I separate from her when it’s nearly too late. “Tell me what I did wrong,” I beg, needing it to stay in control.
“Nothing,” she says, looping her arms around my neck to tug me back down. “That was perfect.”
My unruly cock is delighted, but I need to put it in its place. “Critique,” I demand. “So I can improve. So my kisses are worthy of a queen.”
“The only thing you did wrong was stop.”
So I don’t. Soon we are stretched out in the furs on our sides, tasting each other as we press palms. Then she twines her fingers through mine, tightening them briefly as if to sayyou’re mine.I squeeze back, flooded with the realization that I don’t want her to go when this is all over. It makes me a monster, but I can’t help thinking that maybe this is worth some degree of misery. Maybe sharing this is sweet enough to compensate for a bitter life.
“Critique,” I demand again. This can’t be as perfect as I think. I’m like a greenling with his first set of blades. It’s only my inexperience that gives me this level of arrogance.
“Ummm. Well.” Her lashes flutter, and she takes a deep breath. “Did you know that kisses can be applied...other places? You don’t have to stay so focused on my lips.”
“Where?” My eyes roam over her. I don’t see any obvious alternative. Every inch of her gleaming skin tempts me. She touches her earlobe and draws a line down her neck, stopping right where her pulse throbs. Alioth save me.
I follow her traced pathway as exactly as I can. First, I suck the soft meat of her earlobe into my mouth, teasing it with the points of my teeth until she sighs with pleasure. Then I lick into the tiny dip behind the hinge of her jaw and begin a hungry, hot march down her throat.
Her skin is so soft, so thin. With every kiss, I feel her swallow, draw breath, pump blood through her veins. She’s so vulnerable, with only my will between her and my teeth. My jaw aches with the effort of keeping them out of her skin, keeping my claim like a hot coal in my throat.
Maybe if I just let the points graze her, holding back won’t burn so much. I relax the tiniest amount, scratch them over the spot where her shoulder meets the base of her neck. She arches toward me unexpectedly, and one of my teeth nicks her. It’s atiny wound, but a hint of her blood flows over my tongue, sweet and metallic.
It is as addictive as her scent. The combination of the two, my mouth and nose pressed against her, send me over the edge. I keep my teeth out of her flesh, but I can’t help latching on, desperate for another drop like it’s the goddess’s favor. Worth anything. I bask in it.
“Fuck,” she says.
Panic rises in me, interrupting my private worship. “What?”
“Bite me. Right there.” She taps the spot where an appealing dark drop is welling, smearing red over her brown skin.
I almost buckle. Almost do it. Almost claim her right here. “No.”
“Why not?” There’s something hard in her question. “What’s the problem? I can tell you want to.”
“It would hurt.” My skin stings, hating the half-truth. No, it’s the whole truth. I don’t want to hurt her, but that’s not why I won’t sink my teeth into her. It’s my own pain I don’t want to feel. I don’t want to be like my father, handing out punishing duties because it’s the will of the goddess. I don’t want to claim her unless she understands what it will mean.
“I trust you,” she says, her fingers squeezing mine again. “Lesson Two: ask for what you want and give what you can.”
“I want too much.” Before Isaytoo much, I press my forehead against hers.
She sighs, disentangling our fingers so she can stroke the side of my face. “That’s how it is, Nikky. Want is a big thing. So you don’t ask for everything at once. Just one ask and give at a time, and piece by piece, all those asks and gives fill you up.” Her touch feathers over my skin until the tightness in my chest eases.
“This is harder than I thought,” I admit, rubbing the bridge of my nose against hers, my cheek against hers. There’s no claiming her a little bit at a time. There’s no loving my fated matepiece by piece. There’s no protecting her with an exchange of questions and answers.
“I can make it simpler for you if you want.”
My eyes fall shut. Nothing in my life has ever been simple. “Yes. Please.”
“Tell me the truth. I’m your fated queen, aren’t I?”
Chapter 16
Delphie
The noise that scrapes out of Nik’s throat isn’t a confirmation or denial, but something pained and surprised. “How did you know?”
“It was kind of hard to miss,” I tease, trying to make light even though I feel heavy and bruised because he obviously doesn’t want to admit it. “Bossy, possessive, locking me up due to irrational jealousy—all the signs were there.”
“It’s not irrational,” he says sharply, his body tense like he’s poised to run. “If you knew how it felt to leave your queen unclaimed, you would understand that it’s perfectly rational.”
