Chapter 41
He loved her. The mere thought made her dizzy with joy.
She’d known it already—had felt it in the gentle way he touched her, seen it in his eyes when he looked at her, tasted it in his kiss—but hearing the words from his lips trumped all the others.
He took her hand and brought it to his lips. The chaste, gentlemanly kiss only undid her further. “I don’t deserve you, but I started to fall in love with you that day I gave you the tour of the greenhouse.”
The admission sparked an entirely different kind of tear in the corner of her eyes.
“It struck me like a blow from nowhere. I tried to ignore it, to remind myself that you deserve better than me.” Drystan’s head drooped as he released her hand. “I can’t give you the life you deserve. Peace, security, happiness…”
She touched his cheek, and he lifted his face to her.
“You already have. My family has the money they need to live a much better life than before. I sang again. And for the first time in many years, I’ve done what I wanted—for me. You gave me the freedom to be myself, not always the dutiful youngest child trying to keep her family together while breaking apart herself. You brought me back to life and helped me find a beautiful melody in my dreary world.”
Drystan tipped her onto the bed, his body coming to cover hers.
“The blood—” she began.
“I don’t care.”
His lips caught hers, soft but demanding all at once. Ceridwen wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders, embracing the man she loved as his weight pressed her into the pillow-like softness below.
Her head swam. Her breath drew short until she no longer cared about the mussed dress. She didn’t feel the softness of the sheets, or Drystan’s heavy weight. Only his lips and hers, locked together in an embrace she wished would last forever.
“Can I take this off?” He fingered the edge of her dress, voice thick and rich.
She licked her lips and nodded, unable to form words.
He helped her rise. With infinite care and slowness, he unlaced the back of the dress until it gaped about her form and slipped to the ground.
Gooseflesh broke out over her skin as Drystan ran his fingertips across her face, around her ear, and down her neck, while he worked behind her, unlacing the corset. Every nerve ending tingled. Heavy breaths and the slip of material accompanied the pounding of her heart, the only sounds in the room.
She yearned to see him, to trace the muscles of his bare chest and the dusting of dark hair that graced its surface. Yet she dared not move. Instead, she savored, letting herself feel rather than think or pursue.
Piece by piece, he undressed her. Nerves in her gut twisted tight as the last of the clothing fell away. The cool air teasing her skin did nothing to ease the blazing warmth within. She bit her lip, strategically positioning her hands in a final show of modesty.
Drystan circled, his gaze raking her from head to toe before he stepped in close. The warmth of his skin jumped the narrow distance between them as he brushed her hair back from her shoulders.
“You’re shaking.”
She hadn’t even noticed. Her eyes were glued to his, the brilliant blue that threatened to undo her even more than his touch. He encircled her with his arms, pulling her close until her hands slipped away and their chests pressed together in the most delicious way.
“Are you having second thoughts? If you are, it’s fine, I’ll—”
“No.” She smiled up at him. “None. I want you. I’ve never wanted anyone half so much.” And I don’t know what comes next. What our future holds. She’d never forgive herself if she walked away from him now. She wanted all of him, even if only for a short while.
“You’re my treasure. The light that keeps me going. I love you, Ceridwen.”
She stood on her toes, reaching up to kiss him with her whole heart. His embrace spoke more than words. Each press of his lips was a promise, one she accepted and gave back in return.
She couldn’t recall how they ended up on the bed or when he shed his pants, but none of it mattered. All she could think of was Drystan.
Ceridwen gasped as he reached between her spread thighs, gliding his fingers through her slickness. He rubbed his thumb over her taut nub, and she bucked her hips toward him, eager for his touch. Books were her only experience of such things, but she knew what came next. She yearned for it. Feared it. Needed it with every speck of her soul.
“Drystan?” She tangled her fingers in his hair as he worked kisses down her body—her collarbone, one tender nipple, her belly—only stopping and glancing up at her after placing a kiss below her belly button.
“I want to taste you here, Ceridwen.” He palmed her between her legs.
“I—” She didn’t know what to say exactly, but she’d deny him nothing. She nodded, biting her bottom lip in anticipation.
Drystan’s devastating grin alone made her whimper, and then he settled in between her legs. He had kissed her mouth like a master, but the way he kissed her there put even that to shame. Each stroke of his tongue brought more pleasure than touching herself ever had. The short stubble on his cheek grazed lightly against her thighs, only heightening the sensation of his wet tongue against her opening. Ceridwen wiggled, unable to hold still amid the torrent of pleasure. Drystan flatted his palm against her stomach. The other gripped her thigh. She clenched the sheets, holding on for dear life as he brought her closer to the pinnacle of pleasure.
An entirely unladylike gasping moan tore from her lips as he slid one callused finger deep into her wetness. He thrust into her, firmly but gently, rubbing something within her. And then she tipped over the edge in a blinding spiral. She called his name, begged, as he drew out her release.
