Page 86 of The Keeper of the Kingdoms

I groaned as my orgasm barreled through me, breathing hitched as my cock hardened even further. Lengthening and thickening like it would to stay inside my mate, keeping her locked there. I spilled over my hand, chest heaving as I slowly came back to reality. I’d needed the release, but I wasn’t any more sated than when I’d started, and I was still hard.

“Fuck.”

A board creaked, and my gaze shot up, searching while my heart hammered in my chest.

“Who’s there?” I called as I quickly tucked my hardness back into my leathers and stood.

“Quite a show you were putting on.” Kiera teased, coming into view as I’d barely just covered myself. She wasn’t angry.

She was amused.

“Did you enjoy it?” I asked, mirroring her demeanor rather than making excuses. Had she been listening?

“I only caught the end, but as would anyone within a league with the sounds you were making.” Arousal came off her in waves.

“I do not even have the energy or restraint to care who hears.” I stepped into her.

She made a small sound I couldn’t read. “What depleted you so?”

“Fighting what you do to me is draining. It was this or bring an unwanted addition to dinner.” I righted my shirt. “How did you find me?”

“There is a secret door to this deck from my bedroom. I—um—could hear you.”

My luck. I flexed my jaw and swallowed back the lust that hadn’t seemed to diminish at all. “You?—”

She smiled, not shying away as I stalked into her space.

“You like me a little worked up, don’t you?”

“More than a little.”

I grabbed her jaw, lowering my mouth to hers. “It’s torture.”

“You’ll have to endure a bit more. We have an appointment with the curator of the archives,” she whispered over my lips.

“The Goddess must hate me today.”

She laughed, and I wanted to devour her smile.

Calanthe was the largest city in the Forest Kingdom, and it existed on many layers. A city without buildings all set into the forest and no need to take down a single tree. It was more alive than any place I’d been. We didn’t even boast such a lifestyle in Kerani. We traversed levels of interconnected rope bridges, spanning between gargantuan trees and interconnected platforms. Like the city lived with the trees, rising higher as the trees grew, allowing them to expand without hurting them.

Admiration for what they’d done settled on my shoulders as we walked side by side towards the archives. Because of the shade the massive ancient trees provided, the temperature was quite pleasant.

“This way.” Kiera stopped in front of a tree so big around it would be wider than my wingspan.

“Where?” I didn’t see stairs like the rest of the residences. Or anywhere to go. We’d hit a dead end.

Kiera laughed and put her palm to the bark, closing her eyes and bowing her head. Her whispered words were unintelligible, but their meaning came across anyway. She thanked the tree for its life after death in the service of their clan. A white line started at her hand and worked its way outward into the shape of a door.

“This tree succumbed to disease hundreds of years ago, and instead of felling it, they converted it. We have a few such honored places in Calanthe. We reserve them for special use.” She pushed the newly forged door open, revealing a well-lit hollowed inside.

We came out on a balcony. One of many all the way up and down the inside of the massive tree. From the ground to as far as I could make out, books and scrolls lined the curved walls. There must be hundreds of thousands of books in here.

There were fae in white robes tending to the books and others browsing. It was deadly silent, save for the sound of pages turning and books sliding off and on shelves. The great tomb ofknowledge would rival our own in Kerani. Not even the King boasted a library half this size.

“Wow,” I said, looking between Kiera and the sight before me.

“It’s one of the things I miss, living in Amaya.” She inhaled slowly, letting her eyes fall closed.