Page 20

"Calm down," I ordered.

The stiffness between my legs hadn't gone away.

Being around Nora had triggered my instincts in a way I hadn't expected. All the talking and thinking about mating had triggered my instincts just a little too much, and I was in for a long, painful night. There was no use in rubbing it, that wouldn't cause the problem to reduce in hardness or go away. The only thing that would help would be a mating flight.

This was why I had been so fastidious in avoiding any partner, even if I had taken precautions to avoid breeding.

Triggering my natural instincts like this was a brutal distraction if I wasn't going to have a permanent partner. One mating flight would lead to another, and my body would insist on returning to the mate of my choosing, or I would have sleepless nights and days full of the agony of holding that instinct back. I gritted my teeth as I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes, resisting the urge to stride back across the hall and act like an unmitigated fool.

The soft creek of my door opening caused me to drop my hands and look at the vision slinking into my room.

My wings snapped open wide, spreading out in full display.

"Is it all right if I come in?" Nora asked, the tight red dress she wore was an utter vision of delicious indecency. It was even more revealing than the one she had been dressed in back at the dinner, and it was made all the more torturous by the fact that she had chosen to put it on. She had chosen to dress like that and come into my personal chambers.

"Yes," I said, tensing all of my muscles as I held myself in place by sheer force of will.

She shut the door behind her and looked at me, taking me in.

Then she licked her lower lip and bit it, oh so slowly, and the motion nearly took my breath away.

"I don't know how to say this," she said.

I waited, not interrupting her process for gathering her thoughts.

"I don't suppose you would still want to..." she trailed off.

"Want to feast between your legs until your legs shake and you scream my name?" I said, unable to hold back the words the way I held back my body. "Want to slide into you and watch your face as I drive you towards the utter madness of pleasure? Want to lift you up in the air and feel you come apart as you cling to me?"

"Oh," she sighed out, her lips parting as her eyes widened, lifting up to catch mine. "What's the catch?"

"The catch is you have to be yourself," I said. "Don't hold back. Let your inner Chaos reign."

I waited again, every part of me tense.

"Yes," she breathed out.

Chapter

Nine

NORA

Wings wrapped around me.

I was in a cocoon of feathers, the soft brush of sensation across my body as his wings surrounded me, tickling against my exposed skin. He had crossed the room so quickly that it took my breath away. I could feel the heat radiating from his body as his wings shivered, almost vibrating as they brushed against me.

He wanted me to be myself.

He wanted me not to hold back.

How had he seen how much of myself I pressed down, just to survive?

"You hesitated before," he said, his voice deep and demanding as he asked for an explanation and gave one in the same statement.

"I'm not hesitating now," I replied, reaching out to put my hand on his warm, bare chest, spreading my fingers out to brush against the edge of his one shoulder robe. There was aformidable tent down below, where his need for me was barely contained by the clothing. I slid my hand down, feeling every ridge of his chiseled abdominals until I found the edge of the fabric. I slipped my hand under and threaded my fingers down the happy trail of golden curls. I felt the base of his shaft and wrapped my hand around it.

He sucked in a sharp breath, his feathers quivering over my skin, sending small bolts of pleasure through me.