50. Soft as Snow

Soft as Snow

I t wasn't quite like jumping in the deep end the second time, or the third, or the fourth. It was more like wading into the ocean. Sometimes the waves were bigger than expected, or the drop-off steeper, but we were feeling it out. By the time we'd finished the champagne and the sun was setting, I'd laughed so much I was sleepy, and I could feel the way to his yearning heart even without his mouth on mine.

Cass leaned up and kissed me with sultry care, his whole body relaxed and easy. His heart whispered to mine, love you need you have me keep me , and I knew he could hear my answer: hear you want you be mine you're mine.

"World's most possessive soulmate," I murmured against his mouth, happier than I could ever remember being. "How embarrassing."

"How perfect," Cass murmured back. His callused hand stroked down my bare back. "I need someone who will drag me back, no matter how far I go or how lost I get. Maybe I should start calling you 'dragoness' instead of 'lioness.'"

I huffed a laugh and nuzzled his nose. "I like 'lioness' better. Female dragons are called 'queens,' anyway, so you're good on that front."

"Are they?" he asked, sounding delighted. "Are male dragons 'kings,' then?"

"Nope!" I leaned back, looking up at the pale winter sky, painted soft pink from the setting sun. "They're drakes. The girls are the bosses, and the boys fall in line."

"Ah," he said with a bright smile. "So it's fitting for us, then."

"Is it?" I asked with a laugh. "You've held your ground just fine when you've squared up with me. I like that you can. Makes me feel like I won't walk all over you. You should do it more often."

He dragged his damp fingers through my hair, looking up at me like I was his forever. "I didn't like fighting with you," he said with warmth. "It was miserable."

"Mm-hmm." I draped my arms over his shoulders. "That's why you should do it more. Tell me I'm being stupid before I've devoted weeks to it. I promise I won't like you any less. I might even like you more."

Cass smirked up at me. The gold in his eyes reflected the setting sun, brilliant and beautiful. "Make me a bargain about it, dove," he said in a low purr. "I'm a fae King. Give me something I want in return."

I raised a brow. "And what's that?"

"Hm." His lips twitched. "If I challenge you on something, tell me something true that you like about me."

"Hah! Okay, but it better be things you actually think I shouldn't do." I scrunched up my face as I thought. "Let's put a time limit on that, too. I don't want to do that until we're ten billion."

He laughed, the warmth of his good humor curling through me and his bright grin lighting the evening. "How about a year and a day?"

"A classic," I said with as much of a serious expression as I could muster, my eyes dancing. "Sold. Seal it with a kiss, ?ng già, and be grateful I'm in such a giving mood."

His nose brushed against mine as he leaned up. "Deeply grateful," he murmured against my lips. His fingers tightened in my hair, and he kissed me sweetly, putting his whole heart into the press of his lips. Affection thrummed through me. "Incredibly grateful," Cass said, his voice going rougher. His warm mouth captured mine again.

I moaned, a helpless sound, my lips parting and all my skin hypersensitized.

Don't-want-this-moment-to-end grateful , he said into my mind with a deep groan in the back of his throat. His tongue brushed against mine, hot and slick.

I broke. I fisted my hand in his hair and kissed him with all the fervor in my soul, licking along his tongue like I might devour him. Cass let out a low whine, his desperate want flooding into me. I broke the kiss, panting down into his face, predatory hunger lighting my eyes.

"Wicked fae," I crooned. I licked across his open mouth, getting another panting whine from him. "Are you trying to trick me into keeping you here long enough that we miss our dinner date with the Misted Duke, your splendor?" Holding his gaze, I traced S-T-I-L-L-O-K-? on my cheek.

Cass' expression melted into warm affection. "Yes and yes," he said, smiling up at me, his eyes as soft as a doe's. He let my hair trail through his fingers, then drew a heart on his cheek where I'd written my note to him.

I gave him a quick smooch on the nose before clambering off of him and getting to my feet. The cold air bit at me. "C'mon. Let's get our asses back to the Clement Palace before people start wondering if we've been kidnapped."

He snorted. "As if anyone could kidnap us," he said. Water sheeted off of him as he stood, all his skin steaming. "I survived fighting a goddess and you can melt people at will. I feel fairly untouchable."

I had to look away as he stretched his wings, because if I didn't, ogling would be the least of my sins. "Wasn't I just kissing you?" I asked playfully. I picked up my ice-cold panties and decided that I'd rather be dry and warm than have half-frozen cloth with a rime of ice right up against my pussy. "You seem pretty touchable to me."

Cass sauntered past me to grab his clothing. "One could even say you kidnapped me," he said in a cheerful voice as he collected his clothing from the branch he'd hung it over, "so perhaps I should update my statement to something like 'I feel like people would struggle to keep me somewhere I didn't want to be.'"

