Page 75 of A Cage of Moonlight (Dark Fae Academy 1)

Chapter 39

Bree

“What areyou doing out here in the corridor?” Rafe asked as he sidled up to Bree. After she’d practically run Dagen off, she’d still stood beside those portraits, eyeing them up as if they held the answers to all the questions she had in hermind.

With a sigh, she turned to Rafe and smiled. He was the one good thing in this place. “I’m tired of being cooped up. I thought I’d take a stroll, and then I realized I don’t really want two guards shadowing my every movement. So, I’ve just kind of been standing here for awhile. These portraits are reallypretty.”

Rafe blinked at the portraits. “Yes, we have some talented artists in Underworld, though that skill was not held in high esteem during Midas’s reign. Taveon will want to bring that back though. He has always enjoyed the music, the singing, the painting, and thestorytelling.”

Bree cocked her head and almost laughed. She never would have expected that kind of thing from the Prince. He always seemed so glum and angry, though she was quickly realizing that was a front he put on just for show. It made her want to know what he was like underneath that mask of his, but she wasn’t certain he would ever show it toher.

She was just his champion afterall.

“It is late,” Rafe said. “And it has been a long day. Are you ready to retire to ourquarters?”

The way he said ‘our quarters’ made Bree shake in her boots. Yes, she was ready for sleep, but she wasn’t certain she was ready to be back in bed with him again. Truthfully, she wanted nothing more than to snuggle up against his chest, to feel his lips on hers again. But it also terrified her. They hadn’t spoken about their kiss. Notonce.

And she couldn’t help but wonder...did he regret it? She didn’t think she could take it if hedid.

He let out a chuckle when he saw the look on her face. “Do not look so alarmed, Bree. I won’t bite.” But then he gave a wink, one that made all the blood rush into Bree’scheeks.

He opened the door and motioned for her to duck inside underneath his arm. Swallowing hard, she eased into the room, tensing as her body brushed against his. There was something so...alluring about Rafe. She could barely even think straight when she was in his presence. Alone. In his bedroom. Where they had snuggled and kissed only hoursbefore.

After he shut the door behind him, Rafe pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it into the armchair before striding toward his bathing chambers. Bree watched him as he left the room. Everything about him screamed masculinity. His body was corded with some serious muscle, and his back rippled as he moved with confident strength and power. Bree had never seen him shift into his raven form, but she could only imagine the spectacle it wouldbe.

Shaking her head at herself, she quickly changed out of her fighting leathers and into the tunic she liked to wear to bed. Rafe was still in the bathing chambers doing...something. Before he could return, she padded across the cold stone floor and slid underneath the covers. Of his bed. She didn’t know where she’d found the bravery for that, but shehad.

Her heart raced as she waited for him, her entire body tense with anticipation. What would he do when he saw her here? Would he climb into the other bed? Or would he pick things up where they’d left them? She wasn’t entirely sure which one she’d prefer. The idea of being close to him was almost overwhelming in itsintensity.

The door creaked open, and she looked up to see the most beautiful creature she’d ever laid eyes on. His skin was so smooth and luminous. Those silver eyes pierced her to her very soul. Rafe smiled and strode over to her, sinking onto the bed beside her, his eyes locked on hers with each and everystep.

“I see you have decided to sleep here again tonight.” His lips quirked up, and he reached out a hand to cup her face. “I hope this means what I think itmeans.”

That I wantyou?

But she couldn’t say that yet. Not outloud.

Instead, she pressed a hand to his bare chest to feel his muscles underneath her fingers. Rafe shuddered against her touch, leaning closer so that their foreheads pressed against each other. Bree’s breath stilled in her lungs as she stared at his lips. They were so close. All it wouldtake—

And then his lips were on her, hot and wet and frenzied with a need that was reflected by all the desire she felt in her gut. This kiss was not like the other. There was an intensity here that had been missing before. An almost primalneed.

Bree’s back arched toward him, and her fingers dug into his hair. He groaned against her, and his teeth nicked her lips. Something about that small movement made her need for him grow evenmore.

Her left leg wrapped around his waist, and his fingers dug into her hips. A feverish kind of energy consumed her, one that could only be doused by the taste of Rafe’s lips. He kissed her harder, and her tongue dove between his lips. She wanted more. More, more, more. So much more that she could barely standit.

Rafe grabbed her wrists in his hands and he pinned each to the mattress underneath them. He climbed on top of her, his warm body pressing heavily onto hers. She squirmed underneath him, both from the excitement and from the need to touch every inch of him with her hands. She wanted to feel his back, his abs, his chest. She wanted to feeleverything.

“I want to see you,” he said in a low growl. “I want to see every single part ofyou.”

Bree’s heart throbbed in her chest. No one had ever spoken to her like this. No one had ever looked at her as though she were the only womanalive.

Rafe released his grip on her wrists, but only long enough to tug the tunic over her head. How silly it had been of her to wear the thing in the first place. Not when she was sharing a bed with Rafe. Not when she wanted him to touch every part ofher.

He gazed down at her with a look of wonder in his eyes. “You are breathtaking. I have never before seen a more beautiful fae in my entirelife.”

Bree’s heart filled with a happiness she hadn’t felt in weeks. With a smile, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. “Kiss me,Rafe.”

And so he did. His mouth found her lips again, and then her neck, her breasts, and her stomach. He moved lower and lower as the moments passed, each kiss more electric than the last. Her entire body was squirming with need when he reached the top of her thighs. Everything within her clenched tight, her breasts heaving with belaboredbreaths.

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