48. CHAPTER 45 #3
He let out a long shaky breath, and slumped forward, burying his face in the crook of my neck.
“What did I do right to deserve you?” he groaned.
“A whole lot, Mr. Kade,” I murmured, my fingers still tracing his waistband. “I promise.” You did a whole lot to earn me.
He gripped my waist tighter.
“Come closer,” he whispered near the shell of my ear, and he leaned back against the couch, guiding me gently until I was straddling his lap. The movement was unhurried, careful, as though he was afraid of breaking the moment.
I lowered myself over him, my knees bracketing his hips, while my hands returned to holding his face. His palms slid up my back, pinning me there.
“Better,” he said in a gravelly note that I felt bone-deep. He pulled me into his chest, his arms locking around my waist as if he were trying to weld our heartbeats into one.
“Yeah?”
He nodded, his eyes searching mine darkly, intensely, and stripped of every piece of his old defenses. “Now I can breathe. The air... it doesn’t feel so thin when you’re this close. The silence doesn’t feel so loud either.”
My pulse was all over the place for an entirely different reason. I loved that he’d finally let the walls fall around us, and the man underneath was breathtakingly vulnerable and beautiful.
I kissed the corner of his mouth, his cheek, the spot below his ear where I always feel his pulse.
He shuddered, a long, deep tremor that rippled through his large frame, his head dropping back against the cushion as he let out a nervous breath.
I lowered my mouth to his, kissing him slowly. It wasn’t the frantic kisses we sometimes fell into, that left us dizzy and laughing. This one was deep with longing, sealing up every unsaid word between us.
He kissed me back like he was starving and trying not to show it. His hand slid under the hem of my dress, his fingers splaying over my thigh, grounding himself.
“I need you tonight,” he rasped against my mouth, the words filled a vulnerability that sent shivers down my spine.
“Not as a distraction, but as the only thing keeping me from falling apart. I need to feel you... to know that while everything else is fading, you’re still here.
That I’m not losing the whole world at once. ”
“I’m right here,” I whispered. “And you’re never going to lose, Orion. I promise.”
“I know,” he breathed. “That’s why I'm still standing.”
I pressed my forehead to his, sliding my arms around his neck, pulling him into me.
“Then let me hold you up. For once, let that be enough.”
I could feel his shoulders loosen. He pulled me closer, one hand cradling the back of my head as he kissed me again, deeper this time. The world narrowed to the slide of his mouth on mine, the heat of his body under my palms, the faint sound he made when I rolled my waist.
When we finally broke apart, we were both breathing harder.
“Tell me what you want—”
“Léa,” his voice, a warning laced with desperate desire.
“Let me comfort you,” I whispered against his skin, my hands sliding into his hair and pulling his head back to expose the line of his throat. “Relax, ma douceur, I’ve got you.”
His eyes closed at the word, his breathing uneven.
I’d never thought to chose an endearment for Orion, not because I didn’t want to. None felt befitting enough. But there was something about being here in this moment with him—experiencing his vulnerability, and the parts of him he only lets me see.
Ma douceur.
It was such an ordinary endearment, but in this house of titles and legacies, it sounded like a lifeline. I chose it because I was the only one he ever let be close to that part of him.
“Ma douceur—” he repeated on a shaky breath, a hint of a smile touching his lips. “I like it.”
“I thought you might.”
My thumb stroking his cheekbone. “Stay right here. Be still, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
He let out a long, broken sigh, his body finally relaxing. He gave himself to me, slumping into me like a man who had finally found a place where he didn’t have to be strong.
I trailed my lips from his mouth down to his jaw, nipping at the stubble there before sucking gently on the chiseled line. He tasted like salt mixed with the familiar scent of his cologne mixed. All very him.
My mouth moved lower, pressing open-mouthed kisses along his neck, my tongue flicking out to lap at the hollow of his throat where his Adam's apple bobbed.
A soft groan rumbled from his chest, pulsing against my lips. Goodness, the way he responded—it sent a thrill straight to my core, my pussy clenching with the knowledge that I could unravel him like this.
I tugged at his already loose tie, pulling it free till it dropped to the floor.
Then my fingers worked the buttons of his shirt next, popping them open one by one, exposing the hard planes of his chest. I pushed the fabric aside, kissing the newly bared skin, licking a stripe up to his collarbone while my hands roamed over his abs, feeling them flex under my touch.
