Page 79 of Evermore (The Never Sky #3)

I nodded, fully aware of Althea’s conglomerate. “Did you tell her what I said?”

“Thea’s always been an optimist. She believes in people. She thinks the mortals will keep their hideout secret because they aren’t going to bite the hand that feeds them.”

“History would prove otherwise, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there, I’m sure. I need to try to talk to Minerva again before we go. Stubborn old bat.”

The corner of her mouth lifted as the sunlight finally began to creep through the window. “I’m absolutely telling her you said that.”

“Good. I’m not scared of her.”

“Well, that works out because she’s standing right behind you.”

“What?” I whipped around, missing the fucking smile on her face. I didn’t miss the giggle.

“So you’re a little bit scared. That’s probably a good idea. I saw her crack her cane across Tuck’s shins the other day. He deserved it, but still. A healthy dose of fear is fine.”

I spun back to face her. Planting a glare I could barely hold. I dashed forward, snagged her sassy little ass and stormed across the room to drop her on the bed right as she yelped. “Morning Paesha might be my favorite Paesha.” I growled, burying my face into her neck.

“Get off of me, you animal.”

Instead, I smothered her in kisses. Her chin. An ear. Her nose. It wasn’t until I moved lower that I remembered she was naked beneath her robe. I slowed. Stopped entirely. Fighting with myself. With the godsdamn sunlight and the bargain I’d made with Quill.

“Regretting all your choices now aren’t you, Husband,” Paesha crooned, wiggling beneath me.

I ripped her robe open. “Absolutely not.”

I slid myself down her perfect body, kissing, biting. Fucking savoring. She arched on the bed, spreading those godsdamn legs for me. I kissed the inside of her thighs, letting my teeth graze her skin until she whimpered.

“You will lead and I will follow, love.” I slid a finger down her center. “Tell me what you want.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” she panted as I circled her pretty, little clit.

“Say it,” I demanded, struggling to keep control.

“I want you to fuck me.”

“I’d prefer to taste you first, Paesha darling.”

She let out a gasp as I lowered myself to her center.

This needed to be quick, but I hated the thought of anything rushed with her.

Fucking hell. She tasted so damn good. She relaxed her legs, burying her hands into my hair as I stroked my tongue over her, moving back and forth, up and down, working in the exact combination I’d already learned she needed.

The sounds she made, those whimpers and gasps as I moved were everything. The crescendo to every song, the climax to every story, the path for every journey. Nothing made me feel more possessive. And she godsdamn knew it.

I slipped a finger inside of her.

“So fucking wet.”

Her moan became a gasp. When her Remnants wrapped themselves around me, I chuckled, knowing my warm breath would tickle her thigh. “Feeling greedy?”

“Less words, more tongue,” she answered.

I could barely think past the pressure of my cock against the buckle of my pants. I didn’t relent. I knew what she needed.

“I’m going to come. Fuck. It’s too much.”

Her legs tightened. She arched off the bed. Still, I moved, sliding two fingers inside, feeling her pulse as pleasure rolled through her.

I had my pants off before she’d come down from her climax. When I crawled over the top of her, resting at her entrance, she reached for me. It was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen. Half-lidded eyes and a satiated smile. Gods. Fucking perfection.

She lifted her hips again, sliding up my cock, and it was nearly my undoing. I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting the urge to bury myself deep inside her and stay there. This was a time for hard and fast. Still, I couldn’t help staring into those eyes as I pressed myself to her entrance.

“Fuck,” I hissed as she took me, inch by inch.

Her lips tasted like sin and her cunt felt like heaven.

Halfway in, I pulled out and eased myself back in one more time.

She was so godsdamn wet, and that little moan left her lips again.

That was it for me. I pulled back and thrust inside again, unleashing the primal need to fuck her.

She buried her nails into my back. The pain of her breaking the skin mixed with the pleasure of her wrapped around my cock was something else entirely.

A dance we always circled. I slammed forward again and again until she was writhing beneath me.

I changed pace, changed the angle. Fucking her until her brows knit together and the only thing that existed in the world was her and I.

She tightened again, tipping her head back on the bed.

I held the rhythm, sliding my fingers over that beautiful neck as her moan vibrated against my palm.

Watching her build and build beneath. Her hips rose, eager for more.

Gripping her neck, I yanked her forward until our foreheads touched. “I fucking love you.”

Her eyes flicked to my lips as I moved. When I slid my hand to the back of her neck to hold her up, she bit my bottom lip on a moan before she sighed, “I love you too, prick.”

I snatched the pins from her wild hair and tossed them to the side before burying my fingers in deep at the nape of her neck and tipping her head down. “Watch me fuck you,” I commanded. “Look how perfect we fit together.”

I thrust into her again, hard and deep, the slick heat of her clamping down on me like a vise. She gasped and I felt her body tighten around me, pulling me deeper, demanding more. I gave it to her.

Her hands clawed my shoulders, nails digging into my skin as she clung to me.

Those thighs trembled around my hips, and I could feel the tension building in her, coiling tighter and tighter until she finally broke.

Her back arched and she tossed her head back, crying out, with my fingers still tangled in her hair.

Her voice was raw and desperate as she came undone around me.

I couldn’t hold back anymore. My cock jerked, pulsing inside her as I came.

It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

I crushed my lips to hers, swallowing her gasps and moans as I kissed her like it was the last thing I’d ever do.

