Page 8 of Calling of the Crown

I was sure that’s what my parents, Alesta and Khal, would’ve wanted, too. They wouldn’t want me falling apart over their long-ago passing. They’d want me going out there and achieving what I’d set out to do.

But like Dallas said, all of that hard stuff could come tomorrow. Tonight was for me and Rune, the man who’d cradled me and provided support when I’d needed it most. The man who looked at me as though I was the one who made the world spin round. The man I loved with every ounce of breath in me.

Smiling softly at him, I leaned in and pressed our foreheads together. “I love you.”

“I love you. With everything I have and more. Forever.”

“Forever,” I nodded. “Forever with you.”

I slanted my head to lightly press a kiss to his lips, but as soon as mine touched his, I realized a simple peck wasn’t enough. I slipped my tongue along the seam of his lips only enough to get a small taste of him, but with the graze of my tongue came a deep groan from the back of his throat. The sound sent heat zipping straight to my core, and the sudden burn spurred me to kiss him more deeply, pulling sounds from inside of him.

“You’re making it hard to be a gentleman right now,” Rune growled, sliding his hands from my cheeks and into my hair.

“Then don’t be.”

I loved this. I loved the way I made him crazy with desire. I loved the way one kiss from me had him teetering on the edge of losing control. This was one area of my life that I knew I’d never have to doubt, and when all other parts of my life felt like they were spiraling out of control, this was one in which I’d still know where I stood.

With him, I felt powerful, daring, and bold. Like a queen.

I pulled out of his grip to squat against my heels. My gaze stayed locked on his hooded eyes as I peeled my shirt off slowly, prolonging his torture of wanting to see me bare. His fingers curled into tight fists against his thighs, and his cock bulged in his sweatpants. I took my time, reaching behind me to unclasp my bra, and I didn’t miss the heavy rise and fall of his chest while he watched my breasts come into view.

I could tell by the tightening of his jaw and the rigid pull of his shoulders that all he wanted was to reach forward and pound into me with unhindered passion, but he was holding back. I wasn’t sure if he could tell from the look in my eyes or if it was because he knew how unsure I was of our future from here on out, but he somehow seemed to sense that I needed this right now. I needed to be the one in control. He needed to be at my mercy with me leading the way.

Even if his entire body begged to fuck me into oblivion.

After peeling off my clothes, I crawled back to him, gripping his shirt in my hands. As I yanked it off him, I pressed my chest to his and leaned in to whisper in his ear, “I want to ride you.”

“Fuck,” he groaned, sinking further into the mattress.

I tugged his sweatpants down his muscular thighs, and his dick stood thick and proud as soon as it was freed. Pearlescent beads formed at the tip, and my tongue flicked out to catch the moisture there. Rune bit his lip and dug his hands into the pillows on either side of his head. He growled, low and deep like a predator about to pounce. I wasn’t sure if he realized he was doing it, or if it was just his inner fox about to come out.

I kissed a trail back up his body, dipping low to suck and bite teasingly at his neck. I was so slick and hot at my center, and if I didn’t have him inside me soon, I was liable to die right then and there. Placing my hands on his chest, I seated his dick at my entrance, and just to remind him that I was in control right now, I sank onto it slowly.

He hissed and leaned his head back as I felt the tip of him sliding into me. The urge to drive down all the way was hard to ignore. All I wanted was to have him deep inside me, but I held back, gasping from the delicious pleasure as I took him inch by inch.

The tether keeping Rune human snapped, and he let out a guttural gasp as a flame burst from his hand and circled his body, pulling his fox features forward. Fox ears, his tail, sharp canines, and claws decorated him. Seeing him like this—ripping the pillowcase on either side of his head as his claws shredded them in his attempt to hold back, a prick of blood trailing down his chin where his canines bit into his lip, and his smoldering golden eyes staring at me with pure want—nearly had me cumming right there on the spot.

My own restraint fizzled like a rope that had been suspended over a candle for one too many seconds. I ground down the rest of the way, moaning at finally being so full.

“Fuck, Bria,” Rune gasped, watching me rise up a fraction only to sink back onto him. His eyes glazed over, and stuffing burst from the pillows as he tore through all that was left to hold onto.

I grabbed at his hands and placed them on my hips as I continued to grind against him. My movements became frantic as I angled myself just right so that his head hit me deep and hard, and his pelvis rubbed against my aching clit. “Touch me. Please.”

“Where?” Rune challenged.

“Anywhere,” I moaned. Heat spiraled at my core, throbbing with so much want for him. “Everywhere.”

One hand trailed up the curve of my stomach to cup my breast, while the other moved to caress me between my thighs. Rune’s finger curled and rubbed against my clit—taking care to watch the claws—with every up and down movement of my hips while his other pinched and pulled at my nipple. My folds filled with intense, wet heat, and electricity sparked to life within my limbs.

“Yes!” I cried as his finger brought me closer to the stars, and his dick drove me higher to the heavens. “Oh God, there. Right … there!”

I came undone with a loud, contented groan. As I rode out the shock waves of my intense orgasm, Rune gripped my hips firmly and pumped into me hard and fast until he followed me. Together, we fell into the star-littered oblivion that always followed pleasing each other. And that was where I planned to stay until morning came, because once the sun rose, that meant the start of a long, uncertain journey of bringing peace among Fae.

Chapter Five

“WE’RE LOST.”

“We’re not lost.”

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