Chapter 103 Taera
Taera
When our bodies come together, it’s too tender for words.
The contact is almost painfully vulnerable, but we both need it too badly to pull away.
Our magic meets with breathtaking intensity, like—without his illusions—the entirety of Nikolai’s power is focused on me.
It ignites every brush of his fingers over my skin.
Where his lips caress mine, heat blooms to the edge of pain, the summation of our combined need for each other.
The sensations are so new that no matter how painfully I want him, I can’t rush the kiss. I want to remember every second of it.
Heat grows between us as we taste each other, trying to become closer.
Beneath his robes, I feel his arousal hardening.
He ignores his own desire, carefully cherishing the softness, the newness of a single kiss.
But I’ve waited so long for Nikolai—the true Nikolai—that the distance is physically painful.
I press against him, sending my aching need rippling through the bond of our magic.
He lets out a shuddered exhale, his lips parting, and his carefully measured movements begin to lose their finesse, their restraint, as I melt into him.
“Taera,” he breathes. His hips press forward, and he groans when I mimic the motion. I want him; I need him. I’ve always needed him.
I pull away, and Nikolai visibly holds himself back, his eyes meeting mine, searching.
Both of us are breathing hard, but I want more.
I’m ready for more. I untie the black silk from my torso, pulling it off, and he exhales sharply.
His eyes are molten, transfixed at the bare sight of me and giving me confidence.
I reach for his robes, tugging up the fabric.
He helps me shed them, and we’re both exposed. No illusions, just skin.
Nikolai’s body is new beneath my hands. My fingers skim the roughness of his palms, the tiny nicks along his knuckles, the freckles scattered over warm skin.
Creases that tell a thousand stories. I follow each imperfection with my mouth, feeling him tense and soften under every kiss.
When the space between us becomes unbearable, I ease over him, my breasts soft against his firm chest. Sparks jump where our skin touches.
The rush steals my breath, and I inhale slowly, letting my body learn the shape of him.
“Is this how it’s supposed to feel?” I whisper.
“With you,” he replies. “Only with you.”
“I want to—” My words are lost in a whimper as his arms tighten around me, his hands sweeping down my back and cupping my ass. I moan, wriggling my hips against him, and he presses back, breaths heavy. But he doesn’t push us any further, even though I ache for him.
Boldly, I reach between us and wrap my fingers around his thick, hot arousal. My magician jerks, letting out an agonized groan as his entire body shudders beneath mine. I can’t help my smile.
I slide my grip down his length, then back up again.
“Taera,” he mutters, half-choked.
“Do you want this?” I ask. Shifting onto my knees, above him, I nestle the tip of him where I’m slick and wet, making it clear exactly what I’m asking. He curses and takes several seconds before he seems to be able to speak.
“Yes,” he groans. “Fuck yes.”
Still gripping his base, I wriggle myself a tiny bit lower. Heat pulses between my legs. I hesitate. Is he going to fit? Is this the right way to do this? But his hoarse whimper eviscerates all my concerns. His hips tilt to meet mine, and I feel the slow, deliberate press of him into me.
I gasp. It’s so much. The pressure, the heat…
his magic is inside me. I lower myself a bit more, on shaky knees; he slides in farther.
Nikolai grunts. I open my eyes. His pupils are blown wide, his lips parted and round as he gazes at me.
I look down between us and let out a small laugh at how—despite the fullness of it—only the tip of him is inside me.
But even as he quivers, he holds still and allows me to adjust, giving me time.
I breathe, relax around him, and when he slips in deeper, his broken groan shoots blazing heat through my veins.
“You’re going to ruin me, Taera,” he practically growls. “You don’t have to—”
His escaped moan morphs into a full roar as I push down—gritting my teeth as he burns and stretches me—until I’m seated nearly at his hilt. His hands fly to my hips, locking me in place. We’re both panting.
“Fuck, Taera,” he says through clenched teeth. “Fuck, you feel good.”
“This is okay?” My voice comes out low and throaty.
“Yes.” His chuckle reverberates through me, an entirely new sensation. “I was going to say, this is your first time. We can go slow. You don’t have to take all of me.”
“But I want to,” I say, my stubbornness winning. The way his gaze darkens and his fingers dig into my hips has me aching with want, rocking my hips the tiniest bit. He curses, grunting as I test out the movement.
My magician goes unnaturally still beneath me.
He’s frowning, grimacing.
“What?” My heart races.
I suddenly feel very, very vulnerable seated on top of him.
“Did I do something wrong?” I ask.
“Absolutely not. But—I shouldn’t be inside you like this. Fuck, Taera, we… we need to take precautions.”
“Oh.” I don’t know why this, of all things, heats my face. “I already—I’ve been taking…” I bite my lip, hoping he understands what I’m trying to say. But he’s still frowning, so I shove the words out. “I’ve been taking the herbs, just in case—in case you wanted to, with me.”
Comprehension dawns on his face, and he blinks, startled. My cheeks burn.
“You… hoped we would—”
“Yes,” I admit.
He gazes up at me with an unbearable tenderness, his hands still warm on my hips.
His abdomen flexes, and he sits upright.
The movement drives him deeper, and I gasp.
I’m still straddling his lap, Nikolai buried deep inside me.
He pulls me to his chest and kisses me. His mouth is so soft, so sincere.
I melt into him, fingers curling in his hair, as I kiss him back.
