Page 23

CHAPTER 23

Quill

Slowly, giving her time to pull away if she wanted, I brought my hand up and cupped her cheek. She trembled, but remained frozen where she was, and I traced the line of her jaw with my thumb.

I needed to be careful, extremely careful. I refused to add to her trauma, and while I might not be the one she wanted, I could be a safe place for her to let go.

My other hand mirrored the first, framing her face, and her lips parted slightly in invitation.

I leaned in, again giving her ample time to pull back if she wanted, but she didn’t. Instead, she tilted her head up ever so slightly, meeting me halfway.

Our mouths brushed together, a whisper of a touch, and that jolt of something powerful zinged through me. Her breath hitched as if she felt it too, making me afraid she’d stop when I knew she desperately needed the release.

Then a soft moan escaped her lips and she deepened the kiss. I opened for her and our tongues tangled, hers tentative at first before getting bolder, exploring, seeking.

Her hands, which had gripped the blanket, relaxed and moved to my shoulders, pulling me closer. The fabric slipped down, revealing more of her unnatural magicless marks, but I didn’t let them distract me. I had to keep my focus on her, her needs and desires, or my anger at what had happened to her would take over.

I shifted so she was propped up against the headboard, knelt beside her, and trailed kisses down her jaw, lingering on the sensitive spot just below her ear. She gasped and arched into me.

“You’re safe with me,” I murmured against her neck, feeling her pulse race under my lips.

I wanted to promise that I wouldn’t let anyone hurt her again, but I couldn’t. I didn’t have magic and I couldn’t protect her the way a man like Rider or Talon could.

Sure, I was skilled with a sword, one of the best in the Black Guard, but I hadn’t become the Captain of the White Tower because of my fighting prowess. I’d become captain because I could calm people, negotiate, think clearly in chaotic situations.

If I’d been there when Wells and Crane had attacked, I might have been able to slow them down long enough for Sage to escape, but I wouldn’t have been able to completely stop them. Not with both of them having powerful magic.

“Please,” she moaned. “I need more.”

My heart clenched at the raw need in her voice. Slowly, I pushed the blanket off her shoulders and traced my fingers down her arms to her waist, giving her time to adjust to each new touch, determined not to spook her. When I reached the hem of her damp dress, I paused and looked at her for permission.

“Yes.” Her gaze locked with mine, trust and desperate need swirling in their emerald… brown…? depths.

Emerald. Focus.

I slid my hands under her dress, skimming up her cool, smooth thighs, pushing the damp fabric up as I went. She still trembled, and I prayed it was more with anticipation than fear or shock. She knew she needed this, but that didn’t mean she was happy about it.

Adjusting to lie beside her, I pressed gentle kisses along the inside of her thighs, pushing her dress up and revealing more and more of her body.

She gasped as I neared her core, and I paused again, giving her one last moment to change her mind and push me away.

“Quill, please,” she groaned, her fingers tangling in my hair, and she parted her thighs, revealing her soft pink core.

Fuck.

She isn’t mine. She can’t be mine.

I didn’t even know her, and I was confusing her for Sawyer’s sister. Even now, I could see the human woman in the fae one lying in front of me.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Relieve her desire and protect her.

Human or fae those were the only two things I needed to think about right now.

I dove between her legs and flicked my tongue against her, drawing a gasp. Her body tensed as if she were afraid to fully surrender, but the desire in her eyes, the need written all over her face, told me she was barely hanging on.

I licked again, tracing her delicate folds and drawing a low, pleading moan that sent shivers down my spine. My cock, already hard, strained against my pants in anticipation. I wanted to bury myself inside her, feel her warmth and tightness envelop me, but I resisted, knowing this moment belonged to her, and her pleasure was my primary concern.

Her breathing grew ragged. She was close with just those quick touches, but with a desire that had been strong enough it had brought her to her knees, I knew this could be fast. Or at least her first release would be. She’d probably need more than one, but I wasn’t sure if she trusted me enough to fully satiate her needs.

I gripped her hips, holding her steady, and licked and sucked, my tongue dancing against her sensitive clit, swirling and teasing, driving her closer and closer to the edge. Her moans filled the room, and the urge to make her come, to watch her face contort in bliss, hear her scream my name, was overwhelming.

My cock was so hard it hurt. I hadn’t gotten this hard for a woman in years. Hell, I didn’t think I’d ever gotten this hard for a woman before. It didn’t matter that we could never be mates, or that my soul confused her for a human woman I was obsessing over. I’d only ever gotten this hard for Talon. My soul had only ever really sung for him even though I desperately wanted a mate and a child.

