Page 117 of Blackheart

“You decide to turn me away the day I bring you flowers?” he shot back. “After you chased me down earlier, then sought me out again the same night?”

I’d never heard him sound so…hurt.

I didn’t want to push him away. Surely he knew that.

I braced my hands behind me, in physical pain as I forced my mental wall down.

“I’m scared to have things…or people that I want,” I whispered.

Riven tilted his head. “Why is that?”

The answer was simple. “Because they are unbearable to lose.”

And I had lost so much.

Riven grabbed my hand. “You won’t lose me.” His face was sharp in the shadows. “I keep my oaths.”

Stepping closer, I led with my heart, black as it may be. Worrying about the betrothal could wait. Fear could wait. The world could wait.

I lifted up on my toes just as Riven leaned down, delicately grasping my jaw with both hands as he kissed me. His hands were so warm against my cool skin, his mouth even warmer as it trailed down my neck. Heat fired through my core.

He pulled away, only to slowly back me against the wall.

Gazing into his eyes felt more intimate than any touch I had ever felt from a man. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he reached down, picked me up and brought his mouth back to mine. The cool stone against my back was a relief against the fire burning inside of me. He kissed me fiercely and methodically, sliding his tongue against mine and tugging at my bottom lip.

Each kiss made me cravemore.

I ran my fingers through his hair as he snuck a hand up my loose shirt. His mouth moved back to my neck, then behind my ear. He gripped my hips, pushing me further into the wall.

“We have to stop,” he breathed.

What the fuck?

“Why?” I snapped.

He let out a breathy laugh, brushing his lips along my jawline.

“The first time I fuck you will not be in an alley,” he murmured.

“You’re too prim for an alley, Sir Riven?”

“You are a princess, Elora.”

Not giving me a chance to retaliate, he slid his hands into the sides of my pants, pulling them down. A shiver rushed through me.

In a swift motion, he lifted me onto his shoulders and pressed my back into the wall.

His mouth found its place between my legs. I sighed, gripping his hair. He licked and kissed me with perfect pressure, sliding his tongue with such devotion that my legs shook against my will. I smacked a hand over my mouth to hold in my cries.

Riven held my legs in place, squeezing them as he worked. Pleasure didn’t begin to describe the feeling. He held me up as if he were starved, feasting until my body went limp.

Afterwards, time did not feel real. Euphoric and exhausted, we walked side by side back to the Silver Circle. He made sure I got home safely and gave me a respectable nod goodnight as I sleepily ascended the steps, bashfully hiding my smile. I picked the flowers up off the ground, locked the door behind me, and grabbed a glass vase from the kitchen. I set the arrangement on my nightstand upstairs, pleased with almost everything.

I put my orb beside the vase, tapping it until it glowed a faint blue. With the black roses illuminated and the moon smiling from the window, I fell asleep grinning back at it. The night itself had been better than any dream.

Chapter 36

Moonhill