Page 40

W hen I woke, the sun was streaming through the open window, warming the skin of my face.

I was naked—the sheets tangled around me—an arm stretched over my stomach.

I turned to see Nikolai still fast asleep, his eyes closed, his face peaceful.

The lines that had creased his forehead the night before were gone, as if last night had rejuvenated him.

Replenished him.

My hand found his golden hair, and I ran it through my fingers. The strands were the finest silk against my skin, and I thanked the Mother once more for letting me have this moment. I had thanked the Mother a lot last night, until I had begun thanking only Nikolai.

As if sensing my thoughts, Nik peeled his eyes open, a soft smile across his lips .

He made a humming sound, his head against my chest. “Good morning.”

His voice was raspy from sleep, and the sound sent a shock of warmth pooling through me. My lips curved into a smile as I gazed down at him. “Good morning.”

He propped himself up on his elbows, hovering over me, hunger igniting in his gaze once more.

He brought his lips to mine, and I opened for him, allowing his tongue to caress me.

He had been so, so broken last night, and there was still a glint in his eye that told me he hadn’t forgiven himself fully, but that he was on his way towards it.

I assured him over and over that I wasn’t haunted by those memories, that whatever had transpired before this didn’t matter because I was here, and I was safe.

That whoever he had killed while he was Noctani had been under Donika’s orders, and he couldn’t blame himself.

“I have to train with Annelise today,” I spoke, breaking the kiss with a heavy sigh.

We hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, and it had left me ragged and exhausted. My body was sore in delicious places as I imagined his was, too. When he sat up, I could see the marks I had scratched down his back as I held him against me under the moonlight.

Last night had been nothing like the last time we had sex. It wasn’t hard or rough, though I wouldn’t mind that again in the future. He had worshipped me. Loved every inch of me. It had been slow and sensual. Passionate.

When he stood from the bed to move towards the washroom, the sight of his bare backside had me wanting more .

“Though I’m not sure when she’s due back. Perhaps it can wait—” My words trailed off as he turned around, his hard length already at attention.

I raised an eyebrow at him as I sat up on the bed, the sheets pooling around my hips.

“Diana, I am always hard for you. Always .”

“In that case… ” my words trailed off as I crawled off the bed towards him, pulling his bare skin against me.

I captured his mouth with mine, kissing him slowly.

I pressed myself against him, my peaked breasts against his chest, my wetness rubbing against his thigh.

He let out a low groan as he buried his hand in my hair, holding me against him.

I pulled back to gaze into his eyes, and when I saw the expression of adoration there, I fell to my knees before him.

Both of his eyebrows raised high as he gazed down at me.

It was my turn to worship him.

“Diana, you don’t have to—” But his words were cut off when I grasped his length in my palm, the touch causing him to twitch.

His lips parted as he watched me. “The queen of Istmere, on her knees before me.” There was a wicked note in his voice, one I had missed so, so much.

“Only for you,” I whispered before taking him into my mouth.

My gaze held his as I tasted him, running my tongue over the wet bead already forming at the tip. His hand fisted in my hair as I stroked him with one hand, tasting him at the same time. He was so hard in my grasp, the sensation of him throbbing against me had wetness pooling between my thighs .

My other hand ran up my thigh towards that heat, and a moan escaped his lips as he watched me touch myself as I pleasured him.

The thought sent a shock of desire through me, and his eyes fixed on me had me close to the edge in mere moments.

I loved the way he watched me. I moaned, the sound vibrating through his length as I ran my mouth over him, my lips full as they held him.

“Diana—” my name was a prayer on his lips as his head fell back, his teeth capturing his lip as he bit down.

I ran my tongue up the underside of his cock, the thick vein that ran along him throbbing beneath my touch. I worked faster, sucking all the way down to the base of him and letting him fall out of my mouth, a bead of saliva trailing from my lips.

“Holy fuck—” He could barely speak, his words a gruff whisper.

“Praying to the Mother for release?” I asked, my brow raised as I pumped his length with my hand.

His voice was dangerous when he responded. “Diana, you’re the only one I pray to now. The only one I worship. The only one I will call out to when I am on my knees.”

His words made me cry out, my own fingers pumping in and out of me and the sound of his voice bringing me close. He tried to pull me up, to throw me down on the bed, but I shook my head, remaining on my knees. My fingers slipped out, wetness coating them as I used that hand to stroke him.

“I want to taste you.”

A garbled sound left the back of his throat as my mouth found him once more, sucking him until his thighs were shaking. His grip in my hair was tight enough that I couldn’t move my head even if I wanted to… but I didn’t.

I wanted him. All of him.

When he fell over the edge, my mouth filled with the taste of him, swallowing each and every drop as I held his gaze with my own. When he was finished, I licked him clean, licking every ounce of wetness off my fingers with a wicked smile across my lips.

“My turn,” he growled, grabbing me off the floor in one swift movement and throwing me down onto the bed.

He gripped my thighs and pulled me to the edge of the mattress before placing a hand on the inside of my thigh, spreading them before him. He fell to his knees before me as my own knees fell to the side of the bed, opening for him.

“My turn to taste you.” His voice was raw with want.

It was my turn to fist his hair in my grip as his lips teased my inner thigh, leaving a trail of kisses along my hot, fevered skin.

I watched as his gaze met mine, a devilish smile across his lips, before he finally kissed where I wanted it most. His mouth met my wetness, slipping his tongue inside and sending a shock of pleasure through me.

