35. Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Five
V iridian opens my chamber door slowly and steps inside. Without turning around, he presses it shut behind him before making his way to me.
I rise to meet him, and his lips find mine. His arms circle me, and the safety I feel while he holds me is unparalleled. I press my palms to his chest, gripping his shirt.
He breaks from the kiss, touching his forehead to mine.
“How is your father?” he asks, voice low.
“He’s all right.” I sigh. “For now.”
But that could change any minute.
Viridian hums in agreement, as if he knows what I’ve left unsaid.
“And Acantha?”
“She’s well,” I say. “She’s strong.”
His hand finds my face, thumb brushing back and forth against my cheek. “That seems to run in the family.”
My mouth curves into the hint of a smile.
“How are you?” Concern tightens his mouth. “I know things were…” he pauses. “Not well between us when you left.”
Now, finding his eyes, I smile. “I’m perfectly all right, now.”
His mouth perks up. “I’m glad.” Then his expression turns serious. “Would you like to talk tonight? About what you saw?”
“No,” I murmur, my eyes falling to his lips. “That can wait until tomorrow. Right now,” I say, my body thrumming with desire, every trace of fatigue stowed away for the moment, “I want to kiss you.”
He raises his brows, expression darkening. “Is that so?”
“Yes,” I say. Then, placing a hand to the back of his neck, I pull his face down to mine.
We collide. His mouth is no longer gentle, no longer soft. No, now, he kisses me with such need, it’s as if I am the only thing in the universe that will ever quench his undying thirst. I run my hands through his hair, grabbing fistfuls of it while I draw him in, closer. He responds, arms snaking around me and clutching my torso.
“Please,” I breathe. Right now, there’s only one thing on my mind. One thing I so desperately need. “Let me have you. All of you.”
“Are you sure?” Viridian’s voice constricts, the way it does when he’s anxious or unsure of himself. “You know what this means. Once it’s in place, the mate bond cannot be broken.”
“Yes,” I tell him. And I mean it. Every fiber in my body has waited for this moment. I’ve never been surer about anything in my life. “I want this. I want you , Viridian. Now and forever. Every part of me is yours.”
“Gods,” he grinds out, eyelids fluttering. “You have no idea how long I’ve been dying to hear you say that.”
Biting my lip, I let out an exhale.
My lack of experience suddenly makes me self-conscious. “You should know that I’ve only been with one other man.” I don’t dare let myself think about the others he’s been with—how much more experienced they are at pleasuring a male compared to me.
But he only licks his lips, looking at me like a man starved.
“There hasn’t been anyone else for me, Cryssa. No one but you.”
“You…” I pause. “You’ve never…?”
Viridian steps closer to me until I’m backed up against the wall. He grabs my face with one hand and tilts it up to his own.
“I may have never been with a woman, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t repeatedly dreamed of fucking you senseless until you’re screaming my name.”
“Oh gods,” I gasp. I can already feel the wetness gathering between my legs.
Viridian flashes a wicked smirk at me. As if he knows it, too.
He lets me go and slowly takes a step back. “Get on the bed for me, Little Fawn. I’m going to make both of our fantasies come true.”
Biting my lip, I do as he says. I lay on the bed, propping myself up onto my elbows so I can look at him.
Viridian’s eyes lock with mine, deep amber smoking like embers. He pulls his shirt over his head and discards it, letting it fall to the floor. My eyes roam across his broad chest, and I ache to touch the toned muscle I see there. He takes something from my vanity table, and then moves to the bed, closing the space between us. Watching me intently, he pulls his hands evenly apart, stretching a hair ribbon until it spans the width of his shoulders. His knees press into the bed, one on each side of my waist.
Still maintaining eye contact, he roughly grabs my wrists while he straddles me, moving my hands above my head.
A breath escapes my lips. All I can do is look at him, at the dark haze falling over his expression, his hungry stare. I’m transfixed.
He takes the hair ribbon, slowly, intently, tying it around my wrists. He pulls the ends of the ribbon, until my wrists are bound. Tight.
My chest rises with my breath, my breasts with them. My nipples brush against his chest, already hardening under my silk dressing robe. My thin, thin dressing robe.
Lightly, he tugs at the tie at my waist—the only thing keeping my dressing robe closed around me. With two fingers, he pushes the silk aside, exposing me. Fully.
His stare leaves mine, only to look down at my nipples. He lowers one hand to my chest, between my breasts, while the other pins my wrists down.
The slight touch has me arching my back and parting my lips.
Viridian’s hand on my chest moves upward to the base of my neck, fingers pressing down on each side.
I gasp, tilting my head back to lean my neck into his touch. I need him.