Sweat dewed her skin as she came back to herself, panting, pleasure tingling through her body, which settled in languid contentment atop the bed.
“You’re a beauty, Ceridwen,” Drystan said, wiping her wetness from his face. He crawled atop her, careful to keep his weight from pressing on her too heavily. “A wonder.”
“So are you,” she replied, breathless, before caressing his cheek.
Only a rare man could manage to remain such a tender lover and protector while containing a monster within.
Raised on his forearms, Drystan looked down in pure rapture. “I’ll love you all the days I have left and even beyond.”
She traced a scar on his arm, the evidence of years of magic and struggle. “Yet I’ll love you even longer.”
The hair on his legs tickled her thighs as he slid against the wetness between her legs, earning a whimper.
He adjusted his weight, sliding one hand between them to graze over one stiff nipple, around her naval, and lower still until he positioned himself. Their gazes caught and held in the meager light.
She gasped as he pressed into her. The fullness of him stretched her in new ways.
“Ceridwen?” He froze, breathing heavily.
“I’m all right.” She brushed away the hair falling around his ears as he eased his weight on top of her. The pain subsided as quickly as it came, a sharp stab that faded as she relaxed against Drystan and savored the feeling of him seated within her.
Another prickle of pain flashed through her when he began to move again, but she bit her lip and held on to the man above her. By the second thrust, it’d already begun to fade. The friction of his gentle thrusts stirred up pleasure even greater than what he’d given moments ago.
“Perfect. Glorious,” he praised with every motion of his hips.
Fire licked through her body as she moaned against him, unable to contain the sweet feelings he elicited as they moved together. Slow. Steady. Claiming. Infinitely more exquisite than a perfectly played sonata.
With each near withdrawal, she gripped him tighter, savoring the feel of his hot skin under her hands as they grazed his back, his shoulders, and tangled in his hair. Her body moved on instinct alone, her hips arching for his.
“Ceridwen,” he groaned the first time she moved, meeting his thrust with eagerness of her own.
A knot built in her core, constricting with each coming together. She was beyond words, beyond thought, giving in to the will of their bodies moving together as one in perfect harmony.
She slipped her hand from his hair to dig into the sheets when he adjusted his weight and grasped her backside to pull her tight against him. Impossibly, he slid deeper, testing the limits of her giving body in the most delicious way.
With two more deep thrusts, something within her snapped. Ceridwen screamed as pleasure like she’d never known barreled through her. Her toes curled into the sheets. Her back arched. Her head swam until she saw spots before her eyes.
Drystan still moved within her, drawing out her pleasure as she came back to the world, clinging to him with everything she had. “Drystan,” she breathed against his fevered skin.
His body shook as a groan slipped from his lips. She cupped his cheek as his eyes closed. With a few more quick thrusts, he stilled. His weight pushed her into the sheets as he nearly collapsed atop her, but she didn’t mind. Instead, she savored the feel of his skin against hers everywhere they touched.
Being with him was perfection, bliss. Everything she’d never known she needed.
He found the nook between her neck and shoulder as he kissed a path from her ear and down her upper arm, heavy breaths floating over her skin between each love mark.
“My beauty. My love.” The trail of his hand over her thigh, still locked around him, sent a new tingle through her. “You’re all right? I didn’t hurt you?”
A sweet ache filled the space between her legs, one he still occupied, but she’d never call it pain. “Better than,” Ceridwen promised. “I didn’t know. Had no idea…” A small laugh slipped from her lips. “We should have done this sooner.”
His chest rumbled, reigniting the fire within her. “This is already more than I ever hoped for. When you figured out what I was, I thought all hope of you loving me to be lost.”
At first, she’d thought so too, but she’d never admit that to him. Not now. Certainly not like this. “It’s a good thing I’d already fallen in love with you,” she replied instead. “Light. Dark. I accept it all.”
He groaned as he slid from between her legs to lie at her side. Instantly, she missed him. The closeness. The connection. Ceridwen snuggled against him, lacing a leg over his as she trailed her fingers down his chest.
Sadness seeped into his features as he turned to her, their faces only a breath apart. “Whatever happens to me, I’ll make sure you’re safe. Provided for. Protected.”
“Don’t talk like that,” she chided. “Not tonight.” They’d figure out a plan, a way forward. But that darkness could wait until tomorrow. She didn’t want anything to cloud the beauty of this night.
“If you command it.”
“I do.” She sealed her words with a kiss, deep and full of the lingering desire building anew under her skin. His hand sliding along her side and over her hip only fueled that ache.
“Can we do it again?” she asked, near breathless.
He raised his brows. “Again?”
Heat blazed to her cheeks. She bit her lip, slightly embarrassed at her eagerness.
Deep laughter rumbled from his lips, vibrating against her body where it lay against his own. “Who knew I found such a lusty savior?” His wolfish grin melted her further. “Give me a little bit, but I think I can accommodate my lady’s desires.”