His breath hitched, unevenly and deepened, as I shifted lower till my knees dug into the carpet. I savored the power radiating through me, knowing I could make this strong, controlled man come undone with just my mouth and hands.
My fingers found his belt, unbuckling it with deliberate slowness, the metal clinking in the quiet office. I drew the zipper down, inch by inch, watching his chest rise and fall faster.
When I freed his cock, it sprang out thick and hard. He was beautiful like this—veins pulsing along the length, the shaft curving slightly toward his stomach. I wrapped my hand around the base, stroking up slow and firm, feeling it twitch in my grip.
“Shit… Léa,” he cursed, his voice a rough mess, eyes half-lidded as he stared down at me with a dark hunger. I saw a muscle ticked in his jaw, and his fingers flexing on his thighs.
“You’re always so fucking good to me,” he praised in a deep, wrecked voice that made my pulse skitter. “My clever girl… that hand is going to finish me if you keep that up.”
I smiled, pumping him steadily, twisting my wrist at the top to rub my thumb over the slick tip. His hips jerked once, an involuntary buck that made my clit throb.
I leaned in, my breath ghosting over the sensitive skin, and took the head into my mouth, sucking gently, my tongue swirling around the ridge.
He let out a guttural moan, one hand tangling in my hair, holding me there, as an anchor. I hollowed my cheeks and took him deeper, bobbing my head with a rhythm I’d already learned he loved. I knew exactly what made his thighs tense and I enjoyed giving him that.
Saliva coated his length as I worked him, slurping wetly, my free hand cupping his balls and rolling them delicately.
“Fuck…that mouth of yours,” he growled, his hips twitching again as I grazed my teeth ever so gently along the underside. His fingers gripped my hair, tight it sent a spark of heat through me, making me suck harder, and faster.
I hummed around him, the tremor pulling another curse from his lips, as his cock pulsed against my tongue.
I owned this moment, this power to make him come apart. I took him as deep as I could, gagging a little, but pushing through until my nose brushed his skin. His breaths turned to pants, his hips thrusting shallowly now, fucking my mouth with a restraint that was visibly fraying.
“Léa… I’m gonna—fuck, yes, just like that,” he rasped, words spilling out of him uncontrolled. “Mine. All mine. Sucking my cock like you were made for it… fuck.”
His body went tight, every muscle pulled taut, and then he came, flooding my mouth as his hips jerked up, his grip in my hair tightening. I swallowed every drop, milking him with my hand and tongue until he shuddered, spent.
I pulled off him, licking my lips as I looked up at him. His chest rose and fell heavily. His eyes glazed and dark, with a look of satisfaction flashing across his face.
“Feel better?” I asked, stroking absentmindedly on his thighs, my voice husky from how deep I’d taken him.
“Fantastic,” he breathed, reaching down to cup my jaw. His thumb brushed the corner of my mouth, smearing a trace of him away. “You’re intoxicating, Léa. Every time you do that, it rewires me. No one is ever going to make me come like you do.”
Warmth flooded through me, making me want to look anywhere but at those dark, honest eyes. I ducked my head, pressing my forehead against his collarbone to hide the fact that he'd completely disarmed me.
“Orion,” I whispered, my voice sounding small and breathless even to my own ears. “You…shouldn’t always say these things out loud.”
“Why not?” He tilted my chin up, forcing me to meet his gaze. His thumb traced my lower lip, his expression almost frighteningly intense. “It's the truth. You own me, Maia. Every cell, every breath. You might as well know the extent of your kingdom.”
I bit my lip shyly, a shaky smile finally breaking through. His eyes turned tender, then darkened again as his hands slid from my jaw to the back of my neck.
“But now,” he drawled, his voice dropping into a dark, gravelly register that made my knees buckle “I need to remind you exactly how much I love serving my Queen.” His lips brushed the shell of my ear, the barest whisper of contact that sent a shiver down my spine. “I need you…all of you.”
His words ignited me, and before I could answer, his hands were at my back, gliding the zipper of my dress down in one smooth pull. The fabric loosened, sliding off my shoulders and pooling at my waist. Cool air rushed over my skin, stiffening my nipples.
He groaned, big hands cupping my breasts, his thumbs stroking over the peaks once, twice, before his mouth closed over one. The sensation of his tongue made me arch into him, a helpless sound tearing from my throat.
We didn’t make it far from the couch. One moment I was straddling his lap, the next he had me on my back, dress shoved up around my hips. His fingers slipped between my thighs, straight into my soaked folds.