59. Taking Advantage

Taking Advantage

T he feast and revel after the battle were as much of a spectacle as Tarra could have hoped for. It looked like one of those scenes in medieval movies, with long tables full of rowdy lords and entertainers. All the soldiers who'd participated were welcome to attend, after all, and since few common soldiers – human or otherwise – got the chance to feast in the Clement Palace, the place was packed.

It was a hell of a showcase for Yllana's and Pelleas' work. The dress they'd made for me fit my body like a second skin and moved with such natural grace that it was hard to remember it was a physical object instead of mist and shadow given form. I caught Pelleas watching me with an expression of unabashed happiness—one that vanished behind a smirk the second he caught me looking, and which didn't reappear, but which had definitely been real.

I wondered what his life must be like in Raven Court, for something as simple as a beautiful dress to make him happier than successfully holding a duplication glamor on a small army. He was so clearly an artist. What must it be like for a man like that to be the crown prince of a Court besieged on all sides by a god? To be one of Faerqen's darling game pieces?

Not your problem , I told myself, feeling guilty about it. I had a hundred other priorities before I could even think about pitying the Raven Prince. He had our hospitality. That would have to be enough for now.

We ate at the high table, like we were supposed to, Tarra hanging off Tech's arm and making calf eyes at him while he fed her dainties. Watching them, I decided that it wouldn't be awful if they ended up paired together. I didn't like Tarra, and Tech made me nervous, but if there was going to be a baby from the fallen Court of Mists royal line, it might as well be half-Marys. That seemed like it would help integration, not harm it.

As the star of the hour, Cass had to deal with a great deal of people coming up to congratulate him on victory or discuss certain battle-tactics. Though I'd expected him to hate that, Cass seemed to relax as the night went on. In retrospect, I supposed that made sense. He was a Fury, after all; he'd been a soldier in the Annihilation War, and his life afterwards had been fairly casual, and in the company of other soldiers. Being treated like a General and fellow soldier was probably a lot more comfortable than being treated like a King.

I lost track of him around one in the morning, because people liked dancing with royalty, and since nobody was going to dance with Cass and Tarra was halfway in the Misted Duke's lap, that meant I was up. I was midway through a dance with one of the human soldiers, laughing and having a grand time, when every nerve in my body lit up with pleasure.

I almost tripped over my own feet. My pulse pounded between my legs and my skin flushed hot, all my sensations caught up in Cass' reflexive amplification of sexual pleasure.

My soulmate practically purred with pleasure in the back of my mind. The sensation of his fingers traced along my inner thigh: C-O-M-E-H-E-R-E-?

I didn't even know what I said to the soldier to excuse myself. It sounded polite, and it worked, because thirty seconds later I was all but breaking down the door to one of the private lounges set aside for the revel.

Cass smirked at me when I burst in. He had to know the picture he made: sprawled out on the lounging pillows, bronze wings and heavy thighs splayed, his stiff cock outlined against his black pants. He was still in all his finery, including the crown. The signet ring on his left hand caught the light as he ran his thumb down along his erection.

"Oh, you motherfucker," I breathed, feeling that touch as if he had his fingers on my clit.

He regarded me lazily through his dark lashes, the gold of his eyes gleaming in the lamplight. "I'm hungry, lioness," he purred. His hand slid lower, cupping his bulge. "And I'm tired of waiting."

I took a step forward, drawn to him with magnetic force. "Weren't you going to court me, splendor? Whatever happened to going slo- ohh , fuck," I said, my words bitten off by a moan and my pussy clenching from the sensation of Cass stroking his palm back up his cock.

"I still want to court you," Cass said in that low purr. "I may very well spend the rest of eternity courting you, presuming I get the chance." He slow-blinked at me with the affection of a cat. "But with all that's happened… scheming dukes, angry gods, my unfortunate family…"

I barked a laugh, startled into it, and received a brilliant smile in return.

Cass' ears canted towards me, the silver chains of his delicate earrings swinging from the motion. "Fae so often forget that eternity can end with the stroke of a sword or the flight of an arrow. I had the luck to be reminded of that today. If I were to die tonight, I would die regretting not having trusted that your desire for me was as true as mine for you. So," he said, spreading his legs wider and splaying his hand across the broad strength of his inner thigh. "I'm yours for the taking, Quyen. Presuming you still want me."

I stepped closer. Taking deliberate care to make my gaze obvious, I dragged my eyes down along his body, lingering on his broad shoulders, following the strength of his sides and powerful lines of his splayed legs—then back up again, halting on the thick shape of his cock outlined against his pants.

His self-consciousness shivered through me, a prickling fear that had no place in this room. Cass was used to being looked at and dismissed, or desired and discarded. Those scars went bone-deep, but I knew I went deeper. I was in his soul the same way that he was in mine.

