Page 38 of Atop the Faerie Throne (The Fifth Nicnevin #5)

Thirty-Seven

Caed

R ose is like silk against me, still dancing despite the sweat slicking her body, and Goddess, her hands. They’re everywhere. On my chest, fingers splayed possessively over the rose on my heart, running up my thighs in a tease, cupping my cock for a half-second before darting away again.

The drums around us seem to match my racing heart, and I hiss out a breath as her palm slides over the laces on my leathers.

The dour knight told me that I was free to touch her if she asked. The fucking redcap spent an hour drilling me on how to pleasure her, with a level of detail I don’t want to think about too deeply. I crave doing just that.

So why aren’t I?

I know why. Because some tiny noble part of me knows if we do this, and Danu follows through on her threat, Rose will be even worse off. Every selfish inch of me wants to worship her, imprinting her into my very skin before I die tomorrow, but I don’t want to hurt her.

That sneaky hand caresses the length of me for longer, the heat of her searing through the fabric, and I hiss out a breath. Grabbing both of her wrists and pinning them behind her back, I bend down to her height to kiss her neck, tasting the intoxicating mixture of sweat and glimmering dust that coats her.

“If you keep doing that,” I begin, “we won’t be dancing much longer.”

My control is razor-thin after that enchanted candy almost made me come in my fucking pants. Watching her tease me, practically undressing me with her eyes as she twirled around the fire, made it worse.

But Rose is in a bold kind of mood. “Good. Maybe I want that.”

Fuck. This.

Bending my knees, I toss her over my shoulder, striding for the darkness beyond the bonfires before I can overthink my way out of it. Her delighted laughter hopefully telling the half-interested crowd that she’s a willing participant and not about to be hauled off to Fellgotha.

The Beltaine fires burn brightly, but the surrounding fields are dark enough that I can barely see a few feet in any direction.

When the noise of the pipes and drums is less deafening, and Rose starts to wiggle, I put her back on her feet. She slides down my body like water, fingers scrambling at the laces over my crotch in frustration before yanking the fabric out of her way.

“Little queen, what are you—? Ancestors—Goddess, Rose.” All thoughts fly from my brain, and her name is a moan as the scorching heat of her mouth envelopes the head of my dick.

I watched her do this to the others, but I never thought…

Fuuucccckkkk.

Her tongue plays with the vein on the underside of my cock as she sinks down onto it. Those pouty pink lips look so fucking gorgeous in contrast to the dark purple-blue skin of the shaft as she holds me as deep in her throat as she can take me, then pulls back and laps at the crown while her hands cup my balls.

Then she does it all over again. And again. She’s everywhere, drowning me in sensation until I have to struggle to remember how to even breathe. Every single bob of her head is like being encased in warm, wet perfection. It’s nothing like anything I’ve ever felt before. In fact, I’m pretty sure Drystan could take my head right now, and I wouldn’t even care.

“Little queen,” I murmur as she pulls back and kisses the head. “You really are a fucking Goddess.”

Her satisfied smile tugs at parts of my insides, and she licks her lips like she plans on continuing, but I stop her with a hand in her hair.

My turn.

I’ve wanted to taste her again since the night I mated her. I drop to my own knees, putting us level, then kiss her, using my weight to force her onto her back. My hand fists the tight bodice of her dress, and I rip through the remaining buttons, sending them flying in all directions. Her breasts spill free, and I sit back, hastily dragging the ruffled fabric of her skirt down her legs until she’s bare in the grass beneath me.

Rose’s spectacular violet eyes are almost shy as she reaches up, trying to pull me closer, but I’m not done looking. If I’m going to die tomorrow, I’m going to do so knowing that I’ve worshiped every inch of her.

I claim her lips again, kissing her and tasting those ridiculous fae sweets on her tongue until she squirms beneath me, pressing our chests together. Ancestors. Static buzzes between us at the contact, and I give in to the temptation to cup the heavy weight of her tits in my hands. She’s so fucking soft. The opposite of everything I’ve ever known. The way she cradles my head as I lower it to kiss the dip of her collarbone, the curve of her breast…

There’s no doubt in my mind right now that this female is mine, that I love her more than life itself, and that she feels the same way about me. When I suck one pearled nipple into my mouth, lapping the dust from her like I’ll die if I can’t taste every last drop, she arches against me, funnelling the sensation down our bond.

All of the redcap’s lectures are noise in the back of my mind. I don’t need them. Rose is showing me exactly what she craves. She loves when my hand massages whichever breast my mouth isn’t occupied with. Her moans when I press both tits together, alternating between them with swift little sucks and licks, satisfies a part of me I didn’t even know existed.

