Marai took another sip of wine. Better that than crawl into his lap and lick the corners of that dimpled smile, which is what she wanted to do. “What about your wounds? Have they healed?” She’d noticed the slight winces he made whenever he moved too jerkily.
“Getting there. Thora healed me well enough on the field, but she emptied of magic before she could finish. I’ve been letting the rest of the wound heal on its own. I can manage the pain, but I keep making it worse when I fight off the Tacornians.”
Always sacrificing.
The food and wine had been consumed. There were no other distractions. It was just them, staring at each other in the twilight blue of night.
The room suddenly grew airless and close. Marai couldn’t find her breath. She stood and padded to the open window. Shining beams of silver light illuminated her face as she stared up at the full moon. The stars were out in full, dotting the inky blackness like burning diamonds, making her feel small and one, both at once.
“If I could gaze upon you for the rest of my life, that would be a life well-lived,” came Ruenen’s breathy voice from the fireplace.
Marai glanced back to see him watching her, eyes shimmering pools of starlight.
A blush seared her face as Ruenen stood and walked to her. With aching tenderness, he swept aside her hair. His gentle thumb stroked her cheek, sending an electric tingle across her skin. She couldn’t tear her eyes away. An old fear bubbled up inside, shouting that she was unworthy of this affection, of this love. But once his lips brushed against hers, the voice was silenced. Her arms became vines as they wrapped around his neck. Up on her tiptoes, she kissed him so freely she thought she might fall into everlasting oblivion from the joy of it.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” he whispered against her lips, hands stalling on her hips.
She reassured him by kissing him again.
Ruenen’s fingers untied the string at the top of her nightgown. He pushed the sleeves down to her forearms, exposing her pale sternum, razor-edged collarbones, and the slight swell of her breasts.
Marai pulled him away from the window and towards the bed. He planted soft kisses on her shoulders, and down her back to the sharp wings of bone. Marai let out a gasp before clamping her lips on his neck.
Her fingers did what they’d been aching to do for weeks. They untucked his tunic and inched up the muscle beneath. Ruenen shivered against the calloused pads of her fingers as they traced his abdominals and pectorals, mapping out the landscape of his body. He yanked his shirt over his head, tossing it on the ground. Marai’s eyes dipped to the lean, defined torso, and the jagged red scar on his side.
Immediately, horror filled her to see the wound that nearly took his life up close. Her fingers hovered over it. She was afraid she might hurt him.
“I’m alright,” he said against her ear. “You could never hurt me.”
Then he pulled Marai’s nightgown down farther, revealing her breasts, the smooth planes of her stomach. The nightgown fell to the floor in a pool around Marai’s feet. She stood, wholly exposed to him, vulnerable.
“Lirr’s bones,” he uttered, shaking his head, gazing at her as if he could hardly believe she was real. He caressed a hand down the length of her side, taking in her curves and edges. All the things she tried to hide.
She kissed him again, needy and desperate for the taste of him.
Ruenen gently pressed her backwards until her legs hit the mattress. Without a second thought, Marai lifted her hips onto the bed and lay back. Ruenen climbed over her, planting kisses along the way, starting at her stomach and working up to her mouth.
I could die from this. Her heart could give out right now and Marai wouldn’t care, so long as he kept touching her in this reverent way.
Her fingers fumbled with the buttons on his trousers, but soon she guided them down over his hips and Ruenen quickly stepped out of them.
The sight of him, all lean, smooth muscle. He placed a hand on either side of her, steadying himself. She couldn’t stop her body’s reaction to him. She was lightning waiting to strike. Marai knew that the moment he was inside her, she would explode with power and light.
Ruenen hesitated, watching her expression for any sign of discomfort. He still relived the moment in the alley when she’d run from his touch.
Not this time.
“I want you inside me,” she whispered, she begged.
Ruenen didn’t hesitate again.
One thrust and Marai shouted with pleasure. He filled her so perfectly; she’d never known this kind of intimacy could feel so good.
Slowly, his hips undulated and circled, making Marai writhe with pleasure beneath him. Ruenen was giving. He studied her reactions, noticed what she responded to, worshiped her with kisses and caresses in places that made her moan and gasp.
Her body was on fire, heart thundering. White and gold and starlight and sunlight and crashing waves . . .
The world exploded around her in a cosmic display of colors and stars. The sound that escaped her throat was one she’d never made before—guttural ecstasy and joy.
Ruenen called out her name.
And Marai swore then that she’d never heard a more heavenly sound than her name upon his lips.
Chapter 39
Marai
A symphony of birds sung in the birch tree outside the window.
Golden sunbeams splayed across white sheets.
Strong arms tugged her closer with a groan-like sigh. He tossed a leg over her. His stubbly chin burrowed into the crook of her neck.
I don’t want this to end.
“You’re not going to like this, but I have to go,” Ruenen whispered.
Marai’s heart sunk, but she knew why he needed to leave. His coronation was in a few hours. Already, Marai heard servants dashing back and forth outside in the hallway. They were probably searching for him . . .
