Page 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

S olarius had never wanted anything more in his life than he wanted Narissa.

He craved everything about her—the way she rolled her lips whenever she hit him with one of those contemptuous remarks or caustic comments, the way her icy green eyes burned with uncontrollable fire whenever she was forced to share the same space as him.

He’d gotten a taste of her in the alcove, he’d been gifted a brief display of what it would be like when she finally broke, when she finally shattered while he was inside of her, and he wanted to experience that again, more than he wanted air.

Because Narissa patched up her broken heart and channeled that misplaced anger into an esteemed hatred for him, and now he planned on fucking the word hate right out of her vocabulary.

After all, they had to make up for years of lost time.

Time that had been stolen by away by Calfair.

Solarius shoved his former friend’s name from his mind, refusing to let the bastard steal this moment from him as well.

No, he was going to be slow and deliberate with Narissa tonight.

He was going to cherish her.

He was going to take his time.

At least that was his plan until she dropped to her knees before him and reached for the button of his pants.

“Narissa,” Solarius warned.

“What are you doing?”

He snagged her wrist, tension coiling through him, his cock already straining against the tight fabric.

It would be so easy to grab the back of her head and watch those pretty, glossy lips of hers take every inch of him.

She shrugged, lifting one shoulder with forced nonchalance.

“Just returning the favor, my lord.”

Solarius swallowed hard, capturing her chin with his hand.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“Perhaps not.” Narissa’s frostbitten gaze flicked upward, and she watched him from beneath a fringe of dark lashes.

The shimmery powder dusted across her cheeks glimmered in the faint light of his room.

“But I want to.”

His breathing grew heavy, each breath was suddenly pained, like his lungs were pinched tight.

His pulse ricocheted, and her slender fingers—most of them adorned with delicate gold rings—deftly worked the buttons of his pants.

Her hands explored him then, her perfectly manicured nails gently scraping the dip of his hips and lower abdomen, before sneaking into the waistband of his black shorts and tugging them down.

There was a quick inhale and then her warm breath coated his thick head as her eyes widened, round like tide pools, as she stared at his stiff cock.

Tentatively, Narissa reached out, running her fingers along his hard length, stroking him.

Driving him absolutely mad with her dainty touches.

He was already lined up with her lips and when her pink tongue peeked out, he fisted one hand on the wall above her head and groaned.

“Narissa, I swear to the stars, if you don’t?—”

Then she took him, every inch, into her sweet little mouth.

“Fuck,” he bit out, his fingers tangling in her hair as he grabbed a fistful.

She drew him in hard, tongue swirling, cheeks hollowing as his hips jerked forward of their own accord.

It would be different if she was just sucking his cock but fucking stars, her hands.

They feathered across his thighs and over his firm stomach, her pretty nails scouring his muscles one moment, then dancing the next, sending a chill down his spine.

Her hot mouth took him deeper with each thrust, and when he pushed in all the way to the hilt, she didn’t choke or gag.

Instead, Narissa gazed up at him with shining eyes and cupped his balls, squeezing lightly, urging him to keep going, to empty himself down her throat.

Maybe some other time.

Solarius pulled himself from her mouth before he exploded, ignoring the flash of shock on her face.

He grabbed her by her shoulders and hauled her to a standing position, shoving those flimsy diamond straps down so that her gown pooled around her feet in a puddle of dark pink silk and glittering beads.

She stood before him, completely nude, save for those enticing stockings, a pair of moderately high heels, and an elegant—if not entirely useless—triangular scrap of satin.

He took hold of the thin band and yanked, the ripping of fine fabric echoing in the space between him, as he tossed the satin barrier aside.

She yelped in surprise.

“Sol!” Narissa clamped one hand over her mouth, eyes sparkling, but the blush staining her cheeks faded the longer he stared at her.

He fixated on the curve of her hips, the full and luscious slope of her breasts, the dip of her collarbone.

All those sweet, tantalizing places he wanted to kiss.

It was fascinating, really, watching her reaction to the way he gazed upon her.

He enjoyed the way her dusky nipples hardened to stiff little peaks beneath his intense assessment.

And how she so cleverly tried to squeeze her thighs together, like she could somehow disguise her arousal from him.

