Page 31 of Stealing the Star Stone

Chapter Twenty-One

The moon, Lethara

In a locked chamber in Vael’Tir.

Is it Christmas?

Day Four.

Eli couldn’t believe this was finally going to happen. Nova’s reticence wasn’t due to a lack of attraction, not when she sported an impressive erection. But her fighting this…them said much about her state of heart, highlighting that he liked her more than she liked him.

She jerked back. “We’re just taking his word—”

“Yes.” At some point, they had to see where this attraction would lead. Why not now? But she wouldn’t want to hear that from him. “Another night with me isn’t too much to ask for, is it?”

She scowled, stroking his arms looped around her neck. “That was long ago. We’re different people now.”

He didn’t want to talk. Not when they were so close heat poured off her. “Nova,” he whispered, running his lips up her neck.

Her breath hitched. When she shut her eyes on a blissful hum, he slid a hand lower, over a nipple and back, desperate to keep her distracted.

Desire thrummed, more intense than he’d experienced.

As a man, it hit him hard, roaring commands, dominating his thoughts.

For a woman, it was more subtle, addictive, curling around his core, tightening and aching until he yearned to be filled.

Such an odd sensation as if he was empty and only Nova could give him a sense of completion.

He shook the thoughts aside, and with a lunge, flipped her onto her back. Before she could protest, he stroked a hand lower, aiming for the sweet spot just below her balls. When a woman touched him there, he’d harden to snapping point.

He hoped to inspire the same reaction in Nova. In passing, he brushed the cock he knew too well.

Her groan sent a tremor through him. “Eli,” she rasped. “Do that again.”

Against her skin, he smothered a smile, shimmying lower to exhale a hot breath over the head of her cock. His now hers, it didn’t matter. Not anymore. Her hips lifted off the furs, a drop of dew forming.

He chuckled and licked her from balls to tip, catching a taste he recognized. She cried out, arching her back, her fingers digging into the bedding. A garbled sound escaped her, bringing him such joy.

It would be too soon, too intense for him to go for the kill and suck her into his mouth, so he crawled over her, feathering kisses where he could reach: from a hip up her waist to a nipple hard with need.

Because he could, he caught her lips with his, sweeping back and forth with the lightest of touches.

Each swipe promised a proper kiss he had no intention of delivering.

Instead, he nipped at her bottom lip, dipped the tip of his tongue into her warm depths, and repeated until she writhed, her fingers now scraping his shoulders and back.

When he stopped, holding still for their breaths to merge, he met her gaze.

Her dark green irises softened with an expression he could only hope was affection.

His heart swelled, overflowing with what she invoked, his sassy cat.

Inch by inch, he descended, not once breaking eye contact until he pressed his lips to hers.

She tugged him down, her tongue coming in to play. She was hungry for him, just the way he liked it. He met her assault with his own, diving in to relearn and memorize every crevice of her mouth. When he shifted back, feathering a hand lower to cup her balls, she whimpered.

The sound was so fucking delicious. He gave her a gentle squeeze, then a swirling caress over her perineum.

“Oh, Eli, I can’t…” She grabbed his wrist, stopping him. “If you keep that up, I won’t last. I want… need more. Now.”

“You’re so greedy,” he teased, shaking her hand free to run his palm up and down her cock.

She glared at him. “It’s been a while.” She flopped back, her body shuddering.

“Want to come now or in me?”

She studied him, her eyes smoky with desire. “In you.”

His heart soared. Victory! “Right answer.”

When he tried to climb on top of her, she threw out a hand, catching him between his breasts.

“No, you need to be readied. I don’t…” she swallowed hard, “want you walking funny tomorrow.”

He laughed. “ I want that with every fiber of my being.”

She smirked. “A little foreplay?”

Curious, he sprawled beside her, tracing patterns over her abs. “Sure.”

She lunged, sending him onto his back. Every part of him was coated with her hot, velvety skin.

He moaned in agreement; this was an improvement.

She nipped at the inside of his knee, along an inner thigh, then pressed a kiss to his belly, so close to where he ached for her that his hips lifted on their own.

She hummed, feathering kisses to a breast. Latching onto a nipple didn’t prepare him for the heat, the suction, the sharp bite of teeth scraping over sensitive skin.

The same had been done to him thousands of time, but her body’s intensity was unparallel.

She cupped the other breast, tugging and flicking the nipple until he couldn’t tell where the pleasure was coming from.

It bathed, rose and fell, ebbed and flowed.

Breathing was lost on him. Everything tightened in anticipation, and that ache he’d been suffering with for four days ramped up until words tumbled off his tongue.

“Please… Nova, show me what I crave.”

She did, rubbing her thumb over the seam between his legs.

“Oh,” he cried out, spreading his thighs without her asking. Craving? No, this was an obsession, an addiction he had to assuage. If she walked away now, he’d crawl after her, unafraid to beg.

How… How did women resist this compulsion?

He gazed at her, her focus on her hand doing nothing more than an up and down motion. When she dipped a finger between his folds, she smiled. “Mm, and here I thought you wouldn’t be wet for me.”

He panted, his cheeks on fire but unable to match the burning where she touched. The sensations were celestial, some cosmic blessing he couldn’t describe.

He cried out at the stroke over his nub.

His mouth opened and shut, no words forming.

He dug his fingers into the bed, keening when she swirled that tight bundle of nerves.

He’d done this to many before, had watched them unravel as if he was a sex god, but he’d had no idea what she was feeling, how ungodlike his so-called powers were.

Any man could do this to her.

Darkness lashed across his chest. No man would touch her again.

