Page 168

And then, Maris pulled away, clutched Valda’s face, and opened her mouth to talk. The young woman fought her own body as she tried to voice what she was aching to say. “I am not leaving you,” Maris whispered.

Valda’s breath exploded in her chest. “You are not.”

“I am not,” Maris repeated, her voice broken and heated. “I am not, I’m not, I love you so much.”

“You are not leaving me,” Valda rasped, a knot burning in her throat as a shadow of distress painted on Maris’s face.

“I can’t, I won’t.” Maris exhaled a sharp breath, throwing her head back in pleasure, the soft yet sharp lines of her neck standing out for Valda’s burning eyes.

Valda took it as an invitation and planted soft, wet, open-mouth kisses to the delicate flesh, her rhythm never faltering, steady as she helped Maris reach that peak she was looking for. With a strangled cry, Maris arched, her large breast pushing into Valda’s smaller ones. She tensed underneath Valda, her mouth open in a silenced scream until an earth-shattering moan escaped her.

Valda watched in bewilderment, her own orgasm hit her, roughly, desperately. She held Maris steady, rubbing and easing the cock in and out softly, coaxing more tremors from her mate until her small hands gripped her wrist.

Valda was almost in a trance as she took in all she could of the woman beneath her, and yet it wasn’t enough. She needed more.

She needed to make her come again.

Maris could only see white stars. She could barely move from the strain in her body but the heavy body on top of her. She closed her eyes the second she felt Valda kiss her neck, her collarbone, between her breasts. She heard her shuffle around, and then something hit the ground with an audible thwap. Valda’s caresses sent a jolt of electricity through her. Her skin came alive with goosebumps as Valda’s tongue swirled around her left nipple before groaning in satisfaction as she took all of it into her hot mouth.

“Darling…” Maris called out to her, her hand finding the base of her head. “Wait.”

“I want more,” Valda whispered as she made a hot trail of open-mouth kisses down Maris’s stomach. “I need more.”

Absent-mindedly and on instinct, Maris spread her legs for her lover, who settled on her knees on the ground and pressed her mouth hungrily against her pussy.

“Valda, wait, please.”

Valda stopped, and Maris’s breath was snatched by the way Valda’s honey-colored gaze snapped to hers. Valda had no business being this attractive, with her tousled hair and lips wet with Maris’s slick. Maris was enthralled by the way the other woman looked at her. She never thought she would grow addicted to the way those eyes worshiped her entire being, as if there was nothing else but her.

Maris’s throat bobbed as she swallowed hard. She reached with her hand, silently begging Valda to lay next to her. She did, no questions asked, and Maris couldn’t help but kiss those taut and wide shoulders as she settled by her side.

“I mean it,” Maris whispered, her lips tasting the sweat on Valda’s skin. “I am not leaving you.”

Valda sighed and got comfortable enough to pull Maris over her. She snatched the bed sheets and covered their nakedness before looking down at Maris. “If you have to—”

“No. I am going back with you to Oberon castle. We will sit down and make a plan. My people will get the help they need, but only if we work together. They are safe here. Eyphah has made her life’s goal to keep them safe, and I am sure she will continue doing so as we get to work.”

Valda nodded. Still dark with lust, her face softened. “We can get started right away. I will give the announcement to lower the taxes, give them the things they need… As soon as we get back, we will meet with Dristan.”

“When can we leave?”

Valda let out a breathy laugh. “We can leave first thing in the morning tomorrow, if that’s what you wish.”

Maris sighed, pressed her forehead to Valda’s collarbone, and nodded. She didn’t want to waste a second. She wanted to fix everything. If she could fix everything with a snap of her fingers, she would. As the exhilaration of her orgasms settled, rough hands played with her hair, tilting her head back enough to find honey-colored eyes burning with a yet-to-be-extinguished fire. Heat settled in Maris’s lower belly again, as Valda’s grin spread wider.

“Give me one more, and I will let you rest…”

25

Valda tasted like nothing Maris had ever tasted before. The sweetness always overpowered the tanginess. Not like Maris didn’t like it, she loved everything that was Valda. Her strength, her roughness, her scars, the softness of her skin, her mischievous smile. The way she kissed her when she was trying to express how much she loved her, and the passion when she grabbed her by the neck and forced her tongue down her throat.

Maris wouldn’t have it any other way. She would never say no to waking up sore, with the larger woman clinging to her as if she was a beacon to her sanity. She would never say no to slipping out of Valda’s iron grip to spread her thick thighs and delve into the paradise of her body.

The sounds the queen made always pricked Maris’s skin. Valda’s sleepy groans mixed with breathless gasps of pleasure always fueled Maris to bring her to that peak. What a glorious way to wake up. Yet, what she loved the most was when Valda came to her senses, when she looked down and locked those gorgeous eyes with Maris’s and her lips curved into an irresistible smirk. And then there were her hands…

Maris groaned into her mound as Valda’s large and callused hands tangled into her blue curls and held her in place. Not like she was going to deprive her queen of the pleasure she deserved.

And Valda deserved all the pleasure the universe could give her, but alas, the one Maris was giving her right there and then would have to do.