Chapter Eight #3
“Including the Sovereign King?” I tease with an arched brow.
“Especially the Sovereign King,” he laughs in a low rumble. “He’s a lost cause. I hear he’s in love with a demon.”
“Love?” I ask in a breathy laugh.
Unweaving his hands from mine, he grips my seat and drags it closer. He doesn’t have to lean quite as far for his lips to brush against mine.
“Love,” he repeats in a whisper.
I stare, stunned silent, at the beautiful fae before me.
He loves me?
I don’t know why that scares me. But it does. Scarier still, I love him. I’ve loved him for far longer than I’d ever dare to admit.
Ryc holds my stare, studying me with growing concern.
“Have I spoken too soon?” His soft question masks his regret poorly.
I hesitate. “No,” I say with a quick shake of my head. “There are no true words to express love in the hells.” I slide toward the edge of my seat, closer to him, as I frame his face between my hands. “Instead, we say av uval zil d’rae’nei cris.”
You are the keeper of my darkened heart.
His eyes widen.
He remembers.
I’ve said the words once before and it’s a moment I’ll never forget.
“Are you telling me you love me, little death?” he asks, his eyes searching mine.
I huff a small laugh and nod. “Though, I suppose it would be more accurate to say I said it first.”
He leans close, his hands finding my waist. “I like when you’re first.”
His eyes darken seconds before his lips crash against mine, urging mine to part, and I listen, meeting his darkened fervor with my own.
Together our tongues dance in a slow exploration of taste and touch.
Nothing hurried, nothing desperate. Even so, screaming desire races through my veins, setting my blood on fire.
His bewildered laughter breaks our kiss, but he wraps a hand around the back of my neck, bringing me back to him, back to his lips. Books thunder to the floor, driven there by his sweeping arm. With a swift swing, I’m lifted and set upon the table, his lips never leaving mine.
The searing heat of his hands glide over my hips, pulling a groan from my throat and his fingers tighten, digging into me. With a sudden and vehement yank, I’m pulled to the edge of the table, and the silk of my dress tears—my legs forced apart by his hips.
Hellfire.
I’m going to burst into sheer hellfire under his touch.
The library is going to be rendered to ash.
Clinging to him, I arch into his chest, closing the space between us. I need him against me. At every possible point. Even then, I’ll still want more. More of his lips upon me. More of his touch. More of his attention.
More of his love.
My hands fly to his chest, fingers fumbling with the fabric of his shirt, tugging it loose from his pants.
Again, his laughter breaks our kiss, denying me the feast of his lips.
His eyes flick to the door before returning.
With a glance over my shoulder, I note Cyran has vanished and the door lies closed.
I give him a wicked grin. “Didn’t want a spectator? Or would he resign over that too?”
He bursts into laughter and playfully pinches at my breast. I yelp in surprise, slapping his hand away as I laugh.
“Find someone other than Cyran,” Ryc counters, burying a hand in my hair, cradling the back of my head. “And we’ll talk about spectators.”
His lips are on mine before dark, shocked delight can take hold, shrinking my entire world to him. My legs lock around his waist as he lifts me from the table. Magic ripples over my skin and with a flash of bright light, the cool night air greets my skin and I draw back, peering past him.
We’re no longer in the library.
Setting me upon my feet, he pivots to stand beside me, taking my hand in his.
“It’s not the North Docks,” he says as I dare to step forward, venturing closer to the stone banister. “But sunrise here is one few get to see.”
I huff a small laugh, his earlier reminder of the North Docks intentional. I wanted to catch sunrise that morning but was hindered by the weather.
From here, the whole of Ollora lies below.
We’re stories above.
This has to be the highest balcony in Castle Erus. Even the tallest spires of the Moon Temple, the slate of their rooftops, are visible. The shore of Kevus Lake, the winding Daxing River, and all the surrounding city districts… they all can be seen from here.
Lifting my gaze to the heavens, I freeze.
Hundreds of tiny magelights—which could be mistaken for the lantern bugs I grew to adore during summer nights—hover above. The lights dance and sway in the breeze. It’s as if the stars of the universe have been pulled down for one night.
In awe, I reach, my finger grazing one of the silver orbs. It bounces away with my touch, launching itself higher into the night where it settles out of reach.
“I figured we could sleep under the stars and catch sunrise together,” Ryc says and my eyes race down from the heavens to his.
With a tilt of his head, he gestures to my right, and following his gaze, I find the balcony has been furnished. An open-air bedroom. Complete with plush pillows, blankets, and a large, low bed.
I’ve not slept under the stars, but I’ve spent many nights staring at them. Turning my eyes to his, he meets my stare.
