Total pages in book: 131
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121854 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 609(@200wpm)___ 487(@250wpm)___ 406(@300wpm)
Moving with the muscled fluidity of the warrior he was, his wings white fire in the candlelight, Aodhan walked into the fall of water. His sigh made Illium’s entire body throb, but he stayed in place, just watching as Aodhan allowed the water to drench his hair before sleeking the strands back as he shifted to look once more at Illium.
The water turned the strands dark, cut back their shimmer, but only by a fraction. Aodhan was still Aodhan, the droplets on his eyelashes tiny diamonds.
“Are you coming in?” A husky question.
“I’ve decided to take the scenic route,” Illium murmured past the stranglehold of desire. “Hold on.”
Ducking out of the room, he went to the kitchen and returned with a tray on which stood a small bottle of champagne, a bottle of honey mead, two glasses, and a plate of sweetmeats: sugared figs, dried apricots, dark chocolate, candied almonds, and slices of mango cured with chili. He’d never in his life understood what Aodhan loved about the snack that burned Illium’s tongue to cinders, but the man could eat a whole box of the stuff.
Aodhan laughed when Illium placed the tray on the simple black counter speckled with gold that was part of the single-piece sink, the dip in it a smooth flow that looked as if it had been created that way. “I see the limits of your love—not even for me will you drink champagne.”
“Some things are a step too far,” he said as he popped the champagne cork, then poured out a flute for Aodhan. “For my warrior artist.”
Again, that hint of pink on Aodhan’s cheekbones as he switched off all the spouts but the two that hit his shoulders and body from either side while leaving his head in clear air. “You’re impossible.”
“That’s exactly how you like me.” Putting down the bottle after handing Aodhan his champagne, he poured the mead into a matching flute, then picked up a sugared fig and walked to the edge of the spray.
When he held it to Aodhan’s lips, the other man’s pupils expanded, the dark pinpricks shockingly visible against the shattered blue and green glass of his irises. His lips parted, his lower lip soft and plump under the pad of Illium’s thumb as he drew it out after feeding him the sweet morsel.
“I want to bite your lips,” Illium murmured, feeling his way, watching Aodhan to see what would trigger bad memories.
Aodhan’s breath caught, his pulse fluttering in his throat.
So Illium used his thumb to trace the curves of Aodhan’s lips all over again before he drew back and picked up a candied almond to put to those same lips. He’d been so close to Aodhan all his life that he took the other man’s looks for granted. All he saw was his Adi.
But today, he also saw how striking his eyes appeared when his lashes were dark with water, how candlelight made his irises less shattered glass and more a lazy river of refracted light. He saw the way his lover’s biceps pushed up against the glory of his skin, and the way his wings had a powerful arch even when he was relaxed.
Teeth scraped his thumb when he withdrew it this time.
His own breath shallow, and his pupils no doubt as dilated as Aodhan’s, he put his fingers under Aodhan’s jaw and leaned across and just a hint up to sip a kiss from those lips dusted with sugar from the candied almond.
It was a kiss unlike any other they’d shared, soft and sweet with an edge of delicious anticipation. It felt like a first kiss in many ways, the two of them finding out who they were in this private space different from any they’d ever before experienced.
They parted on a hushed lick of sound.
Aodhan’s eyes were closed, his eyelashes throwing shadows onto his cheeks, his skin flushed…and his entire body languorous in a way that made the possessive, protective core of Illium’s nature happy.
He liked knowing he was looking after his people as they needed. And Aodhan? He wasn’t just one of Illium’s people, he was Illium’s person, his everything, the being without whom nothing would work quite right.
Those exquisite lashes rose. “What are you doing, Blue?” A rough whisper.
Illium ran his knuckles over Aodhan’s cheek. “Courting you, Adi.” He leaned in till their foreheads touched and the water hit his body from either side. “Let me.”
* * *
* * *
Let me.
Aodhan’s skin was too tight and yet relaxed at the same time, his entire body dreamy with pleasure. No one had ever touched him like this, ever treated him as infinitely precious in a way that wasn’t about ownership, but about devotion.
Not the slavish devotion of those who wanted to worship him—he’d kept a wide berth from those so inclined over the years—but the passionate devotion of a warrior as powerful as Aodhan who had both stood with him and taken him to task when required.