41. A Thousand Stars #2
Unable to control myself, I matched the dance she clearly led.
Exploring her mouth, I rolled my hips against hers.
She groaned, and I smiled, her desires just as clear as mine.
Greedy with my touch, I followed her lines with one palm.
Traversing her abdomen, I grazed over her ribs before jumping to the back of her neck, knowing her prior experiences with men had involved unwanted exploration and crossed boundaries, two things I would never do.
As I looped my fingers around the back of her neck, her silken strands tickled each digit. Brushing my thumb over her pulse point, I savored its steady drum and all it confirmed—she was mine.
With a shuddered inhale, Rohen sluggishly pulled away from me. Unwilling to break our connection, I chased her mouth, but stopped the instant she pressed her hand against my chest.
Through heavy lids, I peered down at her, licking my lips to claim all she had gifted me. “Gods…”
She traced my jawline, her emerald irises softening to an oceanic green. “Then I will happily provide you with attentiveness, Caspian Vayne.”
A deep growl came from me first before words elected to follow. “Do not speak such proclamations if you wish to rid yourself of me, Rohen Levitte, for I am a devoted man.”
“I suppose that is a good thing, considering I love to see my men on their knees.” Her nail scraped the underside of my chin as she hooked her finger beneath my jaw, dragging me toward her until her lips brushed mine.
“If you are willing to crawl for me and remain as devout as you claim you are, then I will shout such truths from the crow’s nest of your ship, Captain. ”
“Mmm…” I kissed her once, softly. “For you, darling, I will wear bruises on my knees, or wherever else you deem necessary, with pride.”
“Then let’s start with my first request, yeah?”
“Anything you want—”
She pushed me onto the cot without warning, and I caught myself with my elbows before my back could fully graze it. Pinning her with my stare, she moved forward to settle between my thighs. I reached for her, desperate to trail my fingertips over her legs, but she caught my wrist.
“Rest.”
I blinked. “What?”
“I don’t believe I stuttered, Caspian Vayne.”
My brows drew together in undeniable annoyance. “I’ve been resting.”
“Yeah, and you nearly fucking died in Hollowmere,” she rebutted. “If you do not deem the poison that runs through your veins as a strong argument, then let me remind you of the blade you took to the gut and back.”
“I don’t see any wounds.” Glancing down at my bare torso, I was greeted only by a graveyard of scars, haunting reminders of past encounters and close calls with my father.
As I peered up, Rohen wore my agitated expression. “Don’t make me shackle you to this bed.”
“I fear I would enjoy that too much.” The slap came at the end of my statement, echoing through the room as her palm greeted my chest. “Okay, shit.”
“Sorry, but I do not deem your life as something to joke about.” Gaze shifting, she glanced past me as emotion swelled in her eyes. “Fuck, Caspian, you didn’t merely collapse; you started seizing, and it was fucking horrifying.”
Reaching out, I grabbed her hand and brought it to my lips. I took my time kissing each of her knuckles before tugging her closer to settle her touch over my heart. “I suppose I have you to thank for my health?”
“No.” Expecting her to pull away, I was satisfied when she lingered. “Parran, the Fae healer who nursed you back to this realm. All I did was stitch up your wounds, but they managed to heal you completely. Or well…”
“As much as they could,” I finished for her as I brushed an unruly strand behind her ear. “We are all aware that Sorva’s bind will only resolve itself if she decides so. The sigil she carved into my flesh, hidden by the brand of the Royal Crest, will taint my essence until I fall—”
Silencing me, her mouth found mine once again. I felt her shift, one leg coming to settle over my thigh before the other followed. Raking her nails across my scalp, she grabbed my hair with a mix of desperation and dire need, each caress more passionate than the last.
My hands settled on her hips as I drew her in, inhaling every ounce of her scent—spiced citrus and cardamom.
The high it brought was one I would never tire of chasing, one I would follow into battle if she so much as commanded it.
With devotion on my mind, I gently massaged her flesh, which earned a grunt of approval from her.
Drawing back, she settled her forehead against mine.
“You can continue doing that… The rubbing, I mean. As for uttering bullshit I do not wish to hear or believe, you can stop.” With a sigh, she leaned back to cup my face in both palms. “I will not allow her to take you from me any longer, Caspian Vayne. Not when I just got you back, and certainly not when I know what I know about us.”
“You cannot speak to me like that,” I muttered, pressing my lips to her shoulder.
“I have craved you since the first day I saw you in Seirdra’s Veil, and that longing has only intensified as time has passed and the distance between us has grown.
You have become an addiction, Rohen, one far more potent than Dream Root or alcohol could ever be.
And if you so much as breathe desire in my direction, or anything that hints at you wanting a man like me, I will become transfixed. ”
“I am stating all I mean, Captain. You are mine, and I will see to it that Sorva releases you. By coercion or free will, I don’t give a fuck, but she will not steal you from me any longer than she already has.”
Fuck.
“Repeat it.”
“Repeat what?”
I kissed her pulse point. “You know what.”
The smile was evident in her cadence. “You are mine, Caspian Vayne.”
“Yes, I am yours, Rohen Levitte. Yours to command, yours to wield, yours to guide.” Another kiss. “Whatever way you want me, I am yours.”
“As you are,” she whispered as she raked her fingers through my hair. “I want you as you are, Caspian Vayne. Scars and all, for I do not see a broken man, but someone worth a thousand of the brightest stars our realm has to offer.”