45
AVEEN
I’d never beenas proud of my sister as I was when she saved Tearmann. Three days had passed, and all the scouts had reported that the blight remained contained by the Black River bordering the Queen’s Forest. The curse had been well and truly broken. Tearmann had been saved from a grave threat.
And yet I couldn’t find it in my heart to celebrate with the rest of my friends and family.
I stabbed the slice of cake on my plate with my fork. Who knew it was possible to be sick of eating chocolate? Three days of cake and music and dancing and singing and rejoicing, and yet it felt as if the curse had burrowed into my very soul. Had they forgotten that one of us was still missing?
I felt Rían’s absence with every breath. Searched for him in every room I entered, scanned the horizon from the cliffs for signs of a ship. So many sleepless nights spent tossing and turning and wishing, all for naught.
I set my fork aside, unable to stomach another bite, and reached for my wine glass instead.
“I like what you’ve done with the lawns,” a deep voice drawled from the open doors leading to the patio.
My head snapped up, and as if I’d conjured him myself, my prince stood beside the open glass doors, his boots gleaming and smile as wicked as ever. I launched from my chair, knocking it clean over in my haste to get to him. I ran, and so did he. We met beneath the flickering chandelier. I threw my arms around my love, breathing in the spicy cinnamon clinging to his starched collar, desperate to feel his heart beat against mine.
“Tell me this is real. That you’ve returned to me.”
“This is real,” he whispered against my temple before dipping his head and laying claim to my mouth. The soft pressure of his lips grew firmer, more insistent. I found his tongue with mine, relearning this dance we knew so well. His hands slipped from the small of my back to my backside, gripping and lifting and fitting my legs around his hips to show meexactlyhow much he’d missed me. And bloody hell was it a lot.
I clung to him, losing my hands in his thick hair and soul-stealing kiss until Tadhg’s voice cut through the lust-filled haze. “Do you mind doing that elsewhere? Some of us are trying to enjoy our cake.”
Chocolate be damned. This man would be my dessert.
“Hush,” Keelynn hissed, followed by a loudsmack. “Leave them be. We can eat our dessert in the kitchens.”
Chairs scraped and footsteps retreated, but neither of us paid them any mind. A moment later, the door slammed, and we were alone.
“I’ve missed you so much,” I murmured against Rían’s mouth, loath to draw away long enough to get the words out.
His grip on my backside tightened as he moved me up and down his solid length. “I missed you more.”
My hand slid into his breeches at the same time my back slammed against the wall. Rían ground himself into me, nudging my thighs apart with his. He thrust up into my grasp, rocking his hips and bunching my skirts, finding my center with his fingers.
Our panting breaths filled the still night air.
“I have thought about being inside you every single day I was gone,” he murmured against the swell of my breast before pulling down the front of my dress and teasing the rigid peaks with his teeth.
I tightened my grip on his manhood, stroking hard and fast. “What are you waiting for?”
With a curse, he set me back on my feet long enough to yank his breeches down to his knees and draw my knickers to the side.
He teased the head of his thick erection against my folds. “Always so ready for me. So feckin’ wet.”
“Yes.” All for him, always and forever.
With a thrust of his hips, he stole my breath. Such fullness. Such delicious pressure. Such a tremendous ache deep in my core.
Our hips aligned, hitting deep, striking the most beautiful chord over and over again, dragging moans and whimpers from my throat.
Beds were overrated.
Give me a sturdy wall any day.
His head dipped, his tone back to teasing once more. “I should get abducted more often.”
I caught him by the jaw, dragging his mouth to mine. “If you ever pull something like that again, I’ll kill you myself.”