Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
I slid her pants down her legs and tasted her, my hands light, the suction hard. Her groan was louder as she wriggled beneath me. I removed the rest of our clothes before kissing back up her body, still a little warm and not fully healed, but almost there. Taking care, I worked my way back between her thighs, my eyes closing in pleasure at the feel of her soft skin sliding against my sides.
She wrapped her legs around my middle. I groaned as I sank into her depths.
“I’ve missed you,” I said as I filled her again and again, pulling out just to slide back in. “It was only a short time, but I missed you.”
Her kiss intensified as she hugged me tightly, moaning against the building onslaught. “The moment I had a choice, I didn’t want to walk away. I wanted to get to know you more, to explore this incredible feeling I have when I’m with you.”
A spark of guilt twisted my gut. She had a right to know that the feeling was primal, because of our true mate bond. I wasn’t sure how to tell her. I wasn’t sure what she’d do if she found out. There was a good chance she’d be furious to know I had kept it from her all this time, that a large part of her attraction was something neither of us could control.
I refrained from mentioning it even now because I wanted her animal to weigh in. I wanted our animals to help us determine what came next, whether I could claim her and keep her, or if the betrayal would send the delicate tightrope we walked up in flames. As it was, the tether between us would be incredibly strained when she realized the entire truth.
I pushed into her, but avoided burying myself inside her completely. This wasn’t the most comfortable place to be knotted together. That would have to wait until another time. I reached between us and massaged her clit as I pumped, chasing my climax, feeling her tighten.
“Weston,” she said, clutching me, gyrating against me. “Oh my—Weston!”
She was still using my name instead of calling for the gods.
A thrill ran through me and I worked faster, taking her higher, nearly there myself.
“Oh—“ She shuddered, her insides clenching around me.
I exploded into her, the orgasm rolling through my body. I groaned as I stroked inside her one more time and held myself there, letting her insides milk me dry. She shivered as my body quaked, the climax lasting longer than it ever had. I had just enough awareness to wonder why that was.
We held each other as the aftershocks came and went. Only then did I sit up, dragging her with me. I had to build something solid between us on our way to the dragon kingdom so that what we had wouldn’t break when she finally learned the extent of my betrayal.
Chapter 29
Aurelia
“You okay?”
The words trickled into my awareness, interrupting my whirling thoughts regarding that waxy stuff Granny had put over my product. I needed to find a well-stocked library and do some research so that I might discover both how it was made and how to negate the effects. Once I’d developed a remedy, I’d need to find a way to steal money out of Alexander’s pocket, as he was the only one who could run the organization in Granny’s absence.
I pulled away from Weston’s broad back for a moment, my focus shifting back to the present moment. “Yeah, thanks. Just thinking.”
“You’ve been very quiet. Did you read something in your journals that upset you?”
I went back to leaning against him, sitting behind him on his large, sturdy horse as we walked through the dense trees. I’d been reading those journals, poring over memories from a forgotten time, trying to find some clues of my own.
One thing had become clear: I’d been horribly unhappy in Granny’s village. It had been disguised in many parts, writing cheerful memories of my mother or counting my blessings that I’d found somewhere to live, but I’d been so very lonely. So heartbroken about my mom—just broken, period. No one had put out a hand to help me when I was struggling badly, not even when I had asked for help. Only Xarion had been friendly, but after meeting Hadriel, I realized Xarion had never truly been a friend. He’d been someone to pass the time with, the only person who would talk to me, and half our time together had been spent fielding cheap shots he sent my way, coloring our communication with the disdain shared by the village. I’d written it all down in my journal.
“I see now why everyone thinks my stories are so depressing,” I murmured, feeling no emotion about any of it. I’d clearly resigned myself to the life I lived. I’d made peace with it years ago. It was a survival tactic, I supposed. It shouldn’t have surprised me, and honestly, it didn’t—not really. I had made do because I’d had to. I still did.