I was still coming as his mouth left mine and he rose, his lips glossy and swollen as he shucked off his breeches. I was still shaking, muscles coiling and spinning at the sight of him, thick and hard, jutting out. I was still trembling as he lifted me, hauling me farther back on the bed. And I could barely breathe as his eyes locked on mine and he came toward me, the strands of his hair falling against his cheeks. The shortness of breath wasn’t bad. It wasn’t sparked by panic as he eased me onto my back. I lay there, skin tingling all over as he braced his weight on his strong arms. The catching in my breath and chest felt different.
All of this felt different.
It was that change from earlier. That intangible shift between us. What was occurring was fundamentally different than before. This wasn’t a desire fueled by the need for blood, feeding, or anger. This was pleasure for the sake of pleasure. And it was…
It was a first for us.
And it felt like a first for me altogether. Any experience I had, fled. Nothing I knew before this moment seemed to count. I couldn’t explain it.
Neither of us moved, even though I was trembling again. I didn’t think he even breathed as he stared down at me, his eyes a storm of whirling eather. Then I moved, clasping his cheeks and bringing his mouth to mine. I kissed him because this was different.
He kissed me back, and I tasted myself on his lips and on his tongue. I was greedy. We were greedy, kissing and kissing until he moved, reaching between us to grip himself. The feel of his cock dragging through my wetness was a tantalizing promise of what was to come, and I didn’t have to wait long. He eased into me, and the feel of him—the pressure and fullness—dragged a ragged cry from me. Nyktos stopped.
“It’s okay,” I said against his lips. “Don’t stop. Please.”
“You never have to beg,” he promised. “Never.”
Then he thrust into me to the hilt, and my cry was lost in his groan. He stilled again, chest to chest with me, his forehead resting against mine. I felt every breath he took and every beat of his heart in those moments. Then he began to move again, slow and steady retreats and even more decadent plunges. I curled my arms around his neck, my legs around his hips. He shuddered as he rocked gently, and I found his mouth again as the crescendo of sensations began to build once more.
We moved together. Our lips. Our tongues. Hands. Hips. Slow, teasing, shorter and shallow thrusts gave way to longer, deeper ones. My legs and arms tightened around him. He moved faster. Harder. The friction of his chest against mine enflamed the fire in my blood and my core, and those embers…they hummed inside me as Nyktos’s skin began to harden against mine. Shadows gathered under his flesh, and as he lifted his head, streaks of eather filled the veins beneath his eyes. His features turned stark as he pounded into me, moving us up the bed as that tension tightened and tightened.
“Oh, gods,” I whispered, clutching the back of his neck. I called his name as the tension broke again, this time far more intense and all-consuming.
Because I heard the word he whispered against my lips in that harsh, raw voice as he shuddered, his hips churning against mine. The one word that caused the pleasure to roll on endlessly.
“Liessa.”
Chapter 22
Nyktos was gone when I woke but returned before I rose, almost as if he’d sensed that I’d awakened. He’d had a bath drawn for me and had breakfast ready when I finished. He’d been mostly silent throughout the meal—not distant or cold, just quiet, and I didn’t let myself dwell on the reasons for why he had little to say. Instead, as I got ready, I allowed myself to enjoy last night, focusing on what he’d shared about the Primals’ morality and the pleasure that had come afterward. I had so many more clothing options this morning and settled on a pair of laced leggings, a white blouse, and a black vest that had been tailored just for me. And I let myself enjoy that, too. Other than the wedding gown I loathed, everything else had been hand-me-downs. But not these. The clothing lining the wardrobe now belonged only to me, and that was a strangely empowering feeling that stayed with me as Nyktos and I left the palace to enter the mortal realm.
Despite what Nyktos had claimed that morning as he summoned Odin from his silver cuff, the steed was not over me holding a dagger to Nyktos’s throat.
Odin eyed me as if he were debating biting me as I approached him. That disposition hadn’t changed as we traveled the road I’d arrived in the Shadowlands on, but it hadn’t diminished my excitement as the Primal mist enveloped us.
I was going to see Ezra.
And I was about to see my lake.
Two things I’d feared never seeing again.
The white haze blotted out the realm as I tensed. I knew it would only be temporary, but the inability to see still filled me with unease.
Nyktos’s arm tightened around me. “Just a few more seconds,” he said, his voice soft against my temple.
I nodded, grasping the pommel of Odin’s saddle. Seconds, I reminded myself, and seconds was all it took for the haze to scatter, and for a stream of faint light to pierce the brief void of darkness that came afterward.
Sunlight.
My lips parted as the mist eased off, revealing the lake’s shadowstone floor and the still waters on either side of us. Seeing the lake split in two as if held back by invisible walls was an unsettling sight.
And an impressive one.
I tipped my head back as Odin took us across the lake. Only a faint, fractured sunlight pierced the clouds overhead. The heavy scent of rain hung in the air, and I hoped that meant some much-needed rain had already fallen—or would—and not the drizzle that did nothing but increase the humidity—something I was already beginning to feel under the cloak…the thinner of the two new ones Erlina had made for me. The soft material would soon become nearly unbearable, but it was wise for us to keep our faces hidden.
Nyktos lifted his hand once we were on the bank. The water immediately fell back into place, and he glanced down at me. “Impressed?”
“No.”
He chuckled roughly, urging Odin into the Dark Elms. I cracked a grin as I scanned the ripples from the waterfall cascading off the Elysium Peaks and spreading across my lake, my chest feeling looser than it had in weeks. I kept my eyes on it until I could no longer see even a hint of the water, then faced forward, pushing down the keen yearning to feel the water on my skin and slip beneath the surface.
“I wish we could linger,” Nyktos said after traveling a few moments in silence, his hand shifting on my hip. “So you could enjoy your lake.” His thumb began moving in idle circles just above the waistband of my breeches. “Once it’s safe, I promise we will return to your lake. You can come back as often as you like.”
I pressed my lips together as the back of my throat suddenly burned with emotion. I’d likely projected something in that moment, and that wasn’t surprising to discover. The lake felt like a part of me, and I wasn’t sure if the fact that it was a gateway to the Shadowlands had anything to do with it. But what brought the faint sting to my eyes was his response.