Page 58 of To Cage a Wild Bird (Divided Fates #1)

“I could’ve told him myself. The blame is just as much mine. More.”

I shook my head but didn’t press him further. It was an unwinnable argument.

His gaze locked onto mine. As always, his golden eyes held me captive. He opened his mouth, seemingly ready to argue, but the words that slipped out next weren’t what I expected. “I missed you, Little Bird.”

Hearing his use of the nickname eased some of the tension in my stomach, and I let out a small breath. Losing Gus had been

the most painful thing I’d experienced since my parents died, and I’d been afraid that his death meant that I’d lost Vale

as well.

“Do you still want me?” I whispered, baring my heart.

Vale closed the distance between us, slipping his hand beneath my chin, tilting my head until my eyes met his.

“I’ll never stop wanting you, Raven. I don’t even know if I was alive before I met you—I was just going through the motions.

The first time I saw you, it was like you lit me on fire. And maybe, after you were arrested, I mistook the flames for hatred.

I know better now.”

And then he kissed me. Soft and sweet and slow, his hand gentle on my skin.

But I didn’t want slow or gentle.

I wanted everything while I still could have it—before we risked our lives to leave Endlock.

I claimed his bottom lip, sucking it gently into my mouth, and he growled, his hand on my face tensing. “Careful.”

I stood, forcing him to widen his legs as I stepped between them, where he still sat at the edge of his bed. “Or what?” I

whispered.

“Or I’ll forget how dangerous it is to have you alone in my room.” The words came out low and raspy, tickling my skin like

his calloused fingers that were running up and down my arms.

I let my fingers sink into his lush hair, pushing his head back until it was tilted up, his eyes meeting mine. “Show me what

you’re like when you’re not careful, Vale.”

He paused for the barest fraction of a second before reaching up and grabbing the zipper of my jumpsuit. He pulled it down,

inch by slow inch, until it reached my waist. I shrugged the fabric off my shoulders, shoved the uniform down past my hips,

and stepped out of it entirely.

I stood before him in my underwear and a thin camisole.

His mouth parted, his eyes darkening as they scanned every part of me, and I shivered, reaching for the collar of his shirt

and undoing the first button. I was done with stolen kisses and having to be careful all the time.

I reached the last button and pushed his shirt off his shoulders, drinking in the sight of his bare chest and the hard planes

of muscles below. My tongue darted out, wetting my bottom lip, and he tracked the movement, his throat bobbing as he swallowed.

Vale gripped my hips, then splayed his fingers and pushed them up and under my camisole, driving the fabric up until my abdomen

was exposed. He pulled me closer and leaned down to place a kiss on my navel, then moved higher, nipping at my stomach and

leaving a trail of kisses up and up until we were at eye level again.

I knotted my fingers tighter in his hair, pulling his mouth to mine. But I wasn’t close enough. Needed to be closer.

I kissed him harder as I climbed onto his lap, my core brushing against the erection straining against his pants as I straddled

him. I let out a harsh breath at the contact, and he inhaled, tasting me, his tongue delving into my mouth.

I moved my hands to his chest, scraping my nails down along his skin until I reached his belt. He let go of me for a moment,

leaning back on his elbows to undo the buckle and then staying there as I unbuttoned his pants.

He helped me pull them down slightly, and then I reached up, pulling his arousal free. My throat went dry as I stared at the

hard, thick length of him. An almost pained sound left him, his head falling back as I wrapped my hand around him.

I swallowed, gripping him tighter and running my hand up and down his shaft, reveling in his groans as he rocked against my

hand.

“Fuck, Raven,” he rasped, sitting up and claiming my mouth again, even as I continued to pump my hand.

He nipped my lip and then moved his mouth to my neck, licking and biting along the column of my throat.

He reached between us, his fingers dipping between my thighs and rubbing me through my underwear, where I’d soaked right through the fabric.

I moaned, letting my eyes flutter closed and my head fall back.

“So fucking wet for me,” he breathed into my neck. He moved the fabric of my underwear aside, running his fingers over my

bare flesh, hovering just short of my entrance. I pushed harder against him, nearly begging, as I increased the pressure of

my strokes on his length.

He used his other hand to shove my camisole up farther, freeing my breasts and exposing my hardened nipples. He took one of

them into his mouth, flicking his tongue over the tip just as he pushed a finger inside of me.

“Vale,” I gasped, my eyes rolling back as he pumped his finger inside of me and scraped his teeth over my nipple, rolling

the other between his fingers. My free hand went to his hair, pushing him tighter against me.

He added another finger, and I cried out, rocking against him.

“You like that?” he breathed, tilting his head back and watching the look of rapture on my face.

