Crown of Ellova, Vol. 1 (Crown of Ellova Duology)

Chapter 40

CHAPTER 40

A ll those longing glances and sweet touches.

All those nights I slept in a cold bed and dreamt he was near.

All those times I told myself it was better to stay away.

Under the stars, our shadows are lined with moonlight, our mouths moving together, and, unlike our first kiss at the spring, this one is unhurried, our lips exploring each other with slow, delicate brushes. He takes his time moving down my neck until he finds a spot that makes me moan, sucking gently and focusing there until I squirm. My fingers are in his hair, desperate to keep him near. He is content with the soft kisses, but I am not. I move my hand to the front of the impressive bulge that has grown between us, rubbing him over the fabric of his breeches.

He stops his exploration of my throat to kiss my forehead. “Izadella, we do not have to.” His voice is kind, yet slightly strangled.

“Stop speaking.”

He does stop talking, but he also stops my hands from their inspection of his body, holding my wrists tightly to my sides as he leans down so we are at eye level. “That is not how this works, Strawberries. You can tell me what you want, or we stop this and I will return to showing you the detailed flower analysis I completed. I will not have you leave here with regrets.”

“I could never regret you!” A tidal wave of longing crests between us. “ Please , I’m desperate for you. This is agony, Leon.”

His eyes soften, and he releases my wrists. “I know.”

I start to tremble. “Touch me?” I ask with a whimper.

That is all it takes. His lips return to mine as we tell each other how we feel with touch and taste, his kiss transforming from slow and teasing to rough and demanding.

I love it.

I love him.

I meet Leon’s hunger with my own. One moment we are kissing, and the next I’m pulling at him, desperate for more of him. My attempt to push him down is unsuccessful, and he laughs at my efforts in the curve of my neck. He takes off the cloak he’s wearing, drapes it on the ground between the planters, and lowers me to the soft fabric, positioning himself above me.

Beneath the flowers, the air is full of healing floral notes and Leon’s scent. More strawberry bushes bloom around me, small white buds bringing forth plump, red berries.

Leon moves slowly down my body. I pull up my gown and he lets out a small laugh at the sight of my dagger strapped to my thigh. He carefully avoids the weapon and holster when he slides the lace undergarment off me, which he pockets with a smile. Now that my thighs are open to the night air, he spreads them wide before he trails soft, unhurried kisses down them.

“Izadella, can I taste you, truly taste you?” He stares at my exposed center, waiting for my response.

I nod frantically.

But that is apparently not enough since he continues waiting, his eyes sliding to my face with one eyebrow raised.

“Yes, yes, Ellova’s grave, yes!”

When he finally settles between me, my legs over his shoulders, he unleashes himself to devour me. His lick up my cunt is swift and consuming until he reaches my aching clit, going back down to my center to dip his tongue into me, teasing but deliberately avoiding exactly where I need him. The infuriating man.

I moan my displeasure and drop my hips, desperate for his tongue to follow, only for him to pull away from me.

“You will not come ’til I have had my fill, and I’m just getting started.”

He slips his full tongue back inside me and pumps his head back and forth for a moment of friction before he finally brings his mouth to my clit and slips two fingers into me. His tongue explores me, devours me, first long and slow, and then frantic and feral.

A starving man at his own personal feast.

“Please, Leon, you need to go faster. Please, please, please,” I pant, gasping for air as the pleasure he is giving drives me closer to the edge.

Leon’s thumb swirls on my clit while two fingers roughly pump into me, stretching, building a new pressure. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to taste you like this, open before me, ready to be worshiped? It's been agony , knowing how honeyed you are between your thighs while you slept in the next room without me.”

I beg and plead and whimper at his confession.

His reply to my begging is the press of his tongue to my clit, drawing rough, magnificent circles around it, sinking into the desperate nerves there over and over again while I moan, the sound echoing off the high garden walls. Just when I am about to go over the edge, he slows, his tongue moving down. He pulls his hand away and uses his thumb to move rapidly over my clit, his tongue circling my center that his fingers have stretched, dipping inside. I am panting, desperate to finish, and groaning his name. He must know what I want because his touch returns to their home inside me, and he moves the two digits in and out with leisurely pumps, driving deep. He slides his tongue up, pulls my clit into his mouth, and hums while he sucks.

