Shards: Book One of the Anderian Series

Chapter 44: Pleasant Distractions

Quaint stores with striped awnings and flowers in the window lined the stone-paved streets, and everywhere I turned, white capped, steely blue mountains grew out of the horizon. It snowed off and on throughout the day. Fluffy, lacy flakes easily buffeted about by the breeze and not sticking to anything but hats and gloves and the occasional tongue poked out in childish delight.

Charming. A town so perfect I might have wondered if it was the set of a movie. It certainly made a lot more sense than it being the Fae Realm.

"It's not the Fae Realm," Cian explained when I professed my confusion out loud. "It's a Fae controlled city. The portal is in the mountains."

Dropping the heavy curtain, I stepped away from the window and frowned. "I thought that's where Cara was taking us."

He grimaced at the sound of his sister's name and continued to rummage through the sacks of clothes she'd dropped off. "She doesn't have permission to bring us through the portal."

"Why didn't either of you mention that last night?"

After Cara agreed to help, she disappeared long enough to find us a ride to replace the one she'd destroyed. As soon as I climbed in the car, I fell asleep, worn out from days of worry, travel, and the Grolim poison in my system, though it wasn't progressing nearly as quickly as I expected. Something to be thankful for since it appeared we weren't on the fast track to a solution.

Cian made a choking sound that had me rushing to his side in alarm. Until I realized he was answering my question with a fake snore. Hitting him, I flopped on the bed.

"Why didn't the Fae just open a portal and send the Andariens home? Would've saved us a lot of time."

"Because the Fae live in a parallel dimension to earth. The portal is a bridge between the two. The magic in both places is the same. There's just—" He curled his fingers around the hem of his shirt and furrowed his brows. "There's more magic in the Fae world. Andarie is a completely different realm. There's nothing to anchor to."

"So how did Bellamy do it?" I asked, my mouth going dry when he ripped his shirt off, exposing chiseled, golden abs.

Seeing my attention shift to his body, Cian grinned and dropped his shirt. Instead of grabbing the fresh shirt he'd spent so long selecting, he crawled across the bed and pulled me under him.

"You sure you want to talk about that right now?"

He hooked his hands under my knees and opened my legs. Settling between my thighs, he rocked against me, striking the most sensitive spot with enough force to make me see stars. Panting, I said, "We shouldn't get distracted."

"We're stuck here until Cara gets back." He propped himself up on his elbows to keep most of his weight off me, leaving his lower half pressing against me—tempting me. "I don't see why we shouldn't make up for lost time."

The spaghetti strap of my nightgown slid down, and he lowered his head, gripping it with his teeth and dragging it until the swell of my breast was visible, only my very hard nipple covered by the flimsy material. Before I could protest farther, he latched onto it, his mouth warm and wet through the fabric, and with one sharp tug, I came with a moan.

"Fuck," he breathed, kissing up my chest, along my collarbone, and down again to the other neglected nipple. "I love that you come just from that."

"Me too—" I whimpered as he lavished attention on my other breast, hooking my legs around his waist to shamelessly pin him against me while I fisted his hair. I shouldn't have been able to come again so soon.

But I did. And hard enough that my back arched off the bed.

"Bria," Cian breathed against my lips before capturing them in a deeply satisfying kiss. He broke away. "You're so wet it's seeping through my pants."

"You have that effect on me, but don't let it go to your head."

Cold air washed over me as he pulled away, but only long enough to strip out of his pants. His cock—long, thick, and leaking at the tip—sprung free. "It already did."

I laughed, and he grinned before sliding his hands up my thighs and under my nightgown. There was a ripping sound, and he threw what was left of my panties across the room.

"Hey, I don't have an endless supply of tho—"

Cian dove into my pussy, his tongue jabbing into my center, deep and hard, before swiping up and swirling around my engorged clit. I couldn't form words, thrashing against the mattress as he feasted. He put a hand over my stomach to pin me in place and force me to accept the pleasure, even as it bordered on pain.

Greedy grunts rumbled in his throat, his clever tongue alternating between fucking me and lapping me up. I could feel my wetness spreading, coating my thighs, and when he paused for just a second to look up at me through my legs, I saw it shining across his nose, cheeks, and chin.

"Fucking delicious, little one," he whispered, nipping at my thigh before resuming.

"Cian, I—I can't. Please. It's too much."

"No. You're going to take whatever I give you," he said, his words muffled against my pussy.

"I can't do it. I can't. Oh, fuck!" I screamed as he inserted two fingers into my center at the same time he flattened his tongue against me, the pressure combined with being filled, forcing me over the edge.

"That's a good girl," he said. My eyes drifted shut. "But we're not done yet."

I shrieked as he rolled me onto my stomach and raised my hips. He kneaded my ass cheeks with both hands. I stiffened when I felt him graze my asshole.

"We'll save that for another time," he promised. "Grab the headboard."

Without argument, I curled my fingers around the iron bars while he ran the tip of his cock through my drenched folds, making me moan with anticipation. I didn't even want to come again. I just wanted to be filled with him. To feel him in the deepest parts of me.

"Didn't you tell me how much you liked it this way?" He asked, pushing just the head inside and stopping.

"Yes," I replied, trying to rock back and force him to slide in more, but his powerful hands settled on my waist and stopped me.

"I won't last long this way, and it won't be gentle."

"I don't want gentle. Not right now."

This was the most alive I'd felt since they'd separated us at the hotel. In fact, until I met him, I had only been existing, and I didn't know it until I didn't have him anymore. He could pound into me until I shattered. I would let him, because I knew he would put me back together.

Hands tightening on my hips hard enough to bruise, he slammed home in a single thrust. Only my grip on the headboard kept me upright, and the metal bars hit the wall so hard a picture fell off, its glass shattering as it struck the hardwoods.

True to his word, Cian wasn't gentle. He wasn't making love to me. He was fucking me. Branding me. His cock hit the perfect spot with each passing, lighting a fuse in my core I'd thought had burned away completely after the first three orgasms.

"Oh dear god," I gasped as the pressure intensified, making my thighs tense so hard they nearly cramped as he plunged inside me again and again, his body curling over mine as he neared his own precipice.

My world narrowed to nothing more than sound—wet, slapping skin, creaking springs, and a knocking headboard. And the smell—Cian's woodsy scent, sweat, and cum.

"Come with me, Bria," Cian demanded, his arm going around my breasts while his chest pressed flat against my back. He didn't pull out all the way now; instead, rolling his hips against me in punishing strokes that bottomed out.

"I can't," I panted, even as the fuse neared its end.

His hand went between my legs. I shook my head no. Tears streamed down my cheeks, but he kissed them away as he moved his fingers.

Three. Three more thrusts and three swipes against my clit. That's all it took to hurtle us both into oblivion. I screamed as the bars bent in my hand, energy rushing into me even as it exploded, turning my vision white and shimmering as I fell onto the mattress, Cian collapsing on top of me.