“Mm-hmm,” I moaned, wetting my lips as he pumped his fingers in and out of me. At my answer, he curled his fingers, hitting

that spot deep inside of me, and my mouth opened on a silent scream.

“More,” I whispered, still rocking against him and squeezing his length.

He growled, pulling his fingers free of me to reach between us and position his cock at my entrance.

“Is this what you want?”

“Yes,” I whimpered, rubbing myself against him. “But—”

“I take my monthly tablet,” Vale said, reading my mind. “It’s safe.”

I didn’t know if I’d ever been so relieved in my life.

I wrapped my hands around his neck, kissing him as I pressed myself against his naked chest. He kissed me back, tongue tracing

my lips before delving between them. His length slid against my core, getting closer to my entrance and then moving away.

I groaned in frustration, and he chuckled, the low sound raising goose bumps on my arms.

I smirked and gripped his shoulders, lifting myself and positioning him right at my center before slowly sinking down onto

his cock. The smirk left my face as his thick length entered me, stretching me—and I’d only gotten past the first few inches.

I closed my eyes, sucking in a deep breath as I worked to get used to the size of him.

Vale’s hands gripped my hips, and I could feel him straining to keep from driving into me. “That’s it, Little Bird. You can

take it.”

His words undid me, and I sank all the way down, crying out as the full length of him entered me, filling me. I bit my lip.

And then I started to move, using Vale’s shoulders as leverage to lift myself up before he drove his hips back up into me,

impaling me.

“Fuck,” I moaned, bouncing up and down as Vale watched, drinking me in. He gripped my hips, pushing deeper, hitting that elusive

spot again. My legs began to shake from the pleasure, a pressure rising deep in my belly.

I scraped my nails over his back, leaving marks behind, and Vale growled, pumping harder. He moved one hand until it was between

our bodies and pressed the pad of his thumb against my clit, rubbing circles against the sensitive flesh.

I arched into him, the pressure driving me higher. “Please, Vale,” I breathed.

He swirled his thumb faster, driving into me with punishing strokes until the pleasure was too much.

“That’s it,” he growled. “Come for me like a good girl.”

He lifted me up, pulling out of me, and then drove me back down, all the way to the hilt, and the pleasure reached a crescendo,

exploding. Vale kept pumping as I moaned, riding the waves of my pleasure until he reached the top, too, tangling his fingers

into my hair and coming alongside me.

When we came down, both still breathing heavily, he pulled me down onto the bed with him until we were lying side by side, facing each other with his arm curled comfortably over my hips.

His eyes flitted over my face, studying me until I smiled. “What?” I asked, suddenly self-conscious.

“You’re beautiful.” The words came out deadly serious, his golden eyes searching mine.

I couldn’t help the small smile that lit my lips, and I reached out a hand, lightly pushing his chest. “Don’t get all soft

on me.”

“Too late for that, you’ve ruined me.” He leaned closer, running his nose up the column of my neck and inhaling, and my breath

caught in my throat. “You smell so good. I can’t get it out of my head, and it drives me wild. I’ll be going about my day

and get a whiff of jasmine and who the fuck knows what else, something so distinctly you , and suddenly you’re all I can think about.”

I bit my lip.

“I tried to keep my distance from you, you know. Tried to banish you from my mind, for both of our sakes. But fighting what

I felt for you was more of a distraction than giving in. It was over for me from the moment I saw you punch that guy in the

face at Vern’s.”

I winked, my insides warming at his words. “You’re lucky it wasn’t you I punched.”

He laughed, sitting up before I could respond and shifting his pillow. The movement caused my gaze to land on his forearms.

His tattoos.

In the heat of the moment, I hadn’t been particularly focused on the ink, but now I took in the three interlocking circles

of Dividium on his right arm, and the family crest on his left—the outline of a fox, ready to pounce on unsuspecting prey.

Both tattoos were done in simple black ink.

Vale followed my gaze and grimaced. “I got them when I was eighteen. It’s mandatory in my family.”

I reached out a tentative finger to trace the tattoo of his family crest, and he shivered. Then he blew out a breath, turning

away, and I put a hand on his cheek, forcing him to look back at me.

“This isn’t who you are,” I breathed, looking into his eyes. “I know who you are.”

He stared at me for a long moment, leaning into my touch and nodding.

“It’s getting easier to believe that,” he murmured, lowering himself next to me once more. And then, “Look who’s being soft

now.”

I lightly flicked his nose, earning a grin before I said, “Says the man who hasn’t stopped thinking about me since the moment

he laid eyes on me.”

His lips were on mine before I’d finished speaking.