"Listen in, Cassie," I said, looking back into his face with a soft smile. I set my hand over my heart and stopped right in front of him, standing between his legs, not touching him. "There's no need for distance. Let yourself know how much I want you."

For the space of a heartbeat, Cass only stared up at me, his brows slanted and ears low in a pose of self-consciousness. But then…

Fullness seeped into me, a sensation like drinking water for the first time after being dehydrated for days, as if I could feel every cell in my body filling out from their shriveled states. His attention settled onto me, a gentle focus. Everything quieted. It was like being in a concert the moment when the conductor lifts his baton, everyone falling silent and inhaling in anticipation, waiting for the baton to fall.

"Oh," he whispered. Heat bloomed through my whole body, settling into a demanding throb between my legs and leaving my skin as hot as if I was lying sprawled under the summer sun. "Oh, fuck, sunlight, you feel like paradise."

"Good boy," I said, breathing the words, my entire focus on him. I wrapped my fingers around his crown to take it off and had to stand there, shuddering from the aching intensity of his attention.

His warm hand caressed my calf and slid up under my dress. The silk pooled on his arm.

"Leave the crown," Cass said, his voice throaty. He reached up, took my hand off the cold metal, and put it on the back of his neck, leaning into the contact. "Have me as I am. As all the things that I've become." His hand stroked higher, leaving a wake of glittering heat on the back of my thigh. "As a healer, a Fury, a King…" Cass lifted my leg and set it on his shoulder, resting his weight back on his wings and using his other hand to help me balance. "And as a man who has spent a great deal of time considering how he might place his mouth at the height of your cunt."

Need spiked through me at the hunger in his voice. Fucking hell. I hadn't intended on getting eaten out in my fancy clothes in a lounge with the door open, but I sure as fuck wasn't going to turn down the opportunity.

My fingers tightened on his nape, dragging myself closer. I didn't hesitate to give him my weight, leaning my knee against his chest and settling my thigh more heavily on his shoulder. "Do you think you can please me, splendor?" I asked, watching his face. My vision was already hazed with pleasure from the anticipation—and from the heated focus of my soulmate, who couldn't help but to lean into that pleasure, amplifying every sensation of my body.

Cass growled, a masculine sound, and nuzzled his face against my bare thigh. The touch of his mouth seared through me like a lightning strike, a sizzling streak of desire that had me baring my teeth. Love me take me keep me, his soul whispered to mine.

I hear you, I whispered back. I love you. You're mine.

If you want to say it, say it out loud , Cass purred into my mind. His eyes flicked up to mine, the gold like the corona of the sun around the eclipse of his pupils.

Part of me wanted him to be the first to say it. He was the anchor of our duo—the reason I was here in Faery. I was his soulmate.

But I was the one who held the key to his heart. That heart had told me he loved me the first time we'd kissed, because he couldn't help but to show me everything he was. Even without that touch, I could lean into the bond between us and hear all the things that bound him to me: love you need you love me keep me.

I leaned towards him and gripped his chin. My thumb ran across his lips. "I hear you," I said softly. "I love you." His ears dropped and lips parted. I slid my thumb into his mouth, reveling in the heat of our mutual want as he pressed his tongue up against my skin, surrendering. "Cassie," I breathed. "You're mine ."

He traced a heart on my side, every ounce of his focus on me. Eyes on mine, Cass leaned forward, sliding my thumb deeper into his mouth, and nuzzled his cheek against my inner thigh. Let me taste you, he thought to me, forming the words with care. On their heels came a quieter plea, one I wasn't sure he even knew I could hear: Let me love you. Please.

I pulled my thumb out of his mouth with slow decadence, pressing down on his hot tongue. He moaned for me, eyes hazing over with pleasure. Since my leg was already over his shoulder, I didn't bother trying to take off the scrap of lace Kat had put me in for the revel. I simply hooked my fingers under it, and dragged it to the side .

Cass' eyes dropped to my pussy. His pupils visibly dilated, the dark swallowing the gold. "Fuck," he whispered, his hot breath fanning against my wet skin. "You're so fucking gorgeous."

"Look with your tongue," I said, smirking down at him.

I didn't have to ask twice. Cass groaned and leaned forward, pressing the flat of his tongue against me.

I almost came from nothing but that. His need and desperate pleasure spiked into me with blinding force, streaking through my veins and setting me aflame. I had my hand fisted in Cass' hair in a heartbeat, holding his face up against me.

