Page 37 of The Court of Thorns and Wings

The buzz between us intensified to a jolt as the warm magic swirled from my hand into his side. His irises lightened to silver, and need built within me. His injury was the only thing keeping me sane and holding me back from being all over him.

Is he as poorly off as you?I tried to focus on the threat at hand, which included Finnian. Getting lost in a world where only Tavish and I existed had become second nature to me.

No, but they did hurt him,Tavish answered while placing a hand over his wounds.You shouldn’t be here. I’m fine.

Like hell I shouldn’t.I gritted my teeth and smacked his hand away.You’re injured, and I can’t stay in my room while you suffer, especially when our link wasn’t warm anymore and you weren’t responding. I thought something awful had happened to you, and clearly, I wasn’t wrong.

They weakened me, but I’m not at risk of dying. This isn’t like you being in the gauntlet—the very game I created and had to watch you actually die from.His face twisted in agony.

So this is you punishing yourself by suffering through these beatings?No wonder he only allowed a few people to be close to him. For someone who had everyone believing he was heartless and to be feared, he wanted to beat himself up for everything.If that’s why you want to lie here and suffer, then you’re foolish.

He lifted a brow and winked.With the way you’re making me feel, I sure am suffering. I never dreamed that someone touching my wounds could feel so exquisite.

That brought me back to the present, and I moved my hand to see if what I suspected had occurred. Smooth, pale skin had replaced the wound.

Tavish tilted his head to look, and his face turned a shade paler.You healed me. How is that possible?

This confirmed what I suspected had happened twelve years ago. Eldrin had helped Tavish escape, but I’d actually healed him.I… I don’t know, but Tavish, this isn’t the first time I did this to you. The night you were here twelve years ago, I snuck into this same cell and found you with horrible injuries. I didn’t realize what I was doing, but like now, something inside me took over, and I was healing you when Eldrin came barging in.Now probably wasn’t the time to tell him, but he needed to know in case something happened to me. He needed to know he didn’t owe Eldrin nearly as much as he thought he did.

Tension lay thick between us, and fear choked me. I didn’t understand the emotions that wafted through him, and I hated that I’d thrown out the information without realizing it could change our relationship.

What if he didn’t believe me, or he thought I was trying to pit him against his cousin? Even though I spoke the truth, I’d seen what denial could do to people.

I tried to control my ragged breathing as I removed my thin, lacy jacket and yanked at the cool, refreshing water magic inside me, hoping I could control it as well as I had when I was a littlegirl. It’d been so long since I’d attempted to use it. A faint mist came out of my fingertips, and I cleaned the blood from him, wanting him to look untarnished when my father saw him in the morning.

After I’d cleaned him off, Tavish caught my wrist, stopping me as he sat upright. His chains clanked faintly as he adjusted himself, and he pulled me to his chest. With his free hand, he cupped my face, and his expression softened into pure adoration.

I don’t blasting deserve you, sprite. You snuck in here and healed me as a child, even then, going against your father by aiding the enemy. All I’ve done is accuse you of betraying me—even as a child—and stalk your dreams to find you in the hopes of killing you. Maybe you’d be better off without me. Every person I’ve trusted has betrayed me, and every decision I’ve made has been wrong. You deserve someone worthy, though I’ll kill any man who tries to take my place or dares to touch you.

The thought of him even thinking of letting me go had me sliding over his body and straddling him while my mind blurred. He didn’t get to think about leaving me. I gripped his chin between my thumb and pointer finger, forcing him to look into my eyes. I connected,You aren’t allowed to let me go. You are the person I want. You’ve been placed in a horrible situation, and you did the best you could with the information at hand.The yanking in my chest came to an all-time high, and the need to connect with him overwhelmed me.If you ever think about letting me go again, I will punish you. Remember, you’re going to kill anyone who touches me, and if you don’t, I’ll do it for you.

He smirked and placed a hand on the back of my neck, bringing me down for a kiss. His lips brushed mine, and I sucked in a breath at the jolt between us. I licked his lips, begging for entrance, and he opened to me. Our tongues collided, and his velvet feel and frosty night taste filled my senses.

Between seeing him like this and the words he’d said, I needed to connect with him. The desire was so strong that I rocked my hips against his crotch. His hardened dick hit perfectly, causing my back to arch.

You should go,he connected as his hand slid under my thin gown, caressing my nipple.

He was suffering the same conflict as me, knowing we shouldn’t do this, but something overrode our common sense. With all the trauma, weneededto connect. Even if I truly wanted to leave, I couldn’t walk away from him… and I didn’t want to.

My fingers tangled in his hair.If you don’t want—

I’m not sure I can let you go,he replied, kissing down my face and my neck until he hoisted me up so my nipple slipped into his mouth, and his chains didn’t make a sound. His tongue glided over my breast, and he slipped a hand between my legs.

When his fingers slid against me, he moaned faintly.Fates, you’re already ready for me.

That I was, and the thrill of doing this where we shouldn’t added to the excitement. I nodded, moving slightly back to tug his pants down. He lifted his hips enough to lower them so his dick sprang out, revealing how huge and ready he was.

I shifted my weight and slid onto him. As he filled me, it didn’t hurt like before, though I felt like I couldn’t hold anymore.

He leaned his head back and bit his lips to hold in his groan.

He was blasting sexy andmine.

I rocked my hips, and the fated-mate connection between us opened wide, our pleasure mixing together. I panted, and he captured my lips with his. We kissed each other to hide our noises.

Each time I moved against him, he somehow hit deeper and deeper. He gripped my thighs, spreading them farther apart so I could take more of him. Our teeth hit each other as my paceincreased since he couldn’t move without risking making louder noises with his chains.

One hand slipped back into my top to caress my breasts again as he placed the fingers of the other hand against my clit. I rolled my hips against him, that touch sparking a fire inside me.

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