* * * * *
What would happen if he claimed her for his own?
No. They were not meant to be together. Even Solara admitted that her fate was with Braedon. He would not interfere.
Scrubbing his hand over the back of his neck, Roarke stood and paced his chambers, tired of battling the demons that cursed him. The sun had long ago set on what had been a terminally long day. The castle was quiet, and he had been the last one about, finally giving in and entering his lonely bedchamber.
All day he had watched and waited for Solara, hoping to catch a glimpse of her, and yet she had remained true to her word and had not crossed his path. He ached to see the bright smile on her full lips, the way her eyes twinkled like the sun flitting through the leaves of the trees, the sexy way she moved that inflamed his desire.
And with those came visions of her lying in the arms of another man. An image that filled him with jealousy.
Hell’s damnation. He
did
love her, and he did not want another man to touch her.
Which begged the question of how far was he willing to go to see that no other man ever had her? Was he willing to give up his honor, his position? Was he willing to change not only his life, but hers?
Roarke had never dishonored himself or a woman before. From the moment he and Garick had been bonded as children, he knew he would always remain faithful to his duty. Could he turn his back on everything he believed in for the chance to love the woman who haunted his every moment?
Noele’s words still pounded away at the logic in his head. Should he, for the first time in his life, follow the dictates of his heart?
By all that was magic, he did not know what to do!
* * * * *
The night creatures called out through the partially open window, singing a wailing lament that echoed the stirrings in her heart.
She missed Roarke. It had only been a day, and she longed to see his face, gaze upon his magnificent body. Just to be in the same room with him filled her with peace and contentment. Apart, she was only half of a whole.
A strong urge to go to him made her ache all over. But she promised she would not. No matter how difficult it was, she would see it through.
The knob on her door startled her as it rattled. Raw fear crept into her throat, her heart slamming against her ribs. Wizards had not entered the castle since Noele had been abducted. Surely elvin and faerie magic was still able to keep them at bay.
But the door opened with a slight squeak. Thoughts of screaming out occurred to her, but she remained silent, hoping it was only Isolde or one of her sisters. The light streamed in from the window, shining upon her. She had never felt so exposed, so vulnerable. Whoever stood at the doorway could see her clearly, yet they were cast in darkness.
“You take the very breath from me, faerie.”
“Roarke,” she whispered. Instead of calming, her blood pounded, her body trembling at the thought of what reason he would have to be standing in her bedchamber.
The door shut, followed by the sound of the bolt. He had locked them in.
He moved across the room and stopped next to her bed. The moonlight filtered over him. He still wore his breeches, though they were partially unlaced. His shirt lay open, his broad chest and firm abdomen beautiful in the silver light. She clutched the coverlet in her hands to keep from reaching out for him.
Curiosity mixed with an elemental excitement. She was almost afraid to ask him, certain he came here for some other reason than the one she wished. Yet she had to know. One way or the other, she had to know. “Why are you here?”
He waited before answering, as if he struggled with his response. But finally he said, “I can no longer stay away.”
It took a moment for his words to make sense. “But I thought—”
“Does not matter what you thought, or what I thought. We are fated, my faerie princess. Or damned.
I’m not sure which. All I am certain of is if I don’t take you into my arms and make love to you tonight, I will regret it until I die.”
Her heart soared with love, knowing what it cost him to be here with her. What would happen after, she did not know. Whatever happened, she would accept the consequences willingly.
She let the sheet fall, baring her body to the waist. Pulling the coverlet aside, she moved over, leaving room for him in her bed.
“Come to me, Roarke. Make me yours.”
Roarke paused, waiting for the guilt to wash over him, the sense of hesitancy that had held him back before.
This time, it didn’t come. Only a drive to finish what they had started before. Being here with Solara felt right, as if he’d finally found light in a darkened cavern.
She was his freedom, and his heart soared.
Her nipples were already puckered, thrusting outward like the peaks at the top of a mountain, waiting for his hands, his mouth, to claim them.
