“Hmm?”
“Do you always glow for people in bed, or…?”
Did I alwayswhat now? I glanced down at my fingertips.Oh.They were, indeed, glowing. Godsdamn it. I really needed to work on controlling that. I was well-established as a Light Conduit by now, but gods forbid any of the other elements come out and play the next time I felt a strong wave of emotion… or pleasure.
Kieran cleared his throat a little, still looking down at me with bemused curiosity.
“I can’t say that’s ever happened before,” I confessed.
He looked a smidge too pleased with that answer, the cocky bastard. And I expected him to tease me, but instead, Kieran laced our fingers together and allowed his aether to manifest, Shadows creeping up slowly until they coated his hand like some sort of arcane paint.
The tenebrous tendrils crawled from his fingertips, up his wrist and forearm. Again, I felt connected to his arcana in a way that felt far more intimate and personal than it should. I didn’t dare ask him if that was intentional. Instead, I turned my focus to mirroring his little trick, centering my mind. I allowed the Light aether to extend beyond the tips of my fingers, the sensation tickling a bit as it grew and stretched, until I wore my arcana like a matching pair of gloves.
I wasn’t sure what would happen at first, half expecting that one of our elements would cancel out the presence of the other. We were elemental parallels, after all, with our specializations lying at the very opposite ends of the aetheric spectrum. But no… there was nothing negated—the dark, smoky tendrils wrapping around his fingers just served to amplify the glow emanating from my own. In turn, the wisps of darkness encircling his hands were illuminated in a haunting, ethereal sort of way.
For a moment, we just lingered like that in silence, mutually entranced by the view. It reminded me of summer nights in the forest, like flickering fireflies in the dark.
“Well, that’s rather pretty,” Kieran murmured.
“You’rerather pretty,” I teased.
“Mmm, and here I was thinking you’d never notice,” he quipped back, paired with a smile so genuine that it almosthurt.
I laid back in bed, leaving myself just about eye level with his waist, and stole a hungry glance at the way his pants were beginning to slide from his hips. Kieran caught my gaze and held it, leaning his tall frame over me as he released his hold on one of our interlaced hands, drawing the other one up to his lips to kiss my palm. Without breaking eye contact, he guided one of my fingers into his mouth, sucking at the tip of it softly. The look in his eyes was so godsdamned indecent while he did so that I was already on the cusp of release. Over a godsdamnedglance.
Growing impatient again, I took it upon myself to scoot forward and wrap my legs around his waist where he stood, pulling him in towards me. Kieran hissed, but leaned into it, pushing his trapped erection up against me for just a moment before pulling himself back.
“Easy, Arken,” he warned, tugging at my tights. “I still have to get these off.”
“The tights? Or me?” I smirked.
“Both,” he replied simply, canines gleaming as he returned my wicked grin. “In quick succession.”
“Aw, what ever happened to taking your sweet time, Kier?” I teased.
“The road to Hel is paved with good intentions.”
I laughed. He was so godsdamed clever. Even in my depraved state of mind, about to be entirely naked in his bed, I had to appreciate the quickness of his wit. But it wasn’t Kieran’s wit that I was appreciating when he knelt down after peeling the fabric from my legs, spreading my thighs apart with a firm grip.
It was his fucking mouth.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Kieran
The road to Hel is paved with good intentions.
If that wasn’t the story of my entire godsdamned life—but truth be told? I couldn’t care less at the moment. Every single gasp that came out of her mouth was glorious validation that I hadn’t been alone in my longing. Miraculously, it seemed that Arken wanted this just as badly as I did.
It somehow made up for all of that suffering in silence, if only because I knew now that I hadn’t been suffering alone. Butgods, I didn’t want her to suffer any longer. I never wanted her to suffer again.
I would give this woman anything she ever wanted, so long as she asked for it with that same breathy moan. I’d set the world ablaze. Fates, I’d setmyselfon fire just to see another flicker ofthe desperate, needy hunger in her eyes as I stripped her of what remained of her clothing.
As I pulled off Arken’s tights, I drank in the sight of her—entirely exposed now, and writhing with anticipation. I marveled at the way my touch seemed to affect her, raising gooseflesh anywhere I wanted with the slightest brush of my knuckles against her sensitive skin.
“Kieran,” she groaned softly as I dropped to my knees before her.
“Yes, sweetheart?”