Chapter 9
Chapter
Nine
LASH
Coming into the cave with Felicity had been a mistake.
The space was too small. The air too still. The walls so close that every one of Felicity’s distracting attributes pressed in around me.
Within seconds of Silvan sliding the seal into place, I realized I wouldn’t be able to take in a breath that wasn’t drenched in her scent. There’d be no ignoring the steady, constant rhythm of her heart or the slow, deep cadence of her breath.
But by then it was too late.
Leaning my back against the cold rock, I lowered myself down to the ground, resigning myself to a few more long and sleepless hours. I’d endured worse. Much worse.
Nights spent out on the open, between the trees in the pouring rain and freezing mist. Endless hours of constant vigilance, listening for far-off footsteps or rustling brush. Every moment fighting back the pull toward sleep, all while keeping perfectly still and silent.
In comparison, this task should have been easy. Felicity was one woman—and a kirre at that. So far as I could tell, she had no skill or talent for fighting. She presented no real threat. The only person she was a danger to was herself.
Which was how I rationalized keeping her hands bound.
A kirre willing to throw herself off a cliff was desperate enough to do anything. While it wouldn’t be easy to end her own life in this cramped, barren cave, if anyone could find a way, it was her.
To make sure that didn’t happen, I kept my grip on the end of my leather belt. Even after she’d fallen asleep.
I told myself I didn’t trust her—and I didn’t— but that wasn’t the whole truth.
On some deeper level, I simply didn’t want to let go of the tether that stretched between us…and I sure as hell didn’t want to dig any deeper into that urge. So instead, I simply held tight.
It wasn’t long after Felicity had curled up like a cat on the bare earth and succumbed to sleep that my own eyes started dipping down. Like a hypnotic hum through the line between us, I felt the pull.
It had been a long night, after all, and she wasn’t the only one who had exhausted the last of her energy.
Surely, there was no reason I couldn’t close my eyes and steal a few moments of sleep. No harm could come from it. It wasn’t long before sunrise—a couple of hours at most.
That was all I needed. Just a small nap to sharpen my senses and mentally prepare to help Nelissa with her interrogation.
Just a few minutes…
A small rest…
The next time my eyelids slid down, I let them stay closed.
Her golden hair flowed between my fingers like the currents of a mountain stream—smooth and soft and effortless. Mesmerized by the sensation, I plunged my hands deeper into the strands until the tips of my fingers raked against the back of her head.
“Lash.”
Damn, I loved the sound of my name on her lips.
Everyone before her had hurled it like profanity. Slung it like a curse.
But not Felicity.
When she said my name, it sounded like a plea. Like a wish. Like a prayer to the gods.
Only she could make it sound that way.
Like she’d been born to call out my name in ecstasy.
“Lash,” she said it again, more urgently this time. “This isn’t a?—“
“Shh,” I hissed, pulling her in so close her lips brushed against mine.
I knew what she was going to say—This isn’t a good idea.
And she was right. It wasn’t.
But it also didn’t matter.
Good, bad, or otherwise—this was fate. This kiss was destiny. Nothing was going to stop it.
In opening her mouth to protest, the tip of her tongue flicked against my lower lip. My blood surged. Desire like nothing I’d ever experienced roared through my veins, rough and urgent.
I needed to taste her. To feel her. All of her.
Right now.
Swiveling her around, I pressed Felicity’s back against the rock wall of the sheltering cave where we were hiding for the night. Even without a fire, the moonlight was bright enough to cut across her face and illuminate the glittering sapphire sparks in her eyes.
Fates above, she was beautiful.
As bright and dazzling as any of the stars lighting up the heavens. Just as fiery. Just as fierce. Bold enough to tear every last shred of my world apart and magnificent enough that I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Tilting her head up, I brought my lips down on hers.
The kiss was hard. Passionate. Everything I’d always wanted and never allowed myself to hope for.
Her sweet, warm breath washed against my mouth. She tasted better than honey right from the comb. More intoxicating than blackberry wine.
My head spun in drunken delight even before she started to kiss me back.
But nothing could have prepared me for the feel of her hands on my body. The gentle scrape of her nails sweeping up my back, dragging my shirt along with them. I let go of her long enough to tear the garment over my head and toss it to the side.
I didn’t want anything between us. Not shirts. Not pants. Not even air.
Her eyes widened as I did the same to her, pulling off the comically oversized tunic that hid her form.
My blood heated even further at the sight of her half-naked body. Her breasts were pale and perfect. Her petal pink nipples hardening before my eyes in chilly evening air, practically begging to be drawn into the heat of my mouth.
I didn’t make them wait.
Wrapping my arm around her waist, I lifted her up. She hissed in a breath, sharp and loud as my tongue washed against her sensitive skin. Flicking and teasing, I drank in the sound of her pleasure. Her moans and gasps and little cries.
