Chapter 16 #2
“Thank you, brother.” His voice roughened as he dipped his forehead to mine, the gesture brief but heavy with everything he wasn’t saying. He did the same with Everly, then turned, striding at a run toward where Nalari waited.
I watched him go until the night swallowed his silhouette. My chest tightened with unease. In all the years I’d known Elias, he’d been the one who stood between us and danger, our shield and protector. Not just for his kingdom, but for us. His chosen family.
So what demanded that he leave us behind in a realm we knew nearly nothing about?
“What was that about?” I muttered, running a hand over my face.
Everly pressed her mouth together in a thin line. “I don’t know. I saw him speaking to a human female. Their interaction was . . . heated. Then he said he had to go.”
“Did you recognize the female?” I asked.
“I don’t think so.”
The worry in my stomach curled tighter. “Point her out to me tomorrow.”
She squared her shoulders and shook her head. “He told me to stay away from the female. He doesn’t want any of us drawing attention to her.”
My chest pinched, and I dragged a hand through my hair. “I don’t like this.”
“Neither do I.”
Elias didn’t rattle easily. Whatever had driven him to leave so suddenly was no small thing.
“Brenton?” Finley’s voice carried from the tent and through the night. Soft, but she pulled me like a tether.
“Go to your mate,” Everly urged. “I’ll take down Elias’s tent.”
“What of the human female?” I shot a glance at where Elias had vanished.
“We leave her alone,” Everly said. “We trust Elias to handle whatever is going on.”
I shook my head, not comfortable with the idea, but I trusted Elias. Quietly, I went back inside my tent.
Finley sat on the edge of our shared bed mat. My shirt hung loose on her while her hair fell over her shoulders.
Her eyes searched mine. “What’s wrong?”
I crouched beside her, keeping my voice quiet. “Elias left. He said Teddy and the younglings are safe, but he couldn’t tell me more. Just that this was a precaution.”
Her brows drew together. “Precaution against what?”
“I don’t know, but that’s not like him.”
A muscle along her jaw ticked. “Did he seem commanded? Or was it of his choosing?”
“He was choosing,” I said. “But he was rattled.”
Her hand reached for my neck but stilled. “What do we do?”
Heavy silence stretched between us. My gaze flicked toward the tent flap. Beyond it. Toward a realm we barely understood.
Instinct clawed at me. To stand watch. Check the perimeter. Post shifts.
We were in dragon territory, under the command of humans we didn’t know. Elias left without explanation.
And I was sitting here, distracted.
Finley shifted closer. “There is nothing we can do from here,” she said quietly. “If something is unfolding, our king will handle it.”
“And if he cannot?”
“Then he’ll call for us.”
With a jerky nod, I exhaled slowly.
She climbed onto my lap. Not to tempt or tease, but to comfort me. Her weight settled against me, her fingers drifting to the nape of my neck, combing slowly through the ends of my hair. With the steady rhythm of her presence, she dulled a bit of the storm in my head.
I forced myself to remain alert, listening past the canvas walls for any disturbance. Any shift in the wind.
My body stayed coiled.
“You’re still half gone,” she whispered.
“I should be outside. Look out for danger, guard the perimeter.” Something. Anything.
“You’re allowed to breathe.”
Then her lips met mine. Tentative and testing.
I stilled, every instinct strained in two directions.
One toward the tent flap. One toward her.
This was not the time. This was exactly the time. Because tomorrow might demand everything.
Her lips grazed mine again, the pressure firmer. My instincts demanded I take more this time, but I held back, clinging on by threads, because this was hers to choose. Hers to begin. If she wanted me, she’d find me waiting.
But a part of me was still listening beyond the tent walls. Still measuring the silence outside. Still ready to rise at the first sign of struggle.
I would not lose myself so completely that I failed her. Or Elias. Or the others.
Her mouth lingered against mine.
Heat simmered low in my chest, spreading with every hint of contact. Each press of her mouth sparked, every hesitant touch was like a promise I felt in my blood. It wasn’t just a kiss. It was a declaration, the kind that righted every wrong.
Then her tongue slid against mine, timid meeting hunger, and my world tilted.
And when she moaned, this soft, desperate sound, I shattered.
My control snapped. There was no space left for restraint, and I deepened the kiss until it burned.
My hands roamed over her without thought, skimming over her curves through the thin barrier of my shirt.
