, sliding his cheek along mine, his lips teasing the shell of my ear.
“Yes.” I breathe the word, arching my neck to give him better access. “The circumstances—”
“—are dire,” he finishes, pressing kisses down my neck that set me ablaze.
“For certain.” He lingers on my collarbone, and everything inside me tenses, our bond tightening, pulsing with need.
“And yet,” he continues, drawing back to meet my gaze, “I can only see you.” His brown eyes trail over the curves of my face. “You’re here. My mate.”
The words send tendrils of heat spiraling beneath my skin.
“I’m here,” he continues, dragging his lips lightly over mine. “Your mate.”
I break.
I lift my hands, cupping his face. “I love you.” I’m unable to hold the words back.
Pierce visibly swallows, shifting before me, sliding his arms behind my back and adjusting us until my spine kisses the cool floor and he’s settled between my thighs.
There’s no race to tear off our clothes.
No greedy intensity. Not when he’s looking down at me like this.
“I love you,” he says, trailing one hand along my jaw. “That’s the reason I can’t be pessimistic. Even with the Kings’ List and the Faders and the Royal Authority Council . . . even with all of that . . . I can feel nothing but love. You’re here. And to me, to all of us, that’s all that matters.”
Because there were moments when they thought I wouldn’t be. When I thought I wouldn’t be.
That reality hits me like a stone.
I shake my head. “I shouldn’t let these things distract me from the good that brought us together.”
Pierce dips his head, his mouth slanting over mine in a searing kiss.
“You’re allowed to feel however you want.
And just know . . .” His words slow as his hand moves down, lazy and explorative over the thin cotton shirt I wear.
Lower, over the satin pants that cover me.
“I’ll be right here to remind you of the good when you get lost in the bad. ”
I gasp as he touches me. Brazen and possessive. The bond between us is so strong, it’s like it’s been hewn from the emeralds surrounding us. It blazes and burns right down the center of me as he moves above me, his hands everywhere at once, his mouth on mine.
He’s got his power back. I gave it to him? How?
“Sharing,” he groans against my mouth before slipping his tongue between my lips.
I dig my nails into his back as he holds me tight, using his mental gifts on me. I feel that mental touch everywhere—a soft caress on my inner thigh, a hot brush against that sensitive bundle of nerves that makes me tremble, a long, demanding stroke down my back.
“Pierce,” I moan.
The weight of his power has lifted, allowing my soul to breathe, since his power isn’t pounding against that locked door inside me.
Not with the bond like it is now . . . that door wide open.
It’s so damn freeing. My head spins with the loss of control, with the assurance that Pierce has me and won’t let me fall.
“That’s right,” he says, shifting between my thighs. “I’ve got you. I’ve always got you.”
I catch his gaze, feeling the sincerity of those words down our bond. I reach up, kissing him, pouring every ounce of love and need and connection I can into that motion, sending it all radiating down our bond.
He doesn’t take it slow after that.
One second, I’m fully dressed; the next, I’m as bare to him as he is to me, spun around with my back against his chest, both of us on our knees.
“I love it when you have your power back.” I gasp, reaching up and behind me to lay my palm against his cheek. “You’re so much better with it than me.”
His hands glide around me from behind, one palming my breast while the other slides between my thighs.
“You’re my match,” he says. “You will exceed my talents in due time.”
I don’t argue, can’t even form words when he’s stroking me like he is. I’m wrapped up in him, body and mind, and I can’t get enough. He pushes me right to the edge of pleasure until I’m a tight string about to snap. Every touch, kiss, word has me throbbing, aching.
“Pierce.” I arch against him. “Please.”
Please, what? He speaks the question into my mind.
You know what. Even my mental voice is breathless.
Ah, ah, he says. Show me what you want me to do to you.
Fire licks my spine at the challenge, the demand.
I smile, pressing back against him while conjuring the images, then draw them up in his mind—him positioned behind me like he is now, slicking his length through my wetness, generously coating himself before circling backward, teasing me there before slowly, gently inching his way in.
Darling. Let me make that a reality for you.
He fists his cock, dragging it up and down my heat, immediately reenacting the fantasy I showed him.
He’s wet as he guides his thick head to that tight hole, circling it.
I gasp, a thrill shocking me as he slowly slips in an inch.
The space is so snug as he gently pushes in, but he’s so slick he almost glides, the sensation spinning my mind in the best way.
This angle allows him access to the deepest parts of me, and he’s holding us there in delicious anticipation.
Pierce draws out of me and does it again just as slowly.
I do my best to match the pace, relishing the feeling while also aching for more.
“You’re perfect,” he says, his voice strained as his hands tighten on my hips. The grip intensifies as I push back when he thrusts, the two of us finding a rhythm that works us both into knots. The bond between us is solid and burning, only adding to the tension pushing me right up to the edge.
His hands roam over my body that’s on full display for him, massaging my heavy breasts, plucking my nipples until they’re pert for him. Then lower, rolling his fingers over my clit and dipping two into my heat in time with his thrusts. In this position, there’s only so much I can do beyond hang on—
The thought leads right to another one, and before I know what I’m doing, I’m taking back his power. Using it like he’s used on me so many times. A mental caress over every nerve ending he has, sparking them with pleasure.
“Fuck,” he groans, the word sounding refined from his lips. “Rylee.”
Pride flows through me, right next to the aching pleasure as he slides in and out of my body until I see stars.
I see everything good and perfect stretching out in front of me.
“You’re handling the power like it was made for you,” he groans, his lips on my neck before he drags his teeth gently down it, causing pleasure to coil beneath my skin.
Everywhere he touches feels hot and needy.
Everywhere we connect feels all at once too much and not enough.
And when he thrusts into me again while pressing down on that sensitive spot between my thighs . . .
I fly.
“Pierce!” I gasp his name as my orgasm rips through me, sharp and blinding and beautiful, traveling from the crown of my head to the tips of my toes.
“Rylee,” he groans, spilling into me, sending one end of pleasure right into another until my breaths are ragged and my body is limp, only held up by his arms wrapped around me.
We catch our breath slowly, holding each other as the bond settles between us, the needs of it sated for now. Relief fills the very dregs of my soul. And I can feel his power flowing freely between the two of us, intricately working together like the silk threads of a spiderweb—
The connection severs, and it all slams back into me. The full force of it nearly drowns me before I shove it back behind his door and lock it.
“Too much,” he says. “We did too much today.”
I shake my head, trying to find my voice as he carefully pulls out of me, quickly scooping me into his arms and carrying me to his bathing chamber.
He draws a bath, and we sink into the warm water, soaking our tired muscles.
I relish his soft, caring touch as we wash.
Revel in the comfortable, content silence that wraps around us.
And after we’ve dried off, we retire to his luxurious bed. He draws the covers over us, dragging the tip of his finger down the line of my jaw.
“Tomorrow, we’ll take more breaks between training,” he assures me.
“I’m fine.”
“Rylee,” he chides me, eyeing the pillow I can’t raise my head from.
“I’m fine,” I assure him. “You did this to me. Not your power.”
He opens his mouth to argue but stops at my silent look. He settles next to me, holding me.
“Don’t let me sleep too long,” I whisper. “I need to get back to training.”
“All right,” he agrees reluctantly.
Because he has to.
Because he’s only the beginning.
I need to master all four of their powers if I want any shot at giving them back. But with everything going on, I’m not sure we have the time.
“And after,” I continue, sleep threatening to take me entirely, “I need to go to the Ashlands.” My eyes are heavy. Closing. “Will you take me, Pierce?”
“Wherever you want to go,” he says, but he sounds very far away. “Always.”