I pay homage to her tits until her impatience and the grinding of her core against my abs become too much, then I trace my tongue down the subtle swell of her belly and down to the soaked, glistening folds of her pussy. All rational thought dissolves at the first taste of her.

Sweet, floral, and tart, just like I remember. I groan against her little clit, swirling my tongue there until the fingers in my hair turn to claws. Her hips arch against my mouth, her breath coming in choppy little pants that seem to travel straight to my heavy balls. Gripping her thighs tighter, I pin her down as I lick her through her first orgasm and onto the next, until my face is coated in her release and her body is a shaky wreck.

When I finally pry her fingers free of my hair and sit back on my heels to admire my work, she looks up at me, dazed.

“Don’t make me beg,” she says. “I need you, Caed.”

Beg? No. She never has to beg me ever again.

Reaching down, I palm my cock, sliding it against the mess I’ve made of her pussy for the first time, hissing out a breath at the scorching heat. Without meaning to, I sink an inch inside her, gnashing my teeth together as I fight the urge to come instantly.

It’s like sticking my dick into scorching hot, clenching lava. A hundred times better than her mouth, and my hips jerk before I can help it.

“Let go,” Rose says, her hands coming to rest on my shoulders as she lifts her lower body, taking another half inch of me.

Fuck it.

I bury myself into her without finesse, letting out a chain of curses when she clenches around me like the world’s tightest fist in response.

“Caed,” she moans. “More. Goddess, move.”

If I move, I’m going to come. Pinning her in place with my weight, I drop my forehead to hers, trying to stave off the inevitable. My balls draw up as she clenches around me like she’s trying to choke the life from my cock, and I pant for air like it will somehow save me from the indignity of what’s about to happen.

“Mercy. Little queen. Fuck. I can’t even think…” Every word is caught between ragged drags of air as I fight not to explode.

Ancestors, I might be a virgin, but I swore to myself I was going to make sure she came before I did.

“Don’t think. Fuck me.” Her tone turns bossy, and I huff out a laugh that blends with the drumbeats still permeating the night.

Unfortunately, she chooses that moment to wiggle, and I slide impossibly deeper with a moan.

“Do you want this to be over before we’ve even started?” I ask her, though it’s really more of a plea. “Because I am so fucking close.”

She pulls me down for a kiss, violet eyes sparkling with mirth. “ Please don’t come until I do. Now fuck me.”

I draw back, able to function again now that I’m not three seconds from embarrassing myself. Cursing, I thrust back inside her welcoming heat and realise what she’s done.

I can’t come. The tingling at the base of my spine is intense. Every nerve in my body is coiled tight like a spring, and there’s no relieving it. She’s charmed me into staying on the edge for as long as it takes me to send her over as well. Fuck. Everything about this female is designed to drag me into torment.

But it never felt this good before.

My hands fall to her hips, lifting her a little until she whines with every thrust. “There,” she gasps, though it’s unnecessary when I can feel the fireworks of pleasure she’s experiencing along the bond. “Don’t stop.”

I have absolutely no intention of doing so. Not when she moans every time I pull out and arches so beautifully with every stroke back in. Not when my blood has turned to fire in my veins, and pleasure forms starbursts in her beautiful eyes. Every single drum of my body into hers is a fucking revelation, and when I think my heart might burst under the strain, I lift my thumb to rub desperately at her clit.

She explodes with a shout, and my soul leaves my body. My balls draw up, and my orgasm tackles me from the base of my spine. I’m pretty sure my vision actually goes white as I collapse over her, trembling.

It takes a minute for me to catch my breath and turn us, so she’s cradled across my chest.

Unbidden, the vision Danu once showed me springs to the front of my mind. I held her like this, then.

“I saw our son, once,” I tell her, my voice so quiet that I don’t think she hears me.

“Our son?”

“When I swore the oath, the Goddess showed me a vision of the future. He had a touch of teal to his skin, and Jaro was teaching him to fight while we watched.” I break off, unsure I should continue, but then sigh out a breath. “I held you just like this.”

“Caed…” A spark of hope flitters down the bond, and I sigh out a breath.

“I’m sorry I fucked that up.”

“Maybe you haven’t,” she presses. “Why would Danu show you that if it was for nothing?”

Because it was supposed to set me on the right path, but I was too obsessed with pleasing my father to listen.

Still, I tangle my fingers in her hair, letting her talk me into believing it was a sign. Letting that hope flare bright, simply because I’ll do anything to live in this moment a little longer.

And when she rises above me, claiming me on my back in the dirt, I hope she feels how sorry I am with every kiss I press to her skin.

I hope she knows I would do anything to go back and spare her the fate I’ve woven for us.