Chapter 27
Sage
Talon cupped my face and tilted it up, and our gazes locked. His eyes held that mesmerizing swirl of colors, but they were cool, assessing. Even Quill when he’d help me relieve the pressure of my desire spike had looked like he’d cared.
His attention dipped to my lips, and he inched closer, his breath mingling with mine, the promise of a kiss hanging in the fraction of space between our mouths before he jerked his head back and slipped his other hand through the high slit in my skirt.
The brush of his fingers against my bare thigh sent a shock of heat rushing through me and forced me to bite back a moan.
I was already so wound up, already aching, and he’d barely touched me.
He slid higher, and I stopped breathing entirely, my whole body frozen in anticipation, before he paused, just at the cusp of where I wanted him.
My heart hammered not just from his touch and the yearning burning inside me but from fear.
The alcove was too exposed. Anyone could walk past. Anyone could see West standing guard and wonder what he was guarding.
And a part of me didn’t care, a part that screamed inside me hungry and demanding.
I needed him to touch me more, needed relief so badly my whole body shook.
My throat tightened and I wanted to tell Talon to stop, that we should go back to my suite to deal with this. Except there wasn’t time. I couldn’t keep the High Priestess waiting any longer than absolutely necessary, and he knew it.
Talon released my face, and his mouth moved to my neck, nipping softly, the sharp sensation shooting straight to my core, making me gasp and arch into him. When his fingers finally dipped into my wetness, I had to press my fist against my mouth to muffle the sound that threatened to escape.
I was so slick, so ready, and I couldn’t stop the way my hips rolled forward seeking more. Shame burned through me, knowing West could hear every gasp and moan, but I couldn’t make myself stop.
Talon stroked me, circling my nub with a rhythm that sent heat spiraling through my core.
My breaths came in short, desperate gasps I couldn’t control.
One finger slid inside me and a hint of relief flooded through me at the intrusion, the sensation so intense I nearly sobbed.
Then he slid in a second finger, curling them just right, finding that spot that made stars flicker behind my lids.
His movements were deliberate, practiced, speaking to years and years of knowing exactly what to do to bring a woman to the edge, but he watched me like he was gauging the effect, not sharing it.
My throat tightened. This should have felt good — it did feel good — but the emptiness twisted inside me anyway. He was here, touching me, but I felt alone, disconnected from him in a way I’d never felt with Ash or even Lord Quill.
Father, I wish Ash were here instead. My chest ached with how much I wanted to be with him again, wanted someone to want me. How could someone who literally oozed sex be so cold and calculating?
Talon shifted, bracing his free hand against the wall beside my head, caging me in while his fingers moved faster inside me, pumping in and out, his thumb pressing circles on my nub.
The pleasure built too fast, too intense, my body coiled so tight I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, could only feel the spiraling climb toward release.
My hips moved, grinding against his hand, chasing more, needing more, and I didn’t care how it looked or sounded anymore. The fabric of my skirt whispered against us, the sound of his fingers squelching in and out of me obscene in the quiet alcove.
My core spasmed around his fingers, my body teetering on the edge of release and my breathing turned ragged, but Talon’s eyes stayed cool even as his own breathing picked up.
A lump formed in my throat.
I knew he had to keep himself separate and in control so I wouldn’t notice his shadow — I couldn’t even tell if it was feeding off my release like I knew it needed — but I didn’t expect his distance to hurt so much.
Which was ridiculous because I didn’t care about Talon and certainly didn’t want Talon to care about me. I couldn’t afford the complications.
My gaze darted past Talon’s shoulder. West still blocked the alcove, his back to us. Father, this was mortifying.
Then my body clenched hard around his fingers, violent and sudden, and I had to muffle my cry against Talon’s chest while the release screamed through me. Blazing heat flooded my core, radiating outward until my legs shook so badly Talon had to press me harder against the wall to keep me upright.
Relief washed through me, the frantic clawing lust easing. I could breathe again, think again, forget I ever had this moment with Talon in an alcove where anyone could see—
A sharp, consuming hunger exploded inside me, aching and demanding, worse than before.
No. Please no.
My core clenched around nothing, the emptiness suddenly overwhelming. A sob caught in my throat and my eyes burned.
It hadn’t been enough. The desire spike was still there, still burning, and now my body knew relief was possible but incomplete. The desperation clawed at me worse than ever.
Why did my body demand more when I didn’t want to give it? Not to Talon, not when I couldn’t even be sure he wanted me in return. Why couldn’t this be happening with Ash instead?
