Chapter 24 #2
I reach for her face, sliding my hand behind her head, my fingers tangle into her hair.
We can’t do this.
I brush my thumb across her cheek and she leans into my touch. Her eyes flutter closed and her breathing quickens.
“Taylan…”
She sits on the bed, scoots the center, then spreads her legs wide.
I am the most selfish man in the world.
I’m on top of her in a heartbeat and when our mouths meet, there’s nothing slow or tender about it. We’re pure desperation and desire. My cock slides against her soaked entrance and my hands knead her breasts, before traveling to her throat.
She pulls her lips from mine, then whispers, “Brevan, I need you inside me.”
I enter her in one thrust.
She throws her head back and cries out as she digs her fingernails into my back. I move inside her, hard and fast. Her hips keep time and her breathy sounds come every time my cock drives into her.
Her eyes close just as shadows build. They caress my shoulders and swirl around us, tendrils warping around my arms and twisting between us. They writhe and dance, flowing and undulating in time with her hips and breathing.
My body heats, and I swear my magic is building in response to hers. I tamp it down. Her shadows are friendly compared to what I keep buried but it feels like they’re taunting my inner monster.
I lean down and kiss her, reminding myself of who I am and what I have to lose as I give in to the clawing, twisting fire building in my chest.
She opens her eyes and locks her gaze on me. Suddenly, everything quiets. I can’t see the shadows or feel the fight within me. It’s her and me and pleasure that grows with each thrust.
“You have no idea what you do to me.” I lean down and kiss her neck, then her jaw. She moans, then I can feel her tensing. The sounds she makes drive me crazy, each breathy moan pushes me closer to the edge.
“Fuck, Brevan!” She cries out, her back arching as she comes.
The sight of her unraveling under me is too much. I groan as I release into her.
The shadows are gone. My magic has retreated, returned to its hiding place. I lean forward and rest my forehead against hers. We breathe together for a few moments, and then I roll over so I’m next to her.
She turns to her side, then kisses my jaw. “I never want to leave this bed.”
“I know.” I kiss her forehead.
She sits up, but I pull her back down, then wrap my arms around her. She laughs. “You know I can’t stay.”
“Just for a minute. I just want one minute to pretend this is our life,” I tell her.
“Wouldn’t that be something? Instead, I’m married to—”
I press a finger to her lips. “Don’t finish that sentence. Right here, right now, you’re mine. If only for a minute.”
She nuzzles against me while I trace the swirls and vines on her arm. I wonder if I just made everything worse by trying to keep her, if only for a short time.
All too soon, we’re out of the bed and she’s stepping back into her dress. She looks at me as she laces it back up. “It might not always be like this. Things could change.”
“They will change,” I assure her. “We just don’t know how yet.”
“Then stop telling me never,” she says. “Start telling me someday.”
I take two steps to reach her, then grab a bundle of fabric at her waist so I can pull her the rest of the way to me. “I don’t think I could ever stay away from you. No matter the cost.”
When I lean down, she meets me in a kiss that feels far too much like a goodbye.
She hasn’t been gone more than five minutes when the knock sounds. I can’t help the smile on my lips.
“Did you forget something?” I call as I open the door.
Caiden stands on the other side, his expression hard. “Your sister killed three more guards. Give me one reason I should let her live.”
“I thought you said you were sending more. How are they so incompetent that they can’t keep her under control?” I leave the door open while I return to my room and start dressing. “I can’t wait until morning. I’m going now.”
The door closes, and I turn. The way Caiden is looking at me sends a chill down my spine. I haven’t been afraid of him since we were children, but there’s something in his eyes that has me reaching for a weapon.
“I let her live. I let both of you live. And with one word from me, I send Anya right into your sister’s rooms and let her play with her a while. You want to be the one to tell my darling wife why her best friend was shredded? Why her body is in pieces?”
“You wouldn’t,” I say.
“You know what I wouldn’t do?” He takes a step toward me. “I wouldn’t fuck your wife.”
“Caiden, I…”
“Don’t. I saw her leave your room.” His whole body is tense. “I told you to end it. I warned you.”
“It’s me. It was my fault. Whatever you’re going to do, take it out on me. Don’t hurt her.”
“I can’t hurt her. Don’t you see? Don’t you see what she’s done to me?
I would rather feed myself to the dragon than harm her.
And that makes her dangerous enough that I should do it.
I should end her. She’s a weakness. A threat to my crown.
But right now, all I can see is the man I used to call my best friend betraying me. Again.”
“You know that’s not the same thing,” I cut in.
“No, it’s not, but it’s enough to remind me of exactly who you are.” He glances at the knife in my hand. “Are you going to kill me, then? Is that how this ends?”
I drop the knife. We both know I won’t. Like I know he won’t harm me or my sister. He needs us. We’re safe. Sabina and Anya are not.
“I’m serious, Brevan. End it. She’s my wife. Mine. I swear to the gods, I will make her watch while I kill Anya. Or maybe I’ll make you do it.”
“You don’t have that power,” I bite out.
“Are you certain? How sure are you that you can control that magic you keep hidden? The magic that even my father didn’t know about.”
My face burns. He’s bluffing. Only my sister knows the truth about me. “I have full control over all my magic. Including what your father bound.”
“We both know you’re lying. You think I wouldn’t research where you came from?
The truth about you and your sister? Don’t try me, Brevan.
If I have to, I will turn her against you.
Then I’ll make you watch while I take my time killing her.
And you’ll live. You’ll live through all of it.
Because we both know, it’s not yet your time.
Your sister might occasionally make mistakes, but she’s never changed her prediction about how and where you die. ”
“She’ll never want you,” I tell him.
“We’ll see about that.” He opens the door. “I don’t care how you do it. Break her heart if you have to, but fucking end it.” He slams the door behind him.