Chapter 34
S?ren
I wasn’t sure what I’d done to deserve this, but I silently vowed to do whatever it took to make sure it happened again and again and again.
Because propped up on one arm, a finger coasting in and out of my princess while she gasped and moaned beneath me, my lips pressed against her sternum, was something I’d happily spend the rest of my life doing.
I watched as her pupils dilated at my words.
Gods, her eyes were mesmerizing. Something about having her here, entirely naked on the bed and spread wide for me, was intoxicating.
Maybe because she spent so much of her time with her walls up, angry, refusing to let anyone in unless they were willing to break down those walls and earn it.
Somehow, she’d decided I had earned her vulnerability.
Had earned the right to make her plead for release, to learn her pleasure inside and out.
Somehow, she loved me.
I pushed another finger in beside the first. She was so wet, so ready, but I wanted her to come first before we did anything else. My cock throbbed, and I forced myself to ignore it.
“S?ren.” Revna’s voice pitched to a whine, and I smothered a grin.
“Begging already?” I murmured, casting my eyes down to where my fingers disappeared inside her.
Next time we did this, I’d need to put my mouth on her again.
Even looking at her—pretty lips spread, her clit swelling and desperate for me—my mouth watered.
Maybe she would sit on my face if I begged her. “How badly do you want it, sweetheart?”
Her hands flew up to tug on my hair, and I groaned, faltering in my rhythm for a moment. Gods, how was she able to make me see stars so easily? It was entirely unfair, and I relished in it.
She used her grip on my hair to tug my lips down to hers, the kiss all-encompassing. When her teeth scraped my lip, it took all my concentration not to come right then and there. She pulled back, panting. “Stop teasing, S?ren.”
A thrill settled in my stomach at her frown, but I tucked the feeling away. She loved me, she loved me—we’d have all the time in the world to drag it out later. Right now I was helpless to do anything but what she asked. I brought my thumb up to circle around her.
Revna’s head fell back, exposing her throat to me. What the hell was it about the slope of her neck that made her so exhilarating? Every inch of bare skin was another ounce of heat burning in me. She whimpered as I found the right rhythm, determined to have her coming soon.
I ran my tongue lazily over the slope of her breast, pressed my teeth gently into the soft flesh of her nipple. And then she gasped and arched her back and came on my hand. Clenching around me while her toes curled and I held her through it.
“I love you.” I couldn’t help the words slipping out, even though I knew she might not even be able to hear me. “Fuck, you’re so beautiful.”
She panted and I pulled my fingers out of her slowly. My other hand caught hers and I intertwined our fingers, scattering kisses down the inside of her arm.
“I want you inside me,” she said, and we locked eyes.
She looked at me like I made up the sky. Like if we were ever separated, she would pull the gods from the lake and make them pay for their sins in blood. “No need to tell me twice.”
Revna grinned. “Lie down.”
Oh, shit.
I obeyed, rolling over to lie next to her.
She pressed a kiss to my knuckles before sitting up to straddle me.
I swallowed hard at the sight. Her dark hair was mussed, her cheeks pink, a small bruise blossoming along her throat from where I’d sucked too hard.
A vicious possessiveness took hold of me, and I reached up to grab her hips.
If she didn’t wear a cloak when we went down to dinner, everyone would know what we’d been up to. Would know that she was mine.
Good.
“S?ren?” I glanced back up at her. Revna’s brow was furrowed, a little smile on her face. “Where did you go just now?”
I bit my lip, ran my hands up her sides. “Thinking about people seeing the mark on your neck. Thinking about everyone knowing what we were doing up here. Thinking about how I’m the luckiest man in this world and the next.”
Her gaze softened. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.” The truth of it sent another pulse of need through me. “Will you fuck me now, Princess? Or will you make me wait for you?”
“What would you do if I said ‘wait’?”
I groaned but couldn’t help my smile. “I’m not a patient man, but I’d become one. For you.”
My answer settled something in her. Using one hand to line me up with her entrance, she carefully began to sink down. My fingers tightened their hold on her hips, and I watched with rapt attention as my cock sank into her. When she paused, I said, “Take your time, sweetheart.”
She exhaled roughly. “I want to savor this. Last time we didn’t get to.”
