“Are you well enough?” he asked, his hand palming my breast. It was all I could focus on. I should’ve been depleted and weak, but Vora’s concoction and Orin’s want filled me with a vigor like I’d never known. Now, all I desired was him. And I wouldn’t be satisfied until I had it.
“I am,” I whispered.
“Do you remember when I told you that I get what I want?” Heat ravaged his gaze, and he pressed bruising kisses against my neck. My collarbone. The top of my cleavage. Shivers raced down my spine.
“Yes,” I managed. He did things to my senses that defied all logic.
His words were more of a growl as he deliberately dragged his lips across my skin, stopping at the shell of my ear. “I want you.”
I turned and caught his mouth with mine, inviting him in and dragging my fingers down his back. Nothing else was said between us. He unbuttoned his shirt and removed his clothes with aching slowness and a wicked, self-assured smile. And then he shredded my gown and yanked off my underthings. The raw desire in his stare set light to a wildfire across my skin, and every inch of me burned to be touched by him.
And he didn’t deny me. His tongue traced the length of mybody, sparking a deep-seated desire that ached to be relieved. His mouth consumed me in a way I’d never been devoured before, and when he finally pressed his lips to my crease, my hips bucked into him. He licked, and my back arched as delicious pleasure raced through my spine. A guttural moan escaped from somewhere deep in my chest.
He pushed me to the edge of oblivion with that glorious tongue of his, and my entire world narrowed to the feel of his breath, the warmth of his exhale. As I let out another whimper, he looked up at me without stopping, and then he drove two fingers deep into my core.
“Fuck,” I cried, rhythmically grinding against him, begging him to move faster. Deeper. He did no such thing. Instead, he slowed his pace and abandoned my clit, biting at the soft flesh of my hips. I was about to combust if he didn’t give me what my body so clearly needed. I rolled beneath him, trying to shift his attention back to my obvious craving, but all he did was chuckle.
Only when he was satisfied with my writhing want did he finally shift. Crawling up my body to position himself over me, he stole my breath with his lips and swallowed my moan. His impressive length, velvet smooth and yet harder than granite, slipped along my crease. Painfully, sinfully slow. I watched with rapt fascination as he slid through my folds, trying and failing to angle my hips to drive him in.
And then he sheathed himself in me. I barked out a curse as he held himself there, letting me adjust, and then began thrusting in earnest. Brilliant, wondrous pain shifted to pure longing as we moved in unison, a tangled mess of limbs and heat. I lost all sense of myself as he wrenched pure desire from somewhere deep in me, someplace I never knew existed.
“I want you to let go,” he whispered, his voice low and gravelly. His words were an added layer of pleasure, and the coil of need in the pit of my belly wound tighter in anticipation. A glimmer ofmagic coursed through his eyes as he pushed in deeper, and suddenly thin, wispy clouds stretched over us. Stars drizzled from them in a lazy, winking descent. Each tiny particle of magic was bloated with his power, with his passion, and their gossamer touch against my skin was more like a bolt of unfiltered desire straight to my bones. I was enveloped in the sensation of his want, and it did me in completely. I shattered around him, and he let out a roar that felt like a claim. His release followed mine, and for a moment we simply remained joined together. With his head pressed against my forehead, he gazed into my eyes and smiled. Softly. Lovingly. Slowly, he rolled to the side and pulled me against his chest.
“That was...” I could hardly think of the words. They hadn’t been written into existence. Nothing could explain the way he’d made my body feel.
He chuckled, drawing idle circles on my back as he stared up at the rafters. “I know.”
My skin tingled as another flurry of stardust settled against my arms. Already want began to stir in my belly. “I’m a fan of this magic.”
“I am, too.” He held out his hand, and a few particles landed in his palm. Visible gooseflesh trailed down his arm, and I tracked its progression until I spied the Fernglove crest on his neck.
With gentle fingers, I traced the broken sword and insects, then stilled when a sudden flare of icy cold nipped at the tip of my finger, right at the blade’s severed point. It was there and gone in a flash, and I flinched without thinking. Magic? Maybe, but it hadn’t felt like Orin’s power. He was warmth. Summer rain and spring flowers. This was sharp, like the chilled bite of a freezing winter night.
Orin turned to frown at me. “Everything all right?”
“Yes, must’ve just been a spasm.” I flexed my fingers. Gently, I resumed my tracing of his tattoo, feeling nothing but warm, sweat-slicked skin.
His hand clasped mine before I could reach the tip of the sword again. “Promise?”
I hated the look of doubt, of worry, so soon after our lovemaking. Extracting my hand from his grasp, I smoothed his brow and chased away the canyons forming across his forehead. I let my fingers wander through his hair and gave his locks a gentle tug. Then I kissed his lips. Deeply. When I felt his tension loosen and his hands gripped my waist, I pulled back. “See? Everything is fine.”
“Good.” He kissed me again, and I gave way to his touch. His magic, his presence—everything about him stole the very breath from my lungs. We made love again, leisurely, tenderly, and I lost track of the hours. Of how many times I moaned his name. I reveled in the sensations he coaxed from my body and in the way that he made me feel wanted. In all my previous dalliances, I’d never been so lavished in affection. I wanted to lose myself for as long as he’d allow, until we were fully sated and our energy exhausted.
When the last of his magic dispersed, he pressed a light kiss to the crown of my sweat-dampened hair. “You make it difficult to want to do anything else with my time.”
“I fail to see how that’s a problem.”
He laughed, and the sound echoed through my bones. “It’s not. Or rather, it won’t be as soon as we get this place back in order.”
Right. The blight. My brothers. Mavis. Nuzzling my head against his neck, I sighed. “I’d like to try and cure my brothers first. If that’s all right.”
Our bargain hadn’t dictated who I had to threadmend first, Mavis or them. Had Orin’s hands not been resting against the small of my back, I might not have felt the subtle twitch of his fingers. He watched me closely, his features stiff. The smile he wore was hard, as if it’d been hammered into place by words.
“If my recovery rate stays the same, I’ll have Mavis cured in no time.” Unease made my tongue loose as I fought to reassure him. “My brothers just don’t have as long. You know how quickly blightworks against mortals. It’s been progressing faster and faster. The last few times I visited them, I found more signs of illness. And you said yourself you didn’t know how long your magic would hold.”
He pressed a finger to my mouth, effectively silencing me. “Edira. It’s fine. I was thinking ofyourhealth. If you’re in fact well enough to try.”
Oh. I rolled my lower lip into my mouth as I lowered my gaze. “Sorry.”
