Page 8 of House of Embers (Royal Houses #5)

Chapter Eight

The Flying

Kerrigan woke in a cloud of furs with strong arms wrapped around her waist, holding her against a bare chest. She’d fallen asleep against Fordham, and waking up to his gentle breaths between her shoulder blades almost made her forget the rest of the world. Almost.

She shifted in his grip to get a look at his midnight hair sliding over his forehead and against his eyelids.

His aristocratic nose sloped strong and proud.

The hard cheekbones that sliced across his face and the razor’s-edge jaw that had a hint of stubble across it.

He was all hard planes and deadly features, and yet here in her arms, he looked content, happy, peaceful—as if war wasn’t waiting on the other side of his dreams. She could see the sad, broody boy who wrote poetry with charcoals and not the deadly killer they’d honed him into.

“I’m going flying,” she whispered as she brushed her lips against his.

He groaned softly, tugging her closer. His fingers tightened in her shirt and his lips slanted open, his tongue sweeping into her mouth. “Don’t go.”

“Need to burn off some energy.”

“I have an idea about that.” His lower half pressed firmly and intently against her. She shivered at the connection.

“You have kingly duties.”

“Yes, I have to do my queen.”

He was already kissing his way down her center, rolling his tongue around the rim of her belly button, and sliding her legs wide to accommodate him.

She gasped at the first sweep of his tongue against her core.

Her back arched off the bed, and she clamped her knees around his head.

He pushed them farther apart, bracing them open with a strong hand.

Then he began swirling his tongue dangerously around her until she thought she was going to break the bed with her quivering.

“Ford,” she gasped.

He glanced up at her with a smirk before slipping two fingers deep inside her. Her head slammed back again, and her eyes snapped closed as a moan escaped her lips.

“Oh gods.”

“Just me,” he teased. “You’re the only goddess in the room.”

He moved his finger in a come-hither motion, and she saw stars. For a second, she might have been back in that other realm, where she plucked her magic from a goddess of starlight. But it was just Fordham taking her to new heights.

“Release,” he purred against her body.

And she could do nothing but what he asked. Her body broke into a million little pieces as her climax hit her like a crash of waves against the rocks.

Fordham slid up her body, positioning himself between her legs. She opened her eyes as she came back down to earth and found him studying her.

“What?” she whispered breathlessly.

“I want to memorize every inch of you just like this.”

“As you unravel me?”

“I want you every way I can get you.”

“Then take me,” she pleaded.

His response was to thrust into her waiting body. She tightened around him. A satisfied grunt left his lips, and she shuddered at the pressure as he filled her. She was fully prepared for him, wet and needy, and he still stretched her with his girth.

Her hand came to his abdominals once he was fully seated as if she was going to stop him, but really she needed a second to bathe in the way it felt to be complete with her mate.

The intensity and need and wanting and ache and endless longing all rolled up into one perfect package.

Like this one person had been made for her and her alone.

“Yes,” she whispered and then, “please.”

He grinned, leaning down to place a kiss on her lips. She could taste her own arousal on him as he swept his tongue into her mouth. Then he started to move.

“Oh,” she said.

“You feel incredible.”

“Yes,” she said. She hadn’t known how much she needed this. In the midst of all the turmoil of leaving Domara and the plan they had to set into place with him as king, she just needed this right here with him.

The room was punctuated with heavy breathing, the slap of skin, and fevered moans and gasps. Fordham lifted her leg up onto his shoulder and drove in deeper then, bringing her right back to the peak.

She cried out as her climax hit her for a second time. He drew out her pleasure with a few more hurried thrusts. Then he rutted one more time and finished with a grunt as he leaned over her and released all his pent-up energy into her body.

They both collapsed onto the bed after he was finished. Her chest was heaving, and one hand threaded through his dark hair.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you too.” He brought her knuckles to his mouth and kissed each one individually.

A knock on the door made them both still.

“Your Majesty,” Adelaide called from the other side.

“Gods,” Fordham groaned.

“I’ve had responses to your coronation. We should discuss options today to begin preparations.”

Fordham rested his head against her shoulder. “Fuck me.”

Kerrigan laughed. “Again?”

“Guaranteed.” His fingers tightened on her hip. “We did not utilize our bed correctly the last time we were in my court, and I intend to do more of this.”

“Looking forward to it.”