Thoughts whipped away, like feathers on a gale. He climbed a mountain, the angle sharp, the pleasure divine. Then with a flick of her thumb and a bite of a nipple, he tumbled into liquid ecstasy the kind he’d never known.

And it didn’t end, tearing through him, arching him and drawing feminine growls.

“Ready for more?” she asked, catching his thighs and spreading them wider.

She nestled at the juncture, pausing to rub his seam with the head of her cock. Catching him under his knees, she hoisted his legs to rest on her chest. The position wasn’t uncomfortable.

With a slow intrusion, she inched her way inside him, grinding her hips until she was so fully seated that a soul spark fired, wrapping around his heart and yanking hard.

Then, he knew, he loved her.

Fuck.

Orgasmic tremors ran along his insides, and as she withdrew and slammed in, a fresh wave leaped to life.

He reeled. This …was different from the earth-shattering cliff-diving joy she’d thrummed out of him.

It …was addictive, calling from deep inside him.

The craving shifted, begging her to do it again, to summon that visceral reaction.

He propelled toward that mountain, but this time, when he exploded off it, all sound was silenced. He stilled, his body tense, unable to speak, to describe what raced along his veins, his skin prickling, his heartbeat roaring in his ears, his mouth drying, and his nipples puckering.

“That’s it,” she crooned, gyrating her hips and driving him higher.

“Nova,” was all he could utter.

“Come for me, Eli,” she whispered in his ear.

He did, again, the pleasure hitting him too soon, so unexpectedly. Waves crested, one after the other, before he’d had a chance to descend.

With a groan, she arched, her hips pinned to the back of his thighs.

Another growl slipped past her clenched jaw, pleasure twisting her features into something primal.

When a shuddering breath escaped her, she met his gaze then flopped onto him, catching herself in a push-up just before flipping them over.

On her back, she adjusted him to warm her side.

“So, what did you think?” he asked, running his hand up and down her stomach before resting it on her chest.

“Good.” She smirked. “But I know yours was better.”

“Fuck,” he whispered. “I never realized a woman’s body is a massive erogenous zone.”

“An exaggeration, but sure,” she said, sinking deeper into the furs while keeping him close.

Being the snugglee was different to having the control of a snuggler. He liked it, cuddling into her. “Did you feel it?” he asked, keeping his voice low.

“The soul tie?” she asked, angling to meet his gaze before brushing her lips across his, gentle and unexpected. “I think so.”

She nudged him aside and sat up, swinging her legs off the furs. But not fast enough for him to miss the shine in her eyes. Her shoulders shook as a sob escaped her.

“Sorry, Eli, it’s not you,” she said, waving without looking at him.

“It’s…just that I haven’t been with anyone since Seth died.

” She leaned back to gaze at the ceiling, slapping her thighs in the process.

“And it was never this good. Sex was just a weekly chore. His mind and heart mattered, y’know. I loved him for that alone.”

Eli hugged her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder. “Are you sad we did it? Wish we hadn’t?”

She shook her head. With a swipe of her palm across her cheek, she met his gaze. “This was bound to happen as determined as you were.” She chuckled, but it didn’t hide the sadness in her eyes.

“True. I don’t regret it, Nova.”

She flicked a dismissive wrist. “You, the hedonist, would enjoy multiple orgasms.”

He offered a soft laugh. “Want to stay rich, famous, sexy…”

“You asked me that before.” She cupped his cheek, running a thumb over his bottom lip. “My answer hasn’t changed.”

Eli’s bladder woke him, or so he thought. In the silence of the room, the scraping of the door warned him moments before Bigeeli poked her head in. “More of your people have arrived. Chief Amenkar has summoned you. First, I will take you to be purified.”

Eli scrambled to his feet and wiggled into his loincloth and chest strips while Nova did the same. Now wasn’t the time to reveal how he felt about her. Perhaps after this adventure…if she wanted to stay in contact. If she did, then he’d know whether he had a chance…to win her heart.

“Think it’s Orien?” she asked, combing his hair with her fingers.

“If it is, we need weapons. I’m not getting recaptured without a fight.

Last time, when I denied knowing you, I didn’t think I could help you from within a jail cell.

I meant to get you released by sweettalking the asshole.

Little did I know, he was onto me from the start.

” Eli gave her a rueful smile. “A hard way to learn I’m losing my touch. ”

Her stroking slowed, and she tugged, pulling his head back to meet her gaze. Then she caught his lips for a sweet kiss. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”

His eyes stung, tears demanding release. He gathered her close and fought for calm. Now wasn’t the time to cry. “Bigeeli, where are our things?”

“Close to my chief,” she said. “Come.”

She led them into a narrow cave. A gentle waterfall tinkled down the sides and at the base were stone-carved stools. Beneath them was a channel with running water.

“Please, use. My chief awaits.”

Eli didn’t need to be asked twice. He peeled his loincloth down and sat.

Nova chose the farthest stool, relieved herself, then rinsed her hands in the waterfall. She wiggled the loincloth back on and waited for him at the entrance.

When he made to pass her, she touched his elbow.

“Eli, I couldn’t have done this without you.” She tucked a braid behind his ear, making his lobe tingle.

He stared after her before hurrying to catch up.

This woman… He should’ve realized why he’d wanted to spend time with her.

Sure, she’d been obvious on how she felt about him, but such women he’d met before and walked away from.

With her… He hadn’t been able to, making up excuses that he found her entertaining, or that he was curious as to why she hated him.

He stroked his backside cheek where the tattoo sat.

Perhaps they’d had a soul tie from that one night? It was nice to think so because falling for her this hard shouldn’t have been this easy.