Leon breathes into my center in a ragged breath, running his nose over the inside of my thighs, and growls into me, “This dripping cunt is mine, Izadella, only ever mine.” His teeth sink into the soft flesh, not deep but enough that I scream, his fingers still rocking inside me.

“Yes, yes, yours. Only yours!” I wish to weep at his claiming words.

“No one else will ever know your taste, your touch. I will cut out their tongues if anyone else dares to taste you.”

He moves his curved fingers in time with his circling, and his tongue returns to its blissful assault on my senses. Each pump of his hand presses inside me as he licks and sucks with ferocious intent.

Leon speeds up his hand to a steady rhythm while his tongue moves in endless circles, my moans guiding him to the perfect spot.

“Yes! Just. Like. That.” Each word pauses with a gasp.

My orgasm crashes into me, sending my back bending towards the stars as the pleasure explodes through me like a lightning strike. My hips jerk, overwhelmed with sensation. He groans with satisfaction; his tongue slows but he continues to lick and tease my overstimulated center as if he found paradise between my legs. Elation ripples through me.

After one last, long swipe of his tongue, he finally raises his head and we stare at each other. He chuckles, his lips wet, and he grabs the thickest, ripest strawberry off the bush next to us. Leon looks at it with a playful smile, spreads me wide with two fingers, and slowly slides the plump fruit through the mess we made between my thighs, circling my overly sensitive bud once before bringing the glistening fruit to his lips.

He chews with his eyes closed and moans in pleasure at the taste. “The sweetest delicacy I’ve ever had.”

As I watch him savor the glazed fruit, arousal pours into me, burning like white fire into my blood. I need him. Every part of me needs him. Inside me, on me, skin to skin. I reach up, grab him by the collar, and crash his lips into mine. His devouring kiss tastes like sweet summer strawberries and my own essence. I lick and suck his lower lip until I’m boneless with satisfaction and he’s tearing himself away from me .

Faster than I have ever seen him move before, he rips the dagger out of its sheath on my thigh.

“I need this for a moment, love,” he says, and I yelp as he grabs the fabric of the gown bunched around my waist and roughly pulls it down before his arm wraps around my waist. He stands, taking me with him, and shoves me behind him as dark figures approach us.

The three unmistakably male figures have black fabric covering their faces. One laughs mercilessly at the sight of Leon standing in front of me with only my dagger.

“Step away from her and she will not be subjected to the view of your head being removed from your body,” he says to Leon.

“No,” Leon snarls at them, “but she may watch your death if she wishes.”

The other two males’ fists erupt in crimson flames, and they launch fireballs at Leon. Leon shoves me out of the way but isn’t quick enough to save himself as well; the fire burns the fabric away as he grunts in pain.

The magic rises within me, ready to defend, but then an iron net is thrown over me. Like a candle being blown out, the iron nullifies the magic within me.

“Watch it! We need her alive!” the third figure yells at the first.

The fire lands in the planter growing the anafaea flowers, incinerating the precious plants we need for the elixir, before spreading outward into the gardens. One of the males is sending more and more fireballs.

“NO!” My scream for the ignited flora turns into a scream of terror for myself as one of the firefae grabs both of my arms from behind to drag me away. His armor clicks, and rage boils within me when my call to my metal-wielding goes unanswered, the crown’s magic just wisps of fog.

He shouts next to my ear, “I got her?—”

Leon’s arm flies past my face, lodging my dagger in the male’s eye socket. The attacker’s shriek of pain turns my stomach, but his grip loosens enough for me to struggle away. Blood from his injury soaks my hair and streaks down one side of my attacker’s face in waves as he launches forward, half-blinded, at Leon, but another impact quickly takes out his other eye. Leon shoves him to the ground and rips my dagger out of the dead fae’s skull.

The other firefae attack from behind, and one drives his blade toward Leon. It slices into Leon’s arm as he shields me again, and the other attacker rips me away from Leon by my hair. Leon’s attacker turns back to my lover, and Leon’s enraged face is the last thing I see before he is knocked unconscious.

No, no, no, no.

I love him.

I haven’t told him yet.

He cannot die!

The net pulls taut and I am hurled to the ground. The other firefae drags me away while I fight to return to Leon, my nails breaking as I claw the dirt to get closer. “LEON! NO, PLEASE ! LEON!”

To be continued…

The thrilling conclusion to the Crown of Ellova Duology, Captive Queen, will be released in 2025.