“Tonight,” he promised, placing a long, languorous kiss on her lips. Then he rolled off the bed and stepped into pants, lacing them up as he headed for the door.

“Your Majesty?” Adelaide said again.

“Just a minute,” he called. He slung his shirt on over his well-sculpted abs while Kerrigan hurried into the adjoined bathing chamber. She heard Fordham pull open the door. “Where do we begin?”

Kerrigan chuckled at Adelaide’s disapproving remarks as she hustled him and a flurry of attendants into his changing room.

Kerrigan had no interest in being stuffed back into some ridiculous dress.

After she cleaned herself, she tugged on her black leather pants and a black shirt.

Just as she was leaving, Delle appeared at the entrance.

She looked her up and down with alarm. “We have a full day scheduled for you, my lady.”

“Delle, call me Kerrigan.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Kerrigan blew out an exasperated breath. “I’m going flying this morning. So cancel whatever you have planned.”

“We need to consider your wardrobe.”

“After lunch,” Kerrigan promised as she slung her black leather jacket over her shoulder.

Delle followed in her wake as she headed up toward the aerie. She tugged on the bond to let Tieran know she was on her way. His answering response made her smile.

“Do you think this is the best idea, considering everything going on?” Delle asked.

“We only have two dragons. Someone needs to be in the skies. Tieran and Netta will take unbonded riders, but I don’t want to only put my friends on their backs. I want to be out there. I was trained for this. Fordham was trained for this. I promise we’ll be better at it.”

Delle nodded. “As you say. But you will be amenable to new clothing in the afternoon?”

“As long as it doesn’t mean that horrid dress again, then yes.”

Delle laughed. “Noted.”

“Are you going to follow me the entire way?” Kerrigan asked as they climbed the stairs.

“As you were trained, so was I. If you’re not taking soldiers with you, then you will permit me to watch your back. Whether you like it or not, you’re royalty here, and some don’t want that. You might be dangerous in your own right, but you aren’t immune to ambushes.”

“Fair,” Kerrigan admitted. She slowed until she and Delle were on the same step. “Tell me who I should be looking out for.”

“That is a long list.”

“It’s a long walk,” Kerrigan said.

Delle nodded and began to explain all the dynamics of the court and how every group probably wanted Kerrigan dead.

It was a daunting but interesting conversation and made the arduous trek up to the top of Ravinia Mountain go quicker.

Delle was a fount of information, and Kerrigan would use her to her advantage.

But at the sight of Tieran, Kerrigan stopped hearing Delle. He was magnificent, with midnight-blue scales that rippled in the early morning light. He was smaller than most dragons of his age, but he made up for it in speed and stealth.

Kerrigan rushed forward and threw herself on her dragon. “Tieran!”

“Miss me?” he asked into her mind.

She laughed and swatted at him. “Don’t get cocky.”

“You are the one who dropped through a portal and disappeared for weeks, then return as if nothing happened.”

“Yeah, my bad. Can we fly?”

“Well, I can. Did you also sprout wings on your adventure?”

Kerrigan rolled her eyes. “You’ve got jokes.”

“Indeed, I do.”

“Is Netta coming with us?” Kerrigan asked.

Netta appeared around the corner, her bright red scales lighting up the sky like a wildfire.

Fordham’s dragon was bigger than Tieran but still nimble.

She’d always been mischievous. In fact, when Kerrigan had wanted a dragon, it had always been Netta.

She and Tieran had butted heads for years—they still did at times.

“You’re joining us,” Netta said into her mind.

Kerrigan glanced up to see a rider already on her back. Wynter sat stiff-backed on the dragon, her ice-white hair up in a plait over her shoulder. “You coming?”

“I sure am.”

Kerrigan mounted Tieran with ease, racing up his leg and landing on his back. The adrenaline rocked through her, and she felt her training kick in like she hadn’t missed a single step.

“Ready?” she asked Tieran.

His response was to follow Netta into a deep dive off the mountaintop. Kerrigan leaned forward against his back as the cold air bit at her cheeks in the free fall. He pulled up just short of the ground, and she let her arms fly wide as he moved into a hover.

No matter what happened in her life, flying had always been the thing she loved most. As a Dragon Blessed within the House of Dragons, she had been in charge of taking care of dragons who lived in Draco Mountain. She’d flown with dragons since she was a littling. It had never ceased to amaze her.

“Netta says she and Wynter will sweep right. We can sweep left and meet in the middle,” Tieran said.