Page 43
Story: Lady of Starfire
He thought she might argue, but she reached for his tunic instead, frowning at the buckles securing his various weapons. “Nothing about this will be fast.”
Callan had never removed weapons from his body so quickly. Tava watched him unfasten buckles and toss daggers aside. Her brow pinched when she spotted dried blood on his arms. “Were you fighting?”
“Some seraphs,” he answered breathlessly.
“Were you hurt?”
“Not by them.” Her eyes flashed back to his. “Nuri showed up. She implied Alaric is using the people in the slums of Baylorin.”
Horror crossed her features. “What?” He moved back to her, all weapons now discarded, and smoothed stray hair back from her face as she blinked up at him. “What are we going to do?”
His hands fell to her thighs, and he hoisted her up against him, walking them over to the settee along the back wall. “You are going to appease the man that raised you until Scarlett can come for you,” he answered, lowering her to the settee. “I am going to figure out what is going on in the slums of Baylorin.”
He reached for her feet, quickly unlacing her boots.
“How?” she pressed.
“Still working on that,” he answered, removing her other boot. She lifted her hips when he reached for the band of her pants, letting him slide them down her legs.
“But you will do something, right? You won’t leave them to suffer?”
He stilled, staring down at her. “They will not be forgotten, Tava. They will not be left in the background.”
She surged up then, her arms coming around his neck once more and pulling his lips to hers. He’d never seen her like this. Urgency with every plunge of her tongue into his mouth. Hands roaming as though they could not touch him enough. He reached down, peeling the tunic from her body while she frantically tugged at his. Somewhere along the way, he lost his own pants, and she was straddling him on the settee.
“I did not wish to leave you,” she murmured, fingers skating along his ribs and down his bare torso, his stomach caving under her touch. “You have to know that. I did not wish to hurt you, Callan, but I could not—”
Her words turned into a whimper as he palmed her breast, rolling a nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Her hips ground down against him, seeking any type of relief on instinct as her eyes fluttered closed, and he cursed, knowing they did not have the time to drag this out. Someone would surely knock on the door soon.
He gripped her hips, lifting her up to position her. Her hands fell to his shoulders, and her entire body tensed. He leaned forward, whispering into her ear, “Breathe, Little Fox.”
He felt her suck in a breath, and when she released it, he pulled her down onto him, eyes falling closed at being inside her again. She shifted, and it was his turn to hold his breath while she adjusted. Fingertips brushed along his jaw that had him opening his eyes and meeting hers. Her lips were parted, panting staccato breaths making her chest rise and fall. Strands of golden hair fluttered in her face, her fingers flexing on his shoulder.
Holding her stare, he lifted her hips and pulled her back down, her eyes going wider at the movement. Then she started moving her hips on her own, experimenting as she rolled against him. He hadn’t planned on this when he had set out to find her, but gods, he would be damned if this was the last time he got to watch her experience new sensations like this.
He reached up, brushing hair back, while his other hand roamed over her soft skin—brushing down her arm, chest, stomach—until it found its way to her center. He moved his thumb in slow circles, another whimper coming from her as she moved faster against him. “Here is what we are going to do, Little Fox.” He gripped her chin, forcing her eyes to his. “We are going to fight for the innocent and the forgotten. We are going to make sure those with the least in our lands are cared for as much as those with the most.” He grunted as she continued to move in rhythm with his thumb. His circles became tighter and firmer. “And when this war is over, we will continue to do the same from our thrones. You will be at my side. I am going to marry you, Tava Tyndell. When this war is over, you will become my queen at the first opportunity, and we will serve our people together.”
A sob of some sort came from her, and he released her chin to grip her hip and move her faster against him. Her brow fell to his shoulder, and she buried her face in his neck as she held onto him. His own hips were moving now, thrusting up to meet hers with every pass, and when he knew she was close, he pressed down with his thumb. Her cry of pleasure was muffled against his skin, and he held her tightly as he found his own release.
For the next few moments, it was only the sound of their harsh breaths as they clung to each other. His fingers were brushing up and down her spine, and he was dreading the coming minutes when they would need to get dressed and say their goodbyes.
Tava sat up, a hand cupping his cheek and a thumb brushing along his lower lip. “Thank you,” she whispered, “for letting me make a difference for Ashtine and Briar and their children.”
“I meant what I said, Tava. I will never deny you anything.”
“Then I will make another request of you,” she replied, a soft smile appearing. She leaned forward, brushing a kiss against his mouth.
“Anything,” he breathed onto her lips.
“I am going to hold you to what you said. Go be a king to your people and fight for them, but promise you will come back to me.”
* * *
Tension hung thick in the air in the sitting room. They were all just…waiting. Callan sat in a chair, staring at the hearth. When the sun had dipped below the horizon, the temperature had dropped rapidly, and a fire had been started shortly after sundown.
They’d all congregated to watch them go, Tava’s hand in his until she stepped through the water portal Briar had created. He’d watched them all go through, and it was Eliza who had gently touched his arm after the portal closed, stepping to his side.
“We will get them back. Scarlett won’t let anything happen to them,” she’d said softly.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43 (Reading here)
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182
- Page 183
- Page 184
- Page 185
- Page 186
- Page 187
- Page 188
- Page 189
- Page 190
- Page 191
- Page 192
- Page 193
- Page 194
- Page 195
- Page 196
- Page 197
- Page 198
- Page 199
- Page 200
- Page 201
- Page 202
- Page 203
- Page 204
- Page 205
- Page 206
- Page 207
- Page 208
- Page 209
- Page 210
- Page 211
- Page 212
- Page 213
- Page 214
- Page 215
- Page 216
- Page 217
- Page 218
- Page 219
- Page 220
- Page 221
- Page 222
- Page 223
- Page 224
- Page 225
- Page 226
- Page 227
- Page 228
- Page 229
- Page 230
- Page 231
- Page 232
- Page 233
- Page 234
- Page 235
- Page 236
- Page 237
- Page 238
- Page 239
- Page 240
- Page 241
- Page 242
- Page 243
- Page 244
- Page 245
- Page 246
- Page 247
- Page 248
- Page 249
- Page 250
- Page 251
- Page 252
- Page 253
- Page 254
- Page 255
- Page 256
- Page 257
- Page 258
- Page 259
- Page 260
- Page 261
- Page 262
- Page 263
- Page 264
- Page 265
- Page 266
- Page 267
- Page 268
- Page 269
- Page 270
- Page 271
- Page 272
- Page 273
- Page 274
- Page 275
- Page 276
- Page 277
- Page 278
- Page 279
- Page 280
- Page 281
- Page 282
- Page 283
- Page 284
- Page 285
- Page 286
- Page 287
- Page 288
- Page 289
- Page 290
- Page 291
- Page 292
- Page 293
- Page 294
- Page 295
- Page 296
- Page 297
- Page 298
- Page 299
- Page 300
- Page 301
- Page 302
- Page 303
- Page 304