House of the Raven (The Eldrystone #1)

35. CHAPTER 35

35

VALERIA

“Amira, Valeria, and Jago are the children I never had.”

Serena de la Aguila - Royal Governess - 12 AV

D anger lurks. Ready yourself.

I sit in my bathtub, arms wrapped tightly around my legs, chin resting on my knees. The water has gone cold, but I barely notice.

When a shiver runs up my spine, I climb out and dry myself. Draped in a towel, I make my way to the closet, where an immense dress dominates most of the space. A wooden mannequin holds it in place, preserving its pristine condition and preventing it from creasing.

The seamstress declared it her masterpiece, second only to my wedding dress, which she has already started. I whirl away from it, mad that the whole affair is for Don Justo’s benefit.

I will have to stand by him, talk to him, dance with him, pretend that he means something when all I feel is contempt.

The towel falls to the floor as I pick a silk nightgown and pull it over my head. The fabric caresses my skin causing goosebumps to break out. I rub my arms, feeling strangely sensitive even to my own touch. I let out a shaky breath and walk to my bed. My hand freezes as I pull back the sheets. I stand there, unmoving, for several minutes, trying to understand the feverish sensation that seems to roll over my body like sun-warmed water rolls over the beach.

The memory of Bastien’s lips on my collarbone and his large hand on my breast appears before my eyes.

“If you find someone who makes you feel star bursts, you go for it, little sister.”

What if I don’t have another chance? What if the danger I’ve been warned about ends it all and I never feel this way again? In a split second, my heart makes a decision, determined to follow Amira’s advice. I walk toward the door, bare feet padding over the rug. The texture tickles my soles, making me aware of how sensitive every inch of my skin is.

Pushing away the fear of his rejection, I open the door. Bastien is standing a foot away, his fist raised as if he was about to knock.

He lowers his hand as those dark eyes rove over my body.

“W-would you like to come in?” I say.

His chest moves like big bellows. His angular features seem sharper, wild somehow, and I feel like prey to his predator.

“I should not,” he answers hoarsely.

“Do you often refrain from doing what you want? Because I have a habit of doing precisely the opposite.”

I reach for his hand. Our touch is electric. He blinks slowly. He felt it, too. I know. Pulling gently, I guide him inside and close the door.

A few candles burn over the mantle and combined with the moonlight seeping through the balcony, I can see him well enough. His eyes are dark pits that hide everything from me. I know nothing about this man, and yet I want him. The emotions coursing through me right now, the intensity with which his eyes consume me, I understand that this is no ordinary connection. This attraction isn’t something that can be contrived or taken lightly .

“Take me. Make me yours.” I press a hand to his cheek and guide his lips to mine.

His mouth is a breath away from mine when he stops and says, “We should not, Valeria. I should not. You’ll hate me later.”

“It’s only you and me tonight. There’s no yesterday, no tomorrow. Only this moment matters.”

These words pierce through his defenses like a rapier through flesh, unleashing his ill-restrained desire. His mouth crashes into mine. I meet his kiss with matching fervor. His arms wrap around me, and we stumble until my back is to the wall and his body is flush against mine. His tongue slips into my mouth, warm and insistent.

My body shudders as he growls like a wild creature. His hands caress my shoulders, cup my face, slide down my sides. They’re everywhere, and yet it’s not enough. I need more. The spark we set alight the other night has lingered between us, steadily heating up, and now it has finally erupted, igniting a pyre that may consume us.

His strong hands slide down my backside, and abruptly my feet come off the floor, and he’s pinning me against the wall, his middle pressed to mine, his hips moving rhythmically. I throw my head back as he rubs against me, the feeling is exquisite, and I can’t fathom how it could get much better, but something tells me it will.

His tongue traces a path up my exposed neck, then he bites me hard enough to make me hiss. As if taking this as a sign, his kisses slow, growing tender. Carefully, he leans back, carries me toward the bed. There, he sets my feet on the floor, as if needing my permission to go further.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I kiss him on the mouth. His eyelids flutter closed, and I can’t believe a touch from my lips can penetrate his strong barriers so easily. My hands slide down—over his chest and abdomen—enjoying every well-defined ridge and valley. I don’t know what about this man makes me brave, but my hands slide further down, moving over his length .

Gods , he’s big.

He groans and takes this as his permission to do as he pleases. Lifting me off the floor with ease, he sets me in the middle of the bed and resumes kissing me, his lips more determined to explore every section of my body.

In turn, I kiss him. His mouth, his jaw, his neck. He tastes of freedom and abandon, two things I never thought I would find in a man.

I feel his body and hardness through my thin nightgown, but it isn’t enough.

“This isn’t fair.” I push him away and sit.

He blinks, his eyes dark pits of lust. I give him no time to formulate a thought and work on the buttons of his jacket. When that is done, he throws it on the floor and quickly slips his white shirt over his head, revealing the most beautiful male body I have ever seen.

The royal guards train on Nido’s grounds and shirts have always been optional. I’ve seen plenty of bare chests, but none as perfect as Bastien’s. The moonlight seeping past the balcony plays over his golden skin, and I’m jealous of the way it touches him all at once. I want to do the same, so I settle for the closest alternative and let my eyes drink him in.

