A STONE STEEPED IN SECRETS
I woke to a wight sitting at the other end of the bed, staring at me. I immediately frowned and shooed it away with my foot. It gave a small hiss before jumping onto the floor and darting into the other room.
Beside me, the bed was empty.
I frowned again as I sat up on my elbows and stared out the window at the overcast sky. The rain had stopped, but the trees were still dripping, and there was a chill in the air. In the fireplace, nothing but ashes remained.
A thump sounded from the kitchen, then Nivelle peered around the doorframe. When she saw that I was awake, she entered, carrying two steaming mugs.
“Good morning,” I rasped.
“Good morning.” She handed me a cup. “It’s tea.”
I breathed in the steam, recognizing the scent of cinnamon, ginger, and clove, like the tea Niall liked to keep stocked in The Keep. “Thanks,” I said, not bothering to let the drink cool as I sipped.
I could offer to chop wood for her so that we could get a fire going, but everything was too wet, so instead, I held out an arm for her to sit next to me.
She stared at it, warily.
“What?” I lowered my cup and hiked up a brow. “I think you and I are way past minding boundaries.”
“Yes. About that.” She straightened her shoulders. “I can’t participate in . . . whatever that was last night.”
“You mean sex? With me?”
“Yes. Sex. Do not expect it to happen again.”
No. No! She was not about to pull this card on me. I’m the one who usually says that line. Me. Not her.
A wave of frustration overcame me. I suddenly felt . . . inadequate. Was this what females experienced whenever I said the same thing to them?
I didn’t believe her. There was too much hesitation in her eyes. Too much effort in trying not to look at me. But that could have been because I was still completely naked, and there was nothing subtle about what was resting between my legs.
“Did it mean something to you?” I asked, not quite able to keep the sly tone from seeping in as I spoke.
Her eyes flared, and a flush stained her cheeks. “No—”
“Don’t lie, Nivelle.”
“I’m not—”
“Yes, you are.”
“How would you know!?”
I grabbed her wrist and tugged her forward, bringing her between my thighs, into my arms. “Because it meant something to me.” My gaze dropped to her mouth.
“I haven’t known you for very long, but I do know that you’re more like me than anyone I’ve ever met, and that’s how I know you felt something.
You just don’t want to admit it to me, or to yourself. ”
Her body tightened in my grip, her mouth parting as if she wanted to agree. But still, she fought it.
All night, I’d sat against the headboard, going over everything in my mind, wondering how I’d gotten here and what sort of weakness I’d opened myself up to.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that something else was at work here.
I had never experienced the thrumming in my chest before Nivelle came into the picture.
And from all the stories about mates, and seeing it firsthand between Niall and Auren, I had a feeling that’s what this was.
Did that make me weak? I thought it did, at first. But if Nivelle was indeed my mate, then the gods and the fates had sought to give me an equal, someone who matched me in spirit, stubbornness, and fearlessness. And what was that, if not a strength and a blessing?
There was no denying her or what she was to me. Just thinking about it seemed to solidify it in my heart.
Her lips were a breath away from mine, and I leaned in, keeping them in my line of sight as I said, “You want me, just like I want you.”
Slowly, she tipped her hips forward, pressing them into mine, but she kept her face where it was, still hesitating.
Stubborn little thing. She didn’t deny my statement, though.
“You’re mine,” I said, pulling her in tight.
My cock swelled, the shaft thickening as Nivelle let out a small, breathy sound.
Her eyes lowered to what was now pitched high between us, then she dragged her gaze back up to meet mine. “Is this some sort of punishment?”
I tilted my head, confused.
“When we first met, you threatened to be my worst nightmare if I didn’t respect your High Lord and his mate.” Her voice lowered into a tempting tone. “Is this you making good on your promise?”
I grinned, finally beginning to understand how she worked. She liked thinking of this as a game. And I was more than happy to indulge her.
“Yes.” I gripped the back of her neck. “This is your penance.”
I claimed her lips with mine. She opened for me, meeting me with every greedy stroke of her tongue.
Both our mugs fell to the floor, shattering, and then I was hauling her onto my lap and ripping the threadbare gown she was wearing.