“This time, there is no dream, there will be no stopping before we consummate. Tell me now that you do not want this, and I will leave.”
Without hesitation, she answered. “You know what I want, Roarke. What I’ve wanted since the first day we met. I want you to make love to me, in every way possible. I am yours for as long as we can be together.”
Relief washed over him, as he had feared he was already too late. He slipped off his breeches and shirt, then climbed into the bed, gathering her against him. Her skin was silken, her legs long, her breasts small and perfectly shaped. She was his magic, his fantasy, and the only woman he would ever give his heart to.
“I want to touch you everywhere tonight, kiss you, take you in every way you can imagine, and even some you can’t. Are you ready for this, my faerie?” Her encouraging smile was all he needed to see. He dragged her on top of him, loving the freedom to stroke her back, her buttocks. Her hair spilled over his chest, the scent of her like wild summer roses.
“You are the most beautiful woman I have ever known.” She traced his bottom lip with the tip of her finger. “And you are the most beautiful man my eyes have ever beheld.” She nipped at his lip with her teeth, tugging lightly. His cock surged against her pussy, her juices seeping over his balls.
“You are wet. Have you been thinking of me?”
“Aye. I think often of your heavy cock, how hot it feels in my hand, how it pulses in my mouth. Sadly, I have yet to feel it inside me.”
Rolling her over onto her back, he grinned down at her. “Oh you will feel me inside you this night, my princess. But not yet.”
He captured her mouth and she met his fervor with an equality that never ceased to amaze him. He had been with many women, and yet never one as passionate as Solara. Her breasts brushed his chest, her hardened nipples teasing him. He shifted and took one globe in his mouth, laving the crest with his tongue.
She whimpered and moved her hips against him. The scent of her arousal filled his nostrils, and he slipped down between her legs, nestling his nose against her soft, red fur.
“Roarke.” She breathed his name in a throaty whisper, winding her hands into his hair to direct him. He let out a low chuckle and took a long swipe of her swollen nether lips. Her nectar was sweet, musky, the scent of her never failing to make his cock pulse with need.
He lapped her juices, alternating tugging on her clit with his mouth and thrusting his tongue deep inside her slit. She bucked off the bed, tearing at his hair and shaking her head from side to side.
“Roarke, please, now,” she begged.
He ignored her pleas, swirling his tongue over her sex, taking in the juices pouring from her. When he inserted his finger inside her and captured her clit between his lips, she tensed, cried out and flooded his hand with her climax.
Barely giving her time to catch her breath, he slipped two fingers inside her soaked pussy, gently at first, then harder as she recovered. He watched her face, the way she wrinkled her nose and closed her eyes when she was in the throes of ecstasy. He took her close to the edge again until she was crying out, begging him to fuck her.
He wanted to take her over the cliff so many times tonight that by morning she wouldn’t be able to move. He wanted to delay the moment when he plunged inside her, not because he felt any semblance of guilt, but because he wanted to arouse her past the point of reason.
Trouble was, he could not wait. It had been too long already.
“Aye, my princess. Now I will give you what we have both wanted for so long.” He rose over her, nudging her legs further apart with his knee and settling against her.
This was the moment, the point at which he could not return things to the way they were. Solara watched him, waiting, not saying a word, as if she knew how much he struggled with his decision.
Only this time there was no hesitation. He knew exactly what he wanted, what he had to have, and nothing would change his mind.
He eased the head of his shaft between her slit, watching the flecks in her green eyes turn a molten gold.
He poised, waiting, his cock pulsing as her cunt grabbed onto it, drawing it deeper.
Solara’s lips curled into a sensual smile. He leaned down, captured her mouth and plunged inside her, drinking in her gasp. Her legs wrapped around his waist and held tight against his back as her body fit itself around him.
Always and forever, she would be his.
She was so tight, hot, wet, that he feared completion before he even had a chance to move within her.
