Chapter 33 #2
Once we were alone, Shade leaned back to study me intently, cupping my face like he was memorizing every inch, his thumb reverent as it brushed my cheek. Those gray eyes weren’t quite shimmering silver, but they whirled with emotion. I got lost in them, taking him in as he did the same.
“Are you well?” he asked, just hearing his gruff voice made that missing hummingbird appear again, wings beating against my stomach at a rapid pace. I smiled softly and rested my forehead on his chest again.
“I’m fine. We couldn’t get away, we’re in Yinora.” I sighed, the exhaustion of the long journey catching up to me now that I was in Shade’s arms again.
“I thought as much,” Shade said, placing me on my feet. I swayed slightly, and he helped to remove my traveling jacket. A small pot of hot coals sat in the corner, heating the tent. “Have you seen the army yet?”
“We only just arrived; I came straight here to let you out, Terym needed to check in with his generals anyway.”
“Did you miss me, Solis?”
The pet name never failed to send a flush of warmth flooding through me and heat pooling in my core.
The others returned before I could respond, laden with trays of food.
The scent of roast meat and gravy made my mouth water, actually hungry for the first time since I’d sent Shade into his lamp the morning we left Prallues.
We scarfed down the meal in silence while Wista prepared a bath. Once ready, I was quick to send her away, knowing she would be just as tired as I was after the long journey. Eleanor left shortly after, Meline fetching her when her own bath was ready.
I was tempted to take a long soak in the warm water, but I wanted to be with Shade even more, so I stayed in the water long enough to ensure I was properly clean, then donned a nightdress Wista had laid out for me.
One of my own since I refused to wear another of those lacy things since the wedding night.
Although it was more conservative, when I stepped out from behind the privacy screen, Shade’s heated gaze made it feel anything but.
He perused my body, those beautiful gray eyes lightening until they glimmered silver.
The intensity of his reaction heated my blood, need consuming me so suddenly I squeezed my thighs together.
I had gone so long without him. Too long. I needed him.
Now.
As if he could read my thoughts, he crooked his finger, beckoning me closer from his spot on the large bed.
“Come here, my Solis.” Laced with obvious desire, his voice took a deep gravelly edge, sending another wave of heat through me. When he commanded me like that … Gods. It lit my nerve endings on fire, turning my insides into a needy, wanton mess. It made me crave him even more.
Quick to obey, I met him at the bed and stood between his spread legs, waiting to see what he would do. He brushed a wet strand of hair behind my ear, cupping my cheek and pressing his forehead to mine.
“By the Gods, what are you doing to me?”
It wasn’t a question I could answer, not when I had the exact same visceral reaction in his presence, our bodies attuned to each other, drawn in by a magnetic force neither of us could resist.
We stayed that way a moment, our breaths intermingling between us while my heart pounded erratically in my chest. When our mouths finally met, it was with such intense fervor that every kiss before paled in comparison.
It was a claiming.
A duel of tongues.
Shade fisted my hair, and I moaned, ravenous for his touch.
This. This was everything I needed and missed these past weeks.
His intoxicating scent intensified, and he pulled me closer, my already hardened nipples brushing against his chest stoking the inferno burning deep within my core. All thought fled my mind until everything narrowed to the way he dominated me with lips and tongue.
He pillaged my mouth with the same passionate desperation I felt, holding all of my focus.
My fingers skimmed under his shirt and up his chest, the ridges of his scars smooth beneath my touch.
I climbed onto his lap, wanting him closer, and the needy sound that left my lips when my core met his hardness should have embarrassed me, but I was too far gone to care.
We were separated only by my undergarment and his pants.
Too much clothing. I wanted more. I wanted skin.
Shade pulled back, both of us panting for breath, and he rested his forehead on mine again. I closed my eyes and rocked my hips slightly, grinding against him and seeking the friction my body craved.
“We should stop,” he groaned, but his hands held my hips, guiding my movements against him, exactly as I imagined he would months ago.
He was right; we were in a tent, the walls so thin everything could be heard on the other side.
Neither of us stopped, and I didn’t care.
I was wound too tightly. It had been too long since we touched. Too long since I found release.
I needed him. To touch me. To pleasure me.
More than I needed my next breath.
I leaned forward, my mouth to his ear, and whispered, “I need you. All of you.”