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Silver
Silver’s heart thudded violently in her chest as the imps gripped her and lifted her in the air. She thought again about the night with the creatures in her room, when she’d been unable to defend herself, and wished their fingers didn’t have to be on her. But she quashed that fear while watching the branches unfurl and the imps traveling through the open slit.
She peered down, and another group of the creatures were hefting Keelen into the sky. The cerulean color surrounded her, and she continued to study her sister below, until the flower-covered limbs stretched back together and sealed shut. The imps drew Silver farther away from the barrier. When she turned to look where they were going, she was pitched forward, a brief spout of gray concealing her eyes.
A loud curse tore from Silver’s throat as her body crashed to a hard surface. She wanted to rip off the imps’ appendages, but they, along with the flap of their wings and heavy breathing, had vanished. Chest heaving, she stared at the hard surface then back toward the wall where she’d been thrown out of.
Her eyes widened—Keelen wasn’t beside her in the room. She jolted up and rushed toward the wall, just as his body barreled out from it and collided with the floor. He groaned, then pushed himself to stand.
They were back in the room they’d left from. Back in Enare’s castle. It appeared the same with the drawn circle in the middle of the floor, the partially used candles and herbs surrounding the ink outline.
“Fuck, I wish I could have done more,” Keelen said, gripping the back of his neck.
Why was he thinking he hadn’t done enough? He’d given up so much to help her. “It’s what Afton wanted. You did more than enough.”
Keelen gave her a small smile, but she wasn’t sure if he believed her. “What do you want to do now?” He peered out the window. A dark veil with a star-filled sky was already casting down on the castle.
She walked to the wall and rubbed the candle wicks between her fingers, lighting them with her magic. “We’ll stay the night here then leave first thing in the morning. Ketill is going to be different with only us coming home. Not Javan. Not Afton. Enare’s king is gone.” Her stomach sank at the thought of Javan and her sister no longer walking the halls of Ketill’s castle.
Keelen lifted her chin, his dark eyes meeting hers. “You’re now queen of both territories.”
She was. Enare had no other heirs so, as a queen, regardless of her territory, she could claim it as hers. “But will they listen to me?”
“They will.” His serious expression told her he trusted in that. “I’ll still be your guard.”
Silver could be monstrous when necessary and kind when needed, but she’d always had her sister by her side. There would have to be the belief that she could do this, that she could bring two territories together and keep them safe. She would try her damned hardest. There would need to be time to heal, but at least Keelen would be by her side at home, as her guard.
Tearing her gaze from him, Silver took a seat on the mattress and removed her boots. She scooted back and crossed her legs. Keelen’s feet shuffled against the floor as he headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” she asked, straightening.
He turned to face her. “I’m going to sit at the door. I wouldn’t leave you alone in here.”
Then what? Sleep on the floor? No. Silver slid back even more until she was almost touching the headboard. She patted the spot across from her. Keelen didn’t hesitate and took off his boots before sitting in front of her. The mattress dipped as he crossed his legs too.
Both stared at each other, not moving, until Silver reached her hand forward and cradled the side of his face. A bit of red had gathered in his pale cheeks.
“I’ve loved you for a long time,” she whispered, not being able to hold it in any longer. But he’d already heard the words when she’d spoken them to Afton.
“As have I.” He leaned forward, his forehead kissing hers. “I’ve desperately wanted you to have my fucking heart for so long now.”
Silver grinned, taking a quick peek at his lips, holding back the urge to kiss him. She flicked her gaze up. “I won’t take it completely. You can give me half of yours and you can have half of mine. And if you ever want your piece back, all you have to do is ask.”
“Mm, I think that sounds fair.” A chuckle escaped his lips, and she grinned wider.
Silver tapped into Enare’s magic, feeling its lightness, its life. It was all there, with no trace of the tarnished energy lingering. “Can you still draw the magic here?”
Keelen squinted, his brows inching closer together, and he pressed his lips into a tight line, seeming to concentrate. He shook his head.
Cupping her mouth, she took a deep swallow and her heart lodged in her throat. “So you gave up everything?”
“Everything.” He took her hand from her lips and entwined their fingers together. “I don’t need it anyway. I’m good with weapons. Ragan taught me how to use them when it was just the two of us in Valgmyr.”
She didn’t only lose a sister. He lost a brother.
Silver wanted to give him something that she’d never given to anyone—herself.
