Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 205594 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1028(@200wpm)___ 822(@250wpm)___ 685(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 205594 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1028(@200wpm)___ 822(@250wpm)___ 685(@300wpm)
His eyes narrow in the darkness, as if his face is creasing into a smile. “You have an excellent perspective on things.”
“I’ve always been the useless princess. Maybe knowing that I’m unimportant except for my family name helps me not care. After all, I can be a whore and someone will still find me valuable because I’m a Vestalin.” I sound bitter, even to myself. “But I’m here for the next seven years because it’s better for the rest of the world, right? We’re martyrs so the fields can be full of crops and the Golden Moon Goddess will hold back her rage. We’re giving seven years of our lives up for everyone else. I think, given that, they’re not allowed to judge us for finding comfort in one another.”
His thumb strokes a teasing circle on my shoulder. “Is that all it is to you, then? Comfort?”
“Well, I don’t know,” I say, trying to keep my tone light. “What is it to you?”
“More.”
Just that one simple word fills me with soft, radiant joy, as if I’ve swallowed a star. One word, and I’m so…happy. “It’s more to me, too,” I whisper. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.” His hand slides off my shoulder and he takes my hand in his, squeezing it. “Ask anything.”
“Do your people kiss? Because I’ve been thinking about kissing you and you’ve never even tried to kiss me. So I wondered if you even kiss with those fangs of yours. If I’m being too nosy or forward, feel free to tell me so. It’s just…I was thinking about it.” By the Gray God’s night robe, now I feel like an absolute fool. I’m a princess. Why am I begging a man to kiss me?
Because it’s Nemeth, my mind tells me. He’s different.
He is, and that frightens me a little. If things sour between us—and they always sour with me and my lovers—there’ll be nowhere to hide.
“I’ve never kissed anyone,” he confesses. “And it’s not something my people do, no. We rub horns…but I have seen the humans at the Citadel kiss. Do you want me to kiss you?”
Do I want him to kiss me? The thought makes me want to laugh. I’m here in bed with him, our faces turned towards one another, and I’m filled with such yearning and affection for him. My heart feels both full and empty. Full, because I’m with him and I know he cares for me the way I care for him…and empty, because I desperately need him to show me just how much he wants me.
I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to be kissed more.
“I would love for you to kiss me,” I admit. “But only if you want to.”
“If you would like it, I would, too.” He pulls me closer to him in the bed, his gaze on me.
We’re so close now that our breath mingles, warm and inviting. I don’t think I’ve ever liked it when another lover breathed on me. They always smelled of sour wine or something worse. But with Nemeth, I like all his scents. His breath is never foul, and when I feel it against my skin, I know it’s because he’s close nearby, and it arouses me.
Then again, everything he does arouses me.
I slide a hand to his neck, stroking my thumb over his skin. He said his people rub horns. I look at the strange, sweeping cluster of horns that cover his scalp instead of hair, and wonder if he’d like for me to rub them for him, or if that’s a Fellian-only sort of gesture. “Can I touch you?”
“Now you ask?” he teases. “You know that you can touch me anywhere.”
I move a little closer, until our noses are practically brushing. “So…are you going to kiss me, then?”
“You’re impatient.” His amusement makes me flush with warmth.
“Of course I am. I’ve been waiting for you to kiss me for weeks.” The moment the words leave me, I know they’re true. I’ve been waiting for him to make a move since that first night when we cuddled under the blankets for warmth. The fact that he’s been so very circumspect is killing me. “I keep thinking you’re not attracted to me.”
His hands clench on my waist and his nose rubs against mine. “No. Never think that. You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
I smile. “Should I tell you that you’re the most fascinatingly virile man I’ve ever seen?” Stroking his cheek, I continue. “That I’ve never been so turned on by wings? That I watch you exercise because it lets me appreciate every flex of your muscles? That your big hands make me breathless, just like when you pin me under your hip when we sleep?”
“You should absolutely tell me all that.”
“I would, but instead of trading compliments, I’d much rather we just kiss,” I whisper.