Chapter 59
Fifty-Nine
Adamas
She smiles, and my eyes drop to trace the heavenly movement—goddess, those lips—as she reaches behind her and begins to untie her dress. But then, like the little tease that she is, she smirks and drops her hands to her sides.
With a feigned pout, she twists around and looks at me over her shoulder—thick lashes batting with an innocence that I know not to trust.
“Can you give me a hand?” Her voice is low and husky. “I can’t quite reach it.”
Lies, lies, lies.
I watched her dress herself in that very gown when she thought I was still asleep two mornings ago. But seeing as she has me wrapped around her perfect fingers, I comply.
There’s an ease in her movements, a lightness I haven’t seen since being back. I pushed her away, keeping her from the darkness that now stains my soul. But I’ve shown pieces of it to her, and she didn’t run. She didn’t look at me with the pity I feared, didn’t look at me as if I was broken.
Even though I am. I’m not whole like I was before—there’s now a crack in my armor.
But Lunaria still wants me. And I’ll always want her.
How could she think I’d view her differently if she lost her magic? She’s so much more to me than the power she harnesses. Though I suppose I did the same to her, thinking she’d view me differently if she knew what I went through in the Vale.
We’ve both been working against each other instead of together, ignoring our issues rather than facing them head-on.
That stops now.
“I’ll gladly help you,” I finally answer her, watching her eyes soften. “With anything you ask of me.”
Anything she asked of me, I would give her.
She knows it. I know it. And still, our dance begins.
I reach for her hand. A tall mirror in the corner of the room catches my attention, and I smirk. Silently, I tug on our joined hands until she follows me over it.
She watches me with an intense fascination as I position her in front of the mirror and stand behind her. With my eyes on hers in the reflection, I work to undo the ties at her back.
“A little too good at that, aren’t you?” she teases.
I untie the final criss-cross that lands just above the base of her spine.
“We both know there isn’t a soul in any realm that compares to you, Lunaria.” As much as I love to tease her, I hope she feels the seriousness in my tone. “You’re my last—my forever. Don’t forget that.”
My fingertip plays along the back of her neck, and her eyelashes flutter closed as I run it down her spine.
When I lightly push the dress off her shoulders, she tries to turn around, but she doesn’t know what I have planned for her—goddess, the things I wish we had time for tonight.
I walk her backwards—my clothes still on—and press her lips to mine. My fingers thread through her hair, and I keep walking her until she’s pushed against the window. She hisses when her spine meets ice-cold glass.
The sun has set, but an oil lamp flickers dimly alongside us—enough light for someone to see in.
I pull my lips from hers and trail a line of rough kisses all the way to her neck, stopping just below her right ear.
“Should I shut the curtains, little princess?” I murmur. “Someone might see.”
A moan slips out of her as she shakes her head, which is answer enough. Only she must not think so, because she rasps, “Let them watch.”
Surprise tears through me like a tidal wave, sending a rush of heat skittering south. The moment watch leaves her mouth, my mouth is on her neck. I need to taste her. Feel her.
My lips burn to be against her skin.
Her palm presses against my chest while her other hand grips my shoulder, pulling me closer.
“Kiss me, Graylen,” she demands.
So I do.
My tongue slips into her mouth, teasing and testing. I kiss her until the world begins to melt away, and all I know is how desperately I need to be inside of her. Heat sparks between us, sparks of my flames dancing from her skin to mine.
Each time it licks against her flesh, she gasps and arches her back into me—pushing her breasts against my chest. She writhes, naked, between me and the window, and knowing someone could see her this way sparks a feral need to mark her as mine.
Fuck it.
Let them watch.
Let them hear her cry out for me.
Let them see how I come undone only for her.
I sink to my knees, my gaze holding hers as I slowly drop to the ground. My fingertips dance along her thighs, tracing little swirly lines up to her hips, then gliding up to her waist and back down.
She lets out a noise of protest and mutters, “Are you trying to torture me?”
I huff out a laugh and shake my head. “Be patient for me,” I murmur.
Her lips poke out into a pout as I lean forward—my movements far slower than she wants them to be.
When my lips hover over the dip where her waist meets her hip, she breathes a sigh of relief, as if expecting a kiss.
I smirk and position myself between her thighs.
Instead of a gentle kiss, my tongue swipes out and drags along the inside of her leg.
There’s no stopping the smile that spreads across my lips, even as I’m half buried between her legs.
A whimper escapes her. “Graylen—”
“Shh,” I quiet. “Let me beg for you.”
A memory rolls into my mind of when Lunaria was new to Penyth. When she still pretended to hate me—though the annoyance she aimed at me was very much real. I told her then just how fond I was of begging, and I’m nothing if not a man of my word.
“I thought you were fond of women begging you?” she sasses.
I freeze, and a tingle of anticipation licks up my spine.
Slowly, I lean away from her, my fingers digging into her waist as my grip tightens. My eyes meet hers, and I grin when she swallows thickly.
I know what my gaze looks like; hungry—no, starving for her.
“You’re remembering it wrong, little princess.” My smirk mirrors hers. “I said I was rather fond of begging. Never specified which one of us that would be.”
Lunaria’s teeth sink into her plump bottom lip as my fingers begin to graze her waist and roam around to her lower back.
I wink and murmur, “But we always knew I would be on my knees for you, Lunaria.”
She shivers as her name rolls off of my tongue, and my chest warms at the sight of it—pure satisfaction taking over every inch of my body.
Before she can answer, I press my lips to her center, my tongue rolling along her sweet flesh.
Lunaria moans for me, a sound that sends blood rushing into my already painfully hard cock. She’s the taste I want to drown in and the voice I want to hear before I die. All I need is her.
