CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR ISI
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
ISI
Irocked against his fingers, chasing the pleasure building inside me. He added a third finger, stretching me while he stroked my clit.
The pleasure built and built until I was trembling, so close to the edge I could taste it.
“Trew—”
“Let go,” he said. “Come for me, Isi.”
The orgasm crashed through me, white-hot and devastating. I cried out his name, my body convulsing around his fingers as wave after wave of pleasure rolled over me.
My inner walls fluttered wildly around him. Our magic flared in tandem, a golden thread of power weaving between us, making every pulse feel like liquid fire racing through my veins. His energy fed mine, heightening the ecstasy until I sobbed from the overload.
He eased me through it, his fingers gentling as I came down.
When I could focus again, I found him watching me with pure male satisfaction.
“You’re absolutely beautiful when you come undone.”
I kissed him, pulling back to look up at him. “I still want you.”
“You have me.”
“No.” I reached between us, wrapping my hand around his length. He was hard as steel, hot and thick in my palm. “I want all of you. Now.”
His hiss of pleasure made me smile. “Then take me, love. Drop down and claim what’s yours.”
I sank down onto him slowly, bit by throbbing bit, letting my body adjust to the fullness of him.
He stretched me to my limits, the slight burn twisting into exquisite pleasure until I couldn’t tell where the ache ended and the bliss began.
His cock was thick, hot, and it pulsed against my inner walls like a brand.
When I’d taken him completely, we both groaned.
“Isi.” My name came out broken. “You feel… Fates, you feel amazing.”
I started to rock, rolling my hips in a slow rhythm that made us both gasp. He guided my movements, helping me find the angle that made stars burst behind my eyelids.
“That’s it,” he said. “Just like that. Take what you need.”
I braced my hands on his shoulders, using the leverage to go faster. The water sloshed around us, creating waves that lapped at the stone edges of the spring.
His mouth found my breast again, sucking and grazing it with his teeth until I was keening. The dual sensations of him inside me and his mouth on me drove me higher.
“Eyes on me, Minx,” he said. “I want to see your soul when you fall apart.”
I looked up at him, and the world narrowed to the intensity in his gaze. Golden flecks burned in the depths of his gray eyes, bright with desire and devotion.
I moved faster, finding a rhythm that made us both shudder. His hands guided me, but he let me set the pace, let me take what I needed.
The wet slap of our bodies echoed in the steam-filled air, my breasts bouncing with each thrust as I ground down hard, chasing the friction that made my clit throb against his pelvis.
“Fates, Isi, you’re so tight, squeezing me like you never want to let go,” he rasped, his voice wrecked. “Ride me harder. Use me until you’re screaming.”
The pleasure built slower this time, a gathering storm rather than a sudden strike. Every roll of my hips sent sparks through my core, radiating outward until my entire body hummed with it.
“That’s it, love.” His voice was gravel and honey. “Take what belongs to you.”
I leaned forward, changing the angle, and we both groaned. His cock reached a place deep inside me that made my vision blur.
“There,” I panted. “Right there.”
His hand slid between us, finding my clit again. The dual sensation of him inside me and his stroking fingers drove me higher and made me grind against him harder.
I kissed him, trying to pour everything I felt into the press of my mouth against his. He kissed me back just as fiercely, his tongue sweeping against mine in the same rhythm as our bodies.
When I pulled back for air, I felt something stir beneath my skin, that same warmth I’d felt in the throne room, when our magic had reached for each other. It pulsed in time with my heartbeat, responding to his nearness.
“Trew,” I gasped. “I can feel—”
His hand splayed across my lower back, and I felt an answering warmth there. His magic, recognizing mine. “I feel it too.”
The sensation intensified as we moved together, our magic igniting in our blood like liquid lightning, a raw, searing throb that sang through every point where we touched.
It wasn’t the violent surge from before; this was raw, carnal, like our power was combining alongside our bodies, twining in ecstasy as sweat-slick skin slid and sparks of light danced across our joined forms.
“Don’t stop,” I cried out. “Please don’t stop.”
“Never.” His fingers worked my clit in tight circles while his hips rose to meet mine. “I will never stop loving you, Isi. Never stop wanting you. This is just the beginning.”
The words shattered something inside me. Tears streamed down my face as I rode him harder, chasing the peak that loomed just out of reach.
“Let me see you,” he said.
I forced my eyes to stay open, locked on his. The vulnerability of it, the raw intimacy of letting him witness this, sent me spiraling higher.