Why had he waited so long for this? Her body was made for his, accommodating his length and width perfectly.
Roarke’s eyes drifted shut and he tilted his head back, letting out a sigh. “Ah, yes, this is how I knew it would be.”
He moved against her, gently at first, pulling out and sliding deeply inside once again. She began to move with him, lifting her hips and meeting his thrusts until they developed a rhythm, a sweet dance with the only partner he would ever need.
Small sounds escaped Solara’s throat. Whimpers, whispered cries of delight, the love song of pleasure that took him ever higher on the climb to fulfillment.
He was lost inside her, this magical faerie that he loved with all his heart. Pleasuring her became as paramount, as necessary as his next breath.
He slipped his hands underneath her, cradling her buttocks and drawing her closer. When he moved, he brushed her sensitive clit, and she moaned into his shoulder, nipping lightly with her teeth, then harder as he thrust deeper.
“Roarke, I cannot…I’m going to…”
Her words trailed off into unintelligible comments. But he knew. She did not have to speak the words for him to know what was happening. Her cunt tightened around him, squeezing, coaxing the seed from his knotted balls. She let out a keening wail as her climax washed over her. He took her mouth, driving his tongue inside in the same way he drove his cock into her pussy. With a groan against her lips, he poured his release into her.
They lay there for awhile afterward, panting, stroking each other’s skin, murmuring soft words to each other.
“I do not know what to say,” she whispered against his ear.
He leaned back and smiled at her. Her hair was disheveled, a wild array of scarlet spread over the pillow. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips swollen from his deep kisses. Truly, he had never seen anything more erotic in his life.
“There is nothing you need to say, faerie.”
“I want to thank you, Roarke. I know that you struggled with this, that you—” His finger against her lips silenced her. “Nay, do not speak the words. Tonight is only about the two of us. Nothing else exists. And we are not nearly finished yet.” She arched a brow. “Is that so?”
“Aye. I told you that this night I would have you every way imaginable.” Trailing a fingertip around his shoulder, she said, “I can imagine many ways, my elvin warrior.”
“Would you care to tell me about them?”
She shook her head and grinned. “Oh no. I am but an inexperienced maid. I will rely upon you to teach me all that there is to know.”
He kneeled on the bed and drew her up against him, her breasts flattening against his chest as he crushed her tightly to him. “Then you will not rest tonight, my faerie, as I have much to teach you.”
“I do not require any sleep,” she said, drawing his face to hers and licking his lips.
He pressed his mouth to hers, reveling in her heated passion. Again his cock stirred, ready to take her.
Would he ever tire of this magical faerie? Would he ever survive losing her?
No. That he refused to think about. He turned her away from him and pushed her down until she was on her hands and knees on the bed, then backed away, taking his cock in his hand and stroking it as he admired her backside. Her slit was open to his view, juices seeping from her, and he caressed the swollen tender flesh, drawing some of her nectar onto his fingers, then spreading it between the twin globes of her buttocks.
She gasped, then leaned forward onto her elbows. His breath caught at the sight of her puckered rosette.
“Do you know what I want, Solara?”
Her answer was a panting breath of excitement. “Aye.” He caressed the hole with his moistened fingers, his other hand reaching underneath her to stroke her silken flesh. She shuddered.
“Is this something you do not wish me to do?”
“I want you to possess all of me, Roarke.”
Her willingness to accept him astounded him.
“Then relax. I will not hurt you.” He caressed the entrance to her ass, then slipped one finger partly inside, waiting for her body to accustom itself to the invasion. All the while he stroked her clit and petted her pussy until she was writhing against his hand.
Her movements drove him to the brink. If he did not take her soon he would explode. He positioned himself behind her, taking his cock in hand and guiding it to her slit. He teased her pussy, rubbing his cockhead back and forth until she squirmed and cried out. Then he dipped his shaft inside her cunt. She tightened around him immediately, pouring more of her nectar over his cock and balls.