Page 86 of Within the Veil

I close my eyes briefly and take a deep breath the lack of privacy is going to piss me the fuck off one of these days, but right now I have too many emotions and the outlet is necessary.

With King, our connection began as a gentle friendship and I'm not quite sure when that friendship started to weave its way through my soul, but it is there.Heis there. It isn't just the sentinel bond either. No, the viceral reaction I tried to ignore when Finleigh mentally voiced her crush proved that. And if that wasn't proof enough, I can care less when Jensi and Luca act like the filthy little Fae man whores they are.

"This doesn't have to be awkward, Hudson. I promised you that nothing would change. I meant it," he says softly, bringing my hand to his lips, the warm touch of his lips searing my skin. His actions and voice belies that statement but I find myself not caring as I gasp lightly and stare at our joined hands in a daze.

Sitting up he comes impossibly closer, his breath mingling with mine as his other hand gently cradles my face as he tips my chin, bringing my gaze back to his, and for a moment time slows. I want to drink in his every feature, the painful beauty of his handsome face, his soft lips and sharpness of his jaw, but I'm too busy drowing in the swirling blue of his eyes.

I nervously trace my bottom lip with my tongue and his gaze darkens as he follows the movement, "I'm not exactly sure what to do here, King," I say, barely able to raise my voice beyond a whisper, "It's not just about me. I also feel incredibly selfish, I have six mates who love me put up with the fuckery that is Hudson Jacobs, four of whom I've loved since I was younger and two who crept into my destiny like a couple of horny locusts... shut the fuck up you know its true..." I say the last to the assholes listening in.

He chuckles, the throaty sound sending shivers down my spine. "I know that I am okay with it, Hudson. I'm not asking for more than you want or can give. We were friends first and I will still like for us to be friends this is not all or nothing kind of deal. But I we would be lying to ourselves if we try to convince ourselves that having eachother in our lives is enough. You may not want to admit it aloud yet, and that is okay, but you feel for me just as deeply as I feel for you. You may not know when you fell for me, and thats okay. As long as you keep falling," his voice, deep and sensual, sends a ripple awareness down my spine as he pulls me into the warmth of his arms.

I melt into his embrace as Hunter's voice fetters through my head,you should see this and know, that whatever you choose we are in your corner.Suddenly the events of three nights ago, when Hunter went to seek out King, plays through my mind and I gasp. The first thing I think is, 'oh so you can hide shit from me,' the second is, Oberon is a scary motherfucker and the third is, what the fuck makes me so goddamn special that a man could be torn into pieces, covered in blood and yet still declare his love for me?

"Every damn think about you is special, Hudson," King says, his voice hard, uncompromising as he pulls me back and stares at me. He takes a deep breath and when he speaks again is voice is tender, aching and raw. "I fell for you before your life evolved into a very expensive HBO series. Which by the way, better have a better ending than Game of Thrones," he smiles. "But beyond that, you took all of this on without even batting an eye. Yes, you've have some bumps along the way, but why? Because you sought to save an entire people without hesitiation, and then again because you sought to protect your mates and sentinels, even though we didn't need it, from the emotional influx of everything you have to shoulder. Again, I say this because you are questioning your worth, not to sway your heart or mind to any direction that you are not comfortable with."

His words send my pulses spinning all the while I'm somewhere in limbo, where all decisions and actions are impossible while I swim through a haze of feelings, desires and a sudden craving for pizza and pickles. But one thing is painfully clear, the decision was made for me long ago, I just never let myself know it.

With that thought, I bring my hand up to his face and take the time I wanted to study his face unhurriedly, feature by feature, from the laugh lines at the corner of his eyes to his soft lips, down to the sharp cut of his jaw. Then I bring my gaze back to his and once again lose my ability to breathe as I deep dive into the pool of desire and fragile need that fills his blue eyes. Suddenly, our breathing is the only thing audible over the pounding of our heartbeats, as he runs his hands down the curve of my back and his lips hover over mine.

"Hudson,"he murmurs, his voice laden with a raw intensity that sends fire blazing through my every nerve ending. "I want to hear it from your lips that you want this as much as I do. Because once I kiss you, I will not be able to stop."

