Page 59 of Court of Wolves

“I would end the world to protect you too, princess,” he said against her pussy, the low vibrations making her clench deep inside. “I would let it all burn and build you a throne from the rubble. And then I’d sit you on that throne of ruins and kneel before you, my mouth on your pretty fucking pussy just like this.”

Her eyes rolled back, her breathing turning choppy. Fucking saints, Bryon was deadly enough to her heart when he was promising to protect her, but those promises and the growling tone he spoke them in? Absolutely lethal to her body, too.

“Bryon,” she said on a hitching breath. His lips were wrapped around her clit, sucking with wicked pulses, but then his tongue circled and her fucking eyes crossed. She threw her head back,thrashing at how quickly pleasure built. His hands pressed fingerprints into her thighs; she scraped her canines over her bottom lip at the thought of him marking her body, leaving evidence that he was hers and she got to keep him.

“Mine,” she gasped, her chest rising and falling quickly, pleasure a tingling promise in her toes.

Dark eyes flicked up to meet hers, and possessiveness flared in the depths at whatever he beheld in her. She writhed more, restless, throbbing, her clit surrounded by stimulation on all sides.Say it,she begged wordlessly, gasping, her mouth hanging open.Please, please say it.

“Yours,” he promised, holding eye contact with a fierceness that took her higher. “And you’re all fuckingmine,princess.”

Her hips snapped when his mouth returned to her clit, eating her with devotion and ferociousness. She came so hard she saw stars, her eyes rolled all the way back as he sucked and licked, dragging out every shuddering wave of climax. And hegrowledas he ate her, his hands dimpling her skin, motions frantic. When she realised he was growling the wordmineover and over, Maia crashed right into a second orgasm.

Her whole body melted when her release finally ebbed, and it took herculean strength to push his head away, moaning, “Too sensitive.”

“Just how I like you,” he said with a very satisfied grin. Maia groaned, throwing an arm over her eyes, the sensation of him lapping up every last drop incredible. What was the word he used earlier? Exquisite. Saintsdamn, Bryon wasexquisite.

When he’d finally had his fill, he kissed the seam of her thighs, one after the other, and tracked a winding path of open-mouthed kisses up her body, lingering on the edge of the cut across her ribs. It had begun to heal in Eosantha, but it was angry and sore again, painful every time she moved. She’d begun to get used to the pain, taking it into herself, making it a part ofher like the way her lungs expanded with air and goosebumps covered her arms when she was cold. Just another feature of her body. It never lessened, but she could handle it.

“You had that lotion the healer gave you when we were taken,” he said against her skin, pressing his lips to her skin in feather-light strokes. “I wonder if Enryr still has it, if he might bargain for it. The Eversky was happy to heal your wings in exchange for my services.”

“Bryon,” she breathed, a pang twisting up her heart. The guilt of knowing he’d killed for her was like a broken tooth, gnawing and deep. Thrilling too but gnawing.

“I don’t regret it, princess,” he said, kissing up the other side of her ribs, leaving a tingling imprint of his mouth on each one. “I’d do it again. And with how infected and angry this cut is, not to mentionthisone—” He traced the very edge of where Jaro had stabbed her. Her fae healing had done what it could, and it no longer bled, but the damage went deep. “Something needs to be done. Better that a town of strangers die than you.”

She gave him a look, unable to quantify the mess of gratitude and awe and guilt and frustration knotted in her chest. He really would kill anyone if it kept her safe and alive; there wasn’t a flicker of doubt in his forest eyes.

“You’re a madman,” she told him, gliding her fingers along his bristly jaw, so happy to finally be allowed to touch him. Bryon’s eyes hooded, a deep sigh leaving his huge chest. “No one should be crazy enough to bargain with the saints.”

“Princess,” he said dryly, a smile clinging to his mouth. She brushed her thumb over the shape of it, committing it to memory, and urged him higher up her body, wanting to taste that smile.

“I know, I know. I made a deal with Enryr and did whatever he told me just to keep Az and Jaro safe. It’s different when I do it. I’m allowed.”

His snort sent warm air across her collarbone; he frustrated her by pausing to kiss her there, scattering adoration across the curve of her breasts. There was no missing the way he angled himself so his body only touched her uninjured side, and that blatant care made her weak all over again.

Maia wrapped her arms around his shoulders, tracing the curve of his spine with her knuckles. “I am grateful,” she admitted. “For what you did, for my wings being healed. I’m grateful, Bryon.”

“I know,” he murmured against her throat, the heat of his mouth making her body fluid again. “You’re just afraid of the depths of my feelings.”

He hadfeelingsfor her? Maia blinked fast, pushing back tears even as a smug little smile crossed her face.

“And my own,” she admitted. “I’m not accustomed to rejection.” Even after Az pushed her away, disgusted by everything she’d done while under Ismene’s thumb, she’d gotten used to being loved and accepted, used to the warmth and comfort of beingwanted.Bryon not wanting her was like claws shredding that cosy feeling, leaving her exposed to the cold. “I guess I thought I could protect myself by pretending I didn’t care about you at all. But I do. You’re grumpy and annoying but you’re mine.”

He snorted, and Maia’s eyes slammed shut at the scrape of a sharp canine up her throat. She couldn’t keep the groan trapped. Bryon’s cock jumped against her hip at the noise.

“Princess, I’d rather my own arm be dismembered than reject you.”

“Always with the violence,” she teased, not admitting that it had started to warm her heart to hear him so viciously protective of her.

“I’m a grumpy old soldier as you like to remind me.” There was a smile in his voice as he flicked his tongue out to taste her throat. “Violence is my default state.”

“Don’t worry, old man,” she taunted, “I can make you feel young again.”

She reached between them and grasped his cock, giving it a slow stroke, emboldened by the loud groan of his response. She was still dripping wet when she guided him to her entrance, easing him inside.

“Fuck,” she whispered, dragging her bottom lip between her teeth at the burning stretch. “Forgot how fucking enormous you are.”

Bryon laughed, a low, rolling rumble that shook him inside her and made her eyes fall shut. Ohhhh holy fuckyes.“You okay there, princess?”

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