Page 9 of Boundless
He hummed, his breathing deepening and evening out, but after a few minutes, when she was near to sleep herself, she heard a soft whisper: "Thank you for being my friend."
Bloody gods, this sweet creature was going to be the death of her.
THE NEXT MORNINGdawned bright and golden, unfamiliar bird calls tugging Daega from her dreams. She was startled to realize that there was a warm body cradled in her arms, and when she ripped her sticky eyes open she saw a crop of golden-blond curls—the prince, her husband. He was curled into her, his head resting on her shoulder and one leg slung over her hips. Her arms were flung around his shoulders, and she let her grip tighten, just the littlest bit, as memories of their long talk last night floated to the surface.
Against all the odds, Daega genuinely liked Len and felt a strong affection for him after just one day. He awakened her protective instincts and made her want to dote on him, to shower him with the affection he'd been denied his whole life. She'd been expecting someone spoiled and self-centered, someone she'd have to fight to get along with, someone that she'd have to put up with for the good of her people.
And instead, she'd gotten Len. She smiled against the top of his head, taking a deep breath of his scent. He smelled good, like summer sun and ripe berries, and her heart fluttered in her chest as she continued to take greedy breaths.
She'd never been with someone like Len before, so gentle and nervous, but she didn't think she hated it. She liked being strong and powerful, but didn't like the slaughter of a killing field. She wanted to use her considerable strength to protect, to defend, and not in the abstract way that a soldier protects their homeland. And Len could certainly stand to borrow someone else's strength. At least, until he found his own.
Len's breath caught, and he made a sleepy sound of protest before wriggling closer, just like he'd done after he'd fainted. She pressed a soft kiss to the top of his head.
"Easy, Len. I hate to break it to you, but itismorning, and we'll have to get up soon."
He stiffened against her, no doubt just as shocked as she'd been by their position, but at length he sighed and relaxed back into her, making her melt.
"Vitrin's mercy, I don't think I've ever been s-so tired before in my life." His voice was thick and rough with sleep.
"Aye, I'm fair knackered, myself. We might be able to hide for a bit, until they come for us—"
Naturally, that was when the door burst inward, an incredibly stiff and stuffy older elf striding in. Len went still and stopped breathing, and she pressed another kiss into his hair and trailed a hand up and down his back. He started breathing again, and he didn't pull away like she thought he might. The older elf froze when he caught sight of them, a look of disgust flashing across his face before he managed to wipe it away. Len saw none of it, as his back was to the door, and she thanked the gods for small mercies.
"Pardon the intrusion, highnesses," the older elf intoned, standing at attention. "But His Grace has requested your presence for breakfast, my prince."
Len sighed, extracting himself and turning to the other elf. "Thank you, J-Jespirr. Just m-me, though? N-not my l-lady-wife?"
Jespirr darted a look at her face, his expression carefully neutral this time. "No, Your Highness. Just you." Len was mostly turned away from her now, but she could just see a frown settle on his pink lips.
"It's alright, dearest," she said softly, patting his shoulder. "Go see what your da wants and I'll make myself decent." She leaned in closer to whisper in his ear. "Maybe he wants to have The Talk with you, tell you all about what to do with a cunt."
As she thought he would, Len sputtered and choked, his face going red and one hand swatting at her shoulder. "Wouldn't that make m-more sensebeforethe wedding, though?" he hissed back, grinning mischievously at her.
She shrugged, shaking her wings out from where they'd been folded tight against her back all night. "Aye, but you elves do everything backwards.”
He rolled his eyes, then seemed to remember Jespirr—his father’s man-servant who frequently helped Len as well, if she remembered correctly from their talks—was still standing there waiting for Len to get out of bed. He threw back the covers and scrambled to the floor, leaving her all alone and feeling curiously cold.
The two elves were halfway to the bathroom when Len paused, looking back at her. "Would you want t-to come?" he asked, his big green eyes searching her face carefully. "Do you...want to be i-included?"
Her breath snagged in her throat, the urge to go to him and sweep him up again coming on as powerfully as it was sudden. She knew how fraught his relationship was with his father. She knew how much he feared his father's anger. "I would be honored," she told him, biting her lip gently—a movement he tracked, she noted. "But I don't wish to rock the boat when I've only just gotten here—"
"Th-then you'll come. J-Jespirr, w-would you mind sending s-someone to inform m-my father of the ch-change in plans?"
The older elf looked like he'd swallowed a live toad. "I—certainly, my prince." He darted a look between the two of them that seemed almost suspicious, then he was gone, leaving them alone once more.
"What are you doing, you mad elf?" she asked, struggling out of the bed herself. "He's going to be furious."
Len nodded, ruffling the hair at the nape of his neck. "Quite. But I-I know what he's doing, and I won’t let him d-do it to you. H-he never sees me for breakfast, so for him to invite me and sp-specifically leave you out, he's—he'ssnubbingyou."
She strode closer to him, taking his hands gently. "Are you protecting me, sweetling?" she murmured, watching color creep up his slim throat with no small thrill. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and she wanted to lean down and lick a stripe along that smooth, pale column.
At first, her feelings balked her, startled her, but hewasher husband, was he not? And sooner or later they'd have to be intimate—so it wasn't reallywrongto feel attracted to him. She cupped his delicate face in her hands, the pads of her fingers stroking the shell of his pointed ears and making him gasp and shiver. He licked his lips, his eyes heavy-lidded and locked on her mouth. She let herself grin, dipping her head to close the distance. His sunshine and berry scent wrapped around her, pulling her closer.
"I know I said I wanted to be your friend," she murmured, her thumbs tracing the high jut of his cheekbones. "But I think I also want to eat you up like the tasty little treat you are."
Len's eyes slid closed and he shuddered. Daega waited, not wanting to push him into anything when he was still so unused to saying no to people. But then his eyes snapped open, searching her face, and he was surging up, his arms wrapping tight around her neck as he closed the distance between them. His mouth found hers easily, his soft lips molding to hers like they'd been doing this for years, and her arms went around his slim waist, holding him close as they sank into each other.
She parted her lips and licked the seam of his mouth, asking for entrance, and after a moment he opened uncertainly, letting her plunge her long tongue into his mouth to taste him from the source. His flavor was a little stale from it being first thing in the morning, but she loved it all the same, her movements growing more urgent, more heated. Len moaned and whimpered into her mouth, sending a bolt of heat to her sex. She eased him back down until his feet were back on the floor, only to grab him at the hips and hoist him up until his legs could wrap around her waist and she could grab his ass.