His words hang in the air between us like a promise, causing my heart to pound wildly in my chest.

"Kiss m..." The rest of my words are smothered on his lips, his calm shattered. With a deep growl, his mouth covers mine hungrily.

Like a flame igniting, the spark between us grows into a fire; one stoked by weeks of unspoken need, and the world around me seems to fall away as I melt into his hard body. Coaxing my lips apart, his tongue delves into my mouth, soft yet demanding, sending a rush of warmth through my entire body.

His hands turn desperate, his fingers tangling in my hair and tugging roughly. I gasp and press myself closer, my hands finding their way to the hard planes of his chest, fingers clutching the fabric of his shirt. I moan into his mouth, the sensation of his hands on my body making me delirious, the taste of his lips a sweet drug-- a blend of earth and sky, grounding me and setting me adrift all at once.

I free fall as the world spins, caught in the whirlwind of emotions I never allowed myself to feel. I love my mates with all that I am, but I didn't realize that by hiding my feelings I was denying myself a piece of my soul. With every stroke of his tongue against mine, I become desperate, as though I've been parched, dying of thirst, and he is the only source of water for miles.

With a swift move, he pulls me up into his lap cradling me, his lips never leaving mine and I thank the Gods because I'm lost in the rhythm of his lips moving over mine, in the gentle, yet crushing force of his passion. I feel his hardened length against me and while I know we aren't there yet, I find myself wishing we were. The intensity of our souls clashing is more than I ever imagined and everything I didn't know I needed. I can't stop the growing need for his touch, and truthfully, I don't want to. The world can be falling apart around us, but at this moment, none of it would matter.

All I know, all I feel, is him.

* * *

Hudson

"No sex on the bookssss," a dark voice hisses, and King and I break apart, breathless.

He turns, and his eyes widen as one of the keepers in all their unhinged jaw, black-fanged glory, hovers right outside of the alcove.

"First off, we are in the alcove, which ismyhaven. Also, there were no books on the couch, so we clearly were not going to have sex on the books. Also, you can tone down the terrifying unhinged jaw thing, you walking grindylow!" I scowl back.

The little creature blinks, face returning to normal before it huffs, "I am no such creature. I am watching you." It slinks back to do whatever it is they do, and I look back at King and clear my throat.

"Well, that's fucking weird...note to self, get a door," I shake my head. I look back at King, his face twisted in amusement. "Oh, so those are my cuddly book guards, some of them are actually really nice. Well, the two that have actually spoken to me. And I'm one hundred percent sure that those unhinged jaws are not for pleasure. Unless you consider eating an entire human in one go, pleasurable," I grin, and he laughs incredulously with a shake of his head as his eyes stare at the space where the fae-blocker just was.

"Well then, considering how hungry he looked he may just come back and finish the job. Speaking of hungry," he points down to my glowing belly with a wry smile as demands for food start flowing through our connection.

I laugh as we maneuver ourselves out of the couch. Once on my feet, he wraps his arms around me, and when I look up at him, I find my mouth moving before I can stop it, "so what now?" I bite my lower lip.

With a small laugh, he reaches to tug my lip out of my mouth gently and then bends, pressing his forehead against mine. He doesn't answer, instead he rubs slow circles on the small of my back and starts to hum the score of Harry Potter and a laugh bursts out of my mouth as he starts to rock us back in forth.

"That's an easy one.Now, in the middle of planning a war, training, finding long-lost sisters, and baby-proofing an entire kingdom, we date," he gives me a heart-melting smile, and I swoon as the butterflies in my stomach turn into a swarm of hyperactive squirrels on the hunt for the golden nut from Willy Wonka's Nut Factory.

With the others, the instant connection was part of fate, and although that doesn't make our love any less real, it was instant. But this? This feels like the beginning of a wild crush where every brush of his hand gives me the childish urge to giggle excitedly. I've spent the last several weeks of my life racing towards a finish line, barely able to catch my breath. With King, I plan to savor what it feels like to go slow, even in the midst of chaos.

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