Page 41 of Kingdom of Briars and Roses (Cursed Fae Courts #1)

Chapter Forty-One

Rydian

I was weaker than I ought to be, which was why I ended up in the passageway outside her bedroom long after the castle had gone to sleep. Tomorrow, I would lose her forever. There was only tonight. And I’d be damned if I let it go to waste.

The secret doorway opened silently, thanks to my shadows.

I stepped into her bedroom, my eyes already adjusted to the darkness. Like a beacon calling to my soul, all my attention went to the slight frame tucked beneath the covers of her bed. Her back was to me, her golden hair splayed out on the pillow, just begging to be touched. I closed the distance, my heart pounding louder than it should, considering my training.

Not to mention my nature.

I was a walking nightmare. But when I closed my eyes, she was the one starring in every single one of my dreams.

Rounding the bed, I knelt beside her, studying the smooth lines of her face as she slept. In this state, her features were unmarred by worry—or ire for me. But behind those closed lids, there was more than fear or fury .

There was light.

Even as I thought it, her lids flew open. She looked at me with startled blue eyes, and then her hand whipped beneath her pillow, and she thrust a blade to my throat.

“Good girl,” I told her, pride and lust coating my words.

Her eyes narrowed. “What the Hel are you doing in my room?”

“Saying goodbye.”

“Have you changed your mind about letting me go?” she asked.

“Not tonight.”

Tomorrow.

The unspoken word hung between us. She lowered the blade.

“If you put that away, I’m going to kiss you,” I told her, my voice ragged. “And I’m not going to stop.”

“You want me to slit your throat to keep you from kissing me?”

“I want you to tell me to stop right now so I can leave you alone like I should have done from the beginning.”

She hesitated, her expression softening. The way she looked at me now was so inviting that I groaned.

“Stay.”

My mouth crashed against hers, and at the first taste of her, I forgot my intention to be slow. Or gentle. She tasted like sunshine and warmth; an intoxicating relief against the frigid cold I’d lived inside for far too long.

“Rydian,” she whispered against my lips, and I lost it.

Crawling into bed, I did the thing I’d fought against since the moment I met her and tangled my fingers in her soft, thick hair. Burying my face against her throat, I inhaled the scent of moonflower and roses. The way her scent infiltrated my senses reminded me of that rooftop party so long ago. The way I’d taunted her about pleasing her. The way I’d thought of doing nothing else since.

Pressing kisses to her throat, her cheek, her jaw, I made my way back to her mouth. Her lips parted willingly for me. Her arms wound around my neck, her hands roaming and pulling me in closer. Drunk on her, on this moment at last, I took exactly what she was offering, which was everything. With my tongue, I conquered her. With my hands, I begged for more.

She was sunshine incarnate.

And at least, for one night, I reveled in the light.

Aurelia

Rydian’s kiss shattered me.

I had spent so long fighting him, denying the pull that had always drawn me toward him like a ship toward a deadly, beautiful shore. But tonight, there was no denying him. No denying myself. Even the secrets he still kept from me didn’t matter because he was right. This was goodbye.

Rydian’s hands tangled in my hair, his grip firm but reverent, as though he had spent an eternity imagining this moment. When he drew back, his dark eyes shone down at me as if I were the goddess and he the acolyte come to worship.

“You can’t imagine how long I’ve wanted to do this.”

I didn’t have an answer for him except to reach up and press my lips to his in silent agreement.

His mouth was all heat and desperation, and I met him with the same reckless hunger, my fingers fisting in the fabric of his tunic to pull him closer. As if I could drag him into me, into my bones, and make him stay there.

The weight of his body settled over mine, the familiar scent of him—smoke and spice, shadow and danger—filling my senses as I arched into him. My heart pounded, my breath caught, and I knew, deep in my soul, that this was the first and last time I’d ever be with Rydian Nytherra.

Tomorrow, I would leave this place—and him—forever.

Tonight, I would give him every piece of me I had.

