Page 34 of Wings of Darkness (Daughter of the Seven Circles #2)

When Rune and I finally made it back to my rooms, Oliver wasn’t there, and the rising sunlight peeking through the windows seemed duller because of it.

Sam came by later, looking as sullen as I felt. He gave me some ice packs, heating pads, and some kind of hydrating pills, then left after scolding me. He didn’t even replenish my energy like I hoped he would. Either Oliver or the general told him not to, or there was some other reason he didn’t.

Eventually, after beating myself up for what I said to Oliver, I fell asleep.

“There you are, sweetheart.”

I closed my eyes, the urgency that wouldn’t let me relax easing the slightest bit at the sound of his voice.

“Aspen.” I sighed. Heavenly Hell, I was grateful to see him.

He stood in his usual spot beneath the oak tree, his uniform hugging every inch of his muscular build. A breeze rustled through the leaves, whipping at my thick coat and pants, sprinkling debris into his brown waves .

I smiled, and he walked over, wrapping me in his arms and squeezing me tight. Breathing in his apple scent, I relaxed into his embrace, needing this—needing to feel him, to know he was alive.

“Sweetheart,” he breathed into my hair. “Two weeks is much too long for me to wait for you.” He crushed me tighter to his body, and I savored every second.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know how to direct the dream-walks,” I admitted.

“You don’t?” He pulled back—or tried to. But I wouldn’t let him, continuing to meld my body to his. After the fight with Oliver, I wanted comfort.

“Lucille,” he prompted gently.

Sighing, I eased up on my hold. “No. And with all my time focused on training, I never thought to ask anyone how.”

“But you’ve tried?”

I stepped out of his arms. The tightness around his eyes made my stomach sink. He doubted me.

Every day since I ended up in Hell, I’d been trying—trying to complete ten miles, to impress the general, to rank, to suffer through my power training, to read as much as I could, to be as knowledgeable as everyone else, to find a way out of Hell—all to rescue him.

I wanted to scream in his face: I’ve been doing nothing but trying!

Instead, I said, “Of course.”

“What have you tried?”

He still didn’t believe me.

“I think of the person before bed and see if I’ll dream-walk to them.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

” Saying it out loud made me cringe. My words lacked confidence and determination.

It didn’t sound like I was actively trying—it sounded like I was letting it happen, as if I wasn’t pushing myself hard enough.

Aspen’s expression confirmed my thoughts. I could almost hear him thinking: do better, be more, try harder.

“Maybe if it’s not working, then you need to try something else.”

“Like what?” I threw my hands in the air.

“Like,” he drew out, his irises flashing, “maybe it’s not the person your dream-walk seeks out. It’s something else. An answer to a question. Knowledge.”

He sounded so confident, like he knew for a fact that was how it was done. But if that was the case… how would he know that?

“Is it?” I asked, suspicious.

He shrugged, then stepped toward me with a hungry look in his eyes. I moved back.

“I don’t know. Could be. Or maybe it’s comfort.”

He did it again, and I mirrored, stumbling when my camisole vanished.

“Or need,” Aspen whispered, his voice low.

My shorts vanished next, along with his leathers, exposing an expanse of naked skin on both of us. We only had undergarments left.

“Desire.”

Heat raged in his eyes. He closed the rest of the space between us, pulling me against his body and silencing my lingering suspicions with the crash of his lips.

His ferocity surprised me. But as he nipped and sucked, the tingles sending shockwaves to my core, my thoughts melted into need.

I opened for him, and his tongue immediately ravaged mine with expert strokes. Hell, I thought the vibrations of his moist lips were addicting, but his wet tongue sending tingling sensations inside my mouth was a drug I never wanted to end.

Moaning, I pressed closer. Everywhere our skin touched, tingling ignited. The only place it didn’t was where his cock strained through his undergarments, throbbing against my stomach.

He was so hard, and I was so wet. I couldn’t help but push to my tiptoes and grind against him. He moaned, grabbing my ass, his fingers settling close to my core. Mere inches prevented him from touching me. It was agonizing. I squirmed, wanting his teasing fingers lower—inside me.

Instead, he moved them farther away. I whimpered, my cheeks heating at my neediness.

Aspen pulled back and gave me a smug smile, his hair falling into his dark lashes.

The rest of my clothes vanished, leaving me completely bare before him. He dropped to his knees, unfazed by the crunching grass or rocky ground.

“Tonight, I want you to take my tongue instead of my fingers,” he said, gazing up at me, the blue hue of Elora’s moon illuminating the sinful intent in his eyes.

I bit my lip, intrigued but also nervous. Were we moving too fast?

My nerves and doubts were quickly forgotten when he licked up the center of my core.

The fantasy of his tongue had seduced my mind since the day I tackled him off that carriage and felt it slide through the seam of my lips.

And now, living that fantasy, I came alive .

His tongue stroked through my slickness and paused at my clit, sending vibration after vibration shooting through me. I threw my head back in a gasp, my knees buckling.

So much fucking better than a fantasy.

He chuckled, gently pushing me to the ground and onto a blanket he imagined. His eyes were hooded.

“Are you ready to feel me inside you?” he whispered, the warmth of his breath teasing my wet skin.

I bit my lip and nodded.

He flicked my swollen clit with his tongue, making me arch, then used the angle to plunge it inside.

“Aspen,” I cried out, fisting his hair in my hands.

He did it again and again, pushing the vibrations deeper. I rode his tongue, writhing on his face, moaning his name.

Encouraged, he gripped my legs and spread me wider. His tongue thrust deeper and faster.

I could barely think around the mounting pleasure. All I wanted was more.

“Don’t stop,” I begged, my voice raspy. Hell, please don’t stop.

He didn’t. He devoured me with his mouth and tongue, wringing cries and moans from me, until he nipped at my clit and drove inside me. I shattered, pulsing around him.

“You make the sweetest sounds,” he murmured, sitting back and licking his lips.

Boneless, I smiled at him kneeling between my legs. His cock still strained against the fabric of his undergarments, full of unfulfilled desire .

I sat up and pressed my hand against him. His eyes tightened before being overtaken by a smug grin.

“No, sweetheart. Tonight was just for you.”

“But last time was also just for me. I think it’s time I pleasure you.”

He rose to his feet, bringing me with him. In the next breath, clothes reappeared on us both.

“Next time,” he said, tucking my wild hair behind my ears.

My brows furrowed. There was something in his gaze that made me question him.

“You sure?”

Aspen raised a hand and smoothed out the lines in my forehead.

“I want you to savor your pleasure, without having to return it, sweetheart. You’re new to this.”

“Okay.” But I didn’t believe him.

Was it his tone? His words? He sounded considerate. Although the last part rubbed me the wrong way. I didn’t think he meant it negatively. Still, it reminded me how little I had lived, and that there was probably a giant list of all the females he’d had—like… Nalini.

Heavenly Shit.

How the hell would he react to knowing she was a soul living in Hell? Aspen loved Nalini, and her death destroyed him. I felt it.

He lifted my chin. “Are you okay?”

I opened my mouth, panicking.

“Earlier, you seemed upset when you came into my dream.”

Being the coward I was, I took the out he gave me .

“Oliver and I had a fight after our late-night run, and I don’t think he’s speaking to me,” I said, feeling yet another weight on my shoulders.

Aspen pulled me into his arms. “The Nephilim will get over it.”

“Yeah.” But I wasn’t so sure.

The dream’s scenery flickered, and Aspen stepped back.

“Dream-walk to me again soon, sweetheart.”

Everything dissolved into a background of darkness, and Aspen vanished, leaving me with an illuminated ball of my power and a weird feeling.