Page 18 of The Storm of the Empire (Flyers Of The First Kingdom #3)

SEVENTEEN

HAZEL

I was exhausted by the time we got back to my parents’ house to wait out the storm hours. After a bad night and then flying Luka to and from the Wild Mountains, it was to be expected, but it was no excuse for my behavior.

It had been a tense flight home because I wasn’t exactly nice to Luka out of frustration, even though deep down, I knew none of this was his fault. The facts were just hard to believe, and part of me still wanted to wonder if Luka had some other motive to make all of this up. But the weight of knowing I could prevent the loss of a dragon sat too heavy on my shoulders to ignore.

We had tea and sat quietly while my family were their usual selves, then I excused myself for a nap. Luka did the same, likely just be out of the way. I wasn’t worried he would leave and try and work alone since the first storm he experienced was enough to make him wait where it was safe.

I felt like I’d already failed Alora as I flopped onto my bed, staring at the ceiling. I’d changed into a light shirt and shorts because the storm was warm, but even that felt like too much. Why was there no comfort anywhere anymore? I tossed and turned, knowing my body needed the rest but unable to get it as I feared what tomorrow would bring.

A sliver of light sliced across my bed as my door edged open. I slid my hand under my pillow, finding the dagger there. The door normally creaked, but not today. Today, it eased with an expert behind it. My heart rate picked up as I slowly worked the knife out so my movement couldn’t be seen. A figure slipped inside, pressing the door closed behind him.

“Are you still awake?” Luka asked before taking a step further.

I exhaled sharply, re-sheathing the knife before he noticed it. “I am.”

He took two long strides across the room and sat on the end of the bed.

So this wasn’t about a distraction. “Did you have something to say? Or were you just lonely?” I failed to keep the edge out of my voice.

“It’s not like you’re sleeping. Did you want me to leave you to your thoughts?” He began to stand up.

“No.” I snapped before taking a deep breath and softening my tone. “What did you come in here for?”

He pulled his knee into his chest, turning to face me. “I know you’re upset.”

“How do you know?” I shot back.

“If you think I couldn’t feel every ounce of tension in your scales as we flew back?—”

“That doesn’t mean anything.”

“Then…” He drew it out, making sure I wasn’t going to cut him off again. “You were quiet with your family.”

“So?”

“You’re not quiet with your family.”

“How do you know? You had one meal with us.”

“Because I can see it. Your family is so deep. I feel it between all of you. Even they noticed.”

“How would you know they noticed?” I snapped, hating that he was right and not wanting to give him the satisfaction.

“Because I can read the room.”

“It’s not some magic power. How could you tell?” I’m sure he was right, but how? How did he know me so well? How had he gotten so far under my skin?

“I’m not sure you want to know.” He turned away, looking out the window.

“Luka…” I sat up and reached across the bed, finding his hand in the dimly lit room. “I do want to know.”

“It’s not a happy story. I spent my entire life having to make sure I anticipated the reactions of every fae around me. Their moods, their reactions. The way I could look wrong, and they’d snap. I had to assimilate myself into situations with elders where I didn’t know what I was doing. With priests, with traders. I went from caring for and delivering crops to a world of complete unknown when my village was burned to the ground. I had to pull myself out of those ashes alone if I had any chance of surviving. So I’d appreciate you not calling my ability to read the room for survival magic. It’s not magic or a talent or a special gift. It’s a survival technique I worked hard to learn it, and I have the scars to prove it.” His breaths came in jagged gasps.

He'd left me speechless. What could I even say to that?

“I’m sorry I disturbed you.” He tried to stand again, but I grabbed his arm.

“Please stay.”

He eased himself back down. “Why?”

“Because I want you here.”

He scooted back on the bed until his back hit the wall.

I flipped around to sit next to him, laying my head on his shoulder. “I can’t imagine what a childhood like that would be like.”

“Most fae can’t.” He leaned his head against mine, sliding our hands together.

I cherished the comfort. “Is that where the scars on your back came from?”

“Some of them. I’ve lost track of where others came from.”

“Do you not like to talk about it?” I asked, not wanting to press if it was going to upset him.

“I don’t mind. They are a part of me as much as anything else.” He rubbed his thumb over mine, and I wished I could read his thoughts.

“What about the ones on your forearms?”

“Those are a lot less sinister. Rope, mostly, funny enough.”

“Rope can do that?”

“When you’re hit with them, they can, and the ones on ships can too, which is how I got these.” He reached across me for my other hand, guiding it to the top of his forearm to trace over the marks. “The ropes can burn, and then the salt from the sea makes them heal like this.”

“How long did you sail for?” The more I learned about him, the more I realized I didn’t know.

“A year.” There was a hesitation to his words.

“Did you like it?”

“Parts of it.”

“What aren’t you saying?” I demanded and instantly felt bad. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“Why do you want to know so bad?” His voice turned playful.

I scoffed. “You are?—“

“Yes, Goddess?”

I growled.

He growled right back, sliding his hand up my arm to grab me behind the elbow and dragging me into his lap. “What do you want to know?”

