Page 90 of Ecliptic

His grip on my hair tightened as I sucked him in leisurely pulls, taking my time.

I worked my wrist and mouth together, pumping him deeper into my throat. I gagged but didn’t stop, loving the hard, velvety texture of him in my mouth.

His ragged groan made me smile around his girth.

His hips picked up speed, and my free hand shot to his hip to keep me steady as he thrust into me, and I gagged again.

“Breathe through your nose, Copeland. It will help you take more of me.” I did as he said and braced my other hand on his hip, trying to open my throat even more. “That’s it. Take me.”

I sucked him harder and deeper.

“Fuck,” he grunted as he pumped into my mouth, and my eyes watered. “I won’t last much longer.”

My nails dug into his ass, letting him know I was ready forhim. His cock twitched against my tongue as his earthy taste spilled into my mouth, and I hungrily took everything he gave me.

His spasms eventually slowed, and his grip on my hair loosened. He gently cradled my face and tilted my head up, bringing me to my feet. He claimed my mouth and kept me steady as my knees went weak.

He pulled back and gazed into my eyes. “Keira, you are perfect.”

Rowen and I stood under the cover of darkness, little rays of moonlight shooting through the leaves and reflecting on our skin.

Rowen’s hand played with mine, his face one of sated bliss. Suddenly, his brow darkened. “You’re bleeding,” he said as he inspected my fingers.

“It wasn’t Madds,” I replied quickly, then my face flushed with shame. My self-inflicted wounds had tried to heal, but the constant picking kept them raw and sore. “I . . . I did that.”

He kissed the tender flesh around my nails and thumb. “Please don’t hurt yourself. These hands are far too precious.”

“Sometimes I don’t even realize I’m doing it.”

“Then I will just have to find ways to keep your hands busy,” Rowen murmured, taking my thumb in his mouth. Heat blazed through my blood and shot to my core as his tongue pressed against the pad of my finger. I slipped my thumb free, gently pulling down his bottom lip. His mouth softened open with a groan, and I closed the distance between us, capturing his lips in a soul-deep kiss.

Rowen pulled me closer and squeezed me tight. His scent enveloped me, and his taste fed a hunger that could never be satisfied.

Such moments of simple bliss were few and far between, butI drank in every second, savoring the reprieve from the darkness. We held onto each other as if our lives depended on it, unwilling to let shadows find us.

And just for a few moments, nothing could pierce our stolen bubble of peace.

32

Nepta wasted no time in expanding the forge. The once meager yet elegant space had multiplied in size. The changes were hastily made to accommodate the upcoming work, but I still marveled at how quickly it had been assembled.

Anyone with even the faintest idea of how to work a hammer was called to help, and the volunteers were many. One team was dedicated to cutting the Ever-burn meteor into manageable bricks while the other processed the pieces at the forge, shaping them into all manner of weapons.

Nepta stood in the center of the operation, her crescent moon staff maintaining a constant portal between the forge and the Ever-burn site. Her lined face was deep in concentration, and sweat dripped from her brow. Her shimmering portal churned as chunks of the celestial stone were transported to the village.

The newly expanded forge buzzed with activity, working like a well-oiled machine under both Nepta and Bailon’s instruction.

Several stations were set up with basins of water, blazing hearths, and tool racks filled with tongs, hammers, and chisels.The air was full of steam, heat, and the sound of clanging metal. Each strike sounded like a countdown to war.

The scale of work was unimaginable. We needed to create armies worth of weapons in a matter of days. Every elve moved with urgency and determination as they worked with the gleaming metal. Flames flickered across their faces as our rebellion sparked to life.

“We gathered every able-bodied elve to help with the weaponry,” Bailon said, wiping the sweat from his brow with the back of his gloved hand. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was worn with exhaustion. “We have streamlined the process as much as possible, but many here are new to the craft. Though we are teaching and producing simultaneously, I believe our results are promising.”

My gaze swept over the racks and workbenches filling with knives and swords. The weapons gleamed with Light, and though Bailon felt optimistic about production, the cache of weapons seemed dwarfed by the brood of demons in the crevice. The weapons weren’t needed for just one army—but two. The one I still hoped to raise with the desert elves.

Rowen’s deep voice cut through the symphony of hammer strikes and hissing steam. “You are doing great work, Bailon. We will need more arrows and spears, long-range weapons that can be used at a distance.”

He pulled out a worn leather book, its pages filled with weapon designs.

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