Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
Cotton
After eating in the Great Hall, Brecken showed Onyx and me to our guest chambers. Our rooms sat beside one another, so when a knock sounded on my door thirty minutes after my arrival, I suspected it had to be him.
Thankfully, I’d had time to enjoy a bath in the large claw-foot tub in the connected bathroom. It had been years since I’d last soaked in a tub because I typically preferred showers. However, in the Wind Kingdom, Druids didn’t seem to have that option.
Fatigue still had its tight little fingers wrapped around my mind, begging me to crash in the canopied bed that awaited me.
At the knock, I stood on the other side of the door, debating whether I should open it or not.
Onyx had always been my weakness. With my will debilitated from lack of sleep, I didn’t think I’d be able to refuse him if he made any advances.
I rubbed my eyes with my palms, digging in as I took a deep breath and swung open the door.
Onyx stood with his hands stuffed in his front pockets, appearing freshly bathed himself, given the way his inky black hair draped neatly across his forehead as if he’d intentionally combed it. I berated myself for having the thought to glide my fingers through it until it wasn’t neat anymore.
“Hi,” Onyx said, shifting his eyes off to the side.
I raised my brows at his sudden awkwardness.
“Can I come in?” Onyx straightened his spine, forcing his gaze to remain on mine.
I caved—my first step in a short journey to regret.
Nodding, I stepped aside, allowing him to enter my room.
“So, I wanted to come by and see how you were doing after learning about—what Brecken told us in his office?” Onyx cleared his throat.
I swallowed, feeling stupid for assuming that Onyx had come here to be intimate with me like he used to.
Noticing the small bar off to the right, I moved over to examine the different types of alcohol it contained.
There was no way to know exactly what kind, but I assumed none of them were moonshine.
I grabbed a bottle and poured it into a small chalice. Without even sniffing it, I took a sip.
It might as well have been liquid fire the way it scorched my throat, but I let it burn away the disappointment. I worked to keep a straight face, but Onyx saw through it and laughed, a rich vibration that hit every cord inside me, tugging on every string that connected to my heart.
“Oh, it can’t be that bad.” Striding toward me, he took the bottle of mystery alcohol and poured himself a glass.
“Let’s see if you’re a lightweight these days.
” Onyx tossed the torrid alcohol back. His eyes blew wide open just before he grimaced and swallowed.
He coughed afterward and looked at me like I’d just fed him poison. “Why’d you let me do that, you dick?”
I grinned, looking at him like he lacked all the brain cells. “Some things never change.”
“Wha–” Onyx looked around. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean, Cotton?”
Trying to hide my smile, I said, “It means you do stupid shit with way more confidence than you deserve.”
The warmth from the alcohol began to radiate through my chest and rose straight to my head.
Fast. Suddenly, my head grew fuzzy, and the lights in the room brightened, taking on a saturated hue.
Onyx’s features became more pronounced, while everything in the background turned blurry, making him my sole focal point.
As for Onyx, I watched in amazement as he seemed to be experiencing the same effect. “Whoa…” His eyes glimmered as our gazes clashed. We were sucked into some strange vortex where we seemed to be the only ones who existed.
“You’re even more beautiful than the last time I saw you,” Onyx whispered, mesmerized.
We were pulled together, almost by some unseen force. I reached for his face, cupping his jaw and gliding my palm up his high cheekbone. I couldn’t help but sigh when our skin touched. “I’ve missed you so much. I lost a piece of myself when you left.”
Remorse coated his features, sinking his eyebrows. “I’m so fucking sorry, Cotton. You saved me without ever even realizing it. You kept me going all these years. I’m here now. And I’m not going anywhere.”
I snaked my hand to grip the back of his head, missing the feel of his hair in my hands.
The pure adoration and longing that gazed back at me in his bright amber eyes seemed to possess me.
I growled in my chest and jerked him closer to me.
We both fell into a kiss that felt more powerful than anything that had existed between us before.
I could have imploded from the simple feel of his lips against mine.
Onyx groaned, sucking my bottom lip between his teeth, claiming me without hesitation.
I pressed my chest against his, needing to be close to him.
Running my hands up his torso, I stiffened at the rippling muscle he’d put on over the years.
