He kept my body flush to his chest. Freeing one arm, he knocked books and scattered parchment across his desk in an attempt to clear it. Inkwells toppled over, covering the pristinely carved wood with dark splatters as he set me amidst the glorious mess.
“You’ll ruin the varnish.” I couldn’t care less what it did to the desk, let alone my clothes and skin. I sounded breathless. Hungry. I hoped to the gods he didn’t stop to clean it up.
They answered in favor, and Noc growled, “I don’t care.” His hands dove under my sweater, yanking it off in one easy motion. The soft, white bralette was next, and he had no qualms utterly destroying that, either. Lace drifted to the floor, and he brought a tender hand to my body. An aching moan slipped from the back of my throat.
Voice thick with want, he stared openly at my exposed skin. “You are my everything.”
“As you are mine.” With a gentle caress, I traced the scar on his cheek. He turned, planting a kiss on my palm, and then nipped at my fingers. A devilish smirk claimed his lips and stoked a fire in my core. Laying me across the desk, against the ink and parchment and now broken feathered quills, he moved to my trousers. They were gone along with my undergarments before I could even register the spark of his fingers at my waist. For a moment, my mind jumped to the nightstand beside our bed where a vial of imperit was waiting. I’d been taking it regularly since our first time to prevent pregnancy. Had I taken a dose this week?Yes, I remembered, relaxing. We were safe for several more days.
“Gods,” he murmured, pulling my focus back to him. His glittering black gaze roved the entire length of my body. Left no inch of skin unappreciated. Placing his palms on either side of my head, he leaned down and captured my mouth in a kiss. “You’re beautiful.”
“And you’re entirely too clothed.”
“That can be fixed.”
Sitting up, I tore at his clothes until he was as naked as me. I traced the dips and grooves of his torso, and then I dropped my hands farther until he let out a graveled moan.
His long fingers danced down my spine, and a pleasant shiver rushed over my skin. I would never grow tired of his touch. Never shy away from the feel of his fingers on my body. He gripped my waist and pulled me to the edge of the desk. Slowly, our limbs intertwined, and we began moving as one. My entire world narrowed to his existence, to the feel of us. Pulse thudding in my ears, I let out a heady moan.
He palmed the expanse of my legs, and when his fingers grazed those scars, I swallowed a gasp. Not because of Wynn. Not because of the damage he’d done to my body and soul. But because Noc hadn’t even noticed them. Hadn’t skipped over them for fear of what they’d feel like. He’d smoothed over them entirely. Etched a tale of love and devotion with his gentle touch, completely indifferent toward scarred ridges or velvet skin. Because in his eyes, Iwasbeautiful. Every gods-damned inch of me.
Leaning back, he tilted my face up, and worry lined the creases around his eyes. So soft. So concerned. “Leena?” A thumb brushed along my cheeks.
A weak sob broke through my chest. “I love you. You make me feel…” The word caught in my throat, and I shook my head.Whole.
His own eyes glimmered with return emotion. “I’ve loved you for a long time. Long before I was willing to admit it to myself.” He pulled me closer, heat radiating from his body. “I just wasn’t willing to risk your safety. But gods, Leena. You’re such a warrior. You hooked me, and I was gone.”
I kissed him so hard our teeth clashed, but I didn’t care. Noc had given me so much. A home. Family. Love. Being with him was the very thing I never knew I needed. And everything I’d die to protect. A wondrous exhale rushed through my lungs, and I dragged my nails along his back.
“Noc.” The breathy exclamation elicited a purely animalistic growl from his throat, and delicious heat surged through me. This slow-building eruption would be my undoing, and gods did I want to come undone. Completely. Entirely. For him. We fell apart together, lips locked and bodies wracked.
For a moment after, we didn’t move. We simply stayed connected, breathing together. I didn’t know what this oath would do to him, but I knew I’d continue to be here for him. Show him how much I loved him. If I could provide that, if he never forgot about our connection, then we’d make it through this somehow.
With heartbreaking tenderness, Noc placed a kiss on my forehead. “I love you, Leena Edenfrell.”
“I love you, Noc…” I let it trail off into a question. How was it possible that I still didn’t know the last name of the man I loved?
A familiar uneasy flicker smothered the brightness of his eyes, but instead of dissembling again, he said, “Noc Feyreigner. But please don’t go parading that knowledge around. I like the life I have now. Not the one I had before.” For effect, he gave my butt a squeeze. “I especially like the company I have now.”
I rolled my eyes. “You don’t have to keep your past under lock and key. Not with me. Remember? You promised.” I couldn’t even fathom why he was so concerned about sharing his secrets with me. My knowledge of Wilheim was beyond slim, thanks to my upbringing in Hireath. And my years on the run as an outlaw weren’t exactly filled with days of leisurely reading or courtly activities. He could’ve been a baker’s son or a traitor to the king, and I wouldn’t have known the difference.
“I remember. When we’re not naked with the possibility of someone busting in,” he nodded toward the door leading out to the main halls of Cruor, “we can chat all you want.”
“Let’s get dressed, then. We can talk in our room.”
He sighed, pulling away a fraction. “Leena…”
“You don’t have to be afraid, Noc.” How long had he spent guarding himself from emotions? Connections? I knew it wouldn’t be easy for him to fully let go. Not so soon after the curse had been lifted. It would take time. Reassurance. “I just want to know more about you. You don’t have to worry about what I might think or say.”
He pressed his eyes shut. “I’m not afraid of that.”
“Then what?”
Slowly, as if it pained him, he met my stare. “My past is…dangerous. If anyone here found out…”
I frowned. “You’re worried about your brothers? I thought you trusted them.”
“It’s not a matter of trust.” His voice strained. “One thing I’ve learned about working as an assassin is that information iseverything. It’s the most powerful resource, and if my brethren learned of my past, that would be problematic. They’d become a target. I doubt they’d willingly betray me, but,” he paused, and with deadly calm pressed a light finger to my temple, “apply the right type of pressure to anyone, and they’ll crack. If information about me gets out, then all of Cruor will be jeopardized.”
