Page 43 of Lady of Starfire

He thought she might argue, but she reached for his tunic instead, frowning at the buckles securing his various weapons. “Nothing about this will be fast.”

Callan had never removed weapons from his body so quickly. Tava watched him unfasten buckles and toss daggers aside. Her brow pinched when she spotted dried blood on his arms. “Were you fighting?”

“Some seraphs,” he answered breathlessly.

“Were you hurt?”

“Not by them.” Her eyes flashed back to his. “Nuri showed up. She implied Alaric is using the people in the slums of Baylorin.”

Horror crossed her features. “What?” He moved back to her, all weapons now discarded, and smoothed stray hair back from her face as she blinked up at him. “What are we going to do?”

His hands fell to her thighs, and he hoisted her up against him, walking them over to the settee along the back wall. “You are going to appease the man that raised you until Scarlett can come for you,” he answered, lowering her to the settee. “I am going to figure out what is going on in the slums of Baylorin.”

He reached for her feet, quickly unlacing her boots.

“How?” she pressed.

“Still working on that,” he answered, removing her other boot. She lifted her hips when he reached for the band of her pants, letting him slide them down her legs.

“But you will do something, right? You won’t leave them to suffer?”

He stilled, staring down at her. “They will not be forgotten, Tava. They will not be left in the background.”

She surged up then, her arms coming around his neck once more and pulling his lips to hers. He’d never seen her like this. Urgency with every plunge of her tongue into his mouth. Hands roaming as though they could not touch him enough. He reached down, peeling the tunic from her body while she frantically tugged at his. Somewhere along the way, he lost his own pants, and she was straddling him on the settee.

“I did not wish to leave you,” she murmured, fingers skating along his ribs and down his bare torso, his stomach caving under her touch. “You have to know that. I did not wish to hurt you, Callan, but I could not—”

Her words turned into a whimper as he palmed her breast, rolling a nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Her hips ground down against him, seeking any type of relief on instinct as her eyes fluttered closed, and he cursed, knowing they did not have the time to drag this out. Someone would surely knock on the door soon.

He gripped her hips, lifting her up to position her. Her hands fell to his shoulders, and her entire body tensed. He leaned forward, whispering into her ear, “Breathe, Little Fox.”

He felt her suck in a breath, and when she released it, he pulled her down onto him, eyes falling closed at being inside her again. She shifted, and it was his turn to hold his breath while she adjusted. Fingertips brushed along his jaw that had him opening his eyes and meeting hers. Her lips were parted, panting staccato breaths making her chest rise and fall. Strands of golden hair fluttered in her face, her fingers flexing on his shoulder.

Holding her stare, he lifted her hips and pulled her back down, her eyes going wider at the movement. Then she started moving her hips on her own, experimenting as she rolled against him. He hadn’t planned on this when he had set out to find her, but gods, he would be damned if this was the last time he got to watch her experience new sensations like this.

He reached up, brushing hair back, while his other hand roamed over her soft skin—brushing down her arm, chest, stomach—until it found its way to her center. He moved his thumb in slow circles, another whimper coming from her as she moved faster against him. “Here is what we are going to do, Little Fox.” He gripped her chin, forcing her eyes to his. “We are going to fight for the innocent and the forgotten. We are going to make sure those with the least in our lands are cared for as much as those with the most.” He grunted as she continued to move in rhythm with his thumb. His circles became tighter and firmer. “And when this war is over, we will continue to do the same from our thrones. You will be at my side. I am going to marry you, Tava Tyndell. When this war is over, you will become my queen at the first opportunity, and we will serve our people together.”

A sob of some sort came from her, and he released her chin to grip her hip and move her faster against him. Her brow fell to his shoulder, and she buried her face in his neck as she held onto him. His own hips were moving now, thrusting up to meet hers with every pass, and when he knew she was close, he pressed down with his thumb. Her cry of pleasure was muffled against his skin, and he held her tightly as he found his own release.

For the next few moments, it was only the sound of their harsh breaths as they clung to each other. His fingers were brushing up and down her spine, and he was dreading the coming minutes when they would need to get dressed and say their goodbyes.

Tava sat up, a hand cupping his cheek and a thumb brushing along his lower lip. “Thank you,” she whispered, “for letting me make a difference for Ashtine and Briar and their children.”

“I meant what I said, Tava. I will never deny you anything.”

“Then I will make another request of you,” she replied, a soft smile appearing. She leaned forward, brushing a kiss against his mouth.

“Anything,” he breathed onto her lips.

“I am going to hold you to what you said. Go be a king to your people and fight for them, but promise you will come back to me.”

* * *

Tension hung thick in the air in the sitting room. They were all just…waiting. Callan sat in a chair, staring at the hearth. When the sun had dipped below the horizon, the temperature had dropped rapidly, and a fire had been started shortly after sundown.

They’d all congregated to watch them go, Tava’s hand in his until she stepped through the water portal Briar had created. He’d watched them all go through, and it was Eliza who had gently touched his arm after the portal closed, stepping to his side.

“We will get them back. Scarlett won’t let anything happen to them,” she’d said softly.

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