His yip of discomfort as he yanked on his own underthings made me grin. Yet another benefit to being comfortable with one's body: not having icy clothing making your balls retreat into your pelvis.

Mercy wasn't particularly excited to open a long-distance door from me to the palace. It hadn't been that difficult from the palace, but the Clement Palace itself was a focus for the power of the Court of Mercy, and it was easier to work Court magic there than anywhere else. There weren't any convenient cliffs or boulders to use as faux-walls, and while I didn't get hypothermic thanks to Cass, it was really fucking cold outside, and I didn't enjoy the experience of being wet and buck-ass naked while the evening breeze off the mountains had its wicked way with me.

I found a tree that had fallen into the vee of another tree, which made a vaguely door-shaped outline. It took me longer to convince Mercy to do what I wanted—but then Cass came up behind me and settled his hand over mine, and it was like being in the palace again. In some ineffable way, he was Mercy, and with him touching me, I had no barriers to that connection. The door snapped into place, opening up into our theoretically-shared bedroom that only I used.

Stepping into the warm air of the palace and setting my bare foot down on the woven wool carpet of the floor felt like coming home at the end of a wonderful vacation. I had to take a moment to luxuriate in the emotion, tilting my head back and inhaling the familiar scent of my room.

Cass followed, the cold breeze settling once the door closed. He made a thoughtful sound, then chucked his remaining clothing at the bed and picked me up by the hips.

I yelped like a startled puppy. "Cass!"

His warm laugh filled the room. Cass literally tossed me into the air, like I was a tiny child, putting enough spin on the motion that when he caught me I was facing him.

"Cass!" I squeaked again, bright elation and adrenaline sparkling under my skin.

He grinned at me, holding me up against him, high enough that I was looking down into his face from inches away. His expression softened. "Hi," he said, like I was the best thing he'd ever seen, and leaned his mouth up to mine.

I melted into the sweetness of his mouth. His lips moved against mine like poetry, exploring me even though he knew every part of my body. Cass luxuriated in me, and I fell into it, my arms going around his neck and my fingers sliding into his thick mane of hair.

The tip of his tongue grazed mine. I moaned from the contact, a shudder of pleasure running through my body. He was so strong and so gentle, savoring me like I was an incomparable treasure, his mouth my paradise. I licked him back, deepening the contact, and stole a panting whine from his throat.

I could do this forever. The thought flitted through my head with a feeling like the tide, the waves dragging me out to sea. I could do this forever , could spend the rest of my life finding ways to make him smile, to make him happy —

His hand slid higher on my back, until his thumb brushed against the delicate hairs of my nape. Our lips parted as I gasped from the tingling pleasure that ran down my spine.

Cass nuzzled me, his lips brushing against mine. "We should get ready for our dinner," he said softly, his voice rough and his heavy-lidded eyes focused on my mouth.

I combed my fingers through his wet hair. "We should," I agreed in a throaty voice.

Neither of us made any move to do so. We stayed there, breathing the same air, his thumb stroking along my skin and all my weight in his arms.

One corner of his mouth tugged up. "I feel like the luckiest man in the world," Cass murmured. "Whatever have you done to me?"

I started smiling at him, unable to suppress the joy. "You must be easy to please. I guess I should have taken you on a date months ago."

"I guess so," he said in a playful lilt. Cass kissed me once more, then set me down on the floor and smiled at me, his eyes warm and his ears canted forward in gentle attention. "Will you wear that midnight blue dress tonight? The one with the constellations picked out in diamonds?"

"The backless one?" I asked, my lips parting in surprise. He'd admired me before, of course, and I was sure he had favorite outfits of mine, but he always left the choice of clothing to our assistants.

His ears lifted. "That's the one."

"Well, okay," I said with a helpless smile. "Is it the backlessness or the sideboob you're enjoying? I can see if our Master of Wardrobe can get some more into rotation."

Cass laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "While I enjoy both, I was thinking of the color," he admitted. "Your hair looks lovely against blues, and the silver of your rapier hangs so nicely against a dark backdrop. Plus," he added, tucking my hair behind my ear before stepping back, "we have an unexpected visitor, and the starry motif is a quiet declaration of power."

I frowned at him with my brows pulled together.

"In the formal sitting room in this wing," Cass said, his lip lifting in distaste. "Do you feel that glamor-mage? "

My frown deepened. I listened in to the palace – it took more thoughtful effort for me, since Cass was the one directly connected to Mercy, and we weren't balanced soulmates yet – and saw why Cass was interested in declarations of power. The mage was more powerful than any of the other fae mages I'd met, with a darkness and gravitational pull that reminded me of a black hole.

"Who the fuck is that?" I asked, making my eyes refocus on Cass.

" That ," he said with distaste, "is Pelleas Xirangyl, the crown prince of Raven Court, and the man ultimately responsible for putting me on the throne."