Urgency flared hot and ready, every touch igniting more need, every brush of skin stoking a fire I couldn’t cage anymore.
I kissed her harder until I felt the edges of losing myself. I tore my mouth from hers, my chest heaving while I pressed my forehead to hers, trying to wrestle the hunger back down.
“If I don’t stop . . .” My voice came out frayed. “If I don’t stop now, I won’t.”
Her breaths were just as uneven while her lips trembled against mine. She leaned back, her eyes bouncing across my face. “I don’t want you to stop,” she whispered.
The words slammed into me, but I forced myself to stay still. I cupped her cheek. “Whatever you want, Lolli. I’m yours to command.”
Her attention went to my lips when I dragged my tongue across the seam.
“I want everything with you, Brenton. I just don’t know what everything is.
I’ve never—you’re the first male I’ve ever .
. . anything.” She paused, as if she feared it would change the way I looked at her.
“I think I’ll be a fast learner if you want to teach me. ”
For several beats, I forgot to breathe. My vision narrowed to her. Only her. With awe.
“You’re . . .” My voice faltered.
Mine.
The word thundered in my chest. Yes, possession, but it was more than that. Privilege.
The knowledge that no one else had touched her like this. That I would be the first she trusted with something so intimate, so unguarded.
Pride flared sharp and hot in my blood. Protective. Reverent.
Dangerous.
With the tip of my finger, I traced the curve of her elongated canines. She shivered at my touch.
“I am honored,” I said. “And I will go slow,” I added, my voice roughened by something deeper than desire. “Only what you ask for. Nothing that you don’t.”
Then, because I couldn’t help myself, I winked. “I’m certain you’ll be a fine student and will have me at your mercy in record time.”
Her smile was coy, her eyes lit with amusement and desire as she ran her knuckles across my jaw. “I think I already do.”
My laugh came out thin and ragged.
“What can I do to make you feel good?” she whispered.
“All you must do to make me feel good is breathe,” I said honestly.
“Brent.” She laughed out my name.
“Is this truly what you want?” I asked, my heart banging faster in anticipation. “To make me feel good?”
She bit her bottom lip, her canines digging into her flesh and making her bleed. I ran my thumb over the pebble of blood, and her silver eyes flared white when I sucked it.
“Yes.” It came out needy. She stood on her knees, her fiery gaze falling over me. “Tell me. Show me.”
I kissed her, a long, lingering kiss that she melted into.
“Can I touch you?” I asked, licking my dry lips as I trailed a hand over her side.
“Yes.” That single word stammered out.
I dipped my head, trailing kiss after kiss along the column of her neck. My hand sank beneath her shirt, my palm lingering across her stomach while my thumb grazed the underside of her breast. Her breath hitched, her eyes an impossible, almost translucent white.
Her hand pressed against my chest. With the faintest push, she urged me back. Her attention never left mine as her fingers tugged at the hem of the shirt she wore. My shirt.
The fabric slipped over her shoulders, falling away until nothing was between us but breath and racing hearts.
I froze. Not because of the sight of her, although she was more beautiful than lyrical words could ever convey, but because she let me see her. She chose to be here with me in nothing but her own unguarded self.
Wonder unraveled in my chest, sharp and reverent, until my heart thudded with it. I didn’t see perfection in the lines of her body but saw her. Every curve, every scar. Every bit she gave me felt like a vow I’d die protecting.
“You’re . . .” My voice cracked. I cleared my throat, mesmerized and unable to look away. “You’re exquisite.” I framed her face and pressed the gentlest kiss to her mouth. “I’m going to make you feel so good, every beat is one you’ll want to remember.”
With nerves shimmering behind her eyes, she swallowed hard. “But I want to learn how to make you feel good.”
A ragged sound dragged across my throat.
Half groan, half laugh. “Lolli.” Even her nickname felt like a plea.
“The way you do that is by letting me take care of you. You have no idea what you already do to me.” I traced her lower lip, letting my thumb linger there longer than I intended.
My smoke magic responded with dark wisps curling around her jaw like it wanted to touch her as much as I did.
“The best gift you could ever give me is to trust me to show you how good this can be.”
Her chest rose on a shaky inhale, but she nodded.
That simple act, her surrender, made my chest tighten.
I kissed her again. Slow, lingering, wanting to tell her we could take our time in getting to know her body, reaching for patience while my magic roamed over her, betraying the calm I sought after.