Chapter 26
Chapter
Twenty-Six
“ H ow is it that I heard what you’re thinking just now?”
Kaden raised his eyebrows, dragging a hand through his already mussed hair. “An effect of the mating bond. A damn powerful one, it seems.”
“I’ve never heard your thoughts before,” I said, unable to keep the note of accusation out of my voice.
A cagey look came over him, and he lifted a shoulder. “We’ve been able to speak mind to mind when I’ve breached your mental walls.”
“That’s different,” I argued. “I wasn’t trying to hear anything a minute ago. And I didn’t get past your shadows.”
Not on purpose, anyway.
Kaden didn’t speak right away, though his expression remained guarded. Suspicion unfurled in my gut. What wasn’t he telling me?
“Kaden . . .”
“What? ”
Frustrated, I bucked my hips — tossing him onto the mattress. His breath left him in a whoosh, and a wicked grin split his face as I rolled on top of him.
But then I reached over and ripped a dagger from his weapons belt, which was still resting on the nightstand. A heartbeat later, I was splayed across his chest, naked, with the edge of his own blade at his throat.
“What’s changed?” I demanded, breathing harder than I should have been for simply besting an opponent.
Maybe because my breasts were smashed against his chest and he was already hard again.
“Easy, little huntress. With you in this position, I’ll tell you anything you wish.” His eyes smoldered. “You don’t even need the dagger.”
I glared down at him, my core throbbing anew as I slowly lowered the blade.
“The bond wasn’t solidified before,” he said quietly, his hands sliding up the backs of my thighs to cup the swell of my ass.
“And now it is?” That sounded . . . permanent.
“It snapped into place with our joining.”
So that was why he’d looked at me as if I might suddenly decide to stab him. He’d felt it too.
And he hadn’t been wrong about the stabbing.
Kaden chuckled, the vibration rumbling up my chest and setting every nerve ending ablaze. “You look worried.”
I shook my head.
In truth, I wasn’t sure what I felt for the prince. Only a few days before, I’d been biding my time, waiting for the opportunity to plunge my witchwood blade through his heart.
Now . . . now I had him between my thighs, and I was his mate .
What a mess.
Though he hadn’t asked me a direct question, he seemed to expect some kind of answer. Some kind of talk about . . . feelings .
Ugh. I really was going to stab him if we had to talk about our feelings.
“Can other mated pairs hear each other’s thoughts?”
“Some can, or so I’ve heard. But it’s not common. It’s said that the deeper a bond is, the more . . . abilities each mate has.”
Abilities? Like Kaden’s ability to sense when I was near or in danger?
His hands trailed from the curve of my ass to rest along the small of my back. “And before your mind starts spinning, little huntress, you don't have to worry. I can’t hear everything you think just because we’re mated.”
Mated. Gods, that did sound permanent.
“You can’t?”
“No. I can feel emotions, as will you once you become more attuned to the bond. I heard the thoughts you had a second ago because you were thinking very loudly, and your shields were down.” He gave me an admonishing look. “But you should be able to block me out just as we’ve been practicing.”
Releasing a shaky breath, I tossed the dagger aside and laid my head on his shoulder, tracing the dark swirls inked across his chest with my finger as I focused on rebuilding my defenses.
“Does it bother you?” I asked quietly. “That I can hear some of your thoughts?”
“No, love. I’m done keeping secrets from you.” He chuckled. “They always come back to bite me in the ass. ”
“Reformed, are you?”
“Saintly. Divine.”
“Is that so?” I asked, squirming against him so that his erection came to rest between my already slick folds.
“Well . . . one might say my cock is divine.”
I snorted, pushing myself upright and letting my legs fall to either side of his hips. Kaden groaned as I straddled him, sliding my wetness along his length.
He squeezed his eyes shut, a crease forming between his brows. “I knew I should’ve listened to Adriel when he suggested I work on my cardio,” he mumbled, digging his fingers into my hips as I rocked against him.
“Don’t tell me you’re thinking of Adriel when I’m riding you,” I teased.
Kaden’s dark lashes fluttered, and when they opened, his eyes were molten with desire. “Does it feel like I was thinking of him?” he growled.
The twitch of his cock between my thighs was answer enough.
When he spoke next, his voice was hoarse. “Ever since the night you saved me from the Vikkarni’s poison, I have thought of little else except the touch of your skin, the brush of your lips against mine.”
