As the song ended, the last few notes of Callan’s lute lingered in the air before drifting away. There was only a brief pause before he started playing again; this time, Luna began singing as she clapped her hands and danced toward her brother.
Ryker kept my hand in his as he danced through the other celebrants toward the edge of the woods. I didn’t realize what he intended until he twirled me again and reclaimed me amidst the trees.
Lifting me into his arms, his mouth took possession of mine in a kiss that set fire to my body and curled my toes. His muscles rippled and flexed against me as he strode through the woods.
I played with the hair at his nape and savored the scrape of his stubble as his tongue entwined with mine. I loved the feel of that stubble, so real, and so him… or at least the man he’d become.
Now that he was free of the confines of his duty as the duke’s son, he’d become more in tune with the forest and the wildness within him. It was wonderful to watch him embrace this new life and everything that came with it.
When his hand settled on my ass, he pulled me closer so I rubbed against his erection with every step. The movement sent delicious shivers up my spine.
I was so lost to him that I didn’t realize he’d stopped walking until he set me down and turned me away from him. My palms fell on the rough bark of a large tree as he pressed against my back.
His breath warmed my ear as his hand slid down the front of me and undid the button of my pants before sliding inside. The sensation of his body against mine and his calloused handslipping further down caused me to gasp before he found my clit and stroked it. My hips surged forward as I sought more of his touch and the ecstasy it brought.
His lips traced my neck as his erection prodded my back, and he pushed my pants lower. Despite the cold, I didn’t feel the biting air against my skin; I was lost to the fire he’d created within me.
His hands caressed my thighs as he bent to remove my boots before pulling off my pants and tossing them aside. When he rose over me again, he’d freed his cock from the confines of his pants; it rested against my back as his hand slid down my front to glide through my wetness.
“You’re so fucking wet,” he murmured in my ear.
I turned my head toward his lips as he stroked my clit again before grasping my hips and pulling me further away from the tree. Then he was inside me, pushing deeper, as he filled and claimed me.
I marveled at the sensation; I’d felt him within me many times over these months, but how right he felt still amazed me. He was a part of me.
I didn’t notice the sounds of the forest, and the noise of the celebration faded away as I focused on the pleasure we gave each other while he moved in and out of me.
When he rubbed my clit again, I came apart with a loud cry that carried through the woods, but I didn’t care who heard it. Nothing mattered but him and the groan he emitted as, deep within me, his cock pulsed with his release.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Ellery
“Care to take a break?”Ryker inquired as his lips brushed mine.
After we finished in the woods, we dressed and returned to the party. We’d resumed dancing and had separated for a while to dance with some of the other amsirah. I’d just found my way back into his arms.
I was about to respond when a poltergeist zoomed into the clearing, waving his stubby hands and shouting gibberish… or at least that’s what it sounded like as his words tumbled over each other.
Then, as his shouts and frantic movements drew attention from the rest of the crowd, the laughter and music died. Panic radiated from his red eyes as his words started making sense.
“Fire!” he shouted. “They set fire to the woods!”
My hands tightened on Ryker as my stomach plummeted to my toes.
“Where?” Tucker demanded.
“Near Nottingshire, and it’s spreading! You have to?—”
Before he could finish speaking, another poltergeist flew into the encampment. Judging by the higher pitch of voice, the second one was a female. “There’s a fire!” she shrieked.
“I already told them they’re burning the woods near Nottingshire,” the other poltergeist said.
“No!” the female yelled. “They’ve set fire to the woods near Calsar!”
I felt like someone had punched me as another poltergeist came screaming out of the woods. Before they opened their mouth, I already knew what they would say… there was another fire, and it wasn’t near Calsar or Nottingshire.
The terror rising in my chest cut off my air and made my head spin. We’d known the duke would retaliate, but we hadn’t expected it to be this fast, and we hadn’t anticipated him setting the woods on fire.
