Before he could make another argument, I placed my hands on Rourke’s skin. He stiffened, and his eyes went round. When he finally spoke, his voice was rough. “Norah.”
I closed my eyes and breathed heavily through my nose, sucking in the leafy scent of him. Healing was never easy. It had consequences. The magic of world demanded a price. It required energy and life, just not the life of the one being healed. The magic wanted mine. I zeroed my thoughts in on Rourke, focusing my mind on the horrible gorges on his back. Heat poured down my arms and pooled into my hands. I whispered something out loud, but I didn’t know what.
And then the heat left me. It entered Rourke, fleeing from my very soul. Sucking me dry. Leaving me with nothing….but darkness.
My head felt split in two when I awoke to the sight of an ancient stone ceiling and the roaring sound of rain and thunder. Firelight danced along the walls, and I groaned as I pushed myself up from the floor.
Rourke was sitting just beside my feet, his back—now free of marks—curved as he drew aimless circles into dusty floor. He glanced up when he heard me move, his eyes sad and hollow.
“You should rest,” he said quietly. “It’s going to take some time for you to recover from that.”
“You seem angry.”
A heavy sigh. “Anger is the wrong emotion for what I feel. I asked you not to heal me, Norah. The last thing I want is to cause you pain, and now look. I can see you’re in physical grief from the look in those eyes of yours.”
“It’s just a headache.” I winced when my skull throbbed. Okay, so it was a bad one at that, but I didn’t want him to feel guilty for my pain. “Besides, it was my choice. I couldn’t very well let you bleed out all over the floor.”
I pressed my hands harder against the floor when a new wave of pain shot through my skull. Shivers followed soon after, engulfing my wet skin. Rourke frowned when he saw me shaking, and he was by my side within an instant, cradling the back of my head.
“You need to rest,” he said, more insistently this time. His eyes flicked over my body as he frowned. “You’re shaking. Are you cold?”
“Well, we did get caught in a downpour,” I tried to joke, but the words came out through clenched, chattering teeth.
“Right. We need to get you out of those clothes.”
My cheeks flushed, though that did little to chase away the chill. “Do what now?”
His hand trailed down my neck and pressed against the damp shirt that was clinging to my skin. “Your clothes are soaked through. It’s only making it worse. We need to get you out of these clothes and wrapped up in one of these pieces of burlap. I can try to add some more fuel to the fire. Heat things up in here.”
“No.” The word popped out of my mouth before I could stop it. “I’m…embarrassed.”
Rourke’s eyes softened, and he shifted closer to me. “Norah, you don’t need to be embarrassed in front of me.”
“I just…” I blushed, hating that my thoughts were betraying me like this. “What if you don’t like what you see?”
His palm cupped my cheek. “Is that what you worry? Oh, Norah. There is absolutely no chance I would ever not like what I see, not when it comes to you. You are the most breathtaking female I’ve ever seen in all my years in this realm. No one has ever caught my eye before. No one has ever made me constantly imagine ways in which I can get her alone.”
He took my hand and pressed it to his chest. Underneath my fingertips, I could hear his heart beating wildly, almost as fast as my own.
With gentle fingers, he reached down and lifted my shirt from my damp skin, pulling it over my head and tossing into the corner of the building. I shivered underneath his gaze and at the heady spark in his eyes. He smiled and traced a line down the center of my chest, making me tremble at the strange ache that began to grow within my core.
He stood and motioned for me to follow. Swallowing hard, I pressed up from the floor and held my body still as he slid my pants down my legs. Next came my underwear and my bra, and then he removed all his clothes, until there was nothing between us but air. My chest heaved, and my body quaked. Rourke’s hands slipped around my back and caressed my shoulders, my butt, my thighs.
Desire shot through me like a comet. I let out a soft moan and leaned against him. His lips caught mine, and the heat of him almost took my breath away. Our limbs entwined as his tongue explored my mouth, teasing me and tasting me and driving me wild with a need I’d never felt in all the years of my life.
With a heavy groan, he pushed me back onto the burlap and pressed his slick body on top of mine. I spread my legs, hooking my ankle around his thigh. The hard length of him pressed against me. He was so close, so agonisingly close. I arched my back and pressed myself harder against him. An ache built inside me so much that it was painful how much I needed this beautiful fae.
With a shudder, Rourke pulled back and gazed adoringly into my eyes. “Are you certain this is what you want, Norah?”
“I’ve never wanted anything more,” I breathed.
He shuddered again, and then pressed his hardness against my slick thighs. He went slowly and carefully, keeping his eyes locked on mine, as if he wanted to make sure that I enjoyed every second of this moment with him. And oh, I did. The feel of him inside me made the entire world drop away. He was mine, and I was his, and I never wanted this moment to end.
Our hips began to rock together. We crashed into each other, the power of our need growing with each passing beat. As my pleasure began to build, all of the tension in my body began to melt away. My moans grew louder, and my movements faster. I wrapped my arms around Rourke’s golden body and dragged my nails down his back. I was losing myself to him, letting all my inhibitions drop away so that I could experience the full pleasure of Rourke.
As we reached our climax together, Rourke caressed my cheek and dropped his forehead to mine. My heart swelled at what I saw in his eyes. This was more than just lust. This was more than just a passing moment in time. He was my mate. I was certain of it. More certain than I’d ever been of anything in my life.
Chapter Twelve
A part of me wanted to stay in this cocoon of happiness, safety, and exhilarating passion forever, to block out everything terrible going on in the world. Here, in this little stone room, nothing else mattered except for Rourke. But as the rain continued to pour from the sky, my thoughts began to turn outward instead of in. It was only three days until the Spring Court would attack the Winter fae. Liam was waiting for me back in the Summer lands, and my heart ached to see my Winter prince. It felt like years since I’d seen Kael and Finn, and I worried now what they might think when they learned what had happened here this day.
“You’re thinking the others, aren’t you?” Rourke murmured as he traced lazy circles on my bare skin. “I can tell by the look on your face. You look wistful and sad. And perhaps a little worried.”
I turned on my side to face him, staring into the flickering golden eyes that had captured my soul. “You know things are kind of complicated, right? I’ve kissed both Kael and Liam. I don’t really understand what’s happening between all of us, but I do know that I don’t want to upset anyone.”
“Greater Fae mate differently than the rest of us do.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Greater Fae. Lesser Fae. I hate those words.”
“Marin hated them, too,” he said softly.
“I don’t think I’m anything like her. Maybe power-wise, but that’s about it.”
Rourke regarded me carefully. “And why is that, Norah?”
“She was a Queen and a ruler. A good one at that, it sounds like. Her people loved her, and she protected them. So, she must have been strong and powerful and wise. And also kind.”
“Yes.” He gave a nod. “She was all of those things. And, as far as I can see, you are, too.”
I grunted. “Hardly.”