Page 187 of The Call of Crimson
I set the cup of cocoa and the plate of biscuits on the table beside the chair and stand to greet him. Still dressed in sleep clothes, with a robe draped over his shoulders, hair mussed from sleep, he looks more beautiful than he has a right to.
“Happy Solstice, Aurelius.” I smile and reach for his hand.
He ignores my outstretched arm and grips my waist instead, pulling me flush against him. Our lips meet in a burning, but all too short, kiss that leaves me wanting.
“You’re sweet today,” he comments as he falls into my chair, tugging me down with him.
“Are you saying I’m not usually sweet?” I ask, batting my lashes with mock innocence.
He levels me with a look that reads something along the lines ofAre you serious?
“Fine, point taken,” I grumble and reach for my cocoa.
Aurelius drags his nose up the curve of my neck, peppering soft kisses behind my ear as he whispers, “What I meant was, youtasteespecially sweet today.”
Scandalous shivers run up my spine from his heated breath on my flesh.
“That would be the cocoa,” I explain, lifting the mug to my lips.
Before I can swallow, he captures my chin between his fingers, tilting my face toward him. “Let me taste.”
I press my lips to his, parting them to let the hot liquid chocolate spill down his throat. He tangles his fingers through the loose strands of hair at the nape of my neck, deepening the kiss.
A soft moan rattles through my throat when I feel him harden beneath me. We’ve stolen brief moments here and there since our time in the pantry, but in the weeks he’s been back at the palace, I haven’t gotten him where I really want him, buried deep inside me.
I shift so my legs straddle his hips in the chair, and grind myself against his hard length.
Reaching between us, I grasp his cock through the thin fabric separating us. “I need you,” I whimper.
With a pain-filled groan, Aurelius pulls my hand away, settling me back into his lap once more. He buries his face in my loose curls, breathing heavily before he finally says, “As much as I want nothing more than to be buried in your tight, wet heat, that’s not why I got out of bed this early.”
Reluctantly, I move off his lap and try to will my overheated skin to cool. “Why can’t it be both?”
“The castle is waking, and our time alone is coming to an end. I would rather spend these last few minutes of solitude giving you your gift.”
He shifts and retrieves a small parcel wrapped in brown paper from the pocket of his robe.
“You didn’t need to get me anything. You’ve showered me with more than enough gifts over the last several months,” I try to protest, but I know it will do no good.
I tear open the wrapping, revealing a sheathed dagger. But this isn’t just any weapon. The hilt is gold inlaid with three rubies centered on the handle. Unsheathing it, I find the metal is dark and sharpened to a deadly point.
“Turn it over,” Aurelius whispers.
On the back are the etched words, ‘Until the very end.’
“Aurelius...” My voice is weak, the sound catching in my throat.
“I found the plans in some of your father’s belongings,” he explains quietly. “The hilt and pommel were crafted from your mother’s crown. There are a few tweaks of my own making, but I wanted you to have something from both of them. I wanted you to have a piece of your parents, no matter where you go.Until the very end.”
I don’t even try to fight the tears that flow freely down my cheeks as I turn it over and over, savoring the feel of holding something so precious. “Perfect is too simple a word for this gift.”
He brushes the tears away from my cheeks, stroking my jaw with aching tenderness. “Perfect doesn’t even come close to describing the one it was crafted for.”
Setting the dagger aside, I contort myself, searching for the gift I had prepared for him.
He looks puzzled when I place the small wrapped package in his palm. “What’s this?”
“You didn’t think I wouldn’t get something for you, did you?”