She found my erection and moaned against my mouth as she spread her knees and positioned me at her entrance.
I pushed into her, driving my hips up until I was fully seated inside. I gave her only a moment to adjust before I slid my forearms under her thighs, gripped the flesh of her backside, and moved her up and down on me at a pace that had her tipping her head back in ecstasy.
The porcelain-smooth skin of her exposed neck beckoned for me to kiss, suck, taste. So I indulged. I caught the skin of her neck between my teeth and left my mark.
“Gods, I love the way you take me,” I breathed.
Her only response was a whimper as I filled her up, thrust by thrust. She dug her fingers into my back and rolled her hips, chasing release, but I slowed her movements, keeping a pace that drove her mad.
“You’ll come when I say you can,” I growled, tugging at her long hair until she met my stare.
Her brows gathered as she relaxed into my grip, savoring the slight sting that bit into her scalp. She nodded as best she could, drawing her lower lip between her teeth.
If I could, I wouldn’t give her body a break. I would keep us here all day and claim her over and over again until she begged me to stop, which would be quite the reward, considering I didn’t think she was the type to beg for anything.
Her core began tightening. Release was building.
But I wasn’t going to let her have it just yet.
I stood, lifting her off of me as I turned, then I placed her on the bed and threw her legs apart.
I sank to my knees on the floor before her, hauling her to the edge of the mattress and dipping between her thighs.
The moment my tongue met her soft, wet flesh, she arched off the bed.
Heaven. She tasted like heaven, and I didn’t want to stop.
Her breaths became quick and shallow as I worked my tongue between her folds and sucked at the sensitive bundle of nerves at her apex. She was so swollen with need; I knew she wouldn’t last much longer.
With one last drag of my tongue, I lifted my head, denying her that wave of rapturous pleasure once more. She let out an exasperated groan and her eyes met mine. Glazed with lust and wild need, and something much more tender, she looked at me, silently begging.
Say it, Nivelle. Tell me what you want. Beg for it.
I licked her sweet essence off my lips, taunting her with the movement. Her mouth quivered, her own tongue dancing behind her lips as she sought the words she wanted to say.
Tell me.
Then . . . I heard her whisper, and my heart forgot how to beat.
“I need you.”
Three words—a shot straight to my heart.
From the way she said it, I knew she meant more than in just the physical sense.
If anyone was going to disguise an admission of their true feelings within a statement made in the midst of desire, it would be her.
The tactic was easy for me to spot, because I would have done the same thing.
Fuck, she even operated the same as me.
“I need you,” she urged again, and that heartfelt plea latched onto a place so deep in my soul that I became ravenous.
I rose above her and grabbed her hips again. “I’m yours,” I said. When I drove back inside her in one smooth push, it was like a jolt of lightning splintered through my body. Every nerve ending prickled.
Nivelle seized me, wrapping her legs around me and pulling me closer.
I didn’t restrain myself this time. A sound erupted from my throat, followed by another, and another as I rode into her.
Skin slapped against skin, and I reached a spot so deep in her that she cried out, clenched, and came undone.
Her eyes met mine, and the tension that had built so strongly in my core suddenly unraveled.
My release shot forth in powerful bursts.
Her pupils flared, and she gripped my thighs, moaning as I spent every last drop inside her.
When the pulsing abated, I captured her mouth again, breathing heavily in between each kiss, desperate to claim every inch of her. She didn’t let go. Her legs tightened, so I let my hips sink onto hers, remaining joined as I savored every push and pull of her lips.
At last, I tore away and looked at her again. Her eyes were closed, and when she opened them, they flared with blue light. Then she smiled, fully, and as I committed it to memory, my own expression sobered.
“What?” she asked, tilting her head at my reaction.
“You don’t do that enough.”
“Smile?”
I nodded.
“I know.” She smiled again.
“But you are now . . .”
“I am.” Her hand reached up and pushed my hair behind my ear.
“I don’t want you to ever stop. Whatever I need to do to keep seeing it, I will. Just tell me.”
She took in a deep breath and let her eyes roam over my face. It felt like we were on the verge of another vulnerable moment, one that she would either take a leap at and embrace, or turn and run from. It wasn’t the sex that she struggled with, it was the emotion that came with it.