Chapter 45
I couldn’t stop myself. The moment she said she loved me, I had to taste her, to breathe in her words and her confession.
She loved me.
She loved me.
When I kissed her, Aurelia uttered a startled sound that I inhaled, my mouth covering hers. My tongue slid between her lips, prying them apart, and she sighed, opening for me completely. My tongue swept in her mouth, twining with hers, tasting her thoroughly. Gods, she tasted like perfection. Like the heady air just before a rainstorm.
I guided her backward until her back pressed into a tree trunk, pinning her there with my chest, my mouth still on hers. She caught my lower lip between her teeth and pulled, eliciting a feral growl from me. My mouth moved to her neck, where I swept my tongue in a circle at the base of her throat. She moaned and writhed against me, hips bucking in silent demand. I bit down on the exposed part of her shoulder, my teeth holding her in place, and she cried out.
Her hands fumbled with my waistcoat before discarding it on the forest floor. Then she worked at the buttons of my vest.
“Aurelia,” I gasped. “Aurelia, we don’t?—”
She looked up at me, her eyes wild and her mouth swollen from our desperate kisses. “I want you, Fenn. Will you give yourself to me?”
I groaned in part need, part agony. “Of course I will.”
“Then make love to me. Right here. Right now. ”
Gods, I would do anything this woman said. With one hand on her waist and the other along her back, I eased her backward until she lay her on the grass, careful to avoid any roots. With my arms braced on either side of her, I hovered just above her, gazing at her breathless form. I kissed her throat again, moving my lips lower until I reached the fabric of her dress. Sliding the strap aside, I bared her breast before capturing it with my mouth.
“Oh. Oh .” Her voice was ragged as she thrust her hips. My teeth clamped down on her nipple, and she uttered a strangled gasp.
Her hands were tugging on my trousers now. She pulled my shirtsleeves free, then plunged her hand underneath, grasping my length firmly.
I jerked, my body spasming from the feel of her. Stars above, I needed to be inside her. I needed her now.
I ripped my vest off, popping several buttons in the process. Aurelia rolled up my shirt, and I lifted it over my head, tossing it to the ground. Her hands worked at my belt. I tugged it free before sliding the trousers off, leaving me naked before her. Her eyes roved over me with a hungry look that made my hardened length twitch in anticipation.
I hiked up her skirts, thanking all the gods I could name that she wasn’t wearing undergarments. She spread her legs for me, and I marveled at her slick center, so moist and ready for me.
“Gods, you look divine,” I groaned.
“Please, Fenn,” she begged, and damn it all if that didn’t undo me right there.
But instead of thrusting inside her like I yearned to do, I hoisted her up, settling her on my lap. “Not yet,” I murmured, pressing another kiss to her mouth. “I want to look at you when you come. I want to claim you with my mouth when I claim you with my cock.”
Her eyes closed as her legs clenched around me, pressing directly into my arousal. I angled myself, then slid into her.
She cried out, throwing her head back in rapture. I thrust again, deeper this time.
“Oh, gods .” Aurelia’s thighs clenched around me, burrowing me further inside her. She rocked against me, guiding me deeper until I had filled her completely. And for a moment, we held there, suspended, with me wholly inside her, our bodies twined. Her mouth was open in part shock, part pleasure, her wide eyes fixed on me.
“Aurelia,” I moaned, my legs quivering with need. But I held still, focusing on the pulsing and throbbing of my length inside her, the way it felt as it trembled with her body, the way she tightened around me.
I would never forget this moment, when our bodies fit together perfectly, her legs wrapped around me as I quivered inside her.
When the ache between my legs was almost unbearable, I lifted my hips, pushing with more force. She whimpered, then dug her heels into my back, urging me onward. She continued pushing with her legs, making a rocking motion.
I followed her lead, thrusting, driving deeper. When I withdrew, she hissed, making a frustrated noise in her throat. I only grinned, panting, as I slammed into her with violent fervor.
A ragged sound burst from her lips, her eyes closing as her mouth fell open. Her throat worked as she unleashed another rough cry when I plunged in a third time.
With each movement, our rhythm became more brutal, more uncontrollable. I gripped her ass, my fingernails digging into her flesh. She raked her nails along my shoulder blade and back, then bit down on my neck. Her moans turned into shouts and screams and I pounded into her, my grunts feral and unhinged. The sound of our skin slapping together mingled with our animalistic noises. I tangled my fingers in her hair, jerking her head back so I could drag my tongue up her throat.
Pressure built within me, an unbearable heat burning between my legs, my length pulsing inside her. Stars, it felt so good, to feel her stretch to fit me inside her, to taste the sweat on her neck, to smell her musky scent. The sounds of her as she came undone. Her limbs around me, bringing me even closer.
I dragged my thumb along her bottom lip and demanded, “Look at me.”
She lowered her head, her eyes dark and manic, practically unrecognizable as she met my gaze. My hands pressed into her back, and she cried out again. My mouth crashed into hers, swallowing her outburst, my tongue ravaging her. I was so close, so close to that edge. But I wanted her to tumble over it with me.