Talon eased his hand away carefully. His gaze met mine and something flickered there. Satisfaction, maybe. A job completed successfully. But no warmth. His frown deepened. “Are you—?”
He knew. I could see it in the way his eyes searched my face. I was still shaking, still aching, the urgency worse than when we’d started.
“What do you need?”
More embarrassment burned my cheeks — I hadn’t thought it possible for them to get hotter — and I looked away, unable to meet his eyes.
“I ah…” I swallowed hard. I didn’t want to say it. “I don’t think the spike—” I had to force the words out past the humiliation of admitting it. “The one before wouldn’t ease up until Quill was actually inside me.”
A heartbreaking softness flickered through Talon’s expression, and a part of me wanted to scream at the injustice of it.
Neither of us wanted to be in this situation, but he was going to help me anyway, because this, right here, was the real Talon.
A man who had to keep his distance but who ultimately cared even about someone he didn’t really care about.
With a soft nod, as if he were confirming to himself what he needed to do, he reached for his belt, his fingers working fast at the buckle.
Every second felt like forever, my body screaming for relief, and I wanted to grab his hands and make him move faster, but I knew that would only slow him down.
He opened his pants and freed himself. He lifted my leg, hooking it around his hip, and gripped his beautiful cock, already hard and flushed, the tip glistening.
I’d fantasized about what it would feel like to have him press inside me, how it would feel to make love with Talon, but being compelled by his allure and a desire spike hadn’t been a part of the fantasy.
My insides churned, a tangle of want and yearning and confusing emotions, because I’d trusted Talon, thought I knew who he was, and then he’d proven me wrong.
And now here we were and he was exactly who I first thought him to be.
I didn’t want to doubt him, didn’t want to need him in this moment, didn’t want to lose the sense of friendship I’d thought we’d been developing in the Gray before the running trail, didn’t want…
a whole bunch of overwhelming things I had no control over.
The first press of his length against my entrance made me gasp and then he pushed inside, hard and fast. My breath stuttered out of me.
The force and sensation flooded my body, so intense my vision went white at the edges.
He filled me completely, the stretch burning and perfect, and I grabbed his shoulders to steady myself.
Oh, yes. Yes yes yes. This was what I needed.
He pulled out and thrust back in, deeper, harder, and I bit my lip to keep from crying out. My core clenched around him, desperate for more, and he gave it to me as if sensing just how deep the ache went.
His hips snapped forward again, fast and fierce, each thrust sending lust spiraling through me.
Sweat dampened my skin and I moaned. His hands gripped my waist hard enough to bruise but I didn’t care.
I needed this, needed him to fuck me harder, faster, needed relief so badly I couldn’t think past it.
Darkness billowed through the mesmerizing swirls in his eyes, there and gone, and a hint of smoke curled around his forearms so fast I wasn’t certain I saw it. But the whisper of cold seeping into my skin where he held me confirmed his shadow was rising to the surface.
The pace quickened, his thrusts coming harder, deeper.
I gasped and clung to his shoulders and pleasure coiled tighter and tighter in my belly.
The desire spike drove me to meet each thrust, my hips rolling forward.
West’s armor clinked nearby, a reminder he was still there, still listening, but the ache for relief drowned out shame and everything else now.
Talon’s control started to slip, his rhythm turning rougher, more urgent, and darkness bled back into his eyes, staying this time.
“Fuck,” Talon groaned, his hips jerking forward, his length plunging deep inside me, his muscles tense with his release.
My core clenched around his cock, whisps of darkness and icy cold caressed my flesh, and I shattered.
The orgasm tore through me, fierce, splintering, ripping a strangled cry from my throat.
My inner walls spasmed, gripping him hard, and heat exploded through my belly, radiating outward in waves that made my legs shake.
My body convulsed with the force and relief finally — finally!
— flooded through me, the desire spike draining away and leaving me boneless.
Talon stilled with a sharp gasp, his release pulsing hot inside me. For a brief moment his forehead rested against mine, the gesture achingly tender, as if for just one second he’d forgotten to maintain his emotional distance.
My chest tightened. His breath washed warm against my lips, and I wanted to close the space between us, wanted him to actually kiss me. I craved something more than this clinical relief.
Then he pulled away, withdrawing carefully and tucking himself back into his pants before fastening them with quick, practiced movements. He straightened my dress, smoothing the fabric with detached care, making sure I looked presentable before stepping back.
My legs wouldn’t stop shaking. My face was still flushed, my breath still uneven, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
The High Priestess was waiting.