Thorns of Frost (Fae of Snow & Ice, #2)(64)

His chest lifted in a breath that was so deep it seemed to carry the weight of the realm when he released it. He covered my hand with his, then leaned down until his forehead touched mine. “I ache for you, Ilara.”

My heart squeezed at that quietly pained statement. “I ache for you as well.”

He trailed a finger softly along my cheek. “Are you sure I can’t convince you otherwise?”

My entire body tingled, and a shudder ran through me.

He shifted, pressing a kiss to my throat before he inhaled my scent. “I could make you scream in pleasure.” He kissed my neck again, so softly, so suggestively, that a swell of desire bloomed in my core.

A shiver danced down my spine as goosebumps broke out across my skin. He slipped an arm around my waist, slowly, questioningly. As if he didn’t want to force anything on me and was waiting to see what I would do.

I knew I couldn’t bed him, not yet, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t enjoy other things.

He seemed to sense my acceptance the moment it hit me.

A low growl rumbled his chest, and then he lifted me, sweeping me into his embrace before striding toward his bed. Wings rippling behind him, he cradled me to him as steady channels of power oozed from his pores.

My heart beat harder, painfully hard. But I didn’t stop him, didn’t voice any concern. Because Blessed Mother, I wanted this male, wanted him so badly that I burned, even if I couldn’t fully have him yet.

When we reached the bed, Norivun lay me on it and paused as longing washed over his face. “I’ve wanted to see you in my bed for so many months.”

His hands went to the hem of my pants before he removed them slowly, languidly, as if he were relishing every moment of undressing me now that the time had finally come. He removed my shirt next, his breath hissing when only my underthings covered me.

“So beautiful.” He lifted my foot and brought the arch to his mouth. My toes curled when he pressed a kiss there, then he ran his fingers up my calf. “So soft. Your skin is like silk.”

He trailed his fingertips up my thighs, and I nearly bucked off the bed when his fingers brushed fleetingly on my core.

He chuckled darkly as desire heated his gaze before he bent my knees, then wrapped both of my legs over his shoulders, hooking my feet behind him, right between his wings.

My attention snagged on those leathery appendages. They were spread slightly, as though he wasn’t able to keep them locked in tight, and my toe inched toward his left wing before running slightly up the inside, where the bone met flesh.

Norivun hissed, and a shuddering groan left him. “Do that again.”

My heart beat faster as I mimicked the same movement, first on his left wing and then on his right.

His entire face tightened as energy coiled around him. Squeezing his eyes shut, he took a deep breath and then another. And when he opened his eyes, such a fierce emotion shone in them that I couldn’t breathe.

“I need you naked.” In a clash of power, his magic tore through my underthings, and then I was bare, fully revealed.

His entire body just . . . stopped as the power around him soared.

My chest heaved as he drank me in, the aura around him rising higher as the pulse leaped in his neck.

“So beautiful. So exquisitely perfect.” His gaze glided over my skin, traveling from my open thighs still cradling his head, to my stomach, then across my belly and up to my breasts. “I’ve been wanting to see you again. That brief glimpse at Liss Lodge wasn’t nearly enough.”

“I was skin and bones then.”

“You were still beautiful. I’ll always find you beautiful, Ilara.” His breath sucked in. “And now, you’re the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen. All curves and swells. I could spend eternity giving you pleasure, memorizing every dip and turn of your flesh.”

His eyes were wild when he prowled upward and kissed my breast, first one and then the other, before rolling my nipple with his tongue and then sucking. I moaned, arching into his touch.

“I could spend all day here,” he growled.

I moaned again when his fingers trailed up my sides, and then his clothes were flying from him, shredded completely under his magic before he stood naked above me.

My breath caught, snagging on the appendage between his legs that was so stiff and hard it curved upward. His cock was huge. So large and utterly beautiful with the twisting, throbbing veins and broad head that held a bead of dew on its tip.

“I want to taste you,” I whispered.

I hadn’t been with many males. Only two in my lifetime, and I’d never had a male in my mouth, but looking up at the prince now, at his utter power and ferocity, had my belly quivering and liquid longing flooding my core. I needed to taste him.

Norivun’s nostrils flared, and he shook his head. “I’m tasting you first. I fear what I’ll do if that pretty mouth of yours closes around me before you’ve found your pleasure.”

I bit my lip, and the wildness in his eyes grew.

His head lowered. “You smell like the sweetest bud I’ve ever scented.” And then his mouth was going to my core.

His lips and tongue met my sensitive flesh with a clash of heat and fire. I bowed off the bed when his mouth latched onto me, his tongue starting slow as he groaned with each lick. But with each flick of his tongue, the energy around him soared as I became frantic in his arms.