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“Remind me why I didn’t say anything sooner?” he murmured as I risked a soft kiss against the hollow of his throat. A quiet moan egged me on, so I trailed my lips along the length of his neck, halting just beneath his ear.
“You’re not as smart as you think?”
He laughed. Loudly. “That’s proving to be true.” Then, he playfully nipped my bottom lip before stilling, as if the action had totally caught him by surprise. “Sorry, I…”
“Don’t apologize.” My voice was gruff, my breathing tight. I tried in vain to mask the want brimming to a head within me, but the wayhis eyes slanted to my throat told me he knew. With aching slowness, he leaned in closer. He hesitated there for a breath, no more than a sliver of air between our mouths, before lightly sucking on my bottom lip.
I held out as long as I could. I don’t know how much time actually passed as I let him explore with his tongue, his teeth, but when his kiss became more demanding, I answered in kind with a bruising kiss of my own. We shuffled backward until we hit the wall of the house, and the wood creaked with our combined weight. Kost let out a startled gasp, but he didn’t stop me. Instead, he wrenched his fingers in my hair and tilted his hips against me.
I abandoned his lips for his neck and dropped one hand to his waist, where I tugged at his tunic. I hadn’t meant to do anything more than anchor myself to him, but his shirt came untucked from his breeches, and he stiffened.
I pulled back and gave him space to breathe. To assess. “I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s not that.” His breathing was hard, his words full of heat. “I was just… Ilikedit.”
“So you wanted me to stop?” I asked, trying to temper my puzzlement as best I could.
“Quite the opposite.” A flush crawled over his cheeks and colored the tops of his ears. “If we keep going…”
“We don’t have to do anything else.” My body screamed at me for uttering those words. But for Kost, I would always put my desires to the side to make him feel comfortable.
“Let’s just go inside.” He cut a furtive glance to our surroundings. I could still hear the faraway laughter of Charmers enjoying each other’s company over dinner, the trill of nightingales and occasionally snapping of twigs as beasts moved about. Truth be told, I hadn’t paid much attention to anything other than him. I hadn’t thought of how exposed he might feel.
I offered my hand and thankfully, he took it. Once we were safely indoors, I expected us to remain in the living room. Neutral territory, as it were, without any implications. But he tugged on my hand and guided us toward the bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind me.
“Kost.” I swallowed twice.
“Can you just…lay with me?” His request was so small, so vulnerable. My heart broke for him in that moment. How long had he walled himself off? When was the last time he felt any semblance of love? Cupping his chin in my hands, I captured his lips with mine.
“Of course.”
He sighed into my kiss, and we crawled into bed together. For a long time, neither of us spoke. We simply explored. He’d trail the length of my arm, the curve of my neck, the collar of my tunic. And I’d do the same, all the while coming back for kisses that grew deeper with every passing moment. Our quiet exploration was soft and tender, and I would’ve spent the rest of my life doing exactly this with him. He’d made me feel so many raw emotions since the day we met, but most of all he made mehappy. I hoped I made him happy, too. I pressed my body against him, slanting my lips once again over his and molding to him so we were flush at every possible connection.
He arched into my touch as his hands roamed over my back before seeking purchase in my loose tunic. And then one hand drifted to my waistline, and a single finger ghosted the exposed skin between my shirt and trousers. A shiver raced down my spine.
“Now we’re even,” he murmured. “Unless…” His fingers skated along my lower abdomen.
I let out a low groan. “This hardly seems fair.”
“Guess it’s your turn to make us even.”
My heart skipped a beat, and I shifted so my hand was onceagain beneath his shirt. Smooth skin met my touch, and my breathing ratcheted up a notch. “The vest makes it hard to fully explore.”
“Take it off, then.”
Fuck, this was going to be difficult. Still, I didn’t dare deny him. I undid the buttons along his sternum as he peppered kisses down my neck, making it hard to focus. When I’d finally freed him of the thing, he brought my hand immediately back to his chest to address his tunic.
“Kost.” I fingered a button, unsure of whether or not to continue. “Are you sure?”
“Just be slow.” And then he started on my tunic. When I got to the bare skin of his chest, I let my fingers wander across the planes of his body, the defined cuts of his torso and stomach. The scar above his heart. I hovered there for a moment, and a tremor of uncertainty, of pain, filled his eyes. I wanted to know everything about him, even the things he despised. But for now, just being with him was enough. When he decided to tell me about his past, I wanted it to be his choice alone.
Gently, I kissed the scar once before moving on. I took my time removing every article of his clothing. With each piece of fabric that fell to the floor, I paused and lavished the freshly exposed skin with kisses. I wanted to appreciate every inch of him with my hands, my mouth, my eyes. I didn’t want him to doubt for a moment that I wanted to be here. I couldn’t fathom being anywhere else. And I willed him to feel that truth with every bruising kiss, every caress from my tongue, every purposeful look as I delighted in the feel of his body.
The last thing I removed was his glasses. It felt fitting, somehow, to save them until the end. “You know, I bought you a replacement pair in Moeras.”
He blinked. “When?”
“That’s why I was late to dinner.” I let my fingers dawdle along his temple where the wire frames normally sat. “It was supposed to be an olive branch of sorts.”