“What are you holding back? And don’t tell me nothing. I can feel it just like you could feel it with my family.” I tried to ignore his hands sliding up my thighs, but it was impossible.

“My life wasn’t easy, and I don’t want that to become your problem.” His fingers crept over my thin shirt, causing a shiver to run up my spine.

“Why would it?” My voice hitched as my body came alive under his touch.

“Because this is going to get a lot more dangerous, and I don’t want that to—affect you.” His hand dipped under the hem of my tunic, caressing my skin.

“If you think you can distract me—” I gasped as he brushed over my nipple. I arched into his touch. “You can’t.”

“It sounds like I can.” He pulled me closer, lips brushing over my breasts, and I cursed every fiber separating us.

“I won’t forget, no matter how talented that tongue is.”

“Are you sure?” He closed his lips around my nipple, sucking lightly.

“Positive.”

“Can I make you forget, at least for a while?” He blew his warm breath over the damp material.

“After you tell me.” I dug my nails into his shoulders, not sure how long I could say no to him.

“No good will come of you involving yourself in this. If the priests are doing something, and they suspect you—” He swallowed, his words skimming his nose up my throat.

“I am useless to my people. I’ve never had a ryder, and I don’t expect to get the call after all this time. I’m way past even the latest dragons feel it. This egg is a life and a dragon we desperately need. I’d rather trade my life for it. It’s worth more.”

“Don’t say that.” He looked into my eyes. “You are worth more than you know.”

“Not as much as ensuring the future for my people. Please don’t cut me out of this.”

“I won’t.” He dropped his head, pressing his face into my chest. “Do you know how divine you are?”

I laughed. “Hardly.”

“Truly.” He pushed his hands further under my shirt, lifting it and my arms to sweep it off. “Holy Goddess.” He looked at me, like I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

“Don’t do that.” My cheeks heated.

“Do what?” he asked, cupping my breasts.

“Look at me like that.” My eyes fell half closed as I rocked against him, warmth heating between my thighs. I ached to have him inside me.

He played coy and asked, “Like what?”

“You know, damn it.” I ground against his hardness, tightness coiling in my stomach while need ached in every inch of me.

“I know what I see.” He pressed his face between my tits, kissing and sucking while his thumbs rolled over my nipples.

I reached between us, working open the laces on his leathers. Goddess, I couldn’t do it fast enough. He didn’t stop, biting lightly. I clenched when his hand drifted between my thighs and into my shorts.

“Nothing on under these?” he said surprised.

“Maybe I was hoping you’d come in and ravish me in my sleep.”

His head snapped up. “Is that something you’d like?”

I nodded slowly. “I think so.”

“How?”

My skin burned, unbearably so, and my words failed me. Why had I said that?

“Goddess?”

“It doesn’t matter.” I cupped his face, pressing my mouth to his.

He kissed me back reluctantly, and I knew I’d ruined it.

I tried to climb off him, but his fingers dug into my arse. “Let me go.”

“No. You made me speak so now it’s your turn.”

“I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Are you saying that because you don’t want it or because you don’t want to tell me?” I fought his hold, but he was so much bigger than I was.

“I don’t know.”

“I want to.” He released my hip, cupping my face.

“Don’t say that if you don’t.”

He brushed his thumb over my cheek while his other hand stroked over my wet cunt, sliding two fingers inside. “I want to do anything that does this to you.”

My entire body shuddered, tightening around his intrusion. My words were barely more than a moan. “You do it so easily.”

“Tell me how I else I can do it. With my mouth? My cock?”

“Yes,” I whimpered.

“I get to decide?” he asked.

“What would you do if you came upon me and could do anything you wished” I breathed into his mouth.

He lapped up my words, drinking them down. Again, I fought to undo his pants, but he picked me up, stopping me. He draped my thigh over his shoulder, sitting forward so my leg wrapped around his back while his tongue found my clit.

He sucked, sending pleasure vibrating through me.

“I need you inside me,” I said even as I slid my hands into his hair and ground against his face.

“Not until you come on my face.” He flicked his tongue over all my most sensitive areas, holding me up with one hand while he pushed inside me with his other. His fingers stretched me, finding that spot inside.

I gasped when he curled his fingers, riding them. I tightened my grip in his hair, losing myself to the ecstasy. Time evaporated, and nothing existed but his fingers and his tongue. The spasms taking over my being.

Finally, I was spent, and I slid down his body, my lips finding his. I could taste myself on his lips as he forced me down on his length, making me take him in one motion. I cried out, filled beyond imagination, almost sending me into another release as his tip brushed where his fingers had just been.

“You’re so wet.” He nipped my lip, clearly quite pleased with himself.

“That’s your fault.” I rolled my hips, head falling back.

“You’re going to make me come if you keep doing that.”

“Isn’t that the point?” I smiled, not stopping for a second.

“Not this fast.”

“It’s a compliment.” I squeezed around him, lifting up on my knees before taking him slowly back in. I loved every single reaction from him.

He dropped his face to my neck, kissing and sucking while his hands explored my body. He touched me like I was a work of art.

“Fuck.” He forced me down hard while his cock pulsed deep inside me, filling me.

I rode out his release, taking all of him until we were both spent.