The most interesting tell was the way her body involuntarily arched toward him, as though she was silently begging for his touch.

Solarius scooped her up and carried her to his bed.

He kicked off his pants and shorts, but she refused to lie down.

Her eager hands clawed at his shirt, making quick work of the buttons, before she tugged it off him.

Then her lips were on him.

Kissing his chest, his stomach, then back up to his neck and shoulders.

She traced the tattoo of his constellation, Azuralis, with the tip of her finger, memorizing each line.

Each star.

She was up close now, on her knees, so his cock fit snugly between her thighs.

Narissa wove her arms around his neck, pressing her breasts against him, rubbing every soft, lithe inch of her against the solid line of him.

Her mouth slanted across his, their tongues meshed together in a kiss fueled by years-long hunger and misplaced anger.

Their magic collided in a crush of glimmering tides and moonlight.

He could taste the call of the sea as her power drowned him.

Then her nails were digging into his shoulders, clawing up the back of his neck, and his hands found the globes of her ass.

He gripped.

Squeezed.

His greedy fingers venturing dangerously close to where he knew she was already wet for him.

She arched her back and his fingers slid lower, her whine of desperation sending every pump of blood straight to his cock.

His heart hammered, frenzied and erratic, so all he wanted to do was splay Narissa wide open and plunge himself into her until she forgot her own name.

But this was Narissa.

His Narissa.

His wife.

And he wanted this moment to be full of gentle kisses and blissful lovemaking.

Yes, he wanted to give her everything and more, he wanted to ruin her completely, but his threads of control were slipping.

Unraveling.

He pulled back and the bond spasmed.

Narissa lurched back as though he’d slapped her.

“Enough,” she spat, folding her arms across her chest, cutting him down with a vicious glare.

Solarius stilled, frozen with guilt.

“What’s wrong?”

“You.” She waved one hand through the air between them.

“Whatever is going on inside your head, stop it at once. I can feel you retreating. Pulling away from me.”

Solarius raked both hands through his hair, tugging on the ends.

“I promise, that is the furthest thing from my mind.”

It wasn’t quite the truth, and Narissa saw right through it.

“Liar.” She grabbed his hands and forced them to her breasts, to palm them, to feel them.

And she leaned into his touch.

“I am not fragile, Solarius. Stop treating me like a porcelain doll that will break at any moment.”

“I don’t want to hurt?—”

“You will not, and if you do, I will be sure to tell you. Yes, if you grab or pinch me too hard, it may leave bruises. And if you suck on my skin too harshly, it might leave a mark.” She rubbed his palm over her peaked nipples, then guided the other hand between the valley of her breasts, and lower still, to where she urged two of his fingers into her slick heat.

Solarius wanted to die.

She was fucking heavenly.

“But I want that, Sol.” Narissa’s voice took on that husky, siren-like quality, and he groaned, working his fingers inside her.

“I want to be marked by you. To be claimed by you. So stop acting as though I might shatter and fuck me already.”

“Sweet stars.” Solarius dropped forward, pressing their foreheads together.

“That mouth.”

Narissa rocked against his knuckles and angled her head, sliding her tongue over the slick skin of his neck.

“What about it?”

A violent noise, a cross between a groan and a growl, rumbled through his chest.

As much as he wanted to keep pushing his fingers inside of her, as much as he wanted to watch her come undone again, Narissa had made it perfectly clear she wanted more from him than a safe and doting sexual encounter.

So, he would give her exactly what she wanted.

He yanked his fingers out of her deliciously wet center and snared her by the wrist.

He dragged her toward the foot of the bed, where the large, ornate onyx mirror was propped against the wall, its lacquer reflective of the moon phases.

With one quick movement, he spun her around so her back was pressed against his front, his throbbing cock nudging into her round bottom.

“Tell me how you want it,” he demanded, wrapping a possessive arm around her waist while the other skated up her flesh and captured her throat.

“No,” she answered coolly, nails toying with the dusting of hair along his forearms.

“I don’t think I will.”

“Naughty midnight siren.” Solarius’s hand dipped lower and slid a finger along the seam of her lips, not surprised to find her soaking.

