Page 25 of In Her Own Rite

“Agaayu,” I mutter. She’s so wet, so hot as I enter her. It takes all my self-restraint to do as she wants and go slow, easing in just an inch and then back out. Her head dips back with a gasp, and I press a little deeper, then pull out. Then again, until I’m almost at the hilt.

“Kieran,” she gasps. “God, it’s so good.”

“More?” I ask, straining.

“More. All of you.”

I bury myself into her and she cries out, dipping her head back.

I feel her inner walls clamp around me and go faster, finding a rhythm that matches the subtle rocking of her hips. Her moans are wild and hungry, and I make myself notice it, all of it. Every look on her face; every sound from her mouth; the way her back arches when I hit the right spot and she loses all control.

I prop myself up, and my hand reaches between us to find that delicate bundle of nerves again. As soon as my thumb reaches it, I see her body respond, aching, needy. I circle it gently, thrusting into her, and with another cry, her back arches as she finds her peak. Her hands grasp wildly around her—at the rug, her breasts, her hair—as she rides it out, her hips bucking. I’m close, so close.

“Yes,” she cries out. “Kieran.”

It’s the sound of my name on her lips that does it. I break, leaning forward over her, losing myself in her body, her hips, her pleasure. I come hard, spilling myself into her just as she rides out the last waves of her climax. Finally, I come to rest over her, my face against her chest.

“Oh, Kieran,” she says again, her hands coming up to play with my hair.

“Kiyyuni,” I whisper, before I can stop myself.My soul.

10

EMERSON

When I wake up the next morning, Kieran is gone and I’m alone in the library, naked.

Oh my God.

I roll onto my back, remembering.I asked him to have me. I basically begged him. And when he did…

Warmth blooms in my stomach as I remember. His hands on my skin. His face between my legs, tasting me. The look on his face as he lost himself in my body.

Kiyyuni, he whispered. My soul.

I can’t get it out of my head. I think about it as I clean up the library, fixing the couch cushions and opening the windows to let in the cool, fresh air. I think about it as I sneak down to the shower, washing my hair; scrubbing myself hard enough that I hope no one will be able to smell him on me.

Kiyyuni. A word no one has ever used for me before. A word you save for someone you love.

The house is oddly quiet as I walk downstairs to the kitchen. I step inside to see Maren, sitting at the table with her laptop. She’s wearing the emerald sweater I knit her for Karstmis. The second I walk into the room, her nostrils flare. Her eyes snap up at me, then go wide.

“SHUT UP,” she says.

Agaayu. I should have showered twice.

“Shh, shh,” I say, walking to her with my hands raised. “Don’t.”

“You didn’t!” she shrieks. “Oh my God, you two.Thank God, honestly. About time.”

“Maren, I swear,” I say, looking over my shoulder.

“Relax, we’re alone,” she says, laughing. “Some kind of last-minute council thing, I don’t know. They all left an hour ago, and Gabe’s working on Halssel today. It’s just us. Okay, tell meeverything. How did it happen?Iknewit, when you guys didn’t come down all night. I fuckingknew.”

“I…” I consider lying, but I can’t stop the smile from spreading over my face. I collapse into the chair across from her and pull my knee up to rest my chin on. “Okay, it was great. It was amazing. But you can’t tell anyone, promise me. It was a one-time thing.”

“Oh please. I said the same thing about Seb, and look at me now.” She tugs at the neckline of her shirt to show Seb’s mark, nestled between her neck and collarbone. The bite cements the mate bond, when two partners claim each other for life.

“No, seriously,” I say, and I feel something in my chest deflate with the truth. “We agreed, it was that time only. I don’t think I would have done it if it weren’t for my heat. He doesn’t see me like that.”

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