“It’s ridiculous,” I say.
“It’s cute.”
“Yes, that’s what every lustful female wants to be. Cute. ”
He laughs. “You’re certainly other things too,” he murmurs. “Shall I compose a list?”
“Hardened, bitter, boring, ” I say. I try to sound light—joking—but my tone reveals far too much of what I really feel.
“Stunning, powerful, persistent, breathtaking, ” he says.
I bite my bottom lip and shift beneath him before reaching up and toying with one of his curls in return.
His eyes are hooded as he gazes down at me. “The night in the shower . . . do you remember what you said to me when I carried you to bed?”
I shake my head. I have no memory of that night beyond the shower. “You said I asked you to stay.”
He nods. “You did. And then you told me that I made you feel as safe as a starry night sky.”
My cheeks heat. “Sounds like I was pretty pathetic.”
He shakes his head. “No. You don’t understand. You were saying everything I wanted to hear. I was pathetic because of how much I wanted to believe the drugs had nothing to do with your confessions.”
“It’s true, though,” I whisper. “I have always drawn strength from you.”
“That’s the tether.”
I shake my head. “Not just magically. I find strength in the way you believe in me. In our friendship. It’s a strength that has nothing to do with my power.”
His silver eyes blaze into mine. “It’s the same for me. I never thought I could feel this again.” He swallows. “I didn’t think I wanted to.”
I shiver beneath him.
“Are you cold?”
I shake my head. “Not anymore.”
“Me neither.” He traces my lips with his thumb, and I can’t get over the awe in his eyes, the adoration. How could this beautiful, powerful, kind male be so grateful to be here with me?
Pushing up onto one hand, he slowly unlaces the front of my shirt, letting it fall open and exposing my breasts before dipping his head. The air is cool, but his mouth is hot as he flicks his tongue over my peaked nipple. I arch my back up off the hard ground and moan as heat and pleasure zip through my blood.
“Do you have any idea what it was like to know you were sleeping in my bed at the Unseelie palace? To see you there when I’d imagined it so many times? I can’t wait until I can have you there again. I’ve dreamed so many times of holding you there, having you in my arms as we sleep under the stars together.” He nuzzles my neck, and I arch into him, loving the feel of my breasts against his bare chest, needing more pressure between my legs.
“Finn,” I breathe, dragging my hands up and down his back. “I love you.” I just want to say it over and over again. Until he feels it in his heart, until he believes it and believes he’s worthy of that love.
“I love you too.”
“Do we have . . .” I bite my lip. “Is there a tonic we can take once we return to the capital—to prevent pregnancy?”
“Yes.” His mouth sweeps over mine so sweetly. “But we don’t have to do anything tonight. We have our whole lives ahead of us, we can—”
“Please?” I shift under him, pulling my knees up on either side of his hips and urging him to settle between my legs. I groan at the feel of him through the layers between us. “I don’t want to wait.”
He grins down at me in the darkness. “I don’t either,” he says, “but I would. If you really plan to swim in the Waters of New Life, we’ll have all the time we need, and every opportunity to—”
I thread my fingers into his hair and pull him down to me. He smiles into the kiss, and his hands begin a leisurely exploration of my stomach, my sides, my breasts. His thumb skims across my pebbled nipples.
I lift my hips, rocking into him and showing him with the rhythm of my body just where I need this to go. But Finn won’t be rushed. He trails kisses down my neck, across my collarbone, nipping at my shoulders and the curve of my breasts and down over my stomach. He trails his tongue down my stomach to just below, where he sucks lightly at the sensitive skin beneath my navel. I gasp.
He nudges my thighs wider and nuzzles his nose between my legs. “Let me kiss you here.” He opens his mouth, pressing his tongue against me through the fabric.
I can’t breathe. His big hands trail down my sides, and his fingers hook into my pants and peel them off me. I barely have time to catch my breath before his mouth is on me again, big hands on my inner thighs, holding me open for him as his tongue dances along my most sensitive skin, his mouth alternately teasing and demanding until I’m whimpering and incoherent.