I didn’t need to hear her whimpers to know what she liked; she told me in the way she clutched my head to her chest as I teased the sensitive tips of her breasts with my tongue. Swirling. Nipping. Drawing out those delicious sounds.
There was too much to see. Too much to touch. Too much to taste.
Her ragged breaths caught when my fingers slid between her glorious thighs. Her nails skimmed my back when I dipped inside, finding her drenched and so tight, my eyes rolled back in my head. I could watch the delicious rapture on her face forever as my thumb circled the bundle of nerves hidden between folds of dripping heat.
When I withdrew, she whimpered. When I caught her hips and dragged her toward me, she gasped.
“Do you want to know a secret?” I whispered against her trembling knee, kissing my way along her petal-soft skin to the top of her stocking. Inching higher.
Her eyes burned into mine. “Yes.”
“I’ve fantasized about burying myself between your thighs since the night we met.” The moment I saw her kick that mercenary, I should’ve known I was doomed.
“Tadhg—”
She tasted of life and light and sweet redemption. Her hands tangled in my hair, pulling and dragging at the roots. Her thighs squeezed and shook.
I finally told her the truth. Spelling each word I couldn’t say with my cursed tongue against her center.
That I was the monster she needed to murder.
That I was sorry for everything.
That her soul had been made to meld with mine.
That I was undeniably and irrevocably hers.
And when she came apart with a pulsing whisper, I wished there was a way to make her undeniably and irrevocably mine.
16
I had a new plan.
One that involved more of what had happened last night and less death.
For centuries I’d lived with my curses. What were a few more years? All I had to do was convince Keelynn to stay with me. Sure, she’d be upset when she learned the truth of my betrayal, but after last night, I was fairly certain I could convince her to forgive me. My body stirred. I’d convince her over and over and over again. She could keep the ring, and I would lock myself in the castle and stay away from anyone in a skirt except for her.
The sun kissed my cheeks the way I’d kissed Keelynn last night, leaving me almost as warm. That ring had been my salvation but not in the way I’d thought. Even the weight of my curses didn’t feel as heavy on this glorious morning, the river burbling at my back and my soulmate inside the cottage.
I’d shifted my ledger in an attempt to try and sober myself. But staring at the names of my victims didn’t trouble me the way it usually did. For the first time in a long time, I felt genuine hope welling inside my chest.
The door creaked, and Keelynn squeezed through the gap. A blush painted her cheeks when our eyes connected.
“Good morning.”
That smile. I could stare at it forever. “Good morning,” she returned. “How did you sleep?” She carried her boots to the river, dropping onto the pebbled shore. I loved that she didn’t seem to mind getting her skirts dirty. Her bare feet dipped beneath the surface of a glimmering eddy.
I sent my ledger away. It’d do no good to have her see her sister’s name written inside.
“Quite well considering the woman beside me snored like a drunken pooka.” When I passed out next to Ruairi and the man woke me with his thunderous snores, I felt like holding a pillow over his face. When Keelynn had woken me this morning, I’d wanted to kiss her senseless.
“Ladies don’t snore,” she insisted, wiggling her toes, refusing to meet my gaze. “And if theydidsnore, a gentleman wouldn’t mention it.”
“Ah, but I am not a gentleman.” Not by far. “And after last night, I’m not entirely convinced you’re a lady.” She was a wild goddess, brimming with unbridled passion. A creature to be worshipped every night and every day.
“Last night was a moment of weakness. It won’t happen again.”
That was her good sense talking. Fortunately for me, good sense tended to wane as darkness approached. And I had a lot of darkness. “Right. Of course. Out of curiosity, though,whycan’t it happen again?”And again. And again. And again.