The width of his shoulders, his expansive chest muscles, the dips and crevices of his abs, the way his torso tapers down to his narrow waist and begins to form a V , the dark hairs traveling down from his navel and disappearing under his trousers.

I touch the tips of my fingers to the silver scars across his chest. It’s subtle, shining under the silver light only when I tilt my head to look at it askance. It’s three jagged lines, running parallel to each other, like claw marks.

Bastien grabs my hand and presses it to his lips. He bestows a kiss, then puts my index finger inside his mouth and sucks it. My core responds and suddenly I’m aware of something slick between my legs. He pushes me back down, nostrils flaring. He glances down and smiles wickedly.

Oh, gods !

He’s kneeling between my legs, his trousers still in the way, but the way his hands are slowly sliding from my knees toward my hips makes me forget all of that. He pushes my nightgown to my waist and growls between his teeth when he realizes I’m wearing nothing else.

“Damn, princess, is there anything about you that won’t make me lose my mind?” he asks, as he places a hand over my belly, his thumb settling at the apex of my mound to trace a circle. “I will come back to you,” he adds, leaning down to press a light kiss on my navel before he trails a path upward, all along pushing my nightgown up and up until I take it off in one swift motion and discard it without a second thought.

I’m too busy watching him kiss his way to the tip of my right breast, where he stops to suck and tease with the tip of his tongue. My nipples harden to aching nubs. He cups my other breast, then pinches it between thumb and forefinger. Chills travel to my toes. My scalp tingles.

It feels as if I’ve gone to heaven, then he returns his attention further south, and I learn there’s a heaven within heaven.

Tenderly, he parts me with his finger, then slides his tongue from my center back to the apex where the entire universe seems to concentrate. The tip of his tongue concentrates there, tracing circles, causing me to moan with need.

Of their own accord, my hips lift off the bed. Head thrown back in ecstasy, I squeeze the sheets between trembling fists. Something builds inside of me, momentum that seems terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. Bastien laps and sucks, sucks and laps. He’s breathing hard, his face buried between my legs as he devours me with uninhibited delight.

A wave of tremendous release washes over me and suddenly I’m screaming, tremors assaulting my body. I’m falling, falling, falling, and then Bastien is there, holding me tight to his chest, kissing my temple, whispering my name against my ear .

I bury my face in his neck and continue shuddering, pleasure rolling from my core in exquisite cycles and leaving me helpless in this man’s arms.

When the delicious assault passes, I start kissing his neck. He responds with a moan of his own. My hands reach for his trousers and despite the shaking of my finger, I undo the buttons.

He gets out of bed, stands, and removes his pants. They drop to the floor revealing the extent of his beauty. I’m embarrassed by the way his erect length consumes my attention. Here is something I’ve never seen, and I’m immediately fascinated. I want to know all there is to know about this part of him.

Eagerly, I push to the edge of the bed and sit in front of him. I’m careful as I wrap a hand around him, my thumb stroking the underside. His eyes close. He throbs in my hand, and I smile at the response. He is soft and hard all at the same time.

A small drop of liquid shines at the very tip. I lap it away with my tongue, and he nearly melts into me. It seems like an impossible task, but I take him into my mouth and revel in the feel of him inside my mouth. My hand pumps all the way down to the base, then back up.

With a sudden growl, he pulls away from me and returns us to the center of the bed, where he positions himself on top of me once more. His tip presses against my center, and I barely have time to bemoan the change in positions because I’m shocked by the anticipation of what he will do next.

“This,” he says. “ This is what I want.”

“A bit selfish, don’t you think?” I manage in a breathless gasp.

“This is not about altruism, princess. I want to fuck you. This night, you are mine.”

Mine . Mine. Mine.

I like the sound of that word on his chiseled lips. “Be selfish then. ”

His expression—no, his very features—seem to change. His eyes devour me, lust brimming from its dark depths. His nose and jaw are sharper, his eyes more luminous. He’s so beautiful that words aren’t enough to describe.

And when he thrusts his hips once, his shaft pressing against my core and causing the most delicious ache. Words cease to matter. There is only the pressure between my legs, the way he tears me one bit at a time, until I’m full to the brim with him, until he’s touching the most tender parts of me, his body flush against mine, his wall undone as he surrenders to this feeling of belonging to each other.

Mine. Mine. Mine.

He is also mine.

Bastien thrusts in and out.

I arch in pleasure as he fills me so deeply and so thoroughly that tears slide from the corners of my eyes. Once more, he drives me to that tense momentum, that space that feels full of possibilities even though there is only one outcome.

I sway at the very edge as he ebbs and flows. For a long moment, I teeter precariously, my fingernails digging into his back. Together, our bodies rock and we scream in utter delight. It feels like a release of self, that taste of the ever-elusive freedom I crave.

He shivers and collapses into my arms, our chest, our hearts, our souls, touching. He is utterly at my mercy.

Mine. Mine. Mine.