24. Raea #2
His hands rest on my hips, helping me roll them as he moves in and out over and over again.
Everything about this is slow, sensual, and filled with so much emotion, I want to cry.
Our eyes are the only way to communicate the depth of what we feel.
There are no sufficient words. Not in the common language or Elvisiah… at least none that I know.
Time blurs after that. The night becomes a soft, hazy memory of whispered words, shared laughter, and the kind of closeness that feels less like passion and more like home.
When the black sky becomes a soft shade of morning gray, Ryker wraps me in his arms as we both drift in and out of a dreamless sleep.
Some time later, I wake to soft kisses along my spine before drifting back to sleep. Later, it’s the slow glide of his hands along my legs. Another time, I wake to find him asleep on my stomach.
There’s something impossibly sweet about the quiet ways we find each other through the night. It couldn’t have been more perfect if I had planned every detail. Ryker knows how to love me exactly the way I need—like some part of his soul was always meant for mine.
We don’t wake again until the sun is high in the sky and we hear his mother’s voice in the hall.
I stir beneath the weight of Ryker’s body.
I’m on my stomach, and he’s asleep with his head on my lower back.
He grumbles, moving behind me and tugging me to his chest, and then falls silent as we both listen, straining to hear the chatter outside.
“This is for Princess Raea,” Queen Priana says. “And please make sure they’re both dressed and back at the palace four hours past midday for a meeting.”
The sound of her heels clicking on the wood fades away.
I blush, burying my face in my palms. It seems we aren’t fooling anyone.
Ryker tugs me closer, my back to his front, and bites playfully on my shoulder. “Good—” He pauses, sitting up to glance at the clock. “Morning. Though it’s almost lunchtime.”
I roll over, running my palms up his bare chest. His body shivers beneath my touch, pulling a smile to my mouth. “Hi.” I grin, brushing my hands over his shoulders. I cup the nape of his neck, teasing my fingers through his hair.
The deep, rich blue of his silky sheets deepens the shade of his eyes and is a mesmerizing contrast with his honeyed skin. A moment later, his mouth is on mine as he presses my back into the sheets and shifts his body weight over me.
“I want to wake up like this every day for the rest of eternity,” he says between kisses.
I smile, feeling content and sated as I stretch my arms above my head.
His lips skate down my jaw, hovering over a sensitive spot on my neck.
His teeth scratch over the sensitive skin.
My body erupts in goosebumps only egging him on.
His mouth continues south to my collarbone, sucking lightly before moving to my breast.
His tongue swirls around my nipple, moving to the other one to give equal attention as I lie writhing beneath him. His gaze meets mine with a glint of mischief as he sinks lower, his tongue trailing fire down my stomach and further south.
He lifts a leg over his shoulder, then the second.
“You don’t have—” My words die as my protests flitter away.
He licks me in long, languid strokes, sucking on my sensitive bundle of nerves.
I grip his sheets, breaking eye contact as my hips move.
Internally, I’m drowning in pleasure, going deeper and deeper with every lick and suck.
I feel him smile when I gasp. One arm flattens my hips, pinning me to the bed, his other hand sinking into me, stroking me deep while his mouth teases me apart.
“Open your eyes and watch, Raea,” Ryker says, his voice deep and velvety.
I peel my eyes open, making eye contact as he sinks between my thighs again, heat building and building.
His fingers plunge faster and faster as his tongue flicks.
My legs begin to tremble, and before I can stop myself, I’m grinding on his face, his morning stubble scratching my thighs.
My hands slide into his hair, and I don’t even care that I’m holding him in place.
He growls, and just when I think I’m going to break, he commands, “Eyes open, Raea. Come for me, love, so I can taste you.”
With a few more flicks of his fingers and another tease of his mouth, I feel a tether snap, and I stop sinking, only to be pulled to the surface.
When I break through, I shatter. Heat floods my whole body, my toes curl, and I become boneless beneath him as I strain to keep my gaze locked on his.