I squeezed my eyes shut, pushing the thought of tomorrow away, focusing only on the now. The way his lips moved against mine, the way his body trembled as though he, too, was holding on by a thread. I tugged on his tunic, and he lifted just long enough to peel it off. Even in the dark, I noted the symbols etched across nearly every inch of his bared skin. I had no idea what any of them meant, but they reminded me of the one the oracle had given me. The mark of a bargained favor.

Had Rydian promised favors to someone too?

When he lowered himself over me again, I ran my hands over the hardened planes of his chest and found more than a few slashes of raised scars. He shuddered at my touch and kissed me like I was the last breath he’d ever draw. I thrilled at holding such power.

His hand snaked up my thigh, shoving my nightgown to my hips. I tensed, need burning like furyfire inside me. He trailed his fingers across my inner thigh, higher and higher until his thumb brushed over my clit.

I arched my hips into his touch, breathless for more. Instead, he broke his kiss to look down at me with wild, fervent eyes.

“Where are your undergarments?” he whispered roughly.

My lips curved at the desperation in him. And the hardness that pressed against my leg. “They’re uncomfortable to sleep in.”

He barked out a laugh.

“You never cease to surprise me, Furious.” He growled as he kissed me again, his tongue licking and stroking as his fingers slid through my folds. “So fucking wet for me already.”

He pushed a finger inside me, and I whimpered.

Gods.

I was coming undone.

My nails raked across his back, and he groaned into my mouth, his fingers flexing at my waist as though he wanted to mark me, claim me, make me his. But we’d already been stolen from each other before I’d ever had a chance to belong to him.

Slowly, he drove his finger inside me. Then nearly out again.

I gasped, clinging to him. Kissing him. Opening for him.

“I asked you once how I could please you,” he said against my mouth. “Do you remember?”

“I remember,” I managed, tipping my head back as he trailed kisses along my jaw.

“Does this please you, Furious?” he whispered before taking my mouth again.

“Yes,” I moaned.

He gave a dark, delicious sort of laugh as he increased his efforts.

With his fingers stroking me, his lips left mine, trailing fire down my throat, over my collarbone. “Beautiful,” he whispered, his voice wrecked, reverent.

I shuddered as his breath warmed my skin, my hands slipping into the midnight strands of his hair.

The words were useless, but I couldn’t stop them. “I don’t want to lose you,” I breathed.

Rydian’s head snapped up, his storm-cloud eyes blazing as they met mine. “Then don’t.”

A plea. A demand. A promise.

The world outside these walls was already waiting to tear us apart. Duty would demand that I rise from this bed in the morning and walk toward a future that had never truly been mine. But tonight, in his arms, I was free.

I gripped his arms, pulling him back down to me, silencing any more words with my mouth. This time, it was my turn to take, to demand, to savor. His lips parted beneath mine, and I didn’t hesitate. I kissed him with every ounce of the longing, the anger, the hunger I had been forced to lock away, and he responded in kind.

His hands roamed, mapping the curves of my waist, my hips, branding every inch of me with fire. His lips never stopped moving, trailing from my mouth to the sensitive skin just beneath my ear, down the column of my throat. He kissed me like I was something he had no right to touch, something he would be forced to let go of come dawn.

But I wasn’t letting go.

Not tonight.

I surged up, wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling him down, deeper, closer. His pants came off. Then my nightgown. I wrapped my hand around his length, noting the sheer size of him with a thrill of anticipation. But he hesitated, his gaze holding mine even as he strained to keep himself still.

“Say you want this,” he rasped against my skin. “Say you want me .”

There was no hesitation. No doubt.

“I want you,” I whispered, my voice raw, honest.

With a rumble from his throat, his lips found mine again, stealing my breath, stealing everything, and I let him take it.

Let him take all of me.

He slid inside me, and my mind blurred, lost in the sensation of him, in the way his hands traced fire across my skin, in the way our bodies tangled, moving together, chasing something we had spent too long denying. My magic thrummed beneath my skin, heating me from the inside out. Or maybe that was Rydian. I was lost to tell where I ended and he began. The way he filled me, stretching me gloriously as he drove into me, ignited my soul.

I told myself it was desire, nothing more.

For so long, I had fought against this, against him, against the way he made me feel. But I was tired of fighting. Tired of pretending.

So I stopped.

I let go.

And I fell.