Page 48 of The Starlit Ring (The Chronicles of Liridin #1)

“I did,” I admitted, and then he was climbing up over me, his grin wide and cocksure. Large hands pushed my shoulders to the floor, and I went willingly, eager for the press of his body against mine.

As he hovered over me, I grasped the fabric of his shirt, far finer than anything I’d touched in months. I ripped it free from his trousers and simpered when his eyebrows raised. He surged to meet me, fumbling with the buttons of my blouse. I batted his hands away. “I can do it faster.”

“Fine,” he huffed, rolling his eyes and rising up again, so that I was acutely aware of the way he straddled me.

His long legs flexed beneath pants molded to his form as he leaned back, away from me.

Then he tugged his shirt over his head, and my fingers stuttered on my blouse.

Like I’d suspected, he was all lean muscle and hard abdominals, his shoulders surprisingly broad.

Nestled securely between his collarbones, the pendant heaved with each breath.

“Oh,” I said, and he flipped his hair back, preened as my gaze roved hungrily over him. Gods, I hadn’t realized he was so well-built. Slender, but with defined pectorals, biceps, shoulders. No wonder he could lift me with ease. “That’s, um…”

“Like what you see?” he asked, a mischievous glint in his eye. His long blond hair swept across his collarbones as he leaned forward, bracketing me with his arms and legs. “Have I rendered you speechless?”

“Um, yes,” I said, trying and failing to find words, eager though I was to prove him wrong.

A frown tugged at the corners of his kiss-swollen lips. “Are you sure you’re alright? I think you hit your head pretty hard.”

“I’m fine,” I grumbled. “Stop asking.”

“If you say so.”

“I do,” I said, grinning devilishly at him as the final button of my blouse popped free. Marius was only too happy to help divest me of it, pulling the fabric free with unbridled glee.

And then I was in nothing but my skirts and chemise, with Marius’s hands already sliding under the fabric, reaching to skate across my ribs, to cup my breasts. I lunged for him, pulling him down on top of me with a growl that shocked even me.

His eyebrows raised, but I didn’t give him a chance to speak. I found the bulge at the front of his pants and pressed my palm against it, held it there, waiting for his reaction. A tease, a question all at once.

His hand caught my wrist. When he spoke, his voice was a rumble, hazy and wrecked. “I don’t think we’re quite there yet.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, taking in his flushed face, blown pupils, parted lips.

When he moved, it was with the grace and speed of a panther.

Suddenly, my skirts were up around my waist. My knickers were torn free and launched somewhere into the abyss of stars, and then he was leering up at me from between my legs, a self-satisfied glint in his eye.

One hand trailed up and down my thigh, his fingertips burning like hot coals. “May I?”

“Oh,” I said, startled indeed. I’d used the bath yesterday evening, and things ought to be clean enough, but I was hyper aware that I hadn’t washed today. It was only one day’s neglect, but I couldn’t squash down a coil of worry. “I haven’t?—”

His hand stilled on my leg, grip loosening. “Haven’t what? We don’t have to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

“Haven’t washed,” I managed, pushing through my embarrassment.

A startled little laugh escaped him. “I can assure you that’s hardly a problem.”

“Well, it’s just—it’s gross.” I crossed my arms over my breasts, giggled as he made an exaggerated face.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I am wildly attracted to you and would very much like to fuck you.” His grin turned lecherous. “I’d like to taste you, Your Highness. May I?”

After a speech like that, I didn’t want to say no. “Yes,” I squeaked.

“Tell me if you want me to stop,” he said, and then his head disappeared beneath my skirts.

And though I wasn’t wearing half a dozen layers like Ria always did, there was enough fabric to completely obscure Marius.

I wouldn’t be able to watch, to see what he was doing. A little thrill ran through me .

Hands gripped my hips. One captured my thigh, and pushed it gently to the side, so my legs were parted wide. Everything beneath my skirts was on full display. I forced myself to relax. Arousal drowned out my nerves as Marius made a sound of approval.

I felt a hot breath at my labia and shuddered. Then came a soft, experimental lick that sent sparks flickering up my spine. Another press of his tongue, firmer, more confident. A brush of his lip just below the bundle of nerves at my center. I fought the urge to squirm, to moan.

And then his tongue lapped against my most sensitive point, swirling and hot. I groaned then, loud and wanton. His answering moan vibrated through me. A pulse of pleasure accompanied it, and then I was lost in the sensation. The drag of his tongue, his lips, the building heat.