Her hands tangled in my hair, pulling me closer, and I let her.

She could take whatever she wanted from me.

When I finally pulled away, she was smiling, her lips swollen and wet, her eyes dark with satisfaction.

She was undoubtedly the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

Watching her smile over her shoulder at me as she dashed down the hall in nothing but that robe was a sight that would be burned into my memory for the rest of time.

The temperature seemed to drop several degrees as tension crept back into Archer’s shoulders. “There has to be another way.”

“There isn’t,” I said, as gently as I could. “The law is absolute. Not even I can change that.”

“Then change the time limit,” Quill suggested, hopping onto the seat beside Paesha. We sat in the garden at the Syndicate house having a simple lunch. “Three months isn’t long enough to fall in love, probably.”

“Love has nothing to do with it,” Archer muttered.

“It should,” Thea said fiercely. “You deserve that much at least.”

He smiled, but it wasn’t genuine at all. “What I deserve and what’s necessary aren’t always the same thing. And this was… is my choice.”

“What about me?” Quill asked suddenly. “I could marry you.”

The resulting chorus of “No!” from every adult present made her jump.

“Why not? I’m already connected to you both.” She twisted to look up at Paesha. “You said the Treeis bond means we’re family forever.”

“It does,” Paesha agreed. “But marriage is different. You’re far too young, and Archer needs someone who can help him rule.”

“I could help,” Quill insisted.

“You are helping with ideas,” Archer said fondly. “But let’s table the marriage proposals until you’re at least old enough to reach the top shelf in Elowen’s kitchen, okay?”

She huffed but settled back in her seat, snagging a roll from the basket on the table. “Fine. But I still think it’s stupid.”

“Most laws are,” I said, earning a sharp look from Paesha. “What? They are. Especially the ones written by mortals trying to control things they don’t understand.”

“Like gods?” Thea asked innocently.

I had to smile. “Exactly like gods.”

“Speaking of control,” Elowen interrupted smoothly, “Quill, honey. The next time you feel really upset, let’s avoid the garden. Everything out here is starting to die.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled.

“Hey,” I said softly, surprising myself as much as everyone else. “Come here a moment.”

She hesitated, looking to Paesha first, then Archer. When they both nodded, she slid off her chair and came to stand before me.

I knelt to her level. “Your power feels big, doesn’t it? Like it’s too much to hold sometimes?”

She nodded.

“That’s because it is. Maybe you weren’t meant to contain it all by yourself.” I held out my hand, palm up, letting a small globe of golden light form there, hoping like hell it didn’t flicker out and ruin the point. “Watch.”

The light split into tiny streams, weaving between my fingers like liquid sunshine. Quill gasped, reaching out to touch one.

“Big power isn’t meant to be caged,” I continued, letting the light dance around her fingers. “It’s meant to flow. Like a river. You don’t stop a river, you learn to direct it.”

“How?”

“First, you have to accept that it’s part of you. Not something separate to fight against.” I glanced at Paesha, seeing understanding dawn in her eyes. “Then you find anchors. People who help you remember who you are when the power tries to make you forget.”

“Like Paesha and Archer?”

“Exactly like them.”

She studied the light thoughtfully. “Is that why you stay close to Paesha? Because she’s your anchor?”

“Yes,” I admitted quietly. “She is.”

“Then you should eat more bread,” Quill decided, very seriously. “Because anchors need you to be strong too.”

I was sure there was logic in that to her. Somehow. “You know what? You’re absolutely right.”

“I usually am. But that doesn’t solve how we’re going to get Archie a wife.”

Archer stood, tucking a stack of papers under his arm as he mussed the child’s hair. “ We aren’t going to get Archie a wife. That’s not how it works, Pencil.”

“But you’re sitting around staring at boring papers all the time now. That’s not how it works either.”

He smiled, something genuine this time. “Fair enough. How about this, I’ll make you a deal.

I’ll find myself a date, and you and Paesha can decide if she’s the right one to marry.

Since you guys are always going to be an important part of my life, and I’m always going to want to protect you before anyone else, you should get a say. ”

“And she’ll have to accept our bond too,” Quill said. “Or I’ll have to kill her.”

Archer jerked back. “We talked about you throwing creepy threats out like that, didn’t we?”

Quill rolled her eyes. “Fine. But I’ll make her really sad and watch her cry for fun.”

“Time for your bath,” Thea said, jumping to her feet. “Bath before death threats has always been the rule.”

To his credit, he waited until the back door slammed shut before he rounded on Paesha. “I told you your kid is creepy.”

“I mean, I’m not one to judge, but from the sound of that conversation, she’s your kid too. Also, we probably let her spend too much time with Death’s Maiden a year ago.”

“You think?” he asked, pulling a deck of cards from his pocket.

“In her defense, before the city here fell to ruins, everyone was immortal for a hundred years. It’s a new concept to her that anyone off the street can murder.”

“That is not a defense,” Archer said, turning to me. “Tell her that’s not a defense.”

I opened my mouth to argue but he threw up a hand. “No. Nevermind. I can already tell you’re afraid to argue with naked Paesha.”

“Hey, I’m fully clothed,” she bit back, crossing her arms over her chest.

Archer smirked. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you now. I’d bet you a broken carriage, you’re absolutely naked in his brain.”

“Fuck all the way off, Archer Bramwell,” she said, throwing her book at his head.