Page 61 of Season Warriors & Wolves

I reached for the strings of my nightgown and pulled them down, letting the silky fabric slide down around my waist. “Sure. Let’s talk.” I took his hand and sucked on his thumb, licking at the pad of his finger. “We can start with the weather.”

His gaze darkened, onyx spreading over silver. “You’re the most stunning creature to exist, yet here I am,” he said, his hand lowering down my neck, grazing my aching breasts and down my stomach. His thumb tracing torturously light circles over my skin till I flushed red from frustration and need. “Only a man. Little trickster.”

My mouth parted open to refute that very silly name, but he kissed me, shutting me up. “How empty has the world been,” he whispered, licking my lips and wrapping his arms around my body to pull me flush against him. “Without you.”

I bit his lip and he hissed, digging his fingers in my hair and kissing me harder. “Yes, sing verses to me, Adriatian.”

His mouth left a trail of wet kisses down my face and neck, stopping only when my moan filled the stark silence of the room. He raised his eyes up at me and smiled, flicking his tongue over my nipple. “I like it better when you do the singing.” His hands dropped from my face, down my body, softly caressing my breasts with his knuckles till gooseflesh puckered every inch of me. He stopped all too suddenly, his fingers resting over my heart. “Why is it beating so fast?”

“Because I want you to fuck me.” I grabbed his hand and cupped it over my breast. “And you’re taking the hell of your time.”

And there it was. That deep, dark laugh of his that soothed all parts of me that I didn't know needed soothing. It was so vibrant yet so rich and dark—I wanted it.

“What’s that look for?” he asked, pushing away some hair from my face.

“You’re so pretty, Kil.”

He grinned wide, doing that silly tongue in cheek thing, and I kicked him with my foot till he dropped back on the floor, chuckling.

“Arrogant prick.”

He grabbed my foot and pulled me to the floor too, lifting me up and over his body. “Last I recall, you liked my arrogant prick.” His fingers were light on my cheek, handling me so softly. “Has that changed?”

“Well, take it out, let’s see.”

“The way your romantic words sway me, love of mine.” He grabbed me tight and faded us on top of our bed, my legs cradling his waist.

“Yes, finally,” I murmured to myself, sitting up and popping all the buttons of his shirt and then his breeches. The man just stood there, half stunned and half entertained, watching me as I got him naked in record time.

When an unfortunate fist rasped on the door, I saw red. “Go away, we’re fucking.”

Kilian blasted into gales of laughter and his brother propped the door open just a little to say, “I’m glad for you two, but it’s dinner time. With the family. Postpone the fucking to a later hour. And keep it down for gods’ sake, your sister is two doors away.”

“Who is two doors away?” I heard Thora’s voice call further in the corridor.

Mal sighed. “I could swear this girl has godly hearing.” The bickering grew even louder after he shut the door.

Damn it. I rested my forehead on his and tried to calm my raging heart.

Kilian trailed a gentle hand down my spine, holding me close to him. “If this was never real,” he murmured over my lips. “If I have somehow made this all up, I want you to know that you are the most devastatingly beautiful thing my mind has ever created.”

My eyes drew shut. I’d longed for so long and never had known until him how much I wanted to be wanted. He held me like a flower pressed between his pages, preserved under the warmth of his words. Just how I craved to be held. So delicately. “You must be real,” I said, skimming a finger over his beautiful face. “My imagination is pretty lacking to create all this.” Starry eyes and all. The only stars I wanted to see day and night. My stars. And mine alone.

He flashed me one of his grins. “That good, huh?”

I nodded and buried my nose in his neck, inhaling the scent I’d tried hard with no success to conjure in my time away from him. My lungs filled with memory and warmth, and like snow, I melted.

His large hand rested on the back of my head, stroking me further into slumber. “I want to feed you before you rest.”

I smiled against him, pressing my body closer to his. “I’m well fed.”

“Your stomach is yelling at me otherwise.”

That made me frown. “It is not that noisy.”

His lips rested softly on my brow. “Don’t be mad, my woman. I like it when it growls at me. Missed it even.” He lifted me up like I was stuffed with feathers and rolled the nightgown over my head again, his hands skimming every bit of my skin as he did so, making me shiver. His eyes raked over me one last time, the look growing darker before he stood and got a dressing gown to throw over my shoulders. “Come. I want to see you eat.”

I resisted the urge to get a pair of gloves and took his hand.