It struck him dumb how different he felt in the span of a single day. Yesterday morning he had woken reeking of liquor and dreading the hours ahead. And that same evening, they had been granted a bloody reprieve, and she had tapped her access.
He remembered the gleam of mana in her hands, the warm flush rising in her cheeks, the flustered expression that told him that was the first time she’d done it.
Eventually he would have to jest that she tapped it because she couldn’t fathom the thought of him walking out the door, her need for him that immense.
He could already imagine her eyes rolling.
She had proved it in less than three months, enduring sessions of siphoning, even with the consequences of years tied to her nullifying relic. He remembered how suffocating siphoning had been when he’d trained for Lordship. As if liquid fire raced through his veins, teaching his body to access more. The larger the access, the higher the burn.
Jane had never complained, or Evenwood would have come to fill his ears about it.
Heat gathered under the blanket, and he lifted its edge, regretting it instantly.
Her thigh draped over his leg, and every inch of her remained gloriously, delightfully naked, urging a familiar ache to flare. They’d been so tired yesterday they’d fallen asleep like that.
He admired the outline of her chest beneath the blanket, the slow dip and rise with every breath. The urge to tear the blanket away grew stronger.
So many tortured days spent avoiding even the sight of her, and now it felt like seeing her for the first time. She was, to his utter delight, beautiful beyond imagination, beyond his best memories, delectable to the point his mental sharpness matched that of a damp sponge.
Lady of Mountheim. His.
He leaned down and pressed his mouth softly against her lips. They curled almost imperceptibly, yet when he drew back, sending a faint gust of mana skimming her pulse, it was still even. Still sleeping.
He glanced toward the door.
Let everything wait. The less he crossed those hallways, the fewer chances of someone pestering him and interrupting this.
He considered how much time they had, what he would have to do today, but it was no good distraction.
Reagan became painfully aware of every place they touched, every dip and curve of her body lining up against his. It was too tempting.
A good, selfless man would let her sleep. Reagan didn’t pretend to be selfless, but he would make it worth her while.
He extricated himself, slid lower on the couch, and tugged the blanket from them both. Need wrenched through him as she stirred, her back against the couch.
Cold mist escaped his lips. His hands smoothed along the sides of her legs, keeping her warm, and he lowered his mouth to kiss the scar on her belly. Jane hummed low in her sleep. He kissed her again, this time where the rune scar marked her creamy thigh. His hands slipped to the backs of her knees to ease her legs apart. Reagan placed another kiss to the inside of her knee, then inched upward, forcing himself to take his time, as her eyes fluttered. Not fully open, yet she smiled.
His own lips curled, and he kissed higher along the inside of her thigh. She shivered, goosebumps breaking across her skin as her eyes roamed him whole, seeming to notice exactly where he’d settled.
“Morning, Jane love,” Reagan said, low and rough, the smell of her already tightening every muscle in him. “Do you like waking up like this?”
He edged forward, taking in the sight of her laid bare as his shoulders spread her wider.
Jane stopped breathing. The answering rush of heat crackled through him.
With his eyes fixed on hers, he set his mouth to her sex, tasting her slowly. Her short gasp made his cock pulse. He kissed her again, and again, until he was delving his tongue inside her, his power gathering on his fingers.
It was hardly the first time. Still, Reagan remained so insatiably curious about her, so impatient to lick and fuck every inch of her. In all possible ways that their bodies could.
And to Reagan’s eternal gratitude, Jane was just as curious, always so responsive to him.
He grinned against her, watching her need-filled eyes fixed on what he was doing.
He craved her like this, imagined her like this so many times, wet and about to come in his mouth. His cock throbbed fiercely now as he watched her angling her hips, breathing through her mouth and meeting his gaze as he lavished her with slow strokes of his tongue.
When he pushed two fingers inside her…Curses and blessings. He groaned at her tightness, at her warmth, at her answering moan.
Jane panted harder with every lick. Reagan was rewarded with her fingers clutching his hair. Her quick breaths told him she was close.