“Lash,” she called out my name again.
But this time it wasn’t followed by any protests or weak arguments about what we should or shouldn’t do.
This time, she simply let her head fall back as pleasure overtook her, giving herself over to the moment…and begging me for more.
I didn’t make her ask twice.
Carrying her away from the wall, I crossed the cave and laid her down on the small nest of stolen pelts and leather blankets. Her fingers curled over my shoulders, pulling me down on top of her.
Her hungry mouth found mine, the tip of her tongue tracing the outline of my upper lip before pulling the lower one into her mouth and letting her teeth graze over the crest.
Fuck that felt good.
Shivers ran through my body at the new sensation. But it was nothing in comparison to what came next.
I was just tilting my head to run my tongue along her slender neck when I felt the buttons on the front of my pants pop. Before I could even fill my lungs, her hand delved inside, her fingers curling around the curve of my cock.
There was no stopping the low growl that ripped from my throat.
Beneath me, Felicity’s eyes went wide. Her hand, her arm, her whole body froze.
“Oh my God,” she gasped. “Lash, I’m not sure?—“
But I was.
“It’s fine,” I promised.
Her brows pulled together. Clearly, she was less than convinced.
“Easy for you to say,” she quipped. “But I have this rule about things thicker than I can wrap my hand around.”
“And I swore to never share my bed with a kirre,” I reminded her. “Looks like we’re both breaking rules tonight.”
“But—“
No more buts.
I had just as many reasons as she did to pull away. To stop this before we crossed the line there was no coming back from.
But fuck that.
From the first moment I’d touched her, I knew this was destiny.
More than that—it was what I wanted.
What I needed.
Right now, nothing else mattered. Not my pride. Not Nelissa. Not even the damn Fates.
Only Felicity.
She was the only good thing in the world. The only thing worth fighting for.
But there was no point in telling her that...not when I could show her instead.
It took me half a second to rip the pants off her legs, and half a second more for my hand to slide between her thighs…all the way up to the crux of her legs.
Felicity’s back arched as my fingers found the wet warmth there. Pressing the pad of my thumb through her folds, I traced the outline of her opening, moving upward until I found the hard nub of her clit.
She hissed in another hard breath. Her hand grasped even more firmly to my shaft.
“Oh fuck,” she whispered against my ear as I started to move my fingertips in small circles. Slow at first, then faster, careful to match my speed to the cadence of her breath.
A wave of slick heat drenched my hand as her whole body trembled and shook under my touch.
She was finally ready for me.
Pulling back, I kicked off my pants and ran the handful of slick over my cock. The whole length surged at the proof of her desire.
I couldn’t wait any longer.
Wedging open her legs with my hips, I pressed forward.
For a slight moment, her body resisted—the difference in our size too much to take.
But then another swell of slick washed over the head of my cock, easing my entry.
And once our bodies recognized each other, there was no turning back.
Like heaven unlocking its doors, her body opened up to me, letting me in and pulling me deeper.
A low rumble shook my chest as I sank into the sweetest sensation I’d ever experienced. Pleasure beyond description.
True ecstasy.
Animal need and instinct took over as I pressed inside her, all the way down to the hilt.
I thought I might go mad with the pleasure. Desire spurred me on, and I began to move. Long, rapturous strokes that had Felicity digging her fingers into my shoulders and crying out my name.
The muscles lining her inner walls tightened and pulsed in pleasure once…twice…three times. Until her cries turned soft and the strength drained from her muscles. But still, I didn’t want it to end.
Not now.
Not ever.
The only thing I cared about was staying in this state of perfect bliss. Of rapture.
But this wasn’t all there was.
There was still more.
The true height of pleasure. The peak. The climax.
The moment when I poured myself inside Felicity and locked us together tight.
It was so close.
All I had to do was stop holding myself back. Let go and let sensation take over.
Just the thought alone was enough to make my balls turn heavy.
I pulled out, ready to plunge in one last time.
But the second I shifted forward…
…my eyes popped open.
Oh shit.
That didn’t just happen. It couldn’t have. I shook my head violently, as if I wished it hard enough I could twist reality to my will.
But there was no denying the truth. The proof was still humming through my body. My whole body felt tight, my cock harder than the stone walls surrounding me.
But even more damning was the sight of Felicity sitting across the narrow space of the hold, her back flat against the wall, her breath short and fast, her eyes wide and glossy. With fear? With lust? I couldn’t tell.
I pushed the thought away, refusing to think about it.
But the kirre had no such reservations.
After another torturously tense second, she opened her perfect pink lips. “What the fuck was that?”
“Nothing,” I answered, shaking my head.
Just the damn world tearing in half.