Gods, I need him.
“I’m going to devour you,” Viridian says thickly.
Licking my lips, I muster a nod. He kisses me hard. His tongue sweeps into my mouth, claiming mine for his own. I squeeze my hands into fists and tug at the restraints.
Viridian’s hand unclasps from my wrists, and he lowers his face from my mouth to my neck. The warmth of his breath sends shivers down my spine. Heat gathers in my core, until it’s almost too much.
His lips part, and he leaves a scorching trail down my chest and stomach with his tongue. When his face is between my hips, he looks up at me. The intensity in those amber eyes has me breathing heavier, the embers in his stare enough to drive me more desperate with need .
“Please,” I pant.
“Say it, Little Fawn. Tell me what you need.”
“You.”
“Mmm, I’d imagine you do, don’t you?”
“Please. Viridian . I need you. So badly.”
Viridian’s eyes close, and he dips his face to my inner thigh. He breathes in the scent of me, inhaling deeply. Then he opens his mouth, gently sucking at my skin and lightly nipping at it with his teeth.
I whimper.
And it’s only the slightest noise, but it seems to extinguish the last ounce of whatever self-control he has left.
Roughly, he hooks both of his hands under my thighs, and in one motion, pulls me closer to his face. When he does, his mouth meets my warmth. I’m so tender there that I moan and arch my back into him.
His tongue flicks me while his lips suck and play. He draws another moan from me, and I writhe on the bed, my hips bucking against his mouth. He removes one hand from the back of my thighs and presses down on my lower abdomen to keep me in place.
I can’t stop moaning now. And I don’t care who hears.
The only thing I can think about, the only thing I can sense, is Viridian’s mouth and the searing pleasure that has me seconds away from coming undone. Without stopping what he’s doing, he slips a finger into me, and then two, curling them to caress me from the inside .
Shattering, I cry out, barely able to fight the urge to close my legs around his face.
I breathe heavily, still reeling from the euphoria.
Viridian moves himself on top of me. “I’m not finished with you yet,” he growls as his eyes find mine again.
My breath quickens. My body feels like it’s on fire. It’s blistering, in the best way possible.
He unfastens his pants and lets them fall to the floor. Revealing himself.
My eyes widen at the sight of his massive length.
Oh, gods.
Then, with one hand, he positions himself against me. He rubs his erection into my wetness. Closing my eyes, I throw my head back, barely able to contain how gods-damned good it feels, just rubbing against me.
“Look at me, Little Fawn,” he commands, his voice hoarse. “I want to see how good it feels when I stretch you out.”
I open my eyes and look at him. He stares back at me, gaze mingled with mine, as if he were hanging onto every breath, every moan, every plea.
I gasp when he enters me. He moves slowly, at first, going deeper and deeper, until he’s completely buried in me.
My voice breaks—a mangled, blissful sound.
Viridian keeps his stare locked with mine, even as he pulls himself out, only to thrust back into me again.
And again. And again. And again.
Sweat slicks my skin, the sweet friction between our bodies driving me wild.
Pressure builds in my core, and I can feel my muscles spasming. Pulsing. Clenching around him while he drives into me over and over and over.
My moans come faster. Each louder than the last.
“Harder. Please—oh gods, harder .”
Viridian does, the fire in his expression burning brighter. Need directs his movements, his hips rocking into mine until I’m so close to the edge.
“Viridian,” I cry.
“That’s it, Little Fawn,” he murmurs. “ Scream for me .”
He doesn’t stop, keeping an even, steady pace. I can feel myself trembling.
Then I am screaming.
“Viridian, Viridian, Viridian.”
And I come undone.
It’s not much longer before he comes crashing into me. And when he does, the overwhelming sensation fills every fiber of my body. Because it’s not just my own pleasure I feel.
It’s his, too.
Even though it’s barely been a minute, another all-consuming crescendo has me gliding farther into ecstasy. I cry out, and it’s the sound of raw, unadulterated pleasure.
Viridian kisses me softly, lips lingering on mine. He moves to lay beside me, and gently pulls me to his chest, tightly wrapping his arms around me.
I don’t know how long we lay there like that.
But I know that I’ve never felt at home in a man’s arms the way I do now. With the mate bond locked into place, I feel whole. As if my entire life, there was a missing piece. A hole that I never knew needed to be filled.
Viridian’s happiness meshes with mine. Now, I’m not sure where mine ends and his begins.
Then I hear his voice in my mind.
“I love you, Cryssa Thurdred Avanos.”
Smiling at him, I reply.
“And I love you. More than anything.”
“More than anything,” he repeats.
I rest my head on his chest. And at some point, my droopy eyes close.