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I jerked against the mattress as Riven’s teeth scraped the inside of my thigh. A wave of heat overtook my body in a single touch.
A tendril of shadow traced circles at my hip before slowly trailing up my torso to my breast. The warmth of Riven’s magic along the neckline of my nightgown sent a flutter of heat down my spine. Riven pressed a kiss to my other thigh. “I want to taste you until you moan my name.”
I swallowed. I was already closer than Riven knew.
He wrapped his arms around my thighs, his fingers leaving dimples in my skin. “Do you want me to lick you until you beg for release?” He pressed a gentle kiss to the new scar on my thigh, knowing I had needed Hildegard’s death to mark me without a word. His teeth scraped the inside of my thigh.
I squirmed against the mattress.
Riven reached up and tugged the top of my nightgown until I had nowhere to look but him. “That’s not an answer,diizra.”
“Yes,” I breathed.
Riven was feasting on me before the word had fully left my lips. The hand wrapped around my left thigh pulled my leg wider as his tongue cut a line through the core of me. His other hand pulleddown the front of my nightgown and cupped my bare breast, while his mouth explored all the ways it could bring me pleasure.
I whimpered when Riven finally brushed up against that small bundle that throbbed with my need for him. He circled it with his tongue and pulled at the bud of my breast until my body curved to his whim. He kissed me there with just as much hunger as he had for my lips, deepening his feast with every soft moan he tore from my body.
He pulled away and I wrapped my leg around his shoulder, coaxing him back. But Riven only grinned up at me as he let go of my thigh and pushed two fingers inside of me. He moved them in gentle, easy strokes until I gasped. My muscles flexed and Riven could see that he’d already brought me to the edge.
He increased the pressure of his fingers. “Strong. Beautiful,” he whispered, lowering his mouth to me once more, as slowly as the suns.
This time when Riven’s tongue swirled around the most sensitive part of me, he didn’t stop. My legs thrashed against the mattress but Riven didn’t waver. I groaned as he pressed harder with each stroke, matching the rhythm with his tongue, but Riven held me back from that cliff’s edge, waiting for something.
My hips bucked along his mouth and he chuckled against my skin. His teeth brushed against that spot and a wave of goosebumps scattered across my stomach. The pressure built until it bordered on pain, until I couldn’t take anything more.
“Riven,” I moaned, begging for him to end this.
Riven’s eyes flashed bright with violet and his shadows held me in place against the mattress. He flicked his tongue again and again, while his hand pumped inside of me. Something warm gathered in my chest and I could feel Riven’s shadows reaching out for it, wrapping around my torso. Riven reached up with his free handand scratched the skin between my breasts, releasing my power and my pleasure in one final touch.
I let out a moan and a gust of wind blew through the burl, throwing Riven’s belongings to floor. The vase along the table shattered into tiny pieces as the whirlwind whipped around the room. I didn’t even pretend to care.
Riven didn’t glance at the room to see the damage I’d done. He only lifted his head and licked his fingers clean. A feral part of me wanted to pounce on top of him, but my body was entirely spent. I could barely keep my eyes open as Riven crawled on top of me and pressed a kiss to my forehead. I turned my head against his chest and fell asleep to the rumble of his laughter.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
IWOKE IN A POOLof my own sweat. Riven’s arm tightened around my waist as the sunlight roused him from his sleep. He felt the bed and his eyes snapped open.
“Keera.” His voice was thick with sleep. “Did you have a nightmare?”
I shook my head. “No, the elixir worked.” I rubbed my temples with shaky hands. Riven helped me ease out of bed but it was too fast. I wretched onto the floor and covered the rug in vomit.
My cheeks heated but I was in too much pain to care. Riven ran to the cupboard and grabbed a glass. He held it under a lone branch that stuck out from the window and a stream of cold water poured out, filling the cup. He lifted it to my lips and helped me drink it.
I could only manage a sip. He placed the cup on the table beside me. “Should I fetch some wine?”
My body wanted nothing more than for him to do just that, but I had meant what I said the night before. I needed to do this. Not for the Shades, the war, or even Riven. But for me. I grabbed his arm. “No. Syrra said that she had elixirs for me. Those will work for now.”
Riven’s jaw pulsed. “They’re meant to prevent the withdrawal from getting this bad.” He picked up his tunic from the floor and wiped my brow with it. “They may not help now.”
I shrugged. “I meant it when I said I was done. I’ve let Damien control my life for too long. I’m not giving him another hour.”
Riven’s hand balled around the fabric. I could see in the way his lips twitched that he wanted to argue. “I’ll pack our bag while you shower.”
I nodded and mustered the will to stand. Every heartbeat nailed a spike deeper into my head, making the room swirl, but somehow I got to the shower with only a bruised knee. The warm water eased the ache in my skull by a fraction, but I was more than grateful for it.
I limped down the Myram tree. I didn’t have the stomach to drop from my burl and my shins burned in protest. I had only reached the bottom when something launched at me from behind the spiraled branch.
I grabbed for my blade but quick hands had already reached there first. “That’s no way to greet a friend,” Dynara whispered in my ear as she gave me a coy smile. She waved the bloodstone dagger in her hand with a smug grin.
