Page 66 of Beyond Those Gilded Walls

My body froze against his. He’d kept his word. I swallowed back the sob of relief, not wanting him to know I ever doubted him. I hadn’t even realized I still doubted him, not until he laid this out in front of me. Curling deeper into his chest, I let my hand come to rest on his stomach, relishing the way his muscles flexed beneath his shirt at my touch. “Thank you,” I whispered.

“I am sorry again that I did not tell you the truth sooner. I am sorry for what my magic did to you and your family.” He pressed a kiss to my hair and pulled me even closer until I was nearly atop him. “I am very glad you were stronger than my magic.”

I swallowed hard, not knowing what to say to his confession until the words began to spill out. “I loathe that I am in any way grateful for the events that led me here, but I find I am. In this moment, at least here in your arms, I think the darkness might not be so bad.”

“I think you’ll find you belong in the darkness more than you might think. You survived me; you survived death. Eadric has no hope of stopping you, little wolf, now that you know the truth.” He pulled the blankets up around our waists. “Sleep now; I will wake you when it is time for us to go.”

“What if I don’t want to rest?” I asked, breathing in the smell of warmth and spice that clung to his shirt. The party and the cleanup and the emotions of the night were beginning to catch up to me, and now, tucked into Tallon’s side and surrounded in this cocoon of warmth and security, my own confidence was blooming. I had to be sure, though, that this was not another moment he would come to pretend had not happened later. “I do not think I could sleep now if I tried.”

“I suppose I could find something to occupy your time or to help you sleep.” He sounded more awake now, amusement, desire, and a careful caution all equally evident in his voice.

“Oh? Such as?” Emboldened by the wanting in his voice, I let my own trickle into my words as well.

He hesitated, sweeping his hands over my back and down my arms as he pressed another kiss onto my hair. “What are you comfortable with, little wolf? What would you let me do to you? Anything you can imagine, anything you ask of me, it will be yours. Just say the words.”

“Touch me,” I breathed. My head tilted up so I could look at him. “Please?”

Lips split into a lazy smile and fingers flexed across my back. “I am touching you.”

“Tallon.” I didn’t want him to tease me; I wanted him to distract me, to make me forget all the horrible things going on around us.

In lieu of an answer, he settled me on to my back and propped himself up on his elbow to look down at me. Agonizingly slowly, his hand settled across my stomach. “Did you want me to touch you like this, little wolf?”

Butterflies with wings of fire swooped through my belly at his touch. “Not quite, but getting closer.”

“Perhaps you should be more specific, then.” The carnal hunger in his eyes warmed every bit of my body as he looked down at me.

Once again emboldened by Tallon’s easy acceptance of himself, of his desires, I gave in to my own. I took his hand in my own and slid it slowly, so slowly, up to trace the swell of my breast. His lips parting in surprise was nearly as satisfying as when he flexed his fingers against my flesh, warmth radiating through the thin gown I still wore.

“How far do you want this to go, little wolf?”

“Just touch me, Tallon. I will tell you to stop if I need it.” I couldn’t think, didn’twantto think. If I did, I knew I would retreat and curl back into my feelings of unworthiness and remember what was at stake. For now, I wanted him, and I wanted to lose myself in him.

“As you wish.” His touch transformed from the tentative exploration that I’d initiated into something wholly more and all his own design.

My hand fell away from his as he took the lead, sweeping his palms over my breasts and squeezing just so. He dipped his head down to press wet, open-mouthed kisses against the exposed skin at the neckline, never staying in one place too long as he travelled up my neck and nipped at the skin beneath my ear.

Before I could ask for more, his hand left my breasts to skate over my stomach, coming to a stop just below my navel. Between kisses to my neck that left me tingling and floating, he murmured, “Is this what you want, Odyssa? Can I touch you here?”

My hand found his again and, through the silk of the gown, I pushed his hand between my legs. He needed little direction, letting out a breathy groan against my neck as he cupped my center. His palm was scorching hot where it sat against my skin, rubbing softly against me, but it wasn’t enough. I flexed my hips, biting my lip as I chased his touch.

“Shh, little wolf,” he said. He nipped at the skin of my neck, running his tongue over it right after to soothe the sting. “I will take care of you, I promise.”

A challenge sat at the tip of my tongue but was lost to a moan as he kicked the blankets down the bed and pulled the hem of my dress up in one smooth motion to expose my body all the way up to my sternum. This time, he grabbed my hand, guiding it to hold the bunched-up fabric that settled beneath my breasts.

He groaned and pressed his forehead against my shoulder briefly as his hand returned between my legs. The aching had grown almost unbearable, and I didn’t try to stop myself from rolling my hips against his touch. His fingers traced over my flesh, dipping into the growing slickness only briefly.

“Have you always worn these gowns with no underwear, Odyssa?”

“There was none in the wardrobe,” I admitted, my voice nearly unrecognizable with arousal. Earlier, he’d said I belonged in the darkness more than I knew, and here, pressed against him with his hand pressed against me, I agreed.

He didn’t reply for a moment, his focus entirely on how his fingers moved against my body. “Are you trying to kill me?”

Thankfully, without waiting for a response I wasn’t sure I could even give, his fingers dipped lower and he slid one inside me. My mind quieted, my focus narrowing to only where he touched me, to the pleasure that he wrenched from me with only a finger as he plunged it in and out of me. A second joined the first and I let out a cry I might have been otherwise embarrassed of.

“You are stunning, little wolf,” he breathed, bending his head to capture my lips in a scorching kiss. He plundered my body as he plundered my mouth, his thumb reaching up to press at the nerves above where his fingers split me. Pleasure was all I knew,Tallonwas all I knew, and I was glad for it.

My body bowed against his touch, hips rolling with his hand as he brought me higher and higher.

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