My hands run from his hips, up the muscles of his back, over the curves of his shoulders, to the luxurious softness of his hair and ears. Back again. And again.
His pace is strong and purposeful, a promise with every flex of his hips. Promises I meet with mine, even if it can only be true in this. A promise our bodies make to each other when our hearts can never do the same, even though mine reaches for him in this bliss.
Soon, even those thoughts vanish beneath wave after wave of heat and pleasure, each building on the last. It crawls down my spine, cresting in every shade of white. And when I finally break apart in his arms, his name on my lips, it feels like surrender and triumph all at once.
He holds me through the aftershocks, both mine and his, his smile warm and a little smug. “That’s one way to deliver gifts at the same time.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“I know.”
I hide my smile against his chest, breathing his spicy musk as my body languishes in lingering heat. We stay that way, breathing together, easy and perfect. If only it could stay this way.
Chapter 30
Talvie
We’re still tangled together—limbs, blankets, hearts—when I finally look up only to find Lark already watching me. His gaze is soft and awed, like he sees something incredible in the wreckage we’ve made of each other.
His thumb grazes my cheek. “Don’t move.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Part of me trembles with the impossibility of that promise, but I mean it. “That was incredible. I didn’t know it could be so…so…”
He kisses me, understanding curving his lips. “First time, too. Imagine how good we’ll be with practice.”
I give him the playful tap on the chest he deserves for that insufferable dimpled grin. But my mind snags on the words. “You want to…again? With me? I mean…of course, with me. Who else is there? Silly.”
Another kiss. Another dimple-popping smile. Another thud my heart may never recover from.
“Kulta, I would have you again right now if I wasn’t expecting the little beasties to return any moment.”
Tingling heat says my body is very on board with that idea, even as my head interrupts. “Really? You…like me…like this? Of course, like this. How else would I be? Stupid question. Ignore me.”
“Impossible. You’re all I can see whenever you’re near me. You can’t imagine how often I have to restrain myself around you. I’ve pictured tossing you up against basically every surface in this place, and trust me when I say it’s taking everything I have not to flip you over and make a new divot in this mattress right now.”
Okay, now, that wasn’t even fair. My body roars with want.That. I want that. Right now would be good.
I’m not so naïve as to think it means anything more than lust and chemistry, butyes, if he wants to do that again, I can’t wait to find the next opportunity. I’m more than ready.
Lark chuckles, like he knows exactly where my mind went.
Right. Little ones. Coming home soon.
That’s a sobering enough thought to cool me down a fraction. Lark only strokes a soothing hand across my back and presses a kiss to my crown.
Subtle tension returns to his body, making me look up into his eyes again.
He swallows and lifts his hand, fingers dancing lightly above the air near my shoulder. A shimmer appears between us, like fireflies caught mid-blink, before it resolves into a delicate illusion: a single bloom, frost-white and edged in violet, petals fluttering in a nonexistent breeze.
“For you,” he breathes.
“It’s beautiful.”
His smile is fleeting. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” His hand finds my shoulder again. “I should have said this a long time ago. I nearly did that night in the woods.”
I reach up to touch the illusion, feeling the brush of solid petals before it dissolves to nothing. His magic is incredible.He’sincredible. “So tell me,” I whisper.
He hesitates, jaw tightening. “My magic…it’s always been strong. Frederik helped me hone it at the orphanage, but even from a young age, he also taught me to hide it. Powerful magic is a threat, especially if you’re a nobody Wild One who doesn’t deserve such power.”