I thrust again, and she moaned in my mouth. I shoved my tongue deeper, and she met it with her own, pushing against me with savage delight. As I drove between her legs, my tongue plunged into her mouth, the movements synchronizing. In, out, in, out. Faster and faster. Harder and harder. I stroked my tongue within her just as I jerked my hips, driving myself into her body in every way I could.
She bit my tongue, but the flash of pain only stoked the flames inside me until I nearly exploded.
Oh gods, I would topple over that edge at any moment…
She withdrew to stare at me, pupils dilated and face covered in sweat. A clump of her hair stuck to her forehead, and gods above, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, all wild fury and untamed power.
As we stared at each other, still moving against one another, still keeping up that rhythm, I pressed my hand to her cheek, then slid down to her throat, dragging a finger down, down, down, until I reached her breast. I cupped one, then brought my mouth to the other, biting down hard. With my hand, I rolled her nipple between my thumb and forefinger, then pinched it.
That was all it took.
Her head rolled back as a guttural scream burst from her. With one final thrust, I spilled into her, my body seizing and quivering, my moans strangled as I came. Stars burst in my vision, and all I knew was sweet release, the chaos of pleasure and passion driving me over that edge with her.
She continued her movements, writhing against me even long after I’d finished. Her voice was hoarse and strained when we slowed and stopped, our bodies still joined together.
Burning stars, there was nothing else like it. Never before had I experienced such intense lovemaking before. Such a brutally addicting and all-consuming collision. I wanted nothing more than to stay inside her, to let myself get hard so we could start all over again.
I wanted more of her. And I would never get enough.
“Gods, Aurelia.” My voice was merely a rasp as I buried my face in her neck, breathing hard. “Gods…”
She stroked my hair, pushing the sweaty strands out of my face. “I know. Me too.” She rested her head on my shoulder. “You still infuriate me to no end.”
I huffed a weak laugh. “I seem to remember you saying you loathed me more intensely than a thousand burning suns.”
She chuckled hoarsely. “That is still true.”
“But… you love me.” I said the words tentatively, as if unsure if she truly meant it. Perhaps she was confused. Or mistaken. If she was drunk on fire wine, she could have said anything without meaning it.
She lifted her head to look me in the eye. Her expression was worn from exertion, but the light in her gaze was brighter than ever. Clarity burned in those magnificent blue irises. “I love you, Fenn.”
I shook my head, a slow smile spreading across my face. I still could hardly believe it. “So, were you merely toying with me before?”
She snorted. “You would deserve nothing less.”
“True.”
“No, Fenn. I… I did not know. I knew I felt something for you. But I didn’t realize how strong my feelings were until I saw you dancing with another woman. Until I saw what it would look like if I walked away from you. Until… I imagined you spending your life with someone else. Someone who wasn’t me.”
I cocked my head at her, grinning wolfishly. “You were jealous?”
She whacked my arm. “You are such an ass! Did you dance with someone else on purpose, to make me jealous?”
With a laugh, I said, “No, not at all. I was truly just looking for a distraction. But no one comes close to you, Aurelia. I knew no one ever would. Everything I tried to drown myself in to forget about you only paled in comparison.” I ran my knuckles down her cheek, and she leaned into my touch.
“I still must leave in a few hours,” she whispered, her voice almost inaudible, as if she thought if the words were soft enough, they wouldn’t be true.
An ache filled my chest at the thought. I wanted to go with her. Desperately. But if we both vanished like thieves in the night, Mother would riot. She would likely invade the Summer Court. I needed to stay and smooth things over with her .
With a sigh, I said, “I know.”
“You have ruined me, Fennick Mardion. Ruined me completely.”
I nuzzled her neck. “Good.”
“How can I leave, when you make me feel this way?” She tilted her head back, letting me roam my lips up and down her throat. “Why do you do this to me? You worked your way into my heart, and now, I cannot exist without you haunting me. My love for you burns hotter than my hatred ever did. It burns brighter than a thousand suns. Forever drawing me into its orbit.”
I exhaled against her neck, my chest quivering from the way her words struck me to the core. When I withdrew, I brought her mouth to mine in a slow, sensual kiss. I ran my tongue along the seam of her mouth before pulling away a few inches, our noses still touching.
My voice was thick with emotion as I said, “Aurelia Perdis, my love for you shines brighter than the stars in the heavens. Even when the stars go dark, still I will burn for you, filling the night sky to guide you back home to me.”
Tears sparkled in her eyes, and she swallowed hard, nodding slowly. “I will come home to you, Fenn. When I free my family and my people, when my kingdom is safe, I will come back for you.”
Her mouth collided with mine, her tongue filling me, stroking and tasting. She angled her head, and my fingers wound in her hair, pulling her ever closer. I felt myself grow hard once more, and I almost thrust again, prepared to take her a second time.
“I will have you again,” I growled against her lips. “We are not finished here.”
“Oh, I hope not. You promised to unravel me repeatedly, remember? I intend to hold you to that.” A coy smile lit her features, and I laughed in surprise.
“My beautiful firebird.” I leaned her backward until she was reclined on the grass, then kissed her thoroughly, my lips memorizing her, capturing her fully.
Soon, I would let her go. Soon, we would part ways with the promise of reuniting later.
But not yet.