Page 23 of Claimed By the Depths

But why the hell would they gift me Parran’s presence when⁠—

Warm hands trailed along my bare back, a sense of healing clinging to them. Lips followed, tracing along scars before her hum seeped in and quieted my racing thoughts. “I thought you were coming to bed.”

Groaning, I reached back to sweep my fingers along Leilani’s silken legs before tucking my thumb against the front of her full hips, my palm resting against her lower back. “I was, I just…”

“Got caught up?” She stepped around me, kissing the fresh mark starting at my collarbone before continuing across my hair-laden chest. “Your mind is one of your greatest assets, love, but it is equally your gravest torment.”

I craned my chin to meet her mocha gaze. “Everything I believed to be true has unwoven, and I can’t help but feel guilty for how things have come to be.”

Scratching through my beard and along my jaw, she crooned, “None of that is your fault. Malicious entities have scoured our lands for as long as we can remember. What they have done to twist narratives and pin us against those who should be allies is not by your doing. And yes, the truth is unsettling, but without it, we would remain trapped, tethered to things we wish to break free from.”

“I know,” I whispered, leaning into her touch. “Gods, believe me, I know. And yet, that unease… It’s consuming me because it carries with it the realization that Caspian and I…”

“Could still be together?” The gentleness in her question made the ache in my chest amplify. I wanted her to be angry with me for still caring, for still… loving him, but I knew it was something she would never do. “You yearning for what could have been is not definitive of how I see you, Alastair. I will never take your first love from you, just as Caspian will always hold that spot in your heart.”

Turning to face her, I stroked up her nude frame with one hand while cupping her face with the other. “I do not deserve you⁠—”

Her mouth captured the rest of my utterance.

Lips meshing as if etched from the same soul, I melted into her as I always had. Fingertips gliding across skin, I traced the curves of her body while she wrapped her arms around the back of my neck. My palm found her ass, and I squeezed, which encouraged her to open wider for me. Her resounding moan made me even hungrier for her essence, my tongue lapping against hers before caressing the back of her mouth.

She tasted like honey and life, as well as the various stars that littered our skies. Every hitched inhale carried with it the power of a goddess, and every exhale revitalized my soul. It was as if Ysalyne had birthed her spirit and carved her from her very will. She was dangerous in all the ways she was beautiful, and I was no fool. If anything, I was blessed, a devotee who would gladly crawl on my hands and knees if it meant I was allowed to worship her in this life and the next.

Gathering her in my arms, I directed her thighs around my waist as my reverence continued down her throat. Each kiss to sensitive flesh awakened my possessiveness, my teeth quick to nip at her pulse point as I breathed against her bareness. She responded to my ravenousness in kind, fingers weaving through my hair as she dipped her chin skyward.

“Oh, gods above, Ace.”

My cock throbbed with her pleasure-filled cry, need clinging to every syllable and threatening to suffocate my name. Moving without the need for guidance, I slipped from the large windows and stepped around my desk. With each footfall toward the bed we shared, my mouth explored her, scouring the length of her collarbone before worshipping her breasts.

As my thighs met the plushness of blankets, my knee greeted the firm mattress. Hold loosening, I took my time laying her down, and only once my hips pressed against hers did I finally let go. Pausing to caress her legs, I massaged them gently and pulled back just enough to settle my forehead on hers.

“You consistently remind me how desperate a man I am, my little fang.”

“Desperate? Or devout?” Lips curling into a smile, she brushed a fallen strand from my face. “I am yours whenever and however you wish, my flame. My heart beats for you just as my thighs part, and there is no better image than seeing you on your knees between them.”

A low growl rumbled free from my chest. Kissing between her breasts, I trailed down her stomach, peering up at her beneath hooded lids. “Gods, you are fucking exquisite.”

“More,” she whimpered breathlessly, her back arching. “Show me just how exquisite I am, Alastair Seridean.”

Obliging, my mouth descended. In reverence of her elegance, I mapped her sweeping curves. They had always exuded classic grace, just as everything about her had always been addictive. Her presence was delicate yet strong, and equally rich with hypnotic fullness. It wasn’t hard to admit she had drawn me in since day one, just as I knew there would never be a moment that would arise when my cravings for her would cease.

I peppered kisses down her inner thighs, sucking on them as my lower half settled on the planks. Knees greeting hardwood, I wrapped my hands around her legs before coaxing them open. Softly stroking the tops of her calves with my thumbs, I watched her unfold for me.

Already slick with her essence, I groaned at the sight. “Gods, Leilani.”

Her chest hitched right as I averted my gaze to meet hers. With her deep honey skin flushed and her mouth slightly agape with her impending moan, I ran my tongue across my lips. She rolled her hips, trying to angle herself to meet my mouth, but I leaned back.

“What is it you want, my little fang?”

Eyes rolling, she huffed a whine, “You. Please.”

“Tell me where.” Continuing to rub her legs, I kept my attention pinned on her. “Where do you need me, Lani?”

“Fuck, Ace,” she whimpered. “I need your mouth… your tongue, your cock. I just need you in me, around me, whatever you⁠—”

Not allowing her to finish, I slipped both of my arms beneath her knees and gripped her inner thighs with a refusal to let go. I granted myself one intentional breath before diving into her, my tongue lapping up her cunt.

“Oh, gods!” Her palms slapped against the bed before she fisted the sheets. “S-Shit… Yes, Ace. Fuck, yes.”