Because she is warmer.
Pushing that thought down as deep as I can, I slam my head into the pillow with a huff. How is it possible I already became so accustomed to her heat? To her presence?
My mind drifts to Niressa, the last image of her I have flashing through my mind. She looked so lonely sitting on the ledge, watching us leave. I hate to think of her like that: alone. From what she’s told me, she’s basically isolated herself completely after the death of her parents.
It’s a tragic thing, but grief is meant to move. You’re not supposed to dwell in it forever.
Not like my father.
And Anna of Izvora wants to court me. A groan slips past my lips as I mentally compare the two women. I can’t. They don’t have enough in common to even try. Anna is as different from Niressa as I am, and that’s probably the problem.
I wish I’d gotten to say goodbye . . .
My fingers brush over my lips, imagining the way hers felt. It was like a brand against my mouth. It was like being claimed by the fire that somehow lived within her.
And maybe that’s exactly what it was.
Maybe I’d been claimed.
But I can’t spend my days pining over a woman I can’t have. That’s foolish. Still . . . I wish I could have kissed her one last time. I wish I could taste her now.
I never got the chance to truly taste her. She wouldn’t let me—and by all the Gods if that didn’t make me want to taste her more. I blow out a shaky breath as I try to get comfortable, snuggling deeper into my overstuffed mattress.
My eyes finally shut, but as I chase the darkness behind them, scenes bloom to life that have no business being nestled quite so close to the surface of my mind.
Niressa, smiling in the sunlight as we sit on the ledge. The way her tongue danced across my pussy like flames lapping at my skin until I was all but melted. The curve of her spine, the way her hips flare out from her slim frame. Her laughter echoing in the dark.
“Tiny Treasure?” a familiar voice calls from nearby.
I shoot up in the bed, scanning the room. Did I fall asleep? Did I dream it?
“Treasure,” she hisses, drawing my gaze to the balcony. Just inside the curtain, Niressa stands wearing a loose dress, smiling at me. The thin material clings to her breasts but falls in loose, swirling panes of fabric to her knees.
“How—”
“I had to see you,” she admits, rushing over to sit on the bed. Her arms slip around me, pulling me close before I can even properly greet her. “I know I shouldn’t have come, but I needed to see you.” Her heartbeat thuds against my ear where it’s pressed against her chest and a smile curves my lips. She missed me.
Some selfish part of me takes pleasure in that.
“I was just thinking of you,” I admit quietly as I relish in the heat soaking into my body. “Did anyone see you fly here?” I ask, suddenly, wondering how she managed to get on my balcony.
“No,” she laughs. “I shifted far enough away that no one would question it. I am just another woman in Vanir, tonight.”
“Scaling balconies,” I add, leaning back from her embrace to look up at her with a scowl.
“Yes, another woman in Vanir scaling balconies,” she smirks as her hand slides down my cheek. My face turns against her warm palm instinctively. “I missed you,” she murmurs.
“I missed you, too. I’m sorry we didn’t get to say goodbye.”
Something in Niressa’s expression changes. Her beautiful eyes harden for a moment before softening again, focusing on me. “I’m sorry we have to say goodbye at all,” she whispers.
I turn my head, pressing my lips against her palm. A thick sigh, full of emotion, chokes my throat as her words wash over me.
“As am I.”
Niressa kisses me. She kisses me without warning, without preamble, without hesitation. Every confusing emotion brewing between us sizzles on her lips against mine as she claims me with her mouth.
I sigh against her lips, sliding my tongue over hers as her hands roam my body hungrily. Whatever calm Niressa had in the caves is gone. She’s someone entirely different now right now . . . someone raw, someone possessive. Her kisses come in short, hot bursts, nipping at my lips as she leans me backward.
I stare up into those eyes, my hand cupping her cheek. Niressa’s eyes dart back and forth, as if searching for something in my eyes. I don’t know what she’s looking for, but in this moment, I’d give her whatever it is.
A pressure builds in my chest until it feels like it might burst. Quickly, I press my lips to hers again, rolling us so I’m on top of her. As I stare down at Niressa, my hands smoothing down her kinky coils, she looks up at me with a smirk.
“And what do you think you’re doing, Tiny Treasure?”
My eyebrow cocks as I kiss a line from her ear to her neck, then gently bite her breast through her dress as I slide it up past her hips.
“Treasure,” she hisses in warning.
Before she can tell me what a bad idea it is, I slide my fingers through her wet folds, shuddering at the heat waiting there. My fingers dip into her core and her back arches beneath me, her hands slipping up my arms. She opens her mouth to speak and I shake my head, begging her not to say it. I need this. With every piece of my soul, I need this. I have no idea what I have to offer her, I have no idea where she fits here, in this world, but I need her.
And if this is all we have, I intend on making the memory something worth reliving.
“Shh,” I murmur, working my fingers in and out of her center. Her teeth drag across her bottom lip, her brow furrowing even as she reaches up, wrapping her arms around my neck. Our lips crash together in a furious blend of need and passion, of patience and rush.
My thumb circles her clit and a growl slips past Niressa’s lips as she sinks her teeth into mine. My fingers curl inside her as I pull away from her kiss, moaning at the small bite of pain.
“Treasure,” she warns, but I push on her chest until her head falls back on the pillow, slowly trailing my way down her body. My teeth graze over her stomach, nipping through the thin material of her dress as the fingers of my free hand dig into her hip. I slip my tongue along the bend in her thigh, smirking when she shudders.
But I want to taste her.
I pull my fingers from her core, shivering at the whining moan that slips from her lips at their absence, and wrap my hands around her thighs before I lower my mouth to her pussy.
As my tongue slowly swirls through the wet folds waiting for me, I whimper. Niressa tastes like a dream, like liquid fire melting snow that reveals the first wildflowers of spring.
My tongue dives into her core then works back up to her clit, circling it, sucking it as my fingers slam back into her.
“Taryn!” she cries out, her hands fisting in my hair.
Moaning into her pussy, I work my fingers in and out of her as I suck her clit, flicking my tongue against the sensitive bud as she writhes against my face.
“Up here, now,” she growls. Fingers dig into my arms, pulling me away from my place between her thighs and I whimper at the loss of her pressed to my lips.
Niressa snarls as she kisses me, the sound vibrating through my body as her tongue dances across mine. And just as suddenly as the kiss began, it ends. I’m flipped around, my breath leaving my body in a quiet oof as I take in my new perspective.