“Hearing you call me Ash,” he murmured. “When you come.”
I shuddered, a heaviness settling in my breasts. And lower, where his hand was between my thighs, sharp, aching desire pulsed.
“Will you appease my obsession?” he asked. “Will you call me Ash when you come?”
My chest rose sharply as I gripped his knee with my other hand, my hips beginning to move restlessly against his touch. “I’ll call you whatever you like.”
He nipped at the skin between my shoulder and neck. “That’s all I want to hear.”
“I can do that,” I promised as the carriage rocked forward, traveling over the bumpy terrain.
He groaned, pulling me tighter into the vee of his legs. “I can’t wait to hear it.”
“Then don’t wait,” I whispered.
“Wasn’t planning on it,” he growled.
My hips jerked as he slid his fingers under the thin undergarment and through the dusting of fine curls.
Ash…he teased. Heplayed. For seconds. Minutes. Longer. I was shaking, gasping by the time he delved a finger inside me. The shock of sensations between my heated flesh and his icy finger was maddening, and the feel of his second finger left me burning for more.
I tipped my head back. “I need you,” I said. His chest was rising and falling as rapidly as mine against my back. “I needyou.” I reached down, gripping his wrist. “Inside me.”
Ash’s fingers stilled.
“I wantyouinside me,” I whispered against the curve of his jaw. “When I come and call you Ash.”
“Fuck,” he growled, easing his fingers from me. He gripped the lace, tearing it with one sharp pull that sent a wicked thrill through me. “What’s stopping you?”
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing. Not even the swaying motion of the carriage as I rose, and Ash straightened himself, dropping both feet to the floor. He undid his breeches, gripping himself as I climbed onto the bench. Grasping the bar near the ceiling with one hand to balance myself as I planted my knees on either side of his hips, I hoisted my skirt with the other. He pulled me to his chest, trapping the gown between us as he drew me down onto his rigid length.
I moaned at the icy-hot feel of him, stretching and filling me in one scorching slide. His hand fisted my hair, drawing my mouth to his. The kiss stole my breath in a clash of teeth and tongues as he rocked beneath me. My fingers slipped from thebar, falling to his shoulder as I rode him, as we panted into each other’s mouths.
The sound of our bodies coming together got lost in the churning of the wheels outside, but inside the carriage, we werelostin our gasps, our moans, and in building, coiling tension. He shook, grunting as his hips thrust, and I ground against him, quivering.
The release came hot and cold, hard and quick as I spasmed on his cock. Intense waves of pleasure swept through me as I tore my mouth free from his and called him what he wanted as I came.
Ash.
My muscles still felt like liquid when Bele greeted us on our return to the palace. Nothing had happened in our absence. Veses remained in stasis. Bele was mostly bored.
Ash and I hadn’t lingered, making our way upstairs as Rhain took the crowns to the chamber near the throne room. An inexplicable nervousness invaded my senses, causing my heart to feel like it was bouncing all over my chest by the time we neared the doors to our quarters.
Would we go our separate ways, only to reunite in the morning to leave for Irelone? Sleep in our own beds? What’d happened in the carriage—what I’d admitted to Ash—didn’t change things.
But I wanted it to.
I wanted to spend tonight together. And every night going forward. But so much had been left unsaid between us, and too much had been spoken in haste. It was likely that we’d continue as—
I stopped.
Stopped walking. Stopped the anxious spiral of questions that I couldn’t easily gain the answer to.
Ash halted a step ahead, turning to me. “Sera?”
Pressure threatened to squeeze my chest, cutting off myair, but I forced in a deep breath, holding it as I curled my fingers inward, against the imprint. All I had to do wasspeakand share what I wanted. And while I could easily make demands of every sort, this was different. This wasmore, and it left me feeling fragile. I wished I was privileged enough to even think that being honest about feelings or needs was nothing more than a simple conversation.