Chapter 29 Audryn #2
Reaching down, I stilled his hands. “Great Divine, I need you to stop for a moment or you’ll finish me.” He relented and helped me push down the waist of his pants.
When he moved to meet his mouth with the apex of my thighs, I stopped him. “I want you up here, your mouth on mine.” My tone was pleading, and I felt every desperate twinge of the strain.
“As you wish.” He met me once more. “I’m here for your pleasure.” He dipped a finger into me. “And from what I can tell, I’m well on my way to finding it.”
My back arched at his touch and I grasped for his length. The warmth of his soft skin radiated in my hand as I attempted to guide him to me.
“Ready so soon?” he purred into my mouth.
“Yes.”
“So greedy.” He hovered above me.
The thought of our time in the carriage made me desperate to have him fill me once more. I squirmed down, attempting to push myself around him since he was taking his time. “Move your hand,” I pleaded. “I don’t want to wait.”
Ryder removed his fingers and teased the head of his dick against me in slow circles. “Are you taking a preventative tonic?”
“Just get in me.” He remained a tease as I pulled him towards me. “I’ll take care of myself if I must.” I dropped my hand from his cock and moved it to my clit, circling the sensitive skin.
Ryder grabbed my wrist and abruptly pulled my hand away as he simultaneously plunged himself into me. “Mine,” he said with a heavy thrust, pulling the breath from my lungs.
The feeling of him nearly undid me immediately, but I held out for the sweet relief I knew would find me.
“Mine,” he breathed into my mouth as he thrust again. “Tell me who you belong to.”
My mind whirled as I lingered on the edge of pleasure. It was too soon. I wasn’t ready for the wave threatening to crash into me; it would pull me under and push me into an awaiting riptide if I allowed it.
Ryder pulled back, letting his dick vacate my center. “Tell me who you belong to.” His eyes darkened as he stared down at me.
“You,” I whispered.
“Say it again,” his voice rasped. He rolled the head of his cock languidly around my center.
“You—”
“Say you belong to me,” he interrupted, pressing his cock against my entrance.
“I belong—” I gasped as he thrust into me.
“Finish,” he demanded and paused, not moving even an inch.
“I belong to you,” I breathed as a full thrust launched into me, shattering me around him.
He worked me through the wave of pleasure, pure and thick, push after sweet fucking push.
“That’s right,” he panted. “You belong to me and nobody else. Never anyone else.”
Plunge after deep glorious plunge, he moved me through the orgasm, only to find another hitting me on the other side.
“Fuck,” he groaned, “you are so perfect for me.” He breathed into me as his thrusts increased. And then he came, heavy and forceful, pushing into me until his pelvis strained at my entrance.
He let himself crash down, the weight of his chest resting wonderfully against my face. Several moments passed before he rolled onto his back and sucked in long breaths. His breath settled into a steady rise and fall and mine began to mimic his.
Moving to his side, he rubbed a hand up my left arm, tracing the gray smoke of my tattoo winding its way up between the various black and gray shaded oleander flowers. My skin prickled with the sweet tickle of his touch.
“We’re gonna fix this,” he mused as his hand skirted across my skin.
“Fix what?” I asked, my mind still fuzzy.
“You can’t keep this once we’re married,” he hummed. “A healer will repair your skin if you’re to wear the crown of a queen.”
I laughed and sobered. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Not at all.” His face scrunched. “Have you ever seen a royal with a tattoo? I mean other than the sigil the kings bear.”
“Well, I’ve never seen a royal until I met you and your sister, so I suppose I haven’t.” I shrugged and let my mind wander to the possibility of being his wife. “I’ll wear long sleeves for formal occasions.”
“No.” Ryder’s tone shifted, anger edging his voice. “A healer will fix this, and if they can’t, we’ll speak to Elowen.”
I sat up on an elbow and placed my other arm across my breast, feeling a bit more exposed than I liked. “There’s nothing to fix,” I snapped. Whatever fog I’d been relishing in dissipated entirely. “It stays or leaves with me.”
“I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s only ink on your skin.” He lit a candle beside the bed, throwing shadows against the wall behind him.
“Would you say the same of the sigil?” The meaning behind my tattoo didn’t need to be explained. All he needed to know was that it was a part of me, and the matter wasn’t up for debate. I wouldn’t concede to his demands—not when it came to my body.
“Do not be foolish.” He moved across the room and disappeared into the bathing room. A steady stream dropped into the toilet, filling the silence. “It’s not up for discussion,” Ryder’s voice boomed behind the door.
I strode to the closed door. “You’re right, it’s not.” Turning around, my eyes landed on the book face down and spread open on the red-toned desk. The title: Rivale Records of Execution, burned into my mind.
A rush of adrenaline shot through my system, causing my hands to tremble.
The bathing room water turned on, and I heard the trickle of water followed by Ryder brushing his teeth.
I flicked through the pages, looking at the dates.
The book contained the year of my brother’s execution; I only needed to find it.
My focus narrowed as I rushed through the book, whooshing filled my ears and my heart pounded beneath the skin of my still-naked chest.
I’d finally made it to the month of my brother’s execution. I traced my finger frantically, going line by line, searching for the very last day of the month.
My finger found the twenty-sixth day, and when I went to look at the next page, it jumped to the fourth of the following month. I turned the page back and then flipped it forward again. Six days were unaccounted for.
“Is there something specific you’re looking for?” Ryder’s voice drawled behind me.