She pushed up from her position and crawled into his lap, his legs stretching in front of him so she could be on either side of them. Her palms cupped his face as she pressed her lips to his. “Show me,” she murmured. Then softly kissed him again.
“Show you what?” His arms snaked around her waist, tugging her close.
“How to make love to you.” Silver’s fingers clasped the hem of his tunic.
Keelen’s lips parted, his breath increasing. “Just follow my lead. Do anything you wish,” he whispered, his pupils dilating as he helped her lift his shirt over his head. His mouth captured hers, and she arched into his touch. His tongue traced the seam of her lips, prying them open. As she kissed him, caressing, deepening, the stars from outside shone brighter into the room, alighting within her.
Keelen’s hands skimmed up her dress, to her thighs, and she wanted them in all the places that hadn’t been touched by anyone else.
“Unfasten me,” she breathed, reaching down for the ties of his pants.
His fingers traveled up her back, loosening each button, his mouth never leaving hers, until they were all undone. Keelen peeled the dress from her shoulders, baring her breasts, her hardened nipples.
“You’re everything,” he murmured, craning his neck forward to kiss her scar. “Always have been.” His head then dipped lower. Her heart quickened when his tongue circled her nipple. He gave it a soothing lick, and that small touch sent her over the edge, heating her, causing her to desire more. She drew off her dress and remaining undergarments while he shoved down his pants. As she peered up, she found Keelen already bare, and beautiful, before her. He helped her settle back into him—flesh against flesh.
Silver placed a hand against his chest and took a breath, letting her magic flow into his heart, showing him that she would always guard it.
Keelen’s mouth crashed to hers, hungrily, desperately, allowing her to see that he would keep her safe too. He scooped her up and rested her against the mattress as his fingers trailed down her neck, to her scar, in between her breasts, to the area between her thighs that yearned for him. Keelen’s true form was sculpted to perfection, lean and hard against her soft flesh. She’d fallen in love with him before she’d known who he truly was, when his soul could only temporarily visit while inside a wax raven.
Silver gasped when a sensual feeling ignited within her as his fingers stroked and rubbed her core, expertly, deliciously. A wondrous pleasure poured over her, and she couldn’t hold back her moan. He nipped at her throat, grazed his teeth down her breast, continuing until his tongue was now between her thighs, kissing and licking and shattering her entire world into something anew.
“Show me more,” she said when he lifted his head.
A mischievous grin spread across his face. “As you wish.”
She tugged his hair and his lips met hers once more. With her free hand, she reached down between them, grasping his hardness.
“Silver,” Keelen rasped as she pumped him. He threw his head back with a loud groan, even though her movements were unpracticed.
Her hand left his length and drifted to his back, their kisses harder, devouring. The tip of his hardness nudged her entrance. He took his lips from hers, his eyes questioning, and she nodded for him to continue. Then his mouth was back on hers, his chest pressed to her breasts.
Keelen pushed inside her inch by inch, and she sucked in a breath at the stretching, the ache, until she was full of him.
“Tell me when you’re ready,” he said, his voice low, his cheeks flushed.
“Now.” She dug her fingers into his hips, urging him on.
Keelen’s hips started to move, slowly at first. They watched each other for a few moments before he kissed her, like he didn’t ever want to stop. His pace picked up, his hips rolling into hers. Over and over and over again. And she wanted him to show her even more.
As if reading her thoughts, he scooped her up and took her into his lap. His mouth descended to her other nipple this time, giving it equal treatment as his tongue flicked and tasted. She grasped his neck tightly, her body rocking with his, her center rubbing circular motions against him, his hands gripping her waist. A stack of stones built within her, growing taller and taller, reaching as high as they could go before they all crashed down, creating a rush of bliss through her unlike anything she’d ever felt. She moaned his name while her body shook from the sensations.
Keelen groaned, his body quaking as he spilled himself inside her, amplifying her magic. She allowed her energy to seep into him like before, only this time igniting the pleasure he was feeling—that she was still feeling.
His forehead fell to her chest, her hand on his, and they both breathed together, his heart beating beneath her palm, just as furious as hers.
“That was...” he trailed off, looking up at her, his expression content.
“It was.” Silver smiled, still struggling to catch her breath, unsure if she even really wanted to. She folded her arms around him and he did the same to her. “Get some sleep, my raven. I’ll be your guard for the night.”