Cass didn't hesitate. He ran his tongue up along me in heavy stripes, whole head moving as he feasted on me. His fingers dug into my side and my thigh, holding me in place. Oh, gods, you taste so good, I want to make you feel as good as I do—fuck yes need more take me keep me—

He wasn't practiced. It had been a long fucking time since my soulmate had licked pussy, but he knew my body like his. Each stroke of his tongue honed in on what felt best, until I was shaking from it, my toes literally curling up from the tension coiling inside me.

"Oh, fuck," I gasped out, already on the edge of orgasm. He fucking kept me there, his magic singing through my veins, not letting me tip over the edge—not that soon.

His eyes lifted to mine, pupils blown and gaze intense, and Cass dragged his tongue slowly up my pussy, keeping steady pressure on my clit.

I whimpered, panting for breath. "Torturing… me?"

He made a sound of satisfaction and returned to licking me, face buried against my pussy and bliss creasing his brows.

Two can play at that, I thought, unable to peel my eyes away from the sight of Cass eating me out like it was the best damn meal he'd ever had. I leaned into my sense of him, letting it all flood in: the throbbing pressure of his cock against his pants, the wonderful feel of my body under his hands and of his magic in my veins, the sharp tang of my pleasure on his tongue— love this love you need more please more—

"Touch yourself," I said, putting command into my voice.

Cass let out a pleading whine. His eyes flicked back up to mine and his fingers dug into me.

"You heard me," I said, hot hunger wetting my mouth. "You're not going to let me come? You get tortured, too. Fucking touch yourself, Xarcassah."

He shuddered and let out a panting breath. A second later he had his hands on his pants, all but tearing open the buttons to free his cock.

Fuck yes.

I didn't know whose thought that was, and I didn't care.

His left hand wrapped around himself and I almost fell over from the staggering pleasure of that touch. Cass had his other hand on my side to steady me in a heartbeat, moaning into me, and started stroking.

There was no escape. His tongue on my clit matched the rhythm of his hand on his cock, the paired sensations driving all thought out of me—out of both of us. My sharp sounds of pleasure filled the room as my vision fuzzed out. I didn't have any room for anything besides his tongue on my clit, his hand on his cock, the aching need ratcheting higher and higher in my core.

"Cassie— Cassie—"

He moaned, and everything broke into ecstasy.

I came so hard my breath caught in my throat. My legs fully gave out, all my weight dropping onto him, but even in the white-bright pleasure of orgasm Cass held me there. His tongue pressed hard against me as I came and came and came . Pleasure rocked through me in clenching waves, the feel of come pumping through his cock and the grip of my pussy pairing to make something more ecstatic than the sum of its parts.

His come struck the back of my calf; slid down my skin. His soul begged for more— fuck me fuck me please fuck me—

I shoved him down while aftershocks still rocked through my core. He went with a groan, helpless to disobey, and I followed him down. Cass moaned up against me, the vibration exquisite. His wings sliced through pillows. Pale down drifted through the air.

Quyen, wait—

I froze in grinding myself on his face, not sure if I'd heard him right, or which string of thoughts to follow.

Cass nuzzled up against me, tongue still on my clit. Can we pause? he asked through our bond, sounding hesitant.

"R-right, sure, of course," I said, half way in a daze. I crawled forward off of him to free my leg, and flopped onto the torn pillows to look back down at him. Feathers whooshed up and started drifting back down.

With a low sound of pleasure, Cass wiped his face off with the back of his arm. He tilted his head back to smile lazily at me, his crown fallen onto the cushions and his expression warm. "Hi," he said.

"Hi?" I said back, still dazed. My eyes flickered down his body to where he had his hand cupping himself. They locked in place, my hungry focus on his cock—not that I could see much. There was… there was a lot of it, though. The shadow of it under his arm had to be ten inches long.

And the way that shadow fell… those were ridges. It had fucking ridges .

Oh, I was in for the ride of my fucking life .

He reached up towards me, and brushed his fingers against my bare skin, leaving glimmering trails of gold behind that sublimated away. "Do you mind switching venues?" he asked, still smiling at me. "I want to fuck you into a most pleasant oblivion, and then I want to kiss you and do it again, but I'd like to do it where no one's likely to walk in on us."

Heat thudded between my legs with a clench of my core. "Oh. That sounds good," I said, staring into his eyes. More than good. As much as I liked the wild heat, the idea of being slow-fucked by Cass while we were both naked and in an actual bed caught me like a bear trap. No way in hell would I turn that opportunity down.

He grabbed his crown and got to his feet, offering me his hand. I took it and let him tow me upright.

Cass laced his fingers through mine instead of letting me go. Anticipation wound through me in heated need. The heaviness of his pulse in his groin thudded between my legs, an insistent drumbeat that demanded satiation. "Your bedroom, or mine?" he asked, glancing down at me.

"Ours," I said, my heart in my throat.

A slow smile spread across his face. "Ours," he agreed, and made us a door.