Chapter 43
Aurora
I’m still clutching Camryn’s hand when I wake in the morning. She is curled up beside me, and as I gaze at her, she looks better physically. Color has returned to her cheeks, and her under eyes are plump and free of dark circles. Even her hair has more luster.
My eyes widen. It worked. My magic allowed her to get a dreamless, restful sleep. I smile, happy she could fully rest.
Then my mind drifts to Soren. I wonder if he knows where I am and why I didn’t come to bed last night. But seeing as Caelum also isn’t in the room, I suspect at some point they found us and let us sleep.
Camryn shifts, her brown eyes staring back at me, clear and bright.
“Good morning,” I whisper.
She glances around the room, taking in the soft light streaming through the balcony doors. “It’s morning? I slept through the night?”
“You sure did.”
She glances back at me and then at our hands still clasped together. “You stayed all night?”
I smile at her. “Of course. Did it help? You look rested.”
She blinks. “Yeah, it did.” Her eyes dance left and right. “I didn’t have a single dream. Just calm and quiet. Like the soft glow of a candle.”
I hug her tightly around her neck. Even after all this time of knowing each other, and all that we’ve been through, we still need each other. We still have a role to play in each other’s lives.
“Thank you,” she whispers into my hair.
I smile. “You and me. Always.”
Camryn sinks into the bath while I go in search of Soren. I sneak up to our room on the floor above to find it empty. I sigh and shove under the covers, deciding it would be best to wait for him to return rather than walk circles around the palace.
When Soren returns a short time later, he tells me Numara left the palace before dawn with the northern army to meet up with Thorn and the rebels in Hollowbrook.
Soren saw them off, giving Numara the communication mirror he still had on hand.
Soren instructed her to pass it to Thorn so they can communicate the army’s movements.
He slides into bed beside me, wrapping his arms around my back and nuzzling into my hair. I breathe in his woodsy scent, and let my thoughts slip off my tongue. “Are you afraid for Olin and the others?”
He exhales and shifts so he can scan my face. He takes my hand, bringing it to his lips for a gentle kiss that sends goosebumps across my skin. “Afraid? No. Worried? A little.”
My brows pull together, and he releases my hand to caress my face.
“But Thorn knows the land better than anyone in Silverveil. He knows where to place the rebels to give him the element of surprise. And as for Olin …” A smile curves across his face.
“He hasn’t unleashed his beast in a long time.
Whatever army the king has will certainly suffer his wrath. ”
I swallow, trying to imagine Olin as anything other than his charming self.
“I’m more concerned about keeping you safe.” His amber eyes flash to mine.
I sigh and brush loose strands of dark hair from his face. “I’m staying focused on returning home to Riverholm with you,” I breathe as I gaze at his beautifully rugged face.
His face softens. “Me, too. Soon, My Flame. Very soon.”
I swirl my fingertips over his chest. “What do you think we’ll do when this is all over?”
His voice rumbles. “There are a lot of things I’d like to do with you.”
I chuckle, tipping my head to kiss him. “Oh, yes. There'll be plenty of that. But what do you see our life being like in the future? When there are no more shadow weavers or evil kings to fight.”
His amber eyes glimmer down to mine. “I’d like to spend more time at home with you. Maybe help Olin on his farm. And someday, if you’d like, I would love to fill our home with children.”
My heart skips a beat. Soren and I have never talked about having children.
Until recently, I didn’t know what our life would be like with me aging as a human and him having an extended fae life.
But, knowing we are both half-blood descendants and our aging process slows significantly, the idea of having a family seems more possible.
He grins at me and lifts my chin with his finger. “My love, only if and when you are ready.”
I shake my head. “It’s just, I never thought I’d have kids.
I could barely manage trying to control the chaos in my life that the thought of having another being to care for scared me.
But with you …” I sigh, looking into his warm eyes.
“The thought of having children with you will be what I’ll think of when I need a little bit of hope. ”
His grin cracks my heart wide open. He pulls my face to his and kisses me deeply. “I love you, Aurora,” he says before his tongue dives into my eager mouth. I moan, returning the sentiment.
One of his hands slides to my waist, holding me lightly in place on the bed. His other hand drifts down my leg to grip the hem of my dress that rests against my calves. He tugs the material while I shift my body, allowing the fabric to slide around my backside and up to my hips.
Pulling away from the kiss, he looks down before arching an eyebrow at me and my lack of underwear. I shrug. “You know I don’t enjoy sleeping in them.”
“I appreciate that detail when you sleep in my bed, but you retired elsewhere last night. What a delightful reminder,” he purrs before his hand slides down to the apex of my thighs.
His thumb brushes over the bundle of nerves between my legs, making my back arch to his touch.
His fingers curve around the bunched material of my gown once again, and with a swift pull, I lift my back off the bed enough to have him free me of the garment entirely.
He rests back on his heels, his amber eyes scanning the length of my body and leaving goosebumps in their wake.
I gaze into his darkened eyes. “Your turn.”
He gives me a wicked grin. “Yes, My Flame.”
My magic sparks between my fingers as I bite my lip.
He tears his tunic over his head in a blink, baring his rugged chest to me. My eyes fall to where his hands loosen the ties of his pants and I inhale when he tugs them down, freeing his hardened length. I’ll never tire of looking at him.
Shoving off his pants, he crawls over me, bracing himself as he lowers his lips to mine again. I capture them with a fevered gasp. I need him. Now.
Sensing my urgency, one hand returns to between my thighs, and he groans at the slickness he finds. “So eager,” he whispers against my lips.
I nod, wrapping my hand around the back of his head to pull him deeper into my mouth. He lowers himself to me, his cock pressing deliciously close to my core. Two fingers slip inside me while his mouth trails down to my breast, sucking my perked nipple into his mouth.
My fingers glide through his hair, my breaths becoming short and ragged. When his fingers curl, hitting the right spot inside me, my head presses deep into the pillow. “Soren, please.”
I feel him grin against my chest. “What do you want, My Flame?”
“You,” I pant.
He nips at my nipple, causing me to cry out in heightened pleasure. “Tell me.”
Oh, he is going to make me beg.
My heart races. “I want your cock. Inside me. Now.”
He chuckles low, kissing between my breasts. “Yes, my love.”
His fingers slip out of me, leaving me heartbreakingly empty for a moment before he thrusts his cock into me, filling me entirely as he pushes all the way to the hilt.
“Oh, Soren.” My eyes fall closed at the glorious sensation.
He kisses my neck. “Aurora. My light. My Flame.”
I open my eyes to see him gazing at me. “Fuck me,” I breathe.
He grins before obliging to my command.
He pulls back, removing himself almost entirely before slamming into me. He repeats the movement over and over before his pace becomes frantic. The friction rubs at my swollen bundle of nerves, and it isn’t long before my climax tears through me.
Soren doesn’t stop when I cry out, my nails digging into his rigid back. He continues rocking into me, sliding his hand between us to keep me riding the waves of my orgasm.
Just when I think I will pass out from the pleasure, his cock pulses inside me and I clamp down around him.
He stills, catching his breath, before kissing me softly. “My Flame. I love you.”
I wrap my arms around him, sweat slicking between our skin. “I love you, too.” My fingernails trail up and down his back as our breath steadies.
This. I could have this forever.