Chapter 20
Lorian
I wake to warm, soft lips brushing below my collarbone.
For a moment, I don’t move. My eyes stay shut while my brain catches up, piecing together the weight of the blanket, the faint scent of rain outside, and the woman pressed against me.
Maeve. She’s here.
The memory of last night punches through me in fragments. Duchess Karanda, the summons from the empress, the storm, the porch.
I gave Maeve the Eternal Lily. I got down on my knees and gave it to her.
She said yes.
I’ve never heard anything better in my life.
I open my eyes and look down to see my True Mate watching me, her wide green eyes full of heat.
Maeve’s mouth moves lower on my body and arousal fills my veins and my cock hardens instantly.
I’m mesmerized by the sight of her, of her perfect, round mouth slowly trailing kisses across my chest, unhurried, like she’s got all the time in the world to explore my body.
And I’m letting her. Gods, I want her to.
She moves to straddle my body as she places another kiss, this one just above my navel, her wild red hair spilling over my skin.
My cock, almost painfully hard, is trapped between our bodies.
She presses another kiss just above my ribs, and something tightens in my gut. I can barely believe this is real.
“Maeve,” I say, my voice husky and deep.
She lifts her head, and when our eyes meet, she smiles. Not shy. Not uncertain. Just warm. Like this is normal. Like waking up together and having amazing sex is just something we do.
“Good morning,” she murmurs.
I reach for her, fingers sliding through her hair. The strands are tangled from sleep and curl around my fingers like flames. She’s beautiful, perfect, and it wrecks me a little.
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” I mutter, a faint smile tugging at my mouth.
She grins and presses a kiss to my hip bone. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
And then she moves down and I lose the ability to think.
Her hand slides over my abs, fingers trailing just enough to make my cock twitch. I’m already hard, have been since the second I felt her lips on my chest, but the way she touches me now? It’s possessive. Confident. Like she knows exactly what I want. Like she knows she owns it.
She wraps her hand around my shaft, and I suck in a breath.
“You don’t have to,” I start.
She looks up, gaze steady. “I want to.”
That does something to me, something sharp and deep. I stop talking and let her lead.
There’s no rush in her movements. No hesitation. She touches me like she’s memorizing everything, relearning me in silence, and I let her. Every second of it.
Her mouth follows, soft and sure, kissing the tip first, then licking a slow, deliberate stripe down the length of my cock. I groan low in my chest because fuck, she feels good. Her lips part as she takes me into her mouth.
Heat. Wetness. Pressure. Her tongue curling beneath me as she slides down slowly, then pulls back with just enough suction to make me bite down on a groan.
I look at her, I have to, and the sight of her like that, eyes closed, lashes dark against her cheeks, mouth wrapped around me with complete focus, nearly makes me come right then.
She moans softly when I twitch against her tongue, the sound sending a vibration straight through my balls.
“Fuck,” I breathe, my hand tangling in her hair. “You feel so good. You’re perfect.”
She doesn’t look away. That’s what shatters me most. Maeve holds my gaze while her mouth moves over my cock, steady and deep, her hand stroking what she can’t take.
I grip the sheet beneath me with one hand, the other still tangled in her hair.
“Gods, Maeve…”
She moans around me, and it sends a vibration straight through my spine.
“Fuck,” I grit out. “You feel so damn good.”
She doesn’t let up, building the rhythm with slow precision, like she’s taking pleasure in every sound she drags out of me.
“Maeve.” My voice is rough, strained. “I’m close. If you keep going, I’m going to come.”
She pulls off just enough to whisper, “That’s the idea.”
And then she goes back down, and a few moments later, I lose it.
I spill into her mouth with a groan, hips arching helplessly as she holds me down with a firm hand. She doesn’t stop until I’m completely undone, twitching and panting, my body stretched tight with pleasure.
She swallows all of it. Then she climbs back up and kisses my jaw, my cheek, my temple. Her body slides over mine, soft and warm, and I wrap my arms around her.
“Gods, I love you,” I whisper into her hair. “You could ask anything of me right now, and I’d say yes.”
She hums, content. “Good,” she says, teasing. “I’ll remember that when I need the roof fixed.”
I laugh, kissing the corner of her mouth. “Later.”
“Later?”
“Much later.” I trail kisses down her neck. “I owe you something first.”
She doesn’t say a word when I move, just watches with those wide, pure green eyes as I grab her in my hands and flip us over in one quick move. She gasps as she finds herself flat on her back, her legs parted on each side of my hips.