I’d always wanted that. But in the dream, Talon was always also my mate.

I increased the pressure, determined to stay in the moment, and sucked on her clit, my tongue darting and flicking in a relentless rhythm that had her writhing beneath me. Her hips bucked, and I braced an arm across her pelvis to hold her down and thrust two fingers inside her.

“Oh, Fa—!” she gasped, her body shaking on the verge.

“Come for me,” I commanded, my voice strained with my own need. “Let go and come.”

Her core clenched around my fingers and a scream of pleasure tore from her lips. Liquid need gushed over my tongue and lips, and I lapped it up. I couldn’t get enough of her sweet release, and I wanted her to tremble and moan and cling to me like she was right now forever.

I pumped my fingers in and out and flicked my tongue over her clit, drawing out her release for as long as possible, even as I subtly bucked into the bed, desperate to relieve the pressure in my aching cock.

“Oh, Lord Q—” she moaned, her body relaxing beneath me. “Oh, I?—”

I gave a final teasing flick of my tongue against her clit, making her twitch, and sat back on my heels. Her expression was pure bliss and satisfaction, and my heart swelled with a mixture of pride and possessiveness.

Except the expression lasted only a few lazy blinks, before a wild need filled her eyes. The look was more ferocious than anything she’d expressed before, even when that spike of desire had crumpled her to the floor.

With a snarl, she threw herself at me, tackling me back onto the bed and straddling my hips. I imagined myself naked, removing my spirit clothes knowing from the desperate look in her eyes that she wouldn’t have the patience to undress me.

And she didn’t even hesitate. She grabbed my hard cock, and impaled herself on it, dropping down heavily on my pelvis.

A guttural groan tore from my throat as her tight, slick heat enveloped me all the way down to my base. She was molten, her desire scorching, gripping me like a velvet vise, and lightning snapped through me, blazing straight to my heart and stealing my breath.

Red hair and brown eyes with flecks of impossible green filled my vision.

She didn’t give me a moment to adjust to the overwhelming pleasure. Instead, she began to move, her hips rising and falling in a wild, feral rhythm that had her small breasts bouncing and her damp red hair swaying around her.

I had to protect her, please her, be with her.

I gritted my teeth, fighting the urge to come right then and there. She was a goddess, a force of nature, her body taking what it needed from mine. Her hands gripped my shoulders, nails digging in as she rode me hard, her breath coming in ragged gasps and moans.

My heart pounded, my blood roaring in my ears, and I struggled to hold back my release. I needed her to come first, needed to feel her shatter around me before I could let go.

I reached for her small breasts, squeezing and kneading them, rolling her nipples until they were hard, taut peaks.

She whimpered, the green in her eyes flickering to brown… or was that green? Were her ears rounded? No pointed. This was Sage, not Sawyer’s sister.

“Quill,” she groaned as she redoubled her efforts, her hips slamming down onto mine with bruising force. I could feel the pressure building inside her, her inner walls fluttering around my cock, her body coiling tighter and tighter.

“Sage,” I groaned back.

Sage.

Not Sawyer’s sister.

“More, more, more,” she moaned like a prayer with each violent rock of her hips.

I thrust back, harder, faster. The need to come, to release both of us from the pressure driving us wild, screamed through me. I slid my hand down her body, my fingers finding her clit, swollen and sensitive, and rubbed tight, fast circles. Her moans turned to gasps, her body shaking as she chased her release, her need consuming her entirely.

Her eyes locked onto mine, wild and untamed, her pupils blown so wide with desire I could barely make out their color. Green. No brown.

Fuck.

Green. Green green green.

She was close, so close. I could see it in her face, feel it in the way her body gripped mine.

And it didn’t matter if she was human or fae, my soul had picked. I belonged to her.

“Quill,” she screamed, and she convulsed, back arched and head thrown back.

Her inner walls clamped down hard on my cock, her orgasm ripping through her and tearing away the rest of my control.

I seized her hips and thrust into her hard and fast. With a violent pleasure that bordered on pain, I came, my cum shooting hot and fast into her. My orgasm roared endlessly as she continued to ride me, drawing out both our pleasures until there was nothing left but the sound of our ragged breathing and the pounding of our hearts.

The only question now was which her did I belong to? The fae woman who couldn’t bind my soul? Or the human woman I’d seen once and wouldn’t ever see again.