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“What a cold and distressing life it must be if only fueled by revenge.”
“Yes, well, sometimes choices are taken from us,” Rian gritted out.
“Some, yes. But not all,” Terra whispered, a yearning to ease his pain filling her. He had every right to feel the way he did, and yet she hoped he would be able to find a way forward that wasn’t solely defined by his hatred. At some point, wasn’t it exhausting to live in bitterness?
“No. Not all.” Rian seemed to catch her meaning, and he did something that not only surprised Terra, but seemed to surprise himself as well. Putting their glasses aside, Rian pulled Terra into his lap and cradled her.
Oh, but this man needed a hug, Terra realized. Shifting in his lap so she could see his face, she wrapped her arms around his chest and watched a tangle of emotions twist across his handsome features. His eyes were shuttered, and his breath hitched, as though the internal struggle pained him.
Once more, Terra let silence do the work. There were some wounds that words couldn’t heal. But maybe, just maybe, togetherness could. She held tight, matching her breath to his, and their bodies melded together, their energy blending. In her hug was an apology for her people, and in his was grief. As the moment drew out, Terra sensed a shift.
Imperceptible at first, but then warmth bloomed beneath where his hand had begun to idly stroke her back. Fire raced beneath his fingertips as he ran them from her tailbone all the way up to her shoulders and back again, finding the dips and curves of her back. She wanted to arch into his hand and purr like a cat, so hypnotic was his touch. As desire built in her core, Terra shifted on his lap, a soft sigh of contentment escaping as his other hand massaged her side. Still, he didn’t look at her, and she drank in his visage unimpeded while his hands wandered her body of their own accord. It was as though once he’d started touching, he was helpless to stop, and Terra realized that now his internal struggle had nothing to do with his grief.
Instead, he was trying to resist her.
Her suspicions were confirmed when she reached out and traced a finger across his jawline. Immediately, Rian stiffened at her touch and then turned and caught her index finger with his lips. He brushed a kiss over her skin before taking her finger into his mouth.
Wet, sensual, heat.
Rian sucked gently, before surprising her with a quick scrape of his teeth. Liquid heat filled her, and the ocean-soaked breeze seemed cooler now against her flushed skin. Terra found herself shifting on his lap, her need for him building, and he bent his head forward to nuzzle into her neck. Still he couldn’t look at her, Terra realized. She started when he blew a hot breath against her skin, her nipples puckering at the sensation, his hands massaging her body through the silk of her dress.
She’d always loved the feeling of silk on her skin, but now with his hands massaging her body so expertly? Silk might be her undoing. No longer caring about keeping walls up, Terra dropped her head back and arched her breasts toward him. An offering.
A demand.
His chuckle at her throat would have irritated her if he had ignored her needs but, instead, he cupped a breast with one hand, trailing his finger over the perked bud of her nipple, the softness of his touch through the silk of her dress sending shivers across her body. She squirmed once more in his lap, letting out a helpless mewling sound, his breath hot at her neck as he massaged her breasts.
“A body made for my touch,” Rian said. “It’s a goddess you are, Terra. Since the moment I saw you, I wanted my hands on you.”
“I … is that … right?” Terra gasped, her eyes fluttering closed as he slid his hands across the silk in soft circular motions, her breasts growing warm at his touch. She needed him. Desperately so. The fated mate bond was singing in her heart, and she was tempted to sing their heartsong.
To claim him.
But not yet, Terra reminded herself, trying to pull her mind from the delicious ecstasy he was wielding on her body. They needed more time.
He needed more time.
“Open for me, darling,” Rian said at her throat. One hand was still wrapped around her waist, steadying her on his lap, while his other now inched its way up her calf. “Let me return the pleasure you showed me last night.”
Was that all this was? Evening the score? If so, Terra wasn’t sure she wanted him to have the upper hand. And yet, her legs widened, as though she had no control over them, and she buried her face in the hard muscles of his chest as his fingertips danced across the soft flesh of her thigh. There he lingered, matching the stroke of her thigh with that at her waist, and Terra’s tension eased under his rhythmic touch. Only when she relaxed in his arms, did he finally ease higher to trace a hand lightly over where she wanted him most.
Terra was aching for his touch and, when he parted her, sliding his finger into her wet heat, she convulsed around his hand. It shocked her, this response to him, and she kept her face at his chest as pleasure rocketed through her body and her cheeks flamed.
“A beautiful Goddess you are. Just look at you taking pleasure from my touch. We’ve only just begun, haven’t we?” Rian’s hand continued to stroke her, and desire built in her core once more, and she felt both trapped and free, locked against his muscular body, as he patiently and expertly brought her to the edge once more and tossed her over with fearless abandon.
“Rian,” Terra panted, throwing her head back as waves of pleasure washed over her body. “You … I … want to give you the same.”
“No.” Rian withdrew his hand and shifted her so that their faces met. “Don’t you understand, Terra? Thisismy pleasure.”
With that, he claimed her lips in the softest of kisses, and cradled her like she was a snow globe that would shatter if he dropped her. Nobody had taken such care with her before, Terra realized. She was so used to being in charge, and nurturing everyone else, that she had never allowed someone else to attend to her. Now, as Rian kissed her like she was the most delicate gift in the world, her heart cracked open, and love spilled out.
* * *
The two Domnuawatched the lovers from afar, hidden behind a rocky outcrop of boulders. They’d been sent to find Rian and get an update on where he stood with the mission that their Goddess had assigned to him.
“He chooses her.” The Dark Fae shifted, turning away.
“Goddess Domnu must be told.”
