the full depth of her cunt, and it seemed there was nothing sensitive that he did not touch—not even her clit, when he tilted her ass and began to rub against that, too.
“Aerax.” She knew not what she begged for, except more. “Aerax.”
Gritting his teeth, he withdrew again but so slowly, she would die of it. Her thighs tightened around his waist as she attempted to draw him in, but he held her back with that unyielding grip on her ass until only the very tip of him touched her, not even inside her cunt but nestled between her folds.
Near sobbing, she yanked at his hair. “Please.”
And there was no burning with this breaching, only the delicious stretch of her body accepting his slow possession. Deeper and deeper he pushed, and there was no end to him, and no end to her, only the fierce pleasure that curled her toes and arched her back against the stone.
“Two,” Aerax gritted out, and began another incredible grind, then cheating, cheating, he shoved her back flat against the column and began pumping against her, never withdrawing but using the give of her own flesh to remain so deep inside her while fucking, fucking, pressing against her clit with each thrust and building the pressure within her sheath to near unbearable tightness.
“Are you near?” he growled against her lips as his cock ruthlessly pumped faster, and her desperate whine served as her reply.
He stopped pumping to grind again, and she cried out, jerking her hips when he hit just right.
“There, Aerax. There,” she told him, and he gave her there over and over and over, until the sparks streaming through her blood began to burn bright across her every nerve, her entire body pulling tight. With a snarl, Aerax fucked full into her on a hard thrust and the fire exploded within, blazing through her senses as they ground together again. His mouth found hers in the dark, a groan tearing from his throat as he pumped his release into her quivering sheath.
Never would she stop kissing him. Never. So it seemed for as long as he held her, but in the distance was still the pinprick of torchlight.
“Three,” she finally whispered against his lips, sighing as she let her legs fall from his hips.
It seemed that everything after should be a disappointment. As he withdrew from her and his seed dripped between her thighs. As she found her brocs on the floor and used them to clean herself. As there was no bed to stay in together, reveling in their new intimacy, and instead they had to continue the task of standing in front of passageways and watching the torch for evidence of a draft.
Yet there was no disappointment. All of it seemed as wonderful as Aerax inside her. To be with him in this comfortable way, even when it was not the time and not the place. Always would be the time to love him. Everywhere would be the place.
The quick pace of someone approaching at a run made both Aerax and Lizzan peer into the dark.
“We found it!” Ardyl called out. “We left our torch by the passageway.”
Relief lifted through Lizzan’s chest. Together they headed back to Preter, who had already been joined by Kelir, Seri, and Tyzen—and the scarred man, who sat with his back braced against the wall and with the bedsheet wrapped around his waist.
Seri tossed a yellow sunfruit to Lizzan, who automatically caught it, then another to Ardyl and Aerax. “We found a garden chamber.”
Growing sunfruit that was a rare treat in Koth. Eagerly she peeled the rind, which was yellow as the sun but lumpy and pebbled like lizard skin. Her mouth was already watering when she bit in and the sweet juice burst across her tongue, and this was the finest of all days. Despite the wraith. Simply the finest.
She looked to the scarred man, who had a small collection of discarded rinds and pits beside him. “So you are awake. I am sorry for your hands. It was the only way to remove the manacles.”
From beneath shaggy black hair, he merely looked at her with wary and distrusting eyes—and he had no trouble holding an apple, she saw. As if she’d never broken the joint of his thumb.
“He doesn’t talk,” Seri said, smiling as she turned to him. “Anything more to eat?”
He shook his head.
“Can you walk?” Kelir asked him.
A nod, which Lizzan doubted until the man stood. For though he swayed for a