48. A SPECIAL OCCASION #3
Niall leaned around me, lifting my chin with his finger and bringing my lips to his. “We can stay as long as you’d like, or leave whenever you’re ready.”
I rested my head against his chest, feeling relaxed and warmed from within. The drink must have been a contributing factor. It was potent, but in a way that was delightfully relaxing, nothing like elderberry liqueur.
“As much as I want to stay and enjoy all of this, I’m ready to enjoy you,” I said, flashing a smile at him.
“Say no more.” He turned and clapped Silas on the shoulder. “Don’t let things get too wild without us.”
Silas gave him a curt nod, and we vanished.
Wind and the chilled night air rushed against my face, but my body felt light as a feather as Niall held me to him. When we materialized, I knew exactly where we were: high enough to kiss the clouds, with nothing but the glittering stars and the gods to see us.
The Lookout.
We found our footing, just as more fireworks launched, the sound reverberating through the valley below. I watched as the streams of light climbed higher, then detonated, sending swirls of light spinning through the atmosphere. The vantage point from here was unbeatable.
Before I could even react, Niall grabbed me by the arms. He spun me around and his mouth crashed onto mine in a searing kiss.
I opened for him, matching every movement of his lips with my own, instantly lost in the delicious way he worked his jaw.
A moan climbed up my throat, breaking free the moment his tongue slipped in.
His strokes were needy and deep, carnal and claiming. He tasted of whiskey and desire.
His hand slid up the back of my neck, finding the bun and yanking the pins free. My hair unwound down my back as his other hand tugged my hips into his, pressing his arousal against me.
I reached up to remove my crown, but he pulled my hands down, breaking away from my lips to say, “No. Leave it.”
I did as he asked and claimed his mouth again.
He growled, gripping me beneath my backside and lifting me up.
We moved a few steps, and then, I was tilting.
My back met something soft. Pillows, blankets, some sort of pallet, I assumed.
I didn’t look—didn’t dare take my focus off my mate’s lips.
I let him spread mine further, relishing the plunge of his tongue and the weight of his body.
Humans consummated their marriage just like the fae did, but judging by the way Niall was absolutely devouring me, the mating union had to be far more impactful. It seemed to bring out something feral within him. Something I hadn’t yet seen before. And gods was I ready to experience it.
When he pulled back for a breath, his eyes were solid orbs of gold, burning from within. The sight fanned the flame of the desirous ache between my legs. I didn’t want him to stop. I needed more.
He knelt over me, his voice so deep and gritty, I hardly recognized it as he said, “Do you have any sentimental attachment to this dress?”
“No.”
“Good.” The word was nothing more than a breath.
Shadows spun from his shoulders and speared for the collar of my gown, threading into the fibers and ripping.
In one powerful movement, they tore the fabric from my neck to my naval, and Niall’s hands did the rest. He fisted what was left and ripped the material until it split at the hem and fell to the cushions beneath me.
His eyes raked over my body, flaring with delight when he realized I wore nothing underneath the gown.
Lying bare beneath him, I felt like I held all the power in the world. But there was something I loved about letting him take control.
As if reading my thoughts, his shadows—the extension of his very body and soul—moved over me, caressing my skin before wrapping around my thighs the way his hands would.
They thrust my knees apart, baring all of me to him, and he wasted no time making his move.
With both arms, he swept his cloak behind him, then lowered his face and dragged his tongue up my center, feasting, just as he said he would.
Seeing his golden crown between my legs, glinting in the night atop his dark hair, sent my arousal into a frenzy.
Another shadow manifested and grazed the peaked tip of my breast as Niall’s tongue worked between my legs. I arched my back, leaning into both sensations, moaning to the sky.
In the valley below, the finale of fireworks echoed through the mountains, every pop seeming to sync in perfect time with Niall’s tongue and the shadow’s strokes.
I reached down with one hand and gripped Niall’s crown, holding him steady, right where I wanted him, while I rode the wave of pleasure as it built and built and shattered through me.
I kept my eyes open, staring up at the night sky, taking in heavy breaths as my body hummed with satisfaction and my legs shook. This kind of ecstasy was too good to be true, and yet I was bathing in the aftermath of it under the stars.
Niall moved, but he didn’t come to settle atop me as I expected. Instead, he got to his knees, tugged my body across the blankets and into his arms, and we ported without explanation.