Her eyes cast upwards, her hands hanging onto me for dear life. "Oh, gods. It's overwhelming."
"Need to stop?"
"No," she says, pinning me with a look that saysif you stop, I’ll kill you. "Don't stop. Please don't stop."
Her legs wrap around my waist, pulling me deeper and sending unstoppable waves of ecstasy over me. She’s warm around me, soaking wet, mumbling incoherent nonsense in the Shadow language. In return I whisper sinful promises in her ear, rolling my hips in a circle which has her shouting my name into my shoulder. An involuntary grin spreads across my lips.Note to self, she likes that.
"Oh, gods, Rexxan. Yes," she hisses, tightening around me a little. It almost kills me off. She feels so good, too good. Scandalously good.Sinfullygood. Her nails sink deep into my back, her body squeezing my length as I move faster.
"I'm going to come.” Her voice is strained, desperate for more. "It's never felt like this."
"Never," I concur, my voice rough. She screams my name into the scarred skin of my shoulder as she comes, her whole body shaking violently, and I can wait no longer. I hammer into the goddess beneath me, my lips on her neck as I explode inside her, coming so hard I forget I’m supposed to hate her. I’m blinded by white-hot pleasure, collapsing onto my forearms. My chest is heaving as I press my forehead to hers, her beautiful body glistening with sweat. That was...I've never come like that. Neverfeltlike that.
"You don't have to say it," she whispers, her face earnest, "I felt it too."
"You did so well," I tell her, placing a quick kiss on her cheek.
Somehow, I muster the will to push myself up onto my hands. Her expression is suddenly shyer, the blanket all the way up to her nose. I stand, rolling my wrists and cracking my knuckles before grabbing a warm flannel from the bathroom to clean her up with. She looks sated and sleepy and I don’t like the idea of her leaving now to start a several week long journey back to wherever her army is.
I pull on some casual pants and a shirt, sinking down onto the mattress beside her and tracing her jaw with my thumb. I’m ready for round two, but she’s likely hurting. “Stay an hour, don’t leave right now.”
“Bold of you to assume I could even sit on a horse right now.”
I chuckle. My ego likes her. I roll over to face her and she does the same. She’s giggling.Giggling. I didn’t even think the Shadow Commander could make that noise. Fuck violins. Fuck waterfalls. Fuck wind through the trees. Renna giggling is the most relaxing sound. “What’s so funny?”
“This is domestic.”
I laugh too, because even the notion of either of us marrying is the most ludicrous idea I’ve heard all year. She quizzes me about events that happened long before she was born, shuffling nearer to me every now and again. And like she is so fond of doing, she keeps my self-esteem in check by falling asleep while I’m talking to her.
A knock wakes me up, and I realise we both fell asleep. When did I last sleep in someone else’s company? If she is here to assassinate me after all, I’m making it easy for her.
“My lord?”
Renna's eyes light up at the sound of her favourite guard. I don't exactly want my staff knowing I'm in bed with the Shadow Commander, but Ellatar probably fucking knows already, nosy idiot. I wait for Renna to pull some clothes on and call him in.
Ellatar enters in his gold armour and the deep red cloak that identifies him as a Royal Guard—one of just forty amongst the army of seven thousand. Bright green eyes drift to Renna and a glint of delight crosses his eyes, but he is on duty and so he keeps his prattling mouth shut.
"Hello, Ellatar!" She says, as if he created the world himself. My mood dips.
His face softens with fondness. This fucking woman has all my guards wrapped around her fingers already. "Commander Renna, how are you today?"
"Good, thank you! And you? Was your father okay in the end?"
His expression brightens. "Yes, he just overworked himself in the garden."
“He sounds lovely."
“Done obsessing over the parents of my staff?” I interrupt, and she gives Ellatar a knowing look.
‘Hormonal,’ she mouths at him, jerking a thumb in my direction. Oh, fuck this. I twirl my finger at Ellatar to tell him to get on with it.
"King Kelen and Queen Lana are here to see you."
Renna tenses beside me. I'm aware of her more-than-strained relationship with the River King and Queen. "Is it urgent?"
"Lana seems a little distressed."
"When does she not?" Say Renna and I, in perfect unison.
