58. Zarek
Zarek
MY PRINCESS
The floor tilts under me as I fall toward her, pressing my mouth to hers, begging her lips to part, her body to let me in.
I run my fingers up the rough fabric of her cloak and sink my hand into her dark hair.
She opens for me, and our kiss turns hungry as our tongues embrace.
I steady myself against the wall and let my hand trail down the curve of her neck, the delicate bridge of her collarbone, the swell of her breasts pushing against her dress.
I pull away, leaving her panting in the dark.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” I growl against the heat of her neck.
Some dim pulse in the back of my mind suggests I have something I need to talk to Lilias about, that the last time I saw her things were left unsaid between us.
But it’s impossible to remember what happened, what I need to say. Hells, it’s impossible to think about anything right now, in the dark, with my body pressed against hers as the hallway spins around me and the heat between us melts that deep chill in the heart of my bones.
I kiss her perfect lips, pressing hard and deep, embracing all of her, and then I let my mouth drop to trace the curve of her neck, drinking her in. My perfect princess. My beautiful wife. She gasps as I run my lips across her collarbone. Her hand tangles in my hair.
“Zarek,” she whispers as I drag my teeth across her skin. “Gods, I missed you.”
Her back arches, and I press my palm against the curve of her breast as I kiss her neck. There’s too much fabric between her body and mine. Far too much. But the dress she’s wearing beneath that heavy cloak feels—complicated. Maybe I could just cut it off.
Except I don’t have a blade. Damn it.
I kiss her again, letting my hips rock against the stiff folds of her ridiculous dress. When I pull away, she makes a soft, strangled sort of moan. Her breath is hot and fast against my neck. My cock aches as it pulses against the lacings of my pants. I start to tug on her skirts, pulling them up.
“Should have fucked you in the carriage,” I whisper, my voice rough and uneven. “Leaving the Planting Festival.”
I have no idea where that came from, but damn, as soon as the words slide from my lips, I realize they’re the truth. And maybe I’m still not entirely in control of my mouth, but fuck it. I did say I’d be honest with her.
“Should have bent you over that tiny seat,” I growl against her neck, “and fucked you hard.”
She moans and arches her back, pressing her hips into mine. My damn cock practically screams with need.
“We should have broken that damn thing apart,” I pant as I tug on the never-ending fabric of her dress. “Gods, I should have—”
Fuck. There are too many godsdamned layers, too many skirts. My whole body screams that I need this woman now. I need to touch her, need to taste her. I pull away from her lips and close my teeth around the soft skin of her ear.
“Princess,” I whisper. “You want me?”
She gasps. And then the word slides out, hardly louder than a breath.
“Yes,” she whispers.
I kiss her hard, my lips aching with the force of our embrace, with the need burning through my body like a forest fire. When I pull back, I can almost hear her heart thundering against mine.
“Stay quiet,” I whisper.
And I fall to my knees.
Lilias gasps, and her body goes stiff. I shove her stupid skirts up and over my head, then run my hands along the curve of her calves, the soft skin on the inside of her thighs—
I have to bite my lip to keep from moaning with pleasure when my fingers brush the leather straps of the dagger I gave her the morning of the Planting Festival. I run my fingers over the sheath and up the hilt.
She kept the blade. Through everything, she’s still wearing the weapon I gave her.
Fuck, I love this woman.
Lilias trembles as I pull off the thin silk shorts between her legs, then run my hand up the inside of her thigh. Her sex is already dripping, and her hips press against the wall as I kiss the inside of her thighs and then, slowly, finally, taste the woman I married.
Her breath comes in harsh, ragged gasps as I trace a path up her slit with my tongue, entering her, devouring her.
Her clit is hard and hot, and she trembles when I taste it.
I part her sex with my fingers, entering her slowly as I lick and suck her.
Her hips start to rock; she’s making soft, strangled moans, like she’s holding her hand over her mouth.
My fingers curl, pressing against her inside, and she makes a sound that’s almost like a choked, muffled sob.
Her legs shake; her sex is so wet it drips down my hand and covers my face.
Gods, I love the taste of her, the smell, the feeling of her body against mine, crashing together, falling apart like breakers against the cliff.
I thrust my fingers into her, deeper and faster, as my tongue drives into the hard nub of her clit.
I want to do this to her for hours, to see how many times I can bring her to the edge before she tips over.
I want to make her come undone over and over again, until she forgets everything she’s ever learned.
Everything except the fact that she’s mine, my woman, my princess. My wife.
She cries out, a quick muffled gasp, and her body pulls tight around my fingers. Her hips pulse, driving into my mouth, and gods, it’s so beautiful when she falls apart. My princess.
I pull away from her trembling body slowly, letting her layers and layers of skirts fall back to the ground before coming to my feet.
Lilias collapses against my chest, panting like she’s just run the length of the Barrier Mountains.
I wrap my arms around her shoulders. The floor finally feels solid beneath my feet, and the room no longer spins.
“Oh my gods,” she whispers. “That— That was—”
A man’s voice calls out from the other side of the door. Both of us freeze. Lilias turns her face into my chest, her breath hot against my neck. I hear Petrys respond, although I can’t make out the words.
And then I hear footsteps. Two men, wearing boots, I think, approaching the door.
My arms tighten around Lilias’s shoulders; my skin pulls tight as that strange, low buzz of magic surges through my muscles.
The men come closer. Lilias holds her breath.
Magic hisses beneath my skin. For a heartbeat, I almost swear there’s a strange glow in the air around us.
The men keep walking. One of them calls something to Petrys as their footsteps pass.
Petrys replies, and the men both laugh. I can’t follow their words, but their voices feel casual, almost friendly.
Lilias inhales slowly, her breath whispering across my skin.
The buzz of magic sinks back into the silver chain.
I pick a few words out of the waves of conversation drifting over us—thanks, party, good wine, asshole—and then another set of footsteps heads toward the servants’ passageway. One set.
Petrys. Gods, he’s good at this. My back stiffens as he approaches the hidden door, but he walks past without slowing. Soldiers and guards don’t take the servants’ stairs. He must be coming around the back.
Lilias lifts her head from my chest. “Where is he—” she whispers.
I press my lips to hers and kiss her, long and slow and deep, the wild salt of her sex mingling with the taste of her sweet lips.
She wraps her arms around me as we kiss, her back against the wall, her hands tangled in my hair, the length of my cock pressing into the deep folds of her ridiculously fluffy dress.
“Oh, by the nine hells,” Petrys mutters.
My eyes open slowly, like I’m waking a second time. Lilias blinks at me in the fluttery, warm glow of a single candle. Her cheeks are flushed, and her hair is a mess beneath her heavy black cloak.
I turn and see Petrys standing in the narrow stairwell behind us, holding a candle. He raises an eyebrow.
“Maybe you two can fuck each other after we escape the castle where they’re planning to execute you?” he whispers.
Lilias makes a soft, embarrassed sound in the back of her throat. Her cheeks flush. Gods, she’s adorable.
“Can you walk yet?” Petrys whispers, staring at me. “You, uh, look like you’re standing just fine.”
“I feel much better,” I whisper, still smiling at my beautiful wife. “Quite invigorated.”
I didn’t think it was possible for her cheeks to turn any darker, but I was wrong.
“Bleeding hells,” Petrys mutters. “Can we just get out of here?”
“Please,” I reply. “Lead the way.”
And I turn to follow my wife and my brother out of the palace that’s been my cage for my entire adult life.