Chapter 38 Prince Sloth #2
Lore loved stories with her whole heart. She read the way others prayed, devoutly, hopefully, always searching for her next favorite read to analyze.
And I, who’d guarded the knowledge in this House like a dragon that horded gold, found myself a little desperate to give it all to her.
Every locked archive.
Every forbidden scroll.
Every piece of me. Everything was hers if she wanted it.
“How does anyone without wings actually reach the books up there?” she murmured to herself.
“Enchanted ladders.” I grinned as she spun around, one hand flying to her chest. I’d moved on silent feet, hunting my sweet prey. “Naturally.”
“Blood and bones,” she swore. “You scared me.”
I tipped her face up to mine, my fingers brushing beneath her chin, slow and deliberate. Her skin was warm and soft as silk. And being this close, with our mating bond vibrating with need, made me act a little recklessly.
I let my thumb linger against the curve of her jaw.
“I was aiming for breathless,” I said, lowering my voice. “I must be losing my touch.”
Her breath hitched slightly, just enough to let me know she was as affected by my touch as I was by hers. I sensed her desire, and it nearly drove me to my knees with its force.
Her steady gaze held mine, simmering with heat as her lips curved into a small, devastating smile. She was my ending, my beginning.
My favorite story for the rest of eternity.
“I wouldn’t say that.” Her voice was rougher now, filled with need.
I let my touch wander, trailing lightly from her jaw down the side of her throat, slow enough to feel the flutter of her pulse beneath my fingertips.
She shivered a little from the pleasure of my caress but gave me a playful, challenging look instead of admitting that she very much wanted more.
I wanted to press against that defiance until it shattered and she admitted how badly she wanted me to close the distance and complete our bond.
“You’re trembling, Peaches,” I said softly, my thumb resting at the hollow of her throat. “Scared of something?”
“I’m not afraid of you,” she said. “Obviously.”
My mouth curved.
“I never said you were.” I leaned in, close enough for my breath to ghost across her lips. “You’re afraid of completing our bond. Right here. Where anyone can catch us.”
Lore’s gaze flicked down to my mouth, then back up again, a dark gleam in her eyes as she pieced together how close I was to shattering.
“You’re playing a dangerous game with our bond,” she said. “Teasing it so horribly. Or maybe you’re playing with fire, teasing a goddess with a wicked streak and expecting I won’t make you pay.”
It wasn’t a warning; it was a dare.
My fingers skimmed lower, lightly tracing her collarbone as though memorizing its shape and feel for further analysis.
I felt the tension of need coiling in her, and every nerve in me stretched taut, aching to close the distance.
“I could devour you.” My voice was rough with need. “Right here. Right now.”
“But you won’t.”
I smiled, slow and hungry. “Not yet. Because once I do, I won’t stop.”
A beat passed. Then two. Lore didn’t move, didn’t so much as blink.
Then she slowly exhaled.
“Good. Don’t start unless you mean to finish.”
I held myself still, fighting the urge to pull her in, press her against the shelves, and take what had always been mine. What was ours.
But this wasn’t simply about want.
Much as I hated to admit it, this was fate. It was threaded through the very fiber of our souls, through magic older and more powerful than either of us.
I wanted her to feel it. Every inch of it, the magic, the romance. Everything she’d ever dreamed of.
I let my hand trail down the line of her sternum, pausing just before the first tie of her bodice. Her heart pounded a wild beat.
“It’s not just the bond I desire,” I said. “It’s you.”
Lore swallowed hard. “I want you too.”
The space between us and our restraint was shrinking faster now, not with the growing need, but with the force of gravity.
I let my forehead rest against hers, our breaths colliding, syncing. We were already threading together, becoming one.
“You know what happens if we finish this,” I said, my lips brushing against hers.
“There’s no going back.”
Her fingers slowly came up and slid into my hair. She pulled just slightly, enough to let me know she accepted. Me. Us. Our bond.
The last threads of my restraint snapped.
My mouth descended on hers and I kissed her like I’d been starving for decades, a lifetime, and just found a feast.
She gasped into my mouth, and I swallowed it, pressing her back into the nearest shelf as the books rattled with the force.
There was nothing gentle in this kiss, only desperation. My hands were everywhere, memorizing, exploring. Claiming.
I’d already felt her come undone, already knew intimately the way her body responded to my fingers when I’d buried them inside her against that tree.
But this was different.
This felt like the true first time I was touching my mate.
Her fingers curled against my chest, and when I deepened the kiss, she made a sound that made all thought fade and primal need take over.
The bond flared. It wasn’t just a thread now; it was a raging inferno that razed all distance between our souls.
I pulled back just enough to read her expression. Her lips were swollen, her eyes dark with want.
“You’re sure?”
She nodded, breathless, her gaze fixed to my mouth. “Claim me.”