“Be careful, nyraphim, it’s almost like you love me,” I say as he draws me into his embrace.
Ryc grins and it’s the kind of breath-stealing, heart-stopping smile I’ll never grow tired of receiving.
“Imagine that, little love,” he teases.
My heart flutters.
Not little witch.
Or little demon, or little death.
But… little love.
My heart has never belonged to me.
Not since the moment we met.
Rising on my toes, my fingers curl into his shirt, pulling him into me. And lifting my face to his, I kiss him, drawing him with me toward the bed.
There’ll be no sleeping under the stars tonight either.
The edge of the bed stops me, but not Ryc. With a small, playful shove, I’m sent tumbling backward, laughing. I’m not left without him for long. His lips find my throat, and the weight of him pressing me into the bed sends delicious shivers darting down my spine.
Trailing my touch down his stomach, I find his belt as I slip my feet free from my heels.
As they fall, Ryc wedges a gentle knee between my thighs, sweeping my leg out as he drives his hips into mine.
It pulls a deep moan from me, the hardened feel of him emptying my head of everything else from today.
His belt falls to the floor, tossed aside by my hand, the metal clanging upon the stone. Reaching for the button of his pants, he snatches my wrist, and frees my throat from his lips.
“We have eternity,” he says, his desire-darkened stare meeting mine.
He pins my wrists above my head using a single hand, and lowering his face to mine, a smirk crosses his face.
Eternity.
Of this.
Of him.
Too easily his stare threatens to be my undoing. I’m burning in the most besotted and brazen way.
“But why wait?” I challenge.
Giving me a lazy grin, he traces his fingers down my arm, leaving a trail of pebbled skin in their wake. They swirl along my collar, down the center of my chest, over my tightened stomach, and lower still, shortening my breath.
The silk of my dress slips aside, and feather-light, teasing touches around the slicked apex of my thighs leave me moaning and breathless beneath him.
Wicked, torturous creature.
With a tight snarl borne of impatience and lust, I jerk my wrists free, and roll him onto his back, perching myself atop him.
His hands fly to my back, tearing at the stream of buttons, the silk shredding like thin gossamer.
He rises, sitting up to meet me, but as he pulls my dress free, he dips his chin.
His lips close over a peaked nipple, the teasing of his teeth earning yet another sharp gasp from me.
My hands find his silken hair, winding tight as I arch into him. The warmth of his mouth is rivaled by the warmth of his palm upon my other breast. It’s enough to drive me to the edge of pleasure, fire and ice ripping through me as I pant and writhe against him.
I need to have the fullness of him, the weight of him against me.
I cannot be left this way.
“Your pants. I want them off.” My demand sears through our bond, my voice laden with yearning. “Now.”
He lifts his gaze to mine and the look he gives me says he’s more than happy to comply. Pulling myself from him, I shed the rest of my dress, letting the ruined thing fall wherever it may.
Ryc does the same.
With an outstretched hand, he beckons me back to him.
But, unashamed, I let my eyes roam over his perfect form, the magelights granting too aphrodisiacal a view to not admire. It’s almost enviable—he’s chiseled and muscled in a way one would expect of a god. And the erect length of him is more than enough to make my mouth go dry.
He smirks, knowing—feeling—what he does to me.
Taking his hand, I climb over him, straddling his hips.
Guiding him, his cock nudges between my legs, and bracing myself on his chest, I begin to sink onto him. What I had intended to be a slow descent is thwarted by Ryc’s thrust, pulling a pleasured cry from my lips. His guttural groan grants me a satisfaction I didn’t know I needed.
He grips my hips as I ride, letting me set the pace and my head rolls back, catching glimpses of the night sky through my lashes.
Together, like this, it’s more than simply carnal pleasure.
Together, like this, we create and live in an entire universe meant for no one else.
He groans my name, his fingers digging into my hips as he thrusts harder. And with a shameful quickness, it sends me as close to the heavens as a demon can ever aspire. Daring to lower my gaze, he meets my stare, shattering my world with dizzying pleasure.
Crying out his name loud enough for Ollora to hear, he continues to rock my hips as I ride through the waves of rapture. It leaves me with chest heaving and fingers trembling. Sweeping me beneath him, never unseating himself, his lips find mine.
Ryc pulls out almost entirely, and I whimper, the muscles of his back flexing as I dig my fingers into him, urging him to return.
He answers.
He slams into me, and the fire in my veins threatens to burn me to ash as the ice promises to stop my heart. The sounds of his own pleasure, thick and near savage, push me over the edge once again.
I shatter into thousands of pieces, screaming his name. His own release finds him, his cries matching mine.
Yes.
This.
Let us spend an eternity in this universe.
His heart beating wildly beside mine.