Page 114 of An Honored Vow

We wrote each other letters with our lips. All the words we didn’t have time to say, all the dreams we hoped to share, we scribbled along every part of each other. Riven’s arms tightened around me, biceps squeezing my ribs. I looped my legs around his torso as he lifted me onto the mattress, my hands making quick work of both our trousers.

He licked away my tears, and I pulled his hair from the base of his neck, nipping his skin so forcefully I tasted blood. My healing gift exploded. The warmth of it wrapped around us until we were cocooned inside my magic where no one could hurt us—not even each other.

Riven’s lips trailed along my stomach, catching on my navel as he spread my knees.

“Tell me you need this as much as I do.” His hot breath burned my skin with need.

I stretched my legs, needing to touch more of him, but he nipped my ankle. “Diizra.” He pressed a kiss to the inside of my thigh. “Tell me you need this.”

Riven’s eyes bore down on me. He wouldn’t go any further without my approval.

But there was too much meaning packed into those five simple words. I didn’t know how to answer him. Nothing I could say seemed big enough, seemed accurate enough, to explain all the ways I needed him.

Riven’s thumb brushed against that pulsing point once. He raised a brow.

“Yes,” I groaned. “I need you. I need this.”

Riven smirked as he devoured me. There were no gentle licks or swirls of his tongue. He pushed my legs into my chest and claimed me as his own. Feasted on me until my body shook and the wind outside whistled through the trees, silencing my moans.

Riven removed his fingers after the third spell with a devilish grin on his face. “You’re divine,” he whispered, lowering his head for one last taste.

It was too much. I couldn’t bear it any longer.

I hooked my leg around his waist and twisted. I captured Riven’s laugh with my mouth as I claimed my place on top of him, tasting his joy as it transformed into a groan. I lowered my hips. I didn’t have the patience for slow and teasing strokes. I grabbed Riven’s arm, using it as an anchor as I ground my hips into him. Riven reached for my neck with his hand, trying to pull me into a kiss, but I leaned back out of reach. He settled for my breast, tugging at my nipple.

“Fuck, Keera,” he moaned, his gaze locked on the spot where our bodies met.

I leaned forward. Close enough to kiss and lengthening the depth of my strokes. Riven’s eyes shot to me, wanton and feral. His tongue brushed my bottom lip as he whispered my name again.

He matched my hips with thrusts of his own. I whimpered into his ear as a towering wave of pleasure built inside me, much more powerful than the ones before. The faelights in the room swirled ontiny gusts as my body exploded. Riven tensed as he rolled me onto my back with his hand under my hair.

He pressed a kiss to my nose, letting his weight sink into me the way he knew I liked. Our breaths were ragged and my lungs ached, but I reveled in the pain. I closed my eyes and noted every detail of that moment, every scent, every touch, clinging to it with all the strength I had, because for one more night we were alive.

But tomorrow that could change.

CHAPTERFORTY-FOUR

THE HEALING POOLS WEREonly a short distance from Vellinth. As soon as the suns had begun to set, Riven pulled me from our bed, dressed me in a matching robe, and carried me there. Not a word was shared between us, in part because the Singing Wood was filled with creatures who would come running at any sound, but also because we both knew the talk would turn to the battle to come and neither of us wanted to waste our final night on that.

The cavern glimmered with rivers of gold and turquoise that expanded across the black rock. He set me down on a dry patch of stone and pulled a carved pin from his robe. He twirled his finger through the air and I turned. Riven gathered what was left of my hair and twisted it onto the top of my head with one hand. He pulled the hair pin from his mouth, and I held the twist as he securedmy hair. He pressed a kiss to my bare neck and pulled the robe from my shoulders.

Riven’s eyes feasted over my naked body as if he had gone months without it instead of mere minutes. He licked his lips as I dipped my foot into the healing waters, slowly lowering myself until only my collarbone was visible.

My magic hummed underneath my skin—that was the only way to describe it. The pool’s effect was immediate. Even though I should be sleeping, I felt like I could fly for days without stopping.

Riven somersaulted into the deep end of the pool, his splash and my laugh echoing down the cavern as he surfaced. Thick strands clung to Riven’s face, but he didn’t move them. His long lashes clumped together too, the auric light illuminating the gold flecks in his eyes. He just watched as the ribbons of magic swirled around my body, stoking my powers until I vibrated, sending tiny ripples throughout the pool. I tensed. My powers felt like they were going to explode.

Riven reached for a vial at the edge of the pool and dabbed the sweet liquid on my lips. The urge to release my magic faded, but I could still feel the weight of that power stored underneath my skin. Waiting for the release that would come at dawn.

Riven scooped me up and lay me back on the surface of the water so I was floating. He floated beside me, touching cheek to cheek, and looped his smallest finger through mine. Tiny touches, barely any contact at all after what we had just done in our bed, but in that pool, I could feel every part of him. A current ten times stronger than the bond that had once been between us coursed through my body and into Riven’s. I could feel every breath he took, every fear he had as our cheeks brushed together. We had an all-consuming love that I’d only felt once before. That I had believed for so long I would never feel again.

I grabbed Brenna’sdiizrathat still hung around my neck. No matter what Damien did tomorrow, no matter what or who he took from me, he couldn’t take that truth from me. If I died protecting my people, I would die as someone healing, as someone with the capacity to love even though the fear of losing it chilled me to the bone. I may die wielding a blade, but I wouldn’t die as one. A tear trickled down my cheek and into the water. Riven sensed it through whatever magic connected us and turned to kiss it away.

“We should try to get a few hours’ rest,” he whispered, his lips trailing across my ear. I tilted my head into his touch and nodded. Riven stepped out of the pool first and picked up both our robes in his hand. I hung mine from my shoulders and helped Riven thread his arm through the sleeve. The healed end poked through the wide circle of fabric, and I pressed a quick kiss to the scar.

Riven lifted my arm and kissed my elbow with a boyish grin on his face. I laughed and Riven’s smile widened.

“You’re still the most exquisite creature I’ve ever seen.” My cheeks warmed at his words, and Riven grabbed my wrist and twirled me down the tunnel just as he had in Cereliath. Then we had been two allies barely able to trust each other, but now I would give him everything I held dear without a single doubt.

---