Page 89 of The Stolen Kingdom

“I am your darling, am I, Maris?” Valda asked, her tongue darting to flick over the damp skin behind Maris’s ear. “Gods, you taste like ambrosia. I want to have you on my tongue all the fucking time!” She accentuated her words with a deep stroke of her fingers.

Maris nodded desperately at Valda’s words. To have her every night between her legs, tasting her and vice versa. To wake up with the other woman next to her every single day of her existence and go to sleep with her fingers tangled in her hair and sweet honey eyes staring at her with pure love shining through them.

Maris bit her lower lip, closed her eyes, and squeezed Valda’s forearm again. She could feel the strain and ropes of thick muscle moving as Valda focused on bringing her to the edge.

“Come, Seashell. I am here. I am not going anywhere.”

Maris’s jaw slacked, releasing a broken sob and a soft cry. Her eyes fluttered open, and she watched Valda press her mouth to the back of her shoulder. Her hooded eyes watched her from the mirror’s reflection. A soft tug to her front walls by Valda’s skilled fingers, and she was pushed to the edge.

She broke down as a million tiny freckles of light blinded her. Her cry was loud, calling her lover’s name like a prayer, dissolving into whispers of praise. Valda whispered those praises right back, rubbed her lips over the shell of Maris’s ear, and pulled her further back. Valda looked down at her this time, a smile painted on her gorgeous lips, proud and cocky but satisfied.

Maris quivered, clenching and releasing Valda’s fingers repeatedly as the waves of pleasure coursed through her. Warmth settled on her chest, then traveled through her neck up to her cheeks, settling on her forehead. The soft blue hue of the symbol on her forehead illuminated the room.

Valda kept her fingers inside, slowly easing her down until Maris released her grip on her arm. Valda pulled her hand away, brought it to her mouth, and sucked her fingers clean before cupping Maris’s damp cheek. She hadn’t realized she was crying until Valda brushed the tear away with her thumb. Then a yellow light joined the blue hue in theroom, and Valda sneered. She pressed her forehead with Maris, and the warmth grew hotter until it disintegrated into nothing.

Maris felt the connection in her chest tighten and gasped when she opened her eyes. “Valda, I–”

“It’s all right…” the other woman whispered, rubbing her hand down Maris’s neck and breasts. “We have been apart too long; we needed to renew our bond. You are fine. I am fine.Weare fine.“ She pressed her hand to Maris’s chest and released a shaky breath. “We are fine…”

Swallowing hard, Maris imitated Valda’s actions and turned her torso to press her trembling hand to Valda’s still-clothed chest. “I can feel it.”

“I know, Seashell. I can feel everything too.”

“It’s…” Maris bit her lower lip, her fingers slipping to touch Valda’s cleavage. “Overwhelming.”

Valda nodded against her forehead. “It is, yet it feels… right.”

Honeyed eyes trailed over Maris’s face, and although she was still wrapping her mind around what was happening, Maris accepted the comfort Valda’s body could give her. She could feel Valda’s emotion. Valda had an overwhelming need to tell Maris she loved her. The only thing holding her back was that Maris had not forgiven her…

Maris pulled away from Valda, who sat motionless on the chair. “Say it.”

Valda tilted her head and then shook it. “It is not wise now.”

“You can feel I need to hear those words. Or… have your feelings for me changed?”

A chuckle and an eye roll. “Changed?” Valda said, and her face twisted with regret when Maris pulled away. “Maris, don’t you ever doubt my love for you.” She swallowed hard and wrapped her thick arms around Maris’s waist and pulled her closer. Maris straddled her waist, their chests pressed together. “I love you. I probably loved you in my past life, and I will love you in the next one… and the next, and the next, forever. I will find you and love you with the same fucking intensity as I do now, and I will continue loving you until time itself ceases to exist.” Valda’s lower lip quivered. “If I lose you, or if I am apart from you again, it will mean my death.”

Maris shook her head and cradled Valda’s face. “I won’t allow it. I— I can’t be away. I was fighting with destiny itself when I should’ve known that finding you amidst the chaos shows you were meant to be mine.”

“I am yours, Maris Era. Never doubt that.”

Maris released the breath she was holding, pulled Valda’s face in, and planted a deep kiss on her lips. The kiss was short and sweet as she came down from the clouds Valda had put her in. “I love you, Valda Aither, no one else. Only you…”

Valda let out a raspy breath before nodding. “That’s good… Because I was about to kill Eyphah when she went to the latrine earlier.”

Maris’s smile vanished. “You what?”

“She needed a quick reminder of what she had done. That deed should not have gone unpunished.”

“A— are you insane?”

“I haven’t tasted your cunt…your real cunt, not in dreams, for eight fucking months, Seashell. Am I insane? Yes.”

“Valda, I am serious,”

“So am I. Also, I hope you enjoyed me playing into your submission. It is a once in a lifetime thing.”

“I–I doubt it! Hey! Wait— “ Maris could barely catch her breath when Valda scooped her off the chair, carrying her to the bed before throwing her in it.

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