Your Reward Ends Here

Elias didn't respond to her words like usual, nor did he push away after she had her fill, the way he usually does. He kept staring at her and she could feel his gaze lingered on her breasts.

His breath was shallow and his chest rising and falling against her hand as her fingers idly traced the fine fabric of his coat. There was something in his gaze now, that started to burn her too. It was darker, heavier, flickering like embers starved of air. He didn't move, but the tension in him vibrated like a drawn string.

Seraphina noticed the shift immediately. The gleam in her eyes intensified, and her smile curled into something far more wicked. A soft laugh escaped her lips. It was a rich, velvety, intimate one offering promises that were never meant to be done between them. She leaned forward and her lips grazed his ear.

"Do you want a reward from me, then?" she whispered softly, her voice was like a low melody that sent shivers down his spine.

His throat moved as he swallowed hard, the heat in his chest now spreading through every inch of his body. The soft flicker in his eyes flared into something deeper, needier. His gaze met hers with embers that could burn her soul.

"It would not end that simply, do you want to take the risk." he asked in a voice that promised a clandestine affair.

Her smirk widened, and before he could speak again, she wrapped her arms around him and whispered an incantation against his neck.

In the blink of an eye, the world around them shifted once more. The wooden floor vanished. The warm hearthlight stretched, then collapsed and they reappeared on her bed, tangled in the silk sheets, the flickering candles throwing gold across the room's shadowed corners.

Elias landed on his back, surprised, his head sinking into the plush pillow while his hand still holding her waist tightly. 

Seraphina straddled him with her knees on either side of his hips. She slowly licked her lips, he noticed that her shirt was gone. her hair spilling over her shoulders covering her nipples, giving him a desire to pull them away yet the visual of her naked with only her hair covering her breasts was more feasting than he could ever imagine. It burnt her like flame licking on his skin. Her breath brushed his skin, and she looked down at him like a queen inspecting her favorite weapon.

His breathing hitched as his hands moved instinctively to her hips, but he didn't pull her closer. 

She leaned down with her fingers sliding over the buttons of his shirt slowly and teasingly, undoing them one by one. her mouth following each with a trail of warm kisses down his chest. The cool air kissed his skin where her lips had been.

"You have always been so composed. Just moments ago you were so cold and ruthless in that court," she whispered against his breastbone, "but under that, you burn hotter than anyone I have known."

His fingers gripped the sheets. He exhaled through his nose with his jaw tense as her lips moved across his skin like molten lava.

She pressed her palm flat against his chest, feeling his heart race beneath it. Her other hand traced his side, dragging lightly over every scar, every old wound and he was not sure if she was healing them or burning them. 

"I love this side of you," she murmured, lifting her head just enough to meet his eyes again. "When you show me your raw emotions because I am the only one in the world who could see them. right?"

Elias said nothing, but the way his hand rose and tangled into her hair tightly, pulling them hard enough to create the pressure but not hurting her, and the way his breath quickened as her body sank further against his, told her everything.

She kissed him again slowly this time, deep and possessive, like a promise written in heat. Their kiss deepened with their tongues brushing against each other and following the game of tagging where their mouths could not have enough of each other. She was teasing and exploring him at the same time with her body burring deep into his arms, as if they were broken parts of a single puzzle finally making it one again. Their breaths hitched as they moved against each other in rhythm, mouths warm and wet, lingering like neither of them wanted to let go.

When they finally parted, it was only because air had become a desperate necessity for him. Elias rested his forehead against hers, panting softly. Her gaze flickered across his flushed cheeks, the dazed look in his eyes and her lips curled into a pleasing smile. 

He noticed the teasing in her eyes and his eyes narrowed. He held her wrist and moved.

In one swift fluid motion, he flipped her beneath him. She gasped with half laugh and half moan, as her back hit the silk sheets. The shift knocked her braid loose and her silver hair splayed out over the pillows like the silvery moonlight, calming and enticing at the same time.

Elias hovered above her with his weight balanced on his arms as his eyes roamed over her with a quiet hunger. There was no hesitation anymore, he showed no more restraint.

His hands cupped her breasts with his thumbs brushing slowly and reverently over the soft curve where her hair had fallen away. He traced the shape of her breasts. his fingers molding gently at first, then growing bolder as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her collarbone.

Seraphina arched beneath him, her breath stuttering. Her hands moved to his back, trailing down the ridges of muscle as he worshipped her body inch by inch.

Elias's mouth traveled lower, tracing a path between her breasts before taking one into his mouth. his tongue flicking slowly, tasting her, savoring her. Then he started sucking her nipples with more force that made her let out a low gasp, her fingers threading through his hair, urging him closer.

He listened to her unsaid plea, and bit her nipples hard. He suckled with force, that took her breath away and drew soft moans from her throat as her body arched into his. Every movement was filled with a sensual reverence, as if he was learning her anew with each touch.

And when he looked up at her again with his lips parted and his breath ragged, Seraphina saw something in his eyes that made her heart stumble. It was not just desire, it was possession.

A need not just to touch her but to claim her and that made her eyes narrowed. Her hands reached for his chest.

"Your reward ends here, Elias."