“I love you,” I choked out. “Trew, I—”
He pressed harder against my clit, and his other hand gripped my hip, helping me move faster. “Show me, love. Let go.”
“Not without you,” I panted, fighting to keep my eyes open, to maintain the connection between us. “I want to feel you lose control. Want to watch you surrender to this.”
“Fuck, Isi.” His control was fracturing, I could see it in the tight line of his jaw and in the way his breathing turned ragged. “The things you do to me—”
“Tell me.” I clenched around him deliberately, savoring his sharp intake of breath. “Tell me what I do to you.”
“You make me feral,” he ground out, his movements becoming more desperate. “You make me forget I’m supposed to be civilized. When you look at me like that, like you want to devour me, I want to pin you down and slam myself into you, over and over.”
“Do it.” The words tore from my throat. “Take what you need. Take it all.”
Something snapped in him then. His grip on my hips tightened as he took control. I surrendered to it gladly, giving him everything he demanded and more.
The orgasm built like a storm gathering strength, every thrust pushing me higher until I was balanced on the knife’s edge of sensation.
I forced my eyes to stay open despite the overwhelming pleasure, letting him witness every expression that crossed my face as I shattered. The raw intimacy of it, being so completely seen and claimed, sent me over the edge with a cry that echoed off the canyon walls.
“That’s it,” he said, never stopping his movements. “My beautiful, fierce queen.”
The words triggered something deeper, an orgasm that tore through my body. I felt our magic flare and intertwine, creating loops of pleasure that left me sobbing his name.
His own release followed seconds later, my name on his lips as he buried himself deep and held me like he’d never let go.
Even as the tremors faded, I ground against him slowly, drawing out the aftershocks that made him hiss through clenched teeth.
“Fates, woman, you’re insatiable,” he murmured, nipping at my earlobe with a wicked grin. “I love it.” His fingers traced lazy, possessive circles over my ass, reigniting the spark low in my belly.
I collapsed against his chest. His arms wrapped around me, holding me close as our hearts thundered.
“That was beyond anything I imagined,” he whispered by my ear.
I laughed, the sound breathless. “You imagined it?”
“Constantly. Obsessively. In every shadowed corner of my mind, you were there, my forbidden dream. Now that I have you, I’ll never let the world steal a single moment from us.
” He stroked lazy patterns on my back with his fingertips.
“Every moment we were inside Caldrith, I thought about having you like this. I spent too long wanting you and holding back. I’m done with restraint. ”
I shifted on his lap, earning a groan from both of us. “We should probably get out of the water and sleep.”
“That’s practical.”
“One of us has to be.”
But neither of us moved. We sat in the steaming water, wrapped around each other, as if the world beyond this spring didn’t exist.
“I keep waiting for the next horrible thing to happen,” I said quietly.
“I can’t promise this will be smooth, but no matter what, we’re going to face each part standing beside each other.”
The conviction in his voice eased the pang in my chest. I kissed the hollow of his throat, right over his pulse.
“We should still get out,” I said. “Before we’re too relaxed to move.”
“Fine.” He lifted me carefully off him. “But only because I want to dry you off properly.”
He helped me out of the water, then climbed out himself. I stood dripping on the ground, the cool night air nipping at my wet skin.
Trew walked over to the heap of pearl-encrusted fabric that was my wedding gown. He picked it up, examining it with obvious distaste.
“No,” I said, catching his intent.
“Yes.” He brought it over. “This monstrosity owes you some service before it meets its end.”
“You’re going to use my wedding dress as a towel?”
“I’m going to use Lord Alfred’s would-be wedding prize as a towel. There’s a difference.”
I laughed at the absurdity of it, the perfect petty revenge, and it was exactly what I needed.
“See? Even your father’s awful taste in fashion can serve a purpose,” Trew quipped, his eyes twinkling as he gently buffed my arms with the silk. “Though I have to admit, drying you off is making me want to get you wet all over again in every way possible.”
Heat bloomed in my cheeks and lower. “Behave, or I’ll use this dress to tie you up and have my wicked way with you. You’re mine now, remember? Fiancée privileges.”
He draped the heavy silk over my shoulders, using it to squeeze water from my hair. Then he worked his way down, patting my skin dry.
“Turn,” he said.
I did as he asked, and he dried my back, careful around the scars from my father’s whip. When he’d finished, he wrapped the gown around me like a cloak.
“Let me dry you. There’s certainly enough cloth for both of us,” I said.