I sit back on my heels and just look at her, marveling at the sight of her body, offered before me. Morning light spills across her skin, soft and golden, and for a second I just look. My chest tightens.
“You’re going to ruin me,” I murmur.
Maeve smirks a little, breath already catching. “That’s the plan.”
I slide between her thighs and settle there, bracing myself on my forearms, pressing a kiss to her knee, then her inner thigh, then a little higher.
The smell of her pervades everything, potent and arousing.
Her breath hitches again. She's warm and already slick, and the way she shifts beneath me, impatient, aching, makes my cock twitch against the mattress.
I’ll be ready to take her soon. But I want to make her come with my mouth first.
“I want to take my time,” I say, brushing my lips against the sensitive skin at the top of her thigh. “Make you forget everything that came before me.”
Her voice is barely audible. “You already have.”
But I’m not done.
I lean in, licking her slowly, deliberately, one long stroke of my tongue that makes her hips buck. She tastes incredible, sweet, familiar, and above all mine. She moans low in her throat, legs falling farther open for me.
I drag my tongue over her again, this time circling her clit before sucking it into my mouth. She gasps, her hands flying to my shoulders, nails digging in as she arches under me.
“Lorian…”
“Yes,” I whisper against her soft curls. “That’s it. Let me hear you.”
She whimpers as I work her, building her up with steady pressure, firm strokes, every move of my mouth tuned to her body. She’s so responsive, so present with me, it’s like she’s giving me her pleasure as a gift and daring me not to lose my mind over it.
“You taste like sunshine and madness,” I growl against her.
She lets out a shaky laugh, cut short by a gasp when I flatten my tongue and flick over her little bud with just the right pressure. Her thighs tense, her hands fisting in the sheets now, pulling them tight.
“Don’t stop,” she begs, breath ragged. “Please, don’t stop.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I promise.
I keep my rhythm steady, pushing her higher, until her body tenses beneath me, back arching off the bed. Her orgasm crashes through her with a sharp cry, my name on her lips, her thighs squeezing around my head as she rides it out.
I don’t stop until I’ve wrung every last tremor from her.
When I finally lift my head, her chest is rising and falling in quick, shallow breaths. She’s sprawled out, flushed, wrecked, and perfect. I crawl up her body slowly, kissing the curve of her stomach, the soft underside of her breast, the hollow of her throat.
“Lorian,” she whispers, voice still shaky, eyes locked on mine. “I want you inside me again.”
I reach down, sliding a hand up her thigh, just to feel her tremble. “I was hoping you’d say that.”
I brace one hand beside her head, positioning myself to her entrance. I slide in slowly, inch by inch, and we both groan at the contact.
She’s still tight around me, still soaked from her orgasm, and the feel of her pulling me in again makes me wild.
Her legs wrap around my waist, her hands sliding up my back, nails lightly grazing skin. I hold still for a second, just breathing, buried to the hilt inside her.
“Maeve,” I say her name like a prayer. “You feel perfect.”
She lifts her hips, trying to move. “Then don’t just stay there.”
I laugh softly, low and dark, and start to move. Deep, slow thrusts that have her gasping from the very first one. There’s no urgency this time. No frantic edge. Just her body taking mine, her breath stuttering each time I sink deep.
Her eyes meet mine, pupils blown wide, hair splayed across the pillow.
“This is how I want to wake up,” I tell her. “Every morning for the rest of our lives. With you under me. Wrapped around me.”
She moans softly. “Lorian…”
I roll my hips, angling just right, and her back arches.
“There,” she gasps. “Right there. Don’t stop.”
I keep the pace steady, grinding into her, hitting that spot over and over until her nails dig into my arms, her body tightening around me.
“Come for me again,” I whisper, lowering my mouth to hers. “I want to feel you come around me. I want to hear you cry my name.”
Her response is a sobbed yes, and then her whole body goes taut.
She shatters beneath me, her second climax tearing through her with a choked cry. Her walls clamp down around me, and that’s all it takes.
I curse under my breath, thrust once, twice more, then I come, hard. Deep inside her, buried to the base, growling her name against her throat as I lose control.
We ride it out together, breathing hard, clinging to each other as the last waves of release pulse through us.
When I finally still, she continues to hold me, arms locked around my neck, legs tight around my waist. I don’t pull out. I don’t move. I just press my forehead to hers and breathe with her.
Everything else can wait. Right now, it’s just us.