On my knees before her, I worship her. My tongue swirls relentlessly until her knees are shaking and her hands grip my shoulders to hold herself up.
“Please,” she whines. “I need you.”
A groan slips from my throat, vibrating against her skin and causing her to make the sweetest little noises. As much as I could stay here all night, I can’t deny her—not now, not ever.
I stand up, towering over her as she shivers against the now-foggy window.
Lunaria’s hand begins to travel down my abdomen, sending my nerves into a frenzy and my heart racing. Her path is slow—agonizing.
My body melts against her, a smirk now on her lips and a near-whine slipping from mine. I’ve met my match with this one, and I don’t have a single complaint about it.
With her free hand, she reaches up and grabs my face, pulling it toward hers. She kisses me hard, her teeth nipping at my lip until there’s a tang of blood on my tongue. It only causes me to press myself closer to her, angling my body to allow her torturous hand to explore down my abdomen.
Finally—fucking finally—her fingers reach the waistband of my pants, slipping beneath just a little. I suck in a sharp breath, my cock straining against rough cotton fabric.
But then she pauses, her kisses slowing and hand retreating.
Breathless, she breaks our kiss entirely and whispers, “If you’re not ready—”
My mouth is on hers again, swallowing the words she doesn’t need to say. She wants to make sure I’m ready. My chest tightens at the thought—at how I managed to capture this brilliantly thoughtful and strong woman’s heart.
I reach for her hand, still lingering at the top of my trousers. My fingers curl around her wrist, and I tug her hand down to show her that it’s okay. That I’m okay.
Her other hand trails up my shoulder and moves around to the back of my head, cupping the base of my skull like I’m the most precious thing she’s ever held. I shiver beneath her touch, my abdomen flexing in anticipation.
When her fingers grasp my cock, a moan slips from my mouth, mingling with the sound of our lips meeting. She’s still hesitant—careful.
I don’t want careful—don’t need caution. Fuck caution.
If she’s still taking it slow for me, I just need to help her understand.
My hand wraps around hers, joining her as she moves her fist up and down my cock. She gasps against my lips, our fingers interlacing and pace quickening.
“I need you,” I rasp against her mouth.
“I’m yours,” she mumbles, our lips crashing against one another.
Her words break something in me, snapping what was left of my restraint.
“On the bed,” I growl.
She’s over there faster than I can get my clothes off, propped up on her elbows and lying before me as I rip my shirt and pants off.
I stalk toward her, my body humming with anticipation.
Her gaze slides over my body as I approach, and for a moment I worry she’s going to stop me. That she’s going to see the scars—new and old—and tell me she thinks I’m not ready.
When her eyes find mine again, there isn’t pity there. There’s nothing but pure hunger, the same need I feel burning a hole through my chest.
I reach the end of the bed and kneel over her, my body hovering just above hers. A stray strand of hair falls over her eyes, and I smooth it behind her ear. She smiles, soft and beautiful.
“With you, there is no pain,” I breathe, repeating the words I once said to her before she was mine.
She gasps, and I chase the sound, my mouth crashing against hers so I can taste that harmonious noise. Her legs wrap around my waist, her heels digging into my lower back to press me forward.
I laugh against her mouth and mutter, “Impatient.”
But I don’t move; I stay hovering above her and enjoy tasting her mouth against mine.
Lunaria huffs and replies, “Brat.”
I can’t help but smirk as I sink inside of her without warning, her answering moan like music to my ears.
My pace isn’t slow—and it certainly isn’t gentle.
I need her like she’s the lifeline that’s going to keep me alive, like she’s the only way I’ll be able to breathe each and every day.
She pulls me closer, her hands roaming the expanse of my back as her nails drag across my skin. I groan into her mouth, my hips snapping forward at a quick pace.
Every nerve in my body is on fire, begging for release. But I don’t slow—don’t stop—even as my magic bubbles to the surface and dances along my fingertips.
I lift to look at her, her eyes meeting mine in a half-lidded haze.
Lunaria gasps as the flame follows where my hand goes, dragging a trail of it across her collarbone.
“It doesn’t hurt,” she mumbles in awe, the glow of my fire reflecting in her eyes.
I smile. I knew it wouldn’t.
“You were made for me, just as I was for you,” I say in answer to the question she didn’t ask.
I don’t want my fire to hurt her, so it won’t. It’s a flare of light right now, nothing more. Warm enough to leave a wave of goosebumps across her flesh, but cool enough that it doesn’t cause pain.
With one hand positioned on the bed to hold myself up, the other continues its exploration. My palm closes over her breast, squeezing until her head is thrown back and her eyes are rolling in the same direction.
Each punishing thrust of my hips brings her closer to the edge—and me along with her. I watch in fascination as her body begins to tremble beneath me, her legs squeezing tighter around my waist as my pace quickens.
“You’re mine,” I growl, and she moans. Her pink cheeks burn a deeper shade of red. “In this moment and every moment after this one, you’re mine.”
Something in the claiming causes her to snap, her hips driving up to meet mine in a sloppy rhythm.
“But Lunaria,” I rasp, causing her gaze to fly to mine. “Know that I belong to you. I have been yours from the moment I saw you in that ballroom. In this realm and every other, I am wholly yours.”
She cries out beneath me in the same breath I come undone for her, unable to hold it back any longer.
My body falls on top of her, and she snuggles up close, hardly moving as I pull out. She mumbles something—half asleep—but just clear enough for me to hear as I start to drift off.
“You’re everything to me, Graylen,” she whispers.
I fall asleep with her perfect voice floating around in my head and my arms wrapped tightly around her.