Chapter Twenty-Four
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Lonan as he lay beside me on my bed, stretched on his back and still panting softly as he stared up at the ceiling. His cheeks were lightly flushed in the flickering candlelight, black eyes softer than I’d ever seen them.
His long, lean body was beautiful. Perfect. He looked vulnerable like this—which made sense, because he was naked—but still powerful. He was strong, but not overly muscled. He had rangy arms and long legs. Strong shoulders that tapered into a leanly defined chest and stomach.
There was a tiny thatch of jet-black hair nestled at the root of his cock, which was long and plump as it slowly softened against his thigh, still shiny from my mouth. His balls were a dusky pink, a shade darker than his milky pale skin. My chest tightened with want even though I’d come—we both had—only minutes ago.
We’d sucked each other off again. It had been just as intense as the last time, but there was a new edge to it as we grew more familiar with each other’s bodies. A low, fragile level of intimacy at the knowledge of seeing one another so vulnerable.
He hadn’t said it, but I was fairly sure that he had never done anything with anyone before me—before the first time he’d sucked me off against a tree in the dark. I remembered his mouth being clumsy at first, but he’d been so eager that it hadn’t mattered in the slightest. If hewasinexperienced, it didn’t really show. He didn’t let it slow him down at all.
Maybe that was a biproduct of being a prince. Or of just being fae. Or maybe he wanted me so much, he simply refused to let his inexperience hinder anything.
I was aware that I was staring, but if he noticed he didn’t comment. I let my gaze drift down his body again when he draped an arm over his lean belly and let out a slow breath.
“Where did you get this?” I asked, reaching over to run my fingertip along the thick, raised scar that circled his forearm, just below his elbow. It seemed to go all the way round. I couldn’t see any other scars or marks on his body.
Lonan stiffened beside me. Maybe he didn’t like me seeing any proof of his vulnerability—proof that at some point, he’d been hurt by something.
“An injury,” he said flatly.
I rolled my eyes, but before I could give a snarky reply, he turned to face me and pressed his body against mine, finding my lips in a deep kiss. His relaxed cock nestled against mine, which felt almost unbearably intimate, making me shiver as I placed my hand on his hip.
I knew he was distracting me, but it worked. His knee drew up along my thigh, caging me in with his leg as his tongue glided languidly over mine.
He tasted so good. He tastedright. I still couldn’t quite believe that I was lying here with him—with the unseelie assassin prince. The Carlin’s son. One of the Folk. I’d just had his cock in my mouth, and mine had been in his. I knew what he sounded like and looked like when he lost control—when he came and his body shook and his beautiful face contorted with pleasure.
It all felt so fragile. Like we had somehow managed to navigate our way to this place despite everything still playing out unseen in the background. All the secrets and unsaid words and unknown plans. They were like little red-eyed hellhounds circling the bed, snapping at us and trying to jump up so they could drag me away.
I broke the kiss and stared at him, as if I’d somehow be able to find the answers in his endless black eyes that already felt so familiar to me.
I licked my lips, tasting him on them. “Has the Carlin told you to… get close to me this way?”
It was a gross and deeply unsettling thought, but I had to ask. I desperately wanted to trust him.
Lonan gazed at me with big black eyes, the sweet, pointed tip of his ear poking out from his inky hair. “No. This has nothing to do with her.”
My body relaxed, and I couldn’t stop myself from closing the gap between us and kissing him again. I knew hecouldn’tlie, but… I believed that he wouldn’t if he could anyway. That was the difference. He didn’t try to skirt around the question or answer it in a way that I could take to mean however I wanted.
I moved back, resting my head on the pillow as I tangled our fingers together. Lonan gripped my hand tight, drawing it closer to him.
“I know you have to be careful with some things you say because of her,” I whispered. “But… but I want to trust you, Lonan. Please don’t try and trick me. Please don’t play games with me.”
“I wouldn’t.” His voice was shockingly fierce, black eyes flaring as he gripped my hand tighter. “I won’t.”
I stared at him, nodding once as I swallowed. “I believe you.”
He kissed my knuckles before reluctantly letting go and sitting up, shoving his long, inky hair back with a sigh. I quickly followed him up, staring at the faint, faded marks I could see all over his back. They were long and silvery, like vines had grown over him before being pulled off and leaving a permanent imprint.
I wanted to ask him what they were from, but knew he wouldn’t tell me.
“Do you want some tea?” I asked instead, because I didn’t want him to leave.
Lonan glanced at me over his shoulder, his back pale and hunched, long legs loosely crossed. When he nodded, I grinned too wide and scrambled out of bed.
“I’ll go make it.” I hurriedly pulled on my shorts. “Shall I bring it in here, or…?”
He slid off the bed, long legs unfurling to stand up. “I’ll come with you.”