He reached up to trace my mouth with the pad of his thumb as his free hand caressed my delicate folds. “Every night, I have fallen asleep dreaming of how you would feel around me . . . how you would taste here .”
Quick as a flash, he brought a finger to his lips, his tongue darting out to lick my essence off the tip.
“Trust me, little huntress. You are the only one I think about. ”
My chest tightened at his words, and a fresh surge of liquid heat pooled between my thighs.
Kaden wasn’t my first — not by a long shot. But I’d never had any lovers who meant anything. Who made me feel this breathless mix of elation, vulnerability, and raw, choking terror.
I’d never met a male quite as infuriating as him, either.
I wondered if he could feel all of that flowing through our bond.
But I wasn’t going to think about that now.
After resisting this pull between us for so long, I was tired of overthinking. I just wanted to lose myself in him.
Planting my hands on his strong chest, I rose up onto my knees. Kaden’s lips parted as he watched me, his eyes bright with something like reverence as I seated myself down on his length.
Kaden hissed, throwing back his head to expose the long column of his throat as I took him into my body.
Gods , why did he have to feel so good? It would be so much easier to go on hating him if I didn’t sense that this was exactly where he belonged.
He had invaded every corner of my mind, tangled with my very soul. I’d taken Kaden to bed, into my body, and now I didn’t want to let him go.
Slowly, I brought my hips up and thrust down again, my back arching as he hit the very end of me.
Sensation sparked deep within my core, dragging a whimper from my throat. I rose up and slammed onto him again and again until I was sure I would fuse our bodies as inextricably as our souls.
Sweat beaded on my chest as I rocked forward, groping for something to hold on to. My fist bunched around a braided silk rope dangling from the canopy of his bed, and I used it for leverage as I took him deeper, each roll of my hips unleashing a new torrent of sensation.
It unfurled inside me, pure ecstasy. And then a loud crack echoed behind me.
Whipping around, I nearly toppled off of Kaden when I saw the diminutive female who’d appeared in the bedchamber.
Rolling off the prince, I yanked the blankets to my chest as I snapped up the discarded dagger.
Barely taller than my knee, the female looked as though she had elf or fae blood running through her veins. Pointed ears protruded from chestnut hair adorned with leaves and tiny flowers, and her fair skin glittered with greenish symbols inked along her temples.
Her eyes were unnaturally large, the color of fresh spring grass, and she wore a loose-fitting gown that appeared to have been spun from moss.
Kaden’s chuckle doused my alarm, and the little female flushed.
“P-pardon the intrusion, my lord. I heard you ring, and I thought . . .”
“It's all right, Fione,” Kaden said with a laugh. “We didn't mean to ring you. But as long as you’re here, we’ll take something to eat.”
“Of course, my lord,” said the tiny female, looking relieved at having a task. She gave a neat little curtsy and vanished from the room in a puff of air that smelled like morning dew.
I turned to Kaden, still clutching the blanket in one hand and the dagger in the other. “Who is she? ”
“That is Fione. A woodland nymph who has served the Forest House since before I was born.”
That would make her more than five hundred years old, yet she didn’t look a day over twenty.
“Has she been here the entire time?”
Kaden nodded. “The nymphs who serve this house like to remain hidden. They emerge only when called.”
I eyed the braided silk rope that I’d inadvertently pulled while in the throes of passion. It must have been some kind of bell.
“I’m glad you called her,” he said, moving toward me with a feline grace. “I was getting hungry.”
And then Kaden pounced, scooping me into his arms, blanket and all, and carrying me toward the fire.
Kneeling in front of the hearth, he spread me out on the large fur rug and gently took the dagger from my hand. The furs were warm and silky against my skin, but my gaze kept flicking to the door, even as Kaden parted my knees and settled himself between my thighs.
“Don’t tell me the Quarter’s most lethal huntress is afraid of a woodland nymph,” he chuckled.
“No, I —”
“Fione's greatest quality is her discretion,” he said. “She’ll leave a tray outside the door, and you won’t see her again unless she’s summoned.”
I felt myself relax at his words, and when Kaden parted me with his tongue, all other thoughts evaporated.
He laved at that sensitive bundle of nerves, working me into a frenzy of need before entering me in one hard thrust. I gripped his strong forearms as my body clenched around him, marveling at the exquisite torture of feeling him move inside me .
“Gods, I could live here,” Kaden murmured, pressing a kiss to the side of my throat, just over my fluttering pulse.
“This is your house.”