CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE #2
“This is something that takes time and strategy.” His eyes dropped for a moment in exhaustion. “If I move against them prematurely, we lose more than a war. We lose our people. Our future.”
“You are not powerless,” I gritted out, my fingers digging into the flesh above his knee.
His eyes lingered on my hand as he agreed. “I am not.”
“So?” I questioned, my hand sliding up his thick thigh and impatiently tapping a rhythm with my pointer finger.
“So, I will formulate a plan to execute this in a way that will not have the High Court blowing up my city,” he affirmed. “But I need time.”
A breath of relief passed my parted lips, my forehead coming down to rest on his knee. “Promise me.”
“I need you to trust me.”
“I want you to promise me, Talon,” I exhaled. “Please.”
“I promise.” His warm hand tangled in my unruly locs, grasping at a bunch of hair before yanking my head up so my eyes met his. “You are in a pretty talkative mood, little flame.”
Heat rolled through my body at the insinuation I knew hid behind his words. I squinted my eyes as I watched a flicker of heat shoot through his own.
With pursed lips and a sudden flare of determination, I lifted my hands slowly and brought them to the thick leather belt at his waist. My fingers brushed the worn strap and slid the band out of the loop.
I wanted his promise, but more than that, I wanted to remind him that while he ruled this city, he belonged to the flame. This little flame.
I kept my eyes trained on his, searching for any hint of refusal, but only saw absolute want swimming in those oceanic depths.
My hand slid lower until my fingers grasped the zipper. The soft rasp of it parting cut through his heavy breathing and made my stomach turn with anticipation.
I wiggled the stiff fabric down his legs, but with his thick form spread wide, I could only move the trousers a few inches. My eyes darted to him for help but he just tilted his head and maintained his predatory stare.
I peered at him through my lashes and felt a rush of heat pass through my core. “Please.”
He let out a rough breath through his nose before his thick hands grasped the tops of mine. He shifted his hips slightly and shoved the cotton down until he sat in front of me in his signature black briefs.
I wrapped my fingers around him through the thin fabric and was shocked to feel how hard his length already was. I eased the fabric aside and freed him, my hand tightening just enough to feel the throb of heat beneath my palm.
I leaned down, my hair spilling over his thighs like a silk curtain, and closed my mouth around him.
Talon growled in response, his hips flexing in reflex.
The taste of him was warm and musky, filling my mouth as I moved slowly.
The weight of his gaze burned across my skin as I moved again, slower this time, testing the motion, learning the way his body reacted beneath my hands.
My palms flattened against his thighs, feeling the hard lines of his muscles tense and flex under my touch as I licked at the underside of him.
“Faster,” he grunted.
I obeyed, drawing him deeper as I moved, the rhythm growing steadier, more confident. When the head of him nudged the back of my throat I faltered for a heartbeat, my breath catching.
His head tipped back with a sharp curse.
“Oh, little flame,” he groaned.
His hand slid down, fingers curling around my throat—not tight, but firm enough that I felt the heat of his grip.
My lips stretched wide, attempting to accommodate the wide girth of him. I ignored the pain in my jaw and used my tongue to trace the pulsing vein that stretched across the left side of him.
“Swallow it all.”
My legs clenched instinctively at the sound of his voice and a quiet sound escaped me before I could stop it, the vibration pulling another groan from him.
His fingers tightened slightly, guiding me even closer.
My eyes watered as his crown nudged the back of my throat, and the urge to cough was becoming too strong to resist. My lungs were burning due to the lack of breath, but I did not pull away.
I leaned into his movements, my cheeks hollowing as I drew him deeper, focusing my attention on the sensitive tip of him.
“Perfect,” he rasped.
His hips shifted suddenly and the motion caught me off guard, pushing him deep enough that my nose pressed against the inked skin of his groin. Saliva dribbled from my swollen lips as I coughed around him.
“Do not pull back,” he warned, lowering his hips so he slipped a few inches out.
Before I could take a full breath, he drove his hips forward again. I almost pulled back, but the pulse of him on my tongue had me holding my breath and lapping up at the beads that dripped from his crown.
“Kaelia,” he moaned, his thrusts picking up speed.
I screwed my eyes closed, my jaw bobbing in time with his thrusts. My mouth was a mess of saliva and his arousal, my lips sore from his relentless thrusts.
Not even a moment later, his body went rigid and he grunted as his release filled my mouth.
I took every drop, swallowing without a second of hesitation.
I wanted him inside me in every way possible—I wanted his taste, his heat, his mark.
I kept my mouth on him, my tongue flickering over the fading pulse of his length until his body finally began to soften and his grip on my neck relaxed into a caress.
When I finally pulled back, I lowered my head and rested my cheek against his thigh, my breath fanning across his skin.
“I trust you,” I whispered. “And thank you for hearing me.”
His hand came down slowly, fingers threading through my hair. “I would do anything you ask of me, little flame.”
His thumb brushed across my temple.
“I just ask you to be patient,” he said, his voice gentler now. “All in due time. I cannot compromise anyone’s safety.”
“How long?”
Talon’s hand stilled. I waited for his response but when I was greeted with only silence, I bit down on my bottom lip as my eyes began to water.
“You have had two hundred years to do the right thing. How long, Talon?”
He sighed, a long, heavy sound, and ran a hand through my hair, pulling me slightly closer. “Soon.”
I bit down on my lip harder, the metallic taste of blood chasing away the taste of him.
Soon was the word of a politician. Soon was how Xylos ended up with two centuries of stone for a ceiling.
I closed my eyes, burying my face in his muscle, knowing that while I had his soul, the High Court still had his hands.