Page 243 of Onyx Cage: Volume II

I continued my ministrations, taking my time to enjoy the softness of her skin, the way she reacted to each touch, each caress of my lips.

When I forced myself to pull away again, it was to release her hands and meet her eyes.

Twin flames burned within them, bright and eager. I searched her gaze for a moment, watching a different life play out for us within their depths. The same vision that had brought me so much pain only hours ago—the riotous black curls and mischievous green eyes—filled me with an unexpected hope now.

I could hear the echo of tiny footsteps racing through the castle halls. Laughter, life, and chaos woven into each day because, of course, our children would inherit their mother’s wild and unrelenting spirit.

“Do you think that when this war is over, you might want to...abstain from taking them?” I asked carefully.

Once Iiro was dead. Once the fighting was over. Once we could think past tomorrow and look forward to every day after.

“Yes.” The word escaped her lips in a whisper as she nodded.

I beamed down at her, somehow happier in this moment, knowing we were planning for a life outside of all of the death and bloodshed and scheming.

I pressed my mouth against hers again, worshipping at the shrine of her lips and her tongue.

Heat washed over me as I ran my hands along her hips, gripping her even tighter. She shivered against me, her breaths coming more quickly with each passing second.

Then her hands were on the buttons of my uniform. Her fingers trembled with urgency as she hastily undid each one.

As soon as the final one was free, she pulled away long enough to rip it off. It fell to the floor and was quickly followed by her gown and undergarments and shoes.

I lifted her hips, my fingers clenched around her muscular thighs as I wrapped her legs around my waist and carried her to our bed.

It only took another heartbeat to divest myself of my trousers and shoes before falling into the bed after her.

I buried my face in her neck, breathing in deeply.

“Der’mo, Lemmikki,” I growled, and she arched into me at the sound. “I missed you every second of every day.”

I took my time indulging myself as I ran my hands, my lips, my tongue against every inch of her, lingering at my favorite places and reveling in the way her body reacted.

Eventually, I worked my way from her ankle back up to her shoulder, grazing her skin with my teeth. She let out another gasp—a sound that lingered between pleasure and pain that threatened to undo every ounce of my resolve to draw this out.

“And I missed that little sound you just made,” I added, murmuring against her skin.

I trailed my fingers along her skin until she was arching into me, her body pleading as surely as she did.

“Evander,” she said in that demanding way of hers.

That, I had missed most of all.

A low chuckle escaped me before I relented, caving to her at last.

Her nails scraped along my arms and my back, pulling me closer until there was nothing between us but the air we breathed into one another.

I didn’t know how much time had passed while we lost ourselves in each other. I worshipped her body with each kissand caress of skin, idolizing every gasp and moan and way she said my name, all to atone for the sin of walking away from her.

And I realized, now that she was back in my arms, that I wouldn’t have the strength to do it another time. I was far too selfish to go a single day without this, without her, ever again.

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SIX

When Rowan suggested we begin the next day by training with the men, I cut her off with a quick, decisiveno.

I wasn’t ready to leave these rooms yet, and after months of warfare and endless politicking, I decided I more than deserved a day off. After raising an Unclanned army and winning us the final battle, so did my wife.

So we did just that, testing the lengths of our stamina in much more pleasant ways than in a sparring ring with others.