My head fell back against the bed as I cried out.

I squirmed beneath him, but his hand found my stomach, pinning me down to the bed.

He lapped against me. The sensation of his tongue against my flesh solidified that I would only worship him now, too.

His name was a cry on my lips as his mouth found my most sensitive bundle of nerves, flicking it and then sucking, taking it into his mouth .

“Nik—” the feeling was almost too much, too sharp. I wasn’t sure I could take it.

He laughed against me, his hot breath against my core as he continued, his fingers sliding into me.

“So wet. So perfect.” His voice hummed against me as he worked, his gaze focused on me as he teased cry after cry out of me.

My back arched off the bed, but he held me firmly, his hand still splayed against my stomach.

“I can’t—” I protested, biting my own lip.

“Oh, but you can, Diana.” His gaze burned with want as he watched me writhe under his touch. His voice was wicked against my flesh. I had missed him so, so much.

I couldn’t even count on one hand how many times I had thought of that voice. That mouth. My own hand slipping between my thighs at night while he had been gone.

I craved his touch. When he sucked my nub into his mouth once more, his fingers pumping in and out of me at a relentless pace, curling to hit that spot he knew I loved so much, it was his name on my lips as I came apart. I shattered into a million pieces beneath him.

I fell against the bed as he stood, licking the taste of me off his fingers as his gaze held mine.

I fucking loved him.

As he stood before me in all his glory, my legs still parted for him, all I could think about was how damn lucky I was.

That he was mine , and nobody else would ever touch him.

Ever love him. That every ridge of his abdomen belonged to me.

I would be the only one to taste the muscles that led down to his beautiful, perfect cock.

That his lips were mine , and I would be the only one he would ever taste on that wicked mouth ever again.

And when we came together again, we worshipped each other as if he had the same exact thought.

That I was his and his alone.

By the time we had made it out of bed, half of the day had already passed. I was sure Annelise was somewhere in the cottage waiting for me, despite not having set a time for our training session. Nik and I reluctantly dressed and made our way towards the library, where we found Tess and Puck.

“Any sign of Annelise yet?” I asked as I pushed the library door open, Nik following me inside.

Tess had all the lanterns lit already, one on each of the tables. The sun had begun to set, and I realized how much time we had wasted away between the sheets. I hoped for many, many more days spent like this. But for now… there was work to do.

Tess cast a glance over her shoulder. “No, not yet.”

She did a double take when she saw that Nik and I were together, raising an eyebrow at me as I pulled the chair out across from her.

“I told you,” she mouthed silently .

I kicked her under the table, a grin spreading across my lips.

The exchange gave me a sense of déjà vu from when she had first accused me of liking him. As always, Tess was right. Nik had simply needed time, and he had come to me when he was ready.

“I’m supposed to train with her today,” I said as Nik settled into the chair beside me.

Puck exchanged an equally subtle grin with Nik and I pretended not to see.

“Seeing as the sun is almost setting, I would say that ship has sailed,” Tess replied, her gaze returning to the book before her.

“Any luck?” I asked, eyeing the book upside down to see if I recognized it. If it was one I had already combed through.

“Not yet,” she mused, running her finger along the tattered pages to keep her place in a large paragraph.

“I see you’re helping.” Nik laughed, gesturing to the empty table before Puck.

“If I read one more bloody book about dream walking, I swear I will pass out,” he replied with a huff.

“Somehow, I doubt that,” Tess replied, eyeing him with a narrowed gaze. “The least you could do is comb through the rest of this stack and determine which ones we should check out first.” She gestured towards the stack of books I had left on the table the night before.

The cottage underground was a treasure trove of information, and we had found a number of books on the subject, but nothing mentioning a token yet.

Corian would have made a good mentor if he weren’t on Donika’s side—he knew the most about dream walking.

More than any of us. Tyr knew a good amount too, but we had never spoken about it before his death.

Other than the time he had tried to pry the Kotova grimoire away from me…

I was anxious for Annelise to return so we could train.

I had only worked with my bound Stormshade magic a handful of times before Nik had turned into Noctani, and I needed more practice.

Bound magic was entirely different from unbound magic, but I believed the mechanics were largely the same.

Annelise has been a bound Stormshade for two decades, and her knowledge on the subject was incomparable.

The library door opened again and Zion shuffled in, Saanvi and Kenna on his heels.

“I thought I’d find you lot in here,” he said, joining us at the table and pulling up a chair.

“You found us,” I sighed, pulling one of the books from the stack to begin reading.

“Annelise just got back.” He leaned back in his chair so that only two feet were on the ground.

“Where is she?” I asked, pushing the book back and moving to stand.

Even if we didn’t have much daylight left, we might be able to at least get a little bit done. And who said you needed daylight for magic anyway?

Right as I was about to leave in search of her, the library door squeaked open again. Annelise entered with her pack in her arms, a wide smile across her lips .

“Sorry it took me longer than planned. There was one thing I had to do first.”

She stepped aside and behind her was an old, familiar face. One I hadn’t ever expected to see in the cottage underground, let alone with the resistance.

His grey hair was combed back against his head, a pair of spectacles balancing on his wrinkled nose. He wore training gear, a black long-sleeved shirt, and a leather vest across his chest. A sword hung from his back, a dagger at his hip.

I leaned across the table, my brow raising.

The others turned, equally shocked.

“Alastir? What are you doing here, and why do you look ready for battle?”