When I tilt my hips, taking him the rest of the way, we both groan, and his arms tighten.
“I’ve wanted this too, Taera,” he murmurs. “Fucking labyrinth, I’ve wanted to make love to you.”
My throat thickens at his words. This isn’t just sex for him—for either of us. It’s something different. Something that matters.
“Why didn’t you?” I whisper on his lips.
“I couldn’t.” His voice is anguished. “Not when I was lying to you.”
He kisses me again, devouring my needy noises. Slowly, he rolls his hips up against me. He’s excruciatingly careful, as though I’m made of glass. We both take a shaky breath, clutching each other. It’s almost too much; I never want it to end.
“Please,” I whimper. “I want you.”
He rocks into me again, exhaling roughly, and I squeeze my eyes shut.
“I’ve wanted you since our damn bath together,” he says. I smile. He continues to roll his hips, continues murmuring to me. “Since you held my hand all night. Since after that fucking party when you told me you tried to kiss me.”
I laugh against him, but he moves against me in earnest and I become breathless, tightening my knees around him. Nikolai holds my waist to keep his thrusts smooth and sweet, and the moan that slips past his lips matches my own.
“When I brought you home with me, and you were beneath me in my bed…” he chants. “When you told me you wanted me, I almost gave in.”
Breathy noises escape me.
“You like it like this?” he asks.
“I like it all.”
He lifts me off his lap, and I gasp at the sudden emptiness, tugging his shoulders to pull him close again. He turns us, then obliges, laying me down on my back with one hand beneath my head, shielding me from the hard ground—another hand guiding himself back inside me.
“This is how I imagined it,” Nikolai murmurs.
I clutch his shoulders, his hair, trying to anchor myself.
My hips jerk up without rhythm, trying to meet his, and he takes hold of my ass, guiding my movements.
His hips grind fully against my pelvis, sending little jolts through my body with every delicious thrust.
“I fantasized about this so many times,” he breathes, “about how you’d feel—the sounds you’d make.”
The thought sends a rush of liquid pleasure straight to my core.
“You did?”
“Fuck, yes.” He groans as he moves inside me.
“Is this…” My breath shudders out. “Like you imagined?”
“No,” he murmurs. “You’re so much more.”
My heart flutters, and I smile up at my magician.
His thrusts are controlled, like his magic.
“I wanted to taste you,” he continues, laughing darkly. “I still want to fucking taste you. But you climbed onto me to ride my cock and I lost my fucking mind.”
My brain stops working. I can only whimper as he draws pleasure from me. His. Mine.
“Please, Nikolai,” I whisper, tightening my legs around him. Not even certain what I’m asking for.
“You want more?”
I nod frantically.
Then, he’s fucking me, groaning curses against my neck.
The marble floor is unyielding, bruising my tailbone, but I don’t care.
The little bolts of pleasure stretch longer and longer—every time he presses against me—until he swears and grabs both my hips, holding me still.
I wail at him to continue; I grab his hair and try without success to buck against him.
“I’m not going to last like this, Taera.” His voice is tormented. “I’ve wanted you for too long, and you’re too fucking tight.”
“Please,” I whimper. “Please keep going.”
He hisses out an exhale. “Are you sure?”
I nod furiously, panting.
“I’m not going to be able to stop,” he warns roughly, even as he starts moving again.
“Please.”
“You want me to finish inside you?” the magician growls.
“Yes,” I whisper. “Please, Nikolai.”
The sparks of pleasure return. My eyelids flutter as my magician pounds into me, sending my pulses of pleasure sputtering and expanding out of my control. My magic is a thundering, rushing waterfall, and my legs shake of their own accord.
The world explodes with pleasure, and I scream.
“Fuck, Taera, I’m going to come.” He groans, grunting with an edge of desperation.
I’m only half-aware of his face contorting in gorgeous agony, his eyes closing and his mouth falling open as his body shudders.
His grip on me turns painful as he slams into me one last time, pinning me there, pulsing inside me.
“Taera.”
He’s whispering my name as the tremors subside. He’s burying his face in my neck, murmuring sweet nonsense—holding me while I quiver in the aftermath.
“Fucking labyrinth,” he pants.
I’m speechless. It takes me several breaths to understand what he’s saying, and for my lips to twitch upward in agreement. He can feel my boneless bliss through the fluttering heartbeat of my magic.
It’s a perfect eternity before Nikolai shakily lifts himself, gently pulling out. I wince at the slight tug of pain—a delicious reminder of what we’ve done. When he rolls onto his back, pulling me into a bear hug with me on top of him, I nuzzle into my magician’s embrace.
Of all the things that could float through my dazed mind—the memory pops up of leaping through a solid brick wall and into the labyrinth.
“Master Koroy.” I groan.
Nikolai chuckles under his breath. “That isn’t the name I hoped you’d be moaning after the best sex of my life.”
“He tried to stop me.” I scrunch my face up. “He’s going to be furious.”
“Don’t worry, Taera. I’ll take the blame.”
Best sex of my life echoes in my head and I grin.
“I never want to leave,” I murmur.
“Then stay,” he says, desperately earnest. He kisses the top of my head. “Will you stay here with me?”
“Yes.” I can’t stop smiling, even as tears gather in my eyes, and I’m surprised at the sudden influx of emotion. “Nikolai?”
“Taera?” he answers.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”