But in the next moment, she descended fully. The sound I made was something raw, something inhuman, and her hand cupped my jaw, thumb tracing across my cheekbone. “I like you like this,” she said. “Completely at my mercy.”
And by the gods, I liked it, too. My entire life I’d worn a mask.
Kept my true self hidden from the world.
I knew I was a monster, knew I was powerful, but did it really mean anything?
No. Not until she arrived. Because maybe I’d had magic and she had none.
But she had a furious determination, a righteous anger I lacked.
At some point, the mask had become a shell. I’d withered away under it. And Revna had brought me back to life.
Fitting then, that she should be the embodiment of life with her Lurae. Whether it was gone now or lived dormant inside her still, it made her radiant.
“I’ve always been at your mercy,” I told her. “Do you want me to beg? I will. Please, Revna.”
She began to move, rolling her hips as her hands grabbed my shoulders for stability.
I lost myself in the pleasure of it. Dark strands fell over her face and she closed her eyes.
I moved one hand between us to rub against her clit, determined to make her come again.
At the sensation, she inhaled sharply, eyes flying open to watch my face.
“Look at me,” I begged, hearing the need in my own voice. “Fall over the edge with me.”
Because the pressure between us was building, a fire I dared not smother. I stroked her gently. Her movements grew faster, until her thighs began to shake on either side of me. It was all I could do to hold on until finally, finally, she cried out and pulsed around me.
I came too, calling out her name until the stars faded from my vision and she rolled over to lie next to me. When I’d caught my breath, I grabbed a cloth from the washroom to clean us both up. Then I pulled her to my side, her head nestled on my chest.
“You really love me?” she asked.
I chuckled. “I really do. Always have, actually.” If only I’d had the courage to tell her sooner.
“I’m glad you didn’t leave,” she said quietly. “Even when things were hard between us and I needed time to figure everything out. You were still there. And I’m grateful.”
I held her more tightly, exhausted and sated, but already dreaming of having her on top of me again.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
The common room of the inn was a cozy space with several tables set up and a roaring fire burning along one wall.
It was packed, but I noticed Astrid had sectioned off part of a table so we could join her.
Considering how private the room upstairs had felt, I was surprised to see so many people eating and chatting.
“I’ll get us some stew,” Revna said. She pulled the hood of her cloak tighter around her face, so the shadow of it obscured her scars from view. The last thing we needed was for someone to recognize us.
Reluctantly, I released my hold on her. I knew Arraya and Callum were in Bhorglid, but part of me worried the moment I turned around, Revna would be gone.
It’s what had happened to Sonja, after all.
The memory of the day I’d returned from the front and descended down to the palace dungeons, intending to see my sister after two weeks of utter hell on the front lines only to find her gone, haunted me.
This is different, I told myself, forcing my feet to carry me to Astrid. She slurped the broth in her bowl—all that remained of her hearty stew—like a starving woman. I’m doing everything I can to protect Revna.
I settled across from the teleporter, keeping my signs close to my chest so the strangers on the other end of the table couldn’t glimpse them easily. “Have you surveyed the Kryllian soldiers in Bhorglid at all?”
Astrid raised a suspicious brow. “No. Why, Hellbringer?”
I tried not to wince. Astrid hadn’t brought up the secret of my identity being revealed before now, but I’d seen her narrowed eyes when she thought I wasn’t looking.
She studied me often, maybe searching for a hint of the monster she expected to see.
“Because if we need more numbers, I think Mira—the teleporter who worked with me—might be willing to help us.”
Astrid drummed her fingers against the table. “Why would she be loyal to you and not the queen?”
Revna appeared at my side, depositing two big bowls of stew on the table. There was no room for her to sit beside me…until she glared hard enough at the stranger at my side that he got up and left of his own accord. I hid my smile behind my hand.
Astrid was not feeling as lighthearted, apparently. She caught my attention with a snap and said, “Why should I trust anyone who works for Kryllian?”
“Do you see any other options?” I replied. “We need allies if we’re going to rescue Freja and the others. Unless we’re willing to try and sneak back into Bhorglid, Kryllians are our only option.”
“You want to recruit Mira?” Revna asked, understanding. She chewed her lip. “Do you really think she isn’t loyal to the queen? She was willing to tell Arraya about our relationship.”