He lets me off the hook as my head falls back and I feel him lapping up my arousal.
When the last of my orgasm subsides, he’s inside of me a heartbeat later, seeking his own release. It doesn’t take long before he falls beside me with a lazy grin. “I’m going to be dreaming about that every night until I can have you in my bed again.”
I giggle, turning onto my stomach and kissing his shoulder. “Shameless, arrogant—”
“Handsome,” he chimes in.
“Devilishly handsome,” I correct. “Incorrigible, beautiful mate.”
Our mouths meet in a tender kiss as we curl up beneath a light sheet.
As we lay there with a breeze lifting the curtains, I fall more and more in love with him.
It isn’t from the amount of orgasms he pulled from me, or the worshipping of my body, but because he gave me all of himself in an unrestrained, all-consuming way.
Last night was the best night of my life.
From the date and proposal to waking up naked in his arms.
I lift my hand, the large teardrop moss stone surrounded by glittering diamonds catches a stream of light and casts prisms around the room. “Thank you,” I whisper, choking on my emotions as I think about how well he understands me.
I didn’t have to tell him, he knew and understood this was what I needed. I needed to know how much I meant to him without the Lumos Bond or the mating Bond. I needed to love him and be loved by him to feel complete.
He squeezes me gently before offering me a bath.
I nod, and he slips from the bed, disappearing into the hall.
Minutes later, he returns and finds his sleeping pants still discarded haphazardly on the edge of the bed.
He kisses me chastely before strolling back to the door and giving orders for someone to leave.
When the door closes, he scoops me off the bed and carries me right into the bathroom. Setting me on my feet, he discards his pants once more and pulls me into the pool of warm water.
I sink into the bath now brimming with bubbles and scented oils, letting out a soft moan as the heat soothes my aching core.
I drop my head back, closing my eyes. I hear Ryker moving around and moments later, his hands grip my thigh, before gently dragging a soft sponge over my core.
He takes care to wash me, alternating between soft caresses and massaging until every inch of me, including my hair, has been washed and treated to a relaxing massage.
“I’ll be right back,” Ryker says, placing a tender kiss on my forehead before standing and heading out of the tub.
I bite my lip, taking all his nakedness in and the way the water glides down his body before he wraps a fluffy white towel around his waist. He looks back briefly, leaving me with a wink and a smile.
I must fall asleep because a moment later, I’m awoken by Ryker’s arms wrapping around me and lifting me from the water.
I didn’t realize I was so tired. I nuzzle into his neck, inhaling his scent, as my arms wrap around him.
Moments later, he lays me on a towel and tucks me into his sheets.
I’m out again, just as I feel the slight pressure of the mattress and him crawling in beside me.
I wake again sometime later to Ryker in the bed beside me.
He’s seated, leaning against the headboard, donning black pants and hologram glasses.
There’s something that pulls at me seeing him like this.
Relaxed, barefoot, no shirt, sitting in bed working.
His hands pull at something I can’t see, and he begins scrolling like he’s reading a document.
With a soft inhale, I stretch, catching his attention. A smile spreads across his face as he removes the glasses, tossing them onto the nightstand and turning toward me.
“Do you feel rested?”
I nod, curling up on his stomach.
As he brushes my hair, he says, “We missed lunch, so I had a tray brought to us. It seems when my mother came earlier, she left a few staff members here to clean up and take care of things. We need to get ready for a meeting.” He brushes a hand down my spine, and I realize I’m no longer naked.
I sit up straight, taking in the large black shirt I’m dressed in.
I also have underwear on and nothing else.
“You were shivering, and I looked through the bag Mera packed, but I couldn’t figure out how to get your bra on…” He rubs the back of his neck, embarrassed. “Figured a shirt would suffice for now.”
His shyness around this makes me smile. For all the compromising positions we’ve been in and every inch of my body he’s touched, licked, or sucked, this is what makes him blush?