Page 108 of Throne of Dreams

Page List

Font Size:

He couldn’t take his eyes off her, not even when a single tear clung to her lashes before falling down her cheek.

“When?” She whispered the word, like the gods were listening.

“Any time of his choosing.”

Maeve clamped one hand over her mouth and shook her head. “Tiernan.” Her voice broke and her shoulders trembled. “How could you make such an awful deal?”

“I was desperate, Maeve.” She climbed into his lap, straddling him, and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his chest. He stroked one hand down her hair. “I wanted nothing more than to kill those who killed my parents. I wanted to see their lives destroyed, and I was willing to pay the price, no matter what.”

He cradled her for a moment, enjoying the way her body fit perfectly against his own. She was everything he ever wanted in this life. Powerful. Fearless. A dreamer with tenacity and almost too stubborn at times. His Strand warmed, burned with longing for her, answered only to her. To the other half of his soul. To hissirra.He eased her back, gently cupping her face in his hands.

“It’s not fair,” she protested. “I’ve only just found you.”

“And I will give you all of me for as long as I can.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You are perfect,astora.So wholly perfect.”

“Not always.” Her lashes were damp. She was fighting back tears. “I was broken, once.”

“I know.” This time, her mind was too loud for its own good. He knew where her thoughts wandered, and he understood the depth of her trauma. Her past still haunted her, and he supposed it would for quite some time. So, if he could help ease some of her suffering, at least for a little while, then he would. Tiernan forced himself to speak his next words. “I do believe he loved you.”

Maeve froze in his arms and all her breath left her at once. She looked at him, wide-eyed. Nearly hopeless. “What?”

“Rowan loved you, Maeve.” It killed him to say it. To admit. “But he also knew that you…”

“That I was fated to you,” Maeve finished for him, her eyes clouded with uncertainty. Confusion warred across her lovely face. “But you let him kiss me. You let me think my feelings for him were real.”

“Your feelings for himwerereal. Whether it be a matter of fates or stars, I cannot sway your emotions.” Tiernan ran his fingers through the silky, pink-gold strands of her hair, then twirled them around one of his fingers. “So yes, I let him kiss you and touch you. I let you tumble headfirst into something I couldn’t control because I thought I was sparing us both from something far worse. I didn’t realize I would torture myself in the process.”

“But what if he hadn’t died?” Maeve pressed her hand to the Strand on his chest, the one matching her own. “What if Rowan had lived—”

“I would not have interfered.” At least, not too much, he told himself. “I would have suffered in silence.”

Doing so would have wrecked him.

She glanced down at her chest. “And the bond?”

“Would only form once you chose me.”

Her brow arched in question. “Even with the mating dance?”

“Even with it.” He kissed her slowly. Softly. “I would’ve waited for you until the stars fell from the sky.”

“And now?” she asked, her lips moving over his.

“I would shatter the realms to remain by your side.”

The corner of her mouth lifted in a wicked smile. “Good.”

She unbuttoned his shirt deftly, shoving it away, letting her warm hands rove over his bare chest. Lips pressed together, she grabbed his shoulders, urging him to lie down on the soft blanket of grass. He tucked his hands behind his head and flashed her one of his haughtiest, most arrogant grins. “Taking control already?”

“You know me so well,” she purred.

Then she was sliding further down his legs and only when her fingers unbuckled the belt on his pants did he realize her intent. Already, he strained for her, wanting to bury himself deep inside of her. The pure scent of her arousal sent all of his blood rushing to his cock, and he craved her touch. She worked slowly, one button at a time, until the full and hardened length of him sprang free from the confines of his pants.

He watched her every movement, taking notice of the way she looked up at him, both curious yet confident. He enjoyed the way her hair tumbled down around her like a waterfall of satin as her full mouth hovered inches away from the gold studs piercing him. She was gazing down at him, marveling over him, and staring at him in such a way that conceit almost swallowed him whole. He couldn’t help himself. He stretched and flexed, causing every muscle to tighten and ripple for show, and he bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling when her eyes widened at the sight of him.

But then her little pink tongue flicked out from between her lips and she barely,barely, tasted him, and he nearly exploded like a youth just discovering the pleasures of a female for the first time.

“If you continue to tease me, Your Highness,” he spoke the words through gritted teeth, “I will be sure to return the favor.”