Page 40 of Elysian

Confusion flitted across his features. “The text Vaner shouted about. You have it?”

“Yes,” I breathed. “It mentions the truth,” I stated in simple terms. “I believe it will also tell us how to Awaken Warlords.”

He recoiled, his brows furrowed. A cough rattled in my chest.

“I do not feel well,” I mumbled.

I shoved off his chest to land on my knees before him. Though I heaved again and again, nothing came out. I would not survive a sennight more of this.

“I have you.” Cassiel pressed a damp cloth to my temple.

Cassiel did not release me once.

I detested admitting it, but his touch soothed my torment.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Awakening

“Cassiel,” I whispered, reaching out. My hand collided with silky hair. His head rested against the cot, and he did not move.

Blazing heat overtook the sensation of weakness. It was a foreign need so piercing that it eclipsed everything else. I let out a shuddering breath. “Cassiel.”

He popped upright, scanning the surroundings as if prepared to battle, then turned toward me. The only gas lamp Hester left on was the one near the door, so his face was cast in darkness.

“What is it?” he asked, the words colliding with each other.

“I am in pain,” I whispered.

“What is it?” he asked quickly.

Another wave of warmth wracked my frame. My bones ground together as if creating friction, the pain driving deep into the marrow. A secondary pain pulsed between my legs. I shoved my hand against the sensitivity. The pressure only offered the barest relief.

Cassiel leaned forward and breathed in. A low, rumbling sound vibrated in his chest.

“Lay back,” he ordered. I had yet to hear this specific tone from him. It reached inside me, curling around my insides.

Cassiel did not allow me to do it myself. He was suddenly near the end of the cot, chains rattling with his movement. His hands spanned the inside of my thighs. He spread them wide, and it forced my frock to shove up to my waist.

“Cassiel,” I gasped, swatting at his hands in embarrassment.

He inhaled loud enough to shock me into stillness. He pressed his nose against my sex, breathing in. A deep, guttural groan left his mouth.

“Fucking delicious,” he breathed. My body clenched as if his words had been a physical caress. “Relax, bondmate. I will soothe the ache.”

“W-what⁠—”

He licked me up the length of my entrance, sliding his tongue upward until he was near the small tuft of hair. My thighs trembled from how he held them apart. My injured leg giving way much less than the other. His fingers slid down to the crevice, and he pressed into the joint. With careful rolls, he squeezed my hip, spanning his entire hand across it. The press of his fingertips relieved some of the tension. He kept rubbing and squeezing until the tension was gone and my hip had relief. All the while, his head lowered to lick me.

His rhythm stole my breath.

Shaking overcame my frame, and I couldn’t stop it. My legs refused to calm. I spread my hands across the cot until I gripped the bars the fabric was attached to. I dug my heels under me, pushing myself up toward his mouth. He did not stop plunging his tongue inside me with a maddening rhythm that built pressure. So much pressure. Moans and cries escaped, filling the enclosure.

“Your pleasure drives me mad,” he breathed, dragging his tongue through my entrance again. My spine arched up toward his mouth; mine parted on a moan. “You drive me mad.” He dragged his teeth over the sensitive flesh.

Ecstasy crashed into me. The overwhelming sensation caused me to push up onto my elbows, reaching for his hair. I was not sure whether I wanted to push him away or force him to be rougher. I sank my fingers through Cassiel’s hair, yanking and tugging so hard it was a surprise strands did not come away between my fingers. But I could not stop. He felt too good.

Still, he claimed my throbbing flesh with his mouth, his pace not stopping. The wet sounds only became more lewd.