“You’re so wet for me, Rissa love.”

“Really?” She arched a brow in the mirror’s reflection, her gaze trained on his, her lids hooded with desire.

“I hadn’t noticed.”

His cock jumped.

Stars above, this female would be the end of him.

“Grab the mirror with both hands. And spread your legs.”

She willfully obeyed and Solarius took in the sight before him.

Her fingers curved over the detailed onyx frame, while the glass displayed her full breasts, her glazed eyes, and her swollen mouth.

She shimmied a little, her heels scraping across the stone floor as she opened her legs for him, giving him a full view of her.

Her slick folds glistened, primed and ready for him, and he roughed both hands up and over the backs of her thighs, tugging on the lace bands of her stockings before letting them smack soundly against her skin.

The whimpering noise that escaped her almost made him come on the spot.

“I want your eyes on me the whole time, do you understand?” He gripped his shaft and pumped it twice, rubbing the head against her wetness as he lined himself up to enter her.

“I want you looking right at me when you come on my cock, because from now on, it will only ever be me.”

She nodded, sinking her teeth into that plump bottom lip in the way that drove him mad with desire.

Solarius didn’t give her any warning.

He shoved into her, glancing down to watch her stretch to accommodate him.

Narissa cried out, shoulders bunching to her ears as she arched, shoving herself backward like she needed more.

Solarius grabbed her hips as he started to thrust, slow and methodical.

After each push in deep, he drew himself back out in a lazy, languid stroke.

He took his time filling her up, then edging her into oblivion as he pulled out to the point of pain, where barely the tip of his head was still nestled inside her.

Narissa clenched around him, broken sobs wrecking her.

She shuddered.

Thrashed.

Her knuckles were white from where she gripped the mirror, and for a brief second, it looked as though she stomped her foot like a petulant child who failed to get her way.

On more than one occasion, she attempted to grind her hips back, to take him harder, faster, deeper.

But he refused to give her that satisfaction.

Not yet.

“Solarius,” she cried, squeezed her eyes shut.

“Please.”

“Eyes on me, Rissa love.”

They flew open at his command, all sea green and full of fire.

“Say it again.” He lifted his chin on another agonizingly slow thrust.

Her tongue darted out, gliding across her bottom lip, and she held his gaze.

“Please.”

That was all it took.

Solarius pumped himself into Narissa’s tight heat and her answering whimpers only spurred him on to take her harder.

Faster.

Just like she wanted.

Lunar magic channeled through him, spilling from his fingertips as the silver light washed over her golden skin.

Those beautiful luminous wave tattoos appeared along the pointed tips of her ears and up her spine, and he reveled in the way she glowed just for him.

“Sol,” she gasped.

Her mouth fell open and her ocean eyes remained trained on him.

“I think…I think I might…”

In one swift movement, Solarius yanked her upright, crushing her to him, his thumb rubbing her clit so her body quivered and seized.

She clamped around his cock, throwing one arm over her head, grasping at the back of his neck.

The bond thrummed as Narissa arched, taking him so fucking deep that she splintered around him.

Her head fell against his shoulder, her pale green eyes fastened to his cold silver as he emptied himself inside of her.

Her chest heaved and he jerked once.

Twice.

“Rissa,” he murmured, his mind emptying of all rational thought, and he pressed a kiss to the crook of her neck, where her skin was sweet and damp.

“If that is what it will be like every time I bed you, I don’t think I will ever be able to survive it.”

“You must try, my lord.” Her eyes fluttered closed and she sagged against him, all soft and pliable curves in his arms.

“Because once will never be enough.”

Solarius sighed, the truth of her words sinking into him.

He swept her up and carried her to his bed.

She curled into him, warm and wonderful, draping one arm casually across his chest as she tucked herself under his arm.

Solarius stared up at the glass ceiling, where the pitch of night stretched overhead, where the stars winked, keeping their secrets close.

Narissa was absolutely right.

Once would never be enough.

Already his cock was thickening and she was simply lying there, her breathing deep and even.

The bond heated and a tempting whisper slid into his mind as Narissa hiked her leg up over him.

“Then do something about it, my lord.”

Fuck.