I treated him with the same care he’d shown me, relearning the landscape of his body through touch. Every scar, every muscle, and every place that made his breath catch when I lingered too long.
When I’d finished, we both looked at the soaked, crumpled mass of a dress.
“Let’s do something worthwhile with this thing,” Trew said.
“What did you have in mind?”
He carried the sodden gown to a clear patch of stone near the spring. He squatted, then he arranged the fabric in a heap and looked up at me.
A flick of his finger and flames burst in the middle of the gown, spreading quickly. Flames quickly followed, eating through the fabric.
We stepped back and watched as his magical fire consumed the dress. The pearls blackened. The lace curled and disappeared. The silk that had been meant to bind me to a monstrous future turned to ash.
“Beautiful,” Trew said.
“Cathartic.”
He pulled me against his side, and we watched the flames until nothing remained but smoke and cinders.
“Hungry?” he asked.
As if in answer, my stomach growled.
“Kerralyn packed food for us.” He retrieved his bag and pulled out a cloth-wrapped bundle. “Let’s see what we have.”
We settled on a flat rock near the spring, still naked and unbothered by it. He unwrapped the bundle to reveal bread, cheese, and several pieces of fruit.
“Kerralyn is a gift,” I said.
“She likes us.” He lifted a piece of bread and handed it to me.
I bit into it, moaning at the taste. I hadn’t realized how hungry I was until food touched my tongue. “This is amazing.”
He cut a slice of cheese with a small knife from his pack, holding it up to my mouth.
I took it, maintaining eye contact as I ate from his fingers.
His eyes darkened. “Careful, love. We just got dry, and we burned our towel.”
“Maybe I don’t want to stay dry,” I shot back with a coy smile, licking his thumb. “Maybe I want you to feed me like this forever, with slow, teasing bites that make me hungry for more than just food.”
He leaned in, his breath warm on my lips. “Tempting. Eat up, love. We need to rest.”
We shared the food, passing pieces back and forth. He fed me bits of the apple one at a time, and I was reminded of how much my sister adored them. They tasted sweet now that I knew she was alive. I hoped she still was, that is. I couldn’t have come this far only to find her dead at the end.
Trew’s thumb glided across my lower lip with each offering, and the simple gesture heated me as fast as direct sexual contact.
When we’d eaten our fill, he wrapped up the remaining food and set it aside.
“It’s late, and tomorrow we need to figure out our next move,” he said.
“Where exactly are we sleeping?”
He gestured to a smooth section of stone near the spring. “Not ideal, but I’ve slept in worse places.”
“We’re going to freeze.”
“Not if I’m holding you.” He opened the pack and tugged out the tunic I’d stolen from him and a pair of soft pants for me, plus clothing for himself.
“I’m going to kiss Kerralyn for this, too,” I said.
“Lexie packed the clothing so you owe her a kiss instead.”
I tugged them on quickly, savoring the softness of his tunic against my flesh.
He dressed as well.
We walked to the spot he’d indicated, and he sat first, pulling me down between his legs so my back rested against his chest.
“Will this do?” he asked.
“Indeed.”
He wrapped his arms around me, his body warm. I could feel his heartbeat against my spine, and there wasn’t anything better than resting in this man’s arms.
We sat in silence for a long moment, and I felt the events of the day catching up with me. The fear. The escape. The desperate flight. And now safety, love, and a future I worried I’d lose.
“War is coming,” I said quietly. “My father won’t let this stand.”
“No, he won’t.” His lips brushed the top of my head. “But that’s tomorrow’s problem. Tonight, we’re safe, we’re together, and nothing else matters.”
I turned my head to look up at him. “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Make me believe everything will be alright.”
His smile was soft. “Because it will be. Maybe not easy. Maybe not without cost. But we’ll come through because you’re the one soul that makes every battle worth winning. With you by my side, even the fates bow to us.”
I shifted so I could kiss him properly. He responded with gentle hunger, his hands framing my face.
When we broke apart, he adjusted our position so we were lying down, my head on his chest and his arms secure around me.
“Sleep, love,” he said. “My wards will alert us if anyone comes near.”
The combination of his warmth, his heartbeat beneath my ear, and the exhaustion dragging at my limbs made arguing impossible. My eyes drifted closed.
“I’m done pretending I could live without you.”
“I loved you before I knew your name, and I’ll love you even after the stars forget mine.” He stroked his fingers through my damp hair. “Rest, love.”
As sleep pulled me under, I could feel his magic humming beneath his skin, a counterpoint to my own.
Two separate songs finding complete harmony.