A finger slipped inside of me, crooking just so, and I gasped, shivered. Marius paused. I caught sight of the top of his blond head rising above my skirts, and said, “Wait, don’t stop!”

An answering chuckle. “Whatever you wish, my princess.” And he was on me again, sucking at that most exquisite spot, two fingers massaging inside of me.

I breathed heavily, trying not to give into the rapidly approaching crescendo, the building intensity.

Then I realized there was no reason not to.

Marius wanted this. Marius wanted to put his mouth on me and drive me to that final point, that cresting euphoria, and my first instinct was to fight it? Perhaps he had driven me mad.

“I think I’m going to?—”

“I’d like nothing more,” he said, the words muffled by my body.

His mouth was like a flame against me, and I was molten steel.

I pulsed, fingers clenching, thighs squeezing, and Marius swirled his tongue with a fury, fueling wave after wave of my orgasm, until I was nothing but a trembling, panting mess.

He emerged from my skirts and swiped the back of his hand across his mouth, then came to embrace me.

He kissed me hard, claiming my mouth. I whimpered as I tasted myself on his lips, then grappled for him, finding purchase on his magnificently carved shoulders.

His breath came in soft pants between brushes of our tongues and lips.

“Good?” he asked, and I nodded against him, lightheaded and weak-kneed.

“I think you broke me.”

“Mm,” he said, stroking my hair, peppering kisses along my neck, my collarbone. “I hope not. I had so many exciting plans.”

“Plans?”

“Indeed,” he said, lifting my chemise to expose my belly, my ribs, my breasts. “I was quite proud of them.”

“Seems a shame to waste them,” I said, breath escaping in a rush as he brought his mouth to my breast, kissing my nipple, then sucking it gently between his teeth. I quivered. The sensation shot straight to my still-throbbing core.

Marius lifted his head, and said, “It does, doesn’t it? Do you still want me to fuck you?”

“Yes, please,” I said, reaching for the ties at his trousers, where his cock bulged, eager and ready.

I wanted to taste it, feel it in my hand, firm and steady.

Even without seeing it, I knew the size was impressive.

It more than filled my hand, would probably burn when it breached me, but I craved it, anyway.

Fingers trailing lightly down the front of my blouse, he asked, “Do you plan to keep your clothes on?”

I shook my head, and started to work my way out of my chemise, my skirts. By the time I kicked off my boots and stockings, he was fully nude, proud cock on display, the V of his hips pointing at it like an arrow. I bit down a laugh.

“What?” he demanded, hands on his hips, a playful tilt to his lips.

“I—It just looks like an arrow,” I said, gesturing .

He glanced down at himself, and then back at me. His eyes rolled heavenward. “Mature.”

“For what it’s worth, it’s absolutely pointing the right direction,” I said, and he cackled at that.

“I’ve got something else pointing in the right direction,” he said, coming to embrace me. “With startling accuracy, really.”

I started to giggle, then gasped at the sensation of his skin against mine, the feel of his broad chest, his firm hands, the velvet-smoothness of his cock as it brushed across me.

I wanted to melt all over again. Legs still shaking, I rose up on tiptoe to kiss him. My hands came to a rest behind his neck, while his wrapped around my waist, skimming the small of my back.

In this silent moment, I felt a strange sense of vulnerability. I released it without fanfare, aware that I was, at least for now, safe in Marius’s arms. No one would interrupt us, and dawn was still a few hours away.

For now, I’d drink down this moment, memorizing every detail, relishing everything that I could.

Because this might not happen again.

Before I had time to worry, Marius drew back, arms loosening around my waist. “Cloak?” he asked, jerking his chin in the direction of our makeshift bed, and I nodded, all too eager to lie down with him again.

“Sorry I don’t have anything more comfortable,” he said, lowering himself gracefully to the floor. “I didn’t consider all the angles.”

“This is fine,” I said, and it was. My first sexual encounter happened in a stable, and subsequent ones weren’t much better.

As concerned as I was about appearing virginal and graceful, I had to be careful indulging the occasional dalliance.

Which meant that I mostly fucked servants, and the occasional bard (not Avens, obviously), mostly in the kitchens or the stables.

At least the Star Room was fully indoors, and nothing smelled of shit. “Thanks for sacrificing your cloak. ”

“Think nothing of it,” he said, reaching for me as I came to join him, guiding me onto his lap. I draped my arms over his shoulders and stared into his icy eyes, crinkled with fondness. “I’ll have it cleaned, and it will be a nice reminder of this.”