Chapter 91 91
Annabeth's POV:
I reached for the hem of his shirt. "Can I?"
He nodded and raised his arms, letting me pull it over his head. I'd seen him shirtless before, obviously. But this felt different. This felt like unwrapping something precious.
I put my hands on his chest, feeling the muscles under his skin, the steady thump of his heart. He was warm, so warm, that dragon heat radiating through my palms.
"Your turn," he said quietly.
I stepped back and pulled my shirt off. Dropped it on the floor next to his. Stood there in my bra, feeling suddenly exposed even though he'd seen more before.
"Come here," he said, and I went.
He kissed me again, deeper this time, his hands sliding up my back. I felt his fingers find the clasp of my bra and fumble with it, and I smiled against his mouth.
"Still?"
"It's been like months since I had to do this. I'm out of practice."
"Excuses." I reached back and unhooked it myself, letting it fall between us. "There."
The sound he made was barely human. His hands moved to my waist, my ribs, then higher, cupping me with a gentleness that made my breath catch. His thumbs traced circles and I arched into the touch, wanting more, wanting everything.
"Bed," I managed to say. "Now."
He walked me backward until my legs hit the edge of the mattress, then eased me down onto it. The sheets were cool against my bare back, a sharp contrast to the heat of him hovering over me.
He kissed my mouth, my jaw, the spot below my ear that always made me shiver. Then lower, his lips trailing down my neck, across my collarbone, leaving a path of fire everywhere they touched.
"Kaelen..."
"I want to take my time with you," he said against my skin. "We've been interrupted every single time. Rushed every single time. Not tonight."
His mouth moved lower. My back arched off the bed when his lips found the curve of my breast, then lower still, his tongue tracing patterns that made my brain short-circuit. By the time he reached my stomach I was already breathing hard, my hands fisted in the sheets.
"You're shaking," he observed.
"Your fault."
"Good."
His fingers found the button of my jeans and he looked up at me, asking permission. I nodded and he undid it slowly, then the zipper, then eased the denim down my legs. Kissed the inside of my knee, my thigh, the jut of my hip bone above my underwear.
"These too?" he asked, his fingers hooked under the elastic.
"God, yes."
He pulled them off and then I was completely bare beneath him. For a moment he just looked, his eyes trailing over every inch of me with an expression that was half wonder, half hunger.
"Stop staring," I said, feeling heat rush to my face.
"Can't help it." He leaned down and kissed my hip, then lower, and my whole body jerked. "You're incredible."
"Kaelen, if you don't—"
He did.
His mouth found the center of me and the world dissolved into sensation. I gasped, my hands flying to his hair, not sure if I was trying to pull him closer or push him away. He figured out what I liked embarrassingly fast, his tongue finding exactly the right spot, exactly the right rhythm, and I was climbing toward something that felt enormous, inevitable.
"Wait," I gasped. "Wait, I want... not like this. I want you. I want to feel you when—"
He pulled back, his lips wet, his eyes nearly fully gold now. "Are you sure?"
"I've never been more sure of anything."
He stood up and undid his own jeans, pushing them down along with everything else. I'd seen him before, that day in his bedroom, touched him, felt him. But this was different too. This was him standing there completely bare in the moonlight, nothing hidden, nothing held back.
He was beautiful. Not just handsome, not just attractive. Beautiful in a way that made my chest ache.
"Hi," I said, which was stupid, but he smiled anyway.
"Hi."
He climbed onto the bed, settling his weight over me carefully, his forearms braced on either side of my head. Everywhere our skin touched felt electric, the bond between us humming with the contact.
"I love you," I said. "I know you already said it but I need you to hear it too. I love you, Kaelen. I've loved you since, God, I don't even know when it started. Maybe that first night. Maybe when you gave me your jacket on that bench. Maybe the first time you looked at me like I was something worth protecting."
"You are."
"So are you. I hope you know that. You spend so much time protecting everyone else, but you deserve someone who protects you too. And I'm going to. For the rest of my life, however long that is. I'm going to protect you the way you protect me."
His eyes were definitely gold now, fully gold, the blue-green completely consumed. Through the bond I could feel his emotions crashing into mine.
"The bond is going to complete," he said. "When we... it's going to happen. Are you ready for that?"
"Yes."
"It might be overwhelming at first. Feeling everything I feel at the same time as your own—"
"Kaelen."
"Yeah?"
"Stop talking and kiss me."
He kissed me. Deep and slow and thorough, his body pressing mine into the mattress. I felt him hard against my thigh, felt myself aching for him, and I shifted my hips in a way that made both of us groan.
"Now," I said. "Please."
"Wait," he said, and reached for his jeans on the floor, pulling out his wallet. I watched him tear open the packet with slightly shaking hands.
"You came prepared," I said.
"I've been carrying this thing for weeks hoping and also terrified." He laughed, nervous. "Is that pathetic?"
"It's practical. Very responsible of you."
He rolled it on, fumbling a little because his hands were still shaking, and I found something endearing about that. This guy who could shift into a dragon and had killed Order operatives to save me, nervous about putting on a condom.
"Stop watching me," he muttered.
"Can't help it."
He finished and settled back over me, his weight braced on his forearms. "Okay. Where were we?"
"You were about to—"
"Right. Yeah."
He reached down between us, positioning himself. The first brush of him against my entrance made my breath catch, and I saw his jaw clench with the effort of going slow.
"Tell me if it hurts," he said. "Tell me if—"
"I will. I promise. Just... please."
He pushed forward.
The stretch was intense, almost too much at first. I tensed involuntarily and he stopped immediately, his whole body trembling with the effort of holding still.
"Annabeth—"
"I'm okay. Just give me a second."
He waited. Kissed my forehead, my temple, the corner of my mouth. Whispered things against my skin, how beautiful I was, how good I felt, how much he loved me, while my body adjusted to the fullness of him.
And then the discomfort and pain faded, replaced by something that felt like pressure building, like a wave gathering strength before it broke.
"Okay," I breathed. "Move. Please move."