It was a silly thought, considering it had been over ten years and we were well into our twenties, but he was no longer the boy I’d fallen so hard for.
He’d become a man. And gods, I wished I could claim him as mine.
Onyx’s fingertips exploring my body magnified my magic flowing through my veins, igniting me. His lips and tongue had me weakening at my knees, while simultaneously wanting to pin him beneath me and make him submit.
The beautiful thing about Onyx was that he knew my tongue was nonexistent, and I couldn’t reciprocate with that. There was no awkwardness or insecurity about it. In fact, he’d always taken it upon himself to go above and beyond with his mouth in the past in spite of that.
Onyx clutched onto the side of my neck as I nipped his lips before pushing his head to the side, none too gently, pressing fervent kisses along the column of his neck. I grabbed his wrist and moved it so he cupped my cock with his palm.
“You’re so perfect, Cotton,” he moaned as I gripped his hair between my fingers, holding him in place as I familiarized myself again with his body.
“Only for you,” I said to him as I trailed my hand down his chest and stomach to massage his hardness pushing through his pants. I leaned my body weight into him, returning my lips to his as I guided him to the bed only a few feet away.
But when the back of Onyx’s knees hit the side of it, he roughly spun us around to where our positions were swapped. I stood, leaning against the edge to steady myself. Onyx dropped to his knees, unbuttoning my cargos in haste and pushing them down.
He rubbed me through my boxers, kissing my length through the fabric before he slid his fingers beneath the waistband to remove them.
A bang on the door cut through the room, leaving Onyx’s fingers caught in the waistband and my hand tangled in his hair, both of us breathless.
Suspended in a haze, we froze, waiting to see if the knock came again.
The effects from the alcohol still buzzed through my body, and my heart nearly burst from my chest having Onyx so close to me again.
Onyx glanced up at me and smiled, the knock seemingly being a one-time thing. He continued to push my boxers down, holding my gaze as he did. “A lot of shit has changed over the years. And I’ve been dying to show you.”
The cool air brushed against my cock’s skin, but Onyx didn’t waste time taking it in his fist at the base and stroking it in a slow and agonizing motion.
“I know you like it when I do this,” he whispered before he glided his tongue along my shaft.
“But remember this?” He wrapped his lips around the head and sucked, all while he flicked and massaged the most sensitive part of me.
My knees buckled. It had been several months since anyone sucked me off. I moaned, tugging his hair to leverage myself as I thrust my hips forward to feed him the rest of me. I knew he could take it.
And he did with ease. “Fucking gods above…” I spoke into his mind.
Onyx took me all the way to the base, letting his teeth gently scrape against me in the way he knew I liked. My vision nearly went black from the euphoria as he bobbed up and down my length, working me until I was close to coming.
With my fingers still latched onto his thick hair, I snatched his head back. He smiled that sinful smile of his.
“Get up.”
Complying, he rose to his feet. And just as I was about to toss him face down on the bed, the beating on the door burst through the room once again.
We both panted, lost for oxygen. I needed to be inside him.
For fuck’s sake, what could be so important right now?
“Forgive me for the disturbance at this late hour, but it’s important,” a deep voice with a strange accent said from the other side of the door.
I dragged my fingertips from Onyx’s hair and clutched onto the bedding, squeezing it so hard my knuckles turned white. I let my legs give way for the mattress to catch me.
Onyx appeared just as frustrated as he laced his fingers at the back of his head, walking in small circles before me. “What the fuck could be so important at this time? It’s the middle of the night,” he whispered to me. “We’re clearly not under attack.”
I exhaled, ruffling my hair to set it somewhat naturally as I pulled my clothes back on. I made for the door, but stopped only a few steps in and turned, making a beeline for Onyx. I seized the back of his neck and pulled him in for a slow but hard kiss. “I’m not done with you yet, Valor.”
“Good,” he replied lowly, “because I wasn’t gonna let you get away a second time.”
I kissed his forehead before striding back to the door—adjusting myself just before I did, of course. On the other side, I was greeted by a solemn Druid, who stood awkwardly with his fist raised to knock once more.
“I am deeply sorry for the intrusion, but the High Mage has requested your presence. He insists it’s a matter of urgency.” His hair hung down to his shoulders, a deep shade of black, and he had a beautiful complexion that reminded me of a lively oak tree.