Total pages in book: 147
Estimated words: 139662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 698(@200wpm)___ 559(@250wpm)___ 466(@300wpm)
His kiss is like a brand, marking me more permanently than the rune inked on my skin from my bond with Sebastian. Every sweep of his tongue makes the worry knotting my muscles unfurl, guides me to let go for just a minute.
When he breaks the kiss, he doesn’t go far. His mouth is so close to mine I can feel his smile. “Have I told you that you taste just like you smell?”
I laugh. “After the day we’ve had, I’m not sure that’s a good thing.”
“Like cherries and moonlight.”
“You didn’t kiss me that night,” I say, rubbing my hands up and down his back. “In the shower.”
“No. I didn’t.”
“Why not? I asked you to.”
“Because I wanted your kiss more than anything.” His voice is rough. “I knew you were attracted to me from that first night we met. Between the drugs and that attraction, it would’ve been easy to take what you were offering and work it to my advantage, but I wanted you to ask me when your mind was clear. And I didn’t want the first time I kissed you to be about the crown. Even if it should’ve been. So I didn’t kiss you. Even though I wanted to.”
“You did kiss my neck.”
His smile is slow and devious. “I’m not a saint, Princess. I had to taste you.”
Need coils hot and low in my belly, and I grab the hem of his shirt and pull, tugging it off over his head. Once it’s gone, my hands explore every inch of his powerful chest, his strong back, the softer skin at the waistband of his pants. “I think I mentioned wanting to taste you too,” I say, stroking the spot over his pelvic bone where I know a bisected five-pointed star is forever tattooed on his skin.
Chuckling, he rests his weight on his forearms while looking down at me. “Trust me, that’s not something I’d be able to forget.” He pulls a lock of hair between two fingers and smiles as he twirls it around his fingers. “This haircut . . .”
“It’s ridiculous,” I say.
“It’s cute.”
“Yes, that’s what every lustful female wants to be. Cute.”
He laughs. “You’re certainly other things too,” he murmurs. “Shall I compose a list?”
“Hardened, bitter, boring,” I say. I try to sound light—joking—but my tone reveals far too much of what I really feel.
“Stunning, powerful, persistent, breathtaking,” he says.
I bite my bottom lip and shift beneath him before reaching up and toying with one of his curls in return.
His eyes are hooded as he gazes down at me. “The night in the shower . . . do you remember what you said to me when I carried you to bed?”
I shake my head. I have no memory of that night beyond the shower. “You said I asked you to stay.”
He nods. “You did. And then you told me that I made you feel as safe as a starry night sky.”
My cheeks heat. “Sounds like I was pretty pathetic.”
He shakes his head. “No. You don’t understand. You were saying everything I wanted to hear. I was pathetic because of how much I wanted to believe the drugs had nothing to do with your confessions.”
“It’s true, though,” I whisper. “I have always drawn strength from you.”
“That’s the tether.”
I shake my head. “Not just magically. I find strength in the way you believe in me. In our friendship. It’s a strength that has nothing to do with my power.”
His silver eyes blaze into mine. “It’s the same for me. I never thought I could feel this again.” He swallows. “I didn’t think I wanted to.”
I shiver beneath him.
“Are you cold?”
I shake my head. “Not anymore.”
“Me neither.” He traces my lips with his thumb, and I can’t get over the awe in his eyes, the adoration. How could this beautiful, powerful, kind male be so grateful to be here with me?
Pushing up onto one hand, he slowly unlaces the front of my shirt, letting it fall open and exposing my breasts before dipping his head. The air is cool, but his mouth is hot as he flicks his tongue over my peaked nipple. I arch my back up off the hard ground and moan as heat and pleasure zip through my blood.
“Do you have any idea what it was like to know you were sleeping in my bed at the Unseelie palace? To see you there when I’d imagined it so many times? I can’t wait until I can have you there again. I’ve dreamed so many times of holding you there, having you in my arms as we sleep under the stars together.” He nuzzles my neck, and I arch into him, loving the feel of my breasts against his bare chest, needing more pressure between my legs.
“Finn,” I breathe, dragging my hands up and down his back. “I love you.” I just want to say it over and over again. Until he feels it in his heart, until he believes it and believes he’s worthy of that love.