Lightness Falling (Lightness Saga Book 2)

by Stacey Marie Brown

  Lorcan’s hands curved over my butt, lifting me up, my legs wrapping around his hips. I grasped the sides of his face, squeezing my thighs firmer around him, deepening the kiss, nipping at his bottom lip.

  He growled, my spine colliding with the nearest wall, kissing my neck and working down to my chest. I tipped my head back, allowing him better access. Keeping me pinned to the wall, he leaned back, his fingers curling around the collar of my T-shirt. One pull, the fabric split down the middle. He dragged down my bra, exposing my breasts. His warm mouth claimed one. I groaned, grabbing the back of his head, raking my fingers roughly down the back of his neck.

  He let out a noise I knew belonged to the beast. Our lust escalated so high, I thought I might explode right there.

  I suddenly grew aware we were still in the HQ hallway. Most were at dinner, and this walkway was almost as untraveled as the pit, but at any moment any member could step around the corner and see us. Knowing what they seemed to believe of Lorcan and me, they’d think I had some kinky fetish, using a fae as my sex toy.

  Or they would see through our façade.

  Either way, it was really hard to care when Lorcan moved to the other breast, nipping and sucking.

  “In public.” My throat was so thick with desire, I could barely manage those few words. “My room.”

  Lorcan glanced up at me, a bad-boy smile tugging on his mouth.

  Shit. I knew that look. He loved shoving me off my theoretical comfy couch.

  He undid the top button of my jeans, zipping them down before I could even blink. Yanking them over my hips just enough to allow access. His fingers brushed over me, my breath hitching before he shoved my underwear to the side.

  “Lorcan.” Trying to fight the urge to give in, my eyes darted around. “Someone will cat—”

  I cut off my own words with a hiss as his fingers plunged deep into me, curling. “Oh. God.”

  “If you want to be with me, you’re gonna have to get extremely used to sex in public.” He increased his movement, my eyes glazing over with pleasure. “Because I will be fucking you all the time. And I don’t care who wants to watch.”

  I gulped, nodding, my hips moving against his fingers. He could do anything to me, with a stadium of viewers, and I wouldn’t have cared. It actually increased the thrill.

  What happened to the shy, quiet girl from school? I had no idea, but she was not shy or quiet now. Especially when he hiked me up the wall, draping my legs over his shoulders, his mouth joining his fingers. His tongue created a high-pitched noise from my throat and proved once again he had full control over my body, turning me feral and wild. Bucking against him, I could feel the edge I teetered on, my moans turning into shrieks the more he sucked and licked. When it came to sex and pleasure... Lorcan was a gifted genius.

  He nipped me, biting down just enough to inflict a thread of pain, sending pleasure smashing through my body. My orgasm detonated. I knew I cried out boisterously, but my body spiraled out into space, not caring how loud I was back on earth.

  The sensation of Lorcan pulling away, the cool air against me, him kissing me softly once more, slowly, sank me back down, my chest trying to catch up with my rapid heart.

  “Holy. Shit.”

  “I’ve wanted to do that for a long time.” He smiled, sliding me back down.

  “Whenever you want.” I leaned all my weight into the wall to keep me upright, pulling back up my pants and repositioning my bra. “I won’t stop you.”

  He chuckled, widening his stance; he cupped my face, tipping my head up.

  “You might come to regret that, li’l bird.” His eyes glinted with mischief.

  “I highly doubt it.”

  “Wait until you’re trying to have a business meeting and I’m the one under your desk, my head between your thighs, fucking you with my tongue.”

  Shit squared and multiplied.

  A split second and my body went from sedated to aching again. Lorcan’s nostrils flared, probably smelling the spike of lust rushing through me.

  “Now, let’s go back to your room before the guy at the end of the hall gets another show,” Lorcan growled, his eyes completely red.

  I turned against his hold, spotting a balding man at the far end. Dressed in a towel like he was heading to the shower, he stared at us with wide eyes. His room was the only one that had a view down this hallway. He was human and had no control over his feelings or thoughts, which poured into the atmosphere. His aura sparked red, gray, and green.

  Turned on, lonely, and envious.

  Ick. He let himself be an open book and my seer saw more than I wanted. What he wanted.

  “Maybe if you had done that to your wife, instead of the fae guy at the massage spa, she wouldn’t have left you,” my seer declared honestly to the man before I had a chance to stop it. “Or at least asked her to join.”

  His mouth dropped open, his hand going to his chest, insulted, then he rushed away.

  Lorcan snorted, turning me toward my room. “Come on, woman, before I have to spank you for being rude... that’s my job.”

  “Do you mean I get to spank you every time you’re offensive?” I grinned at him, rubbing my hands together.

  “No.” Lorcan hauled me down the passage, pushing me into my room, slamming the door behind us.

  “You’re right. I would have my hand in a cast within a few hours.” I backed up, a coy grin teasing my mouth as he prowled up to me.

  “You ever spank me…” Lorcan’s humor went underground, the beast in full control, stalking its prey. “I will not be responsible for what I do to you.”

  It was a threat, but one I wanted to test. I lifted an eyebrow. “I’m sure I have the authority.”

  “You think you’re embarrassed the old man saw us? I promise you…” he declared. My eyes darted to his; fae did not promise because promises were binds and fae had to fulfill the pledge. He grabbed my wrists, walking me back to the wall, pinning them above my head. “I will bend you over wherever you are and fuck you till you cannot take any more. In front of everyone. I don’t care who is there. Got it?”

  I stared up at him; my body shook with need, responding to his brutal furiousness. I liked it. A lot.

  “I am not one of your servants, or a noble you can order around. I will not call you my lady or Majesty.” He gripped my wrists with the free hand, the other sliding from my throat to my belly button, sparking electricity through me. “I will not be your doll to dress up and take to events, or sit by your side, like a housebroken mutt. I am a beast. That will not change. I am dark. You may be Queen, but you are not my queen. You’re my mate. Equals. The one I will fuck every night, morning, and afternoon until you are sick of me. Does that scare you?”

  I gulped for air, wanting so bad for him to start. “No.”

  I used to hate when Jared called me his mate or said he “claimed me.” I had felt trapped, like I didn’t have an option. I hadn’t wanted it. Jared and I were never meant to be; I understood that clearly now. Because when Lorcan said it, heat consumed my body so powerfully it shocked me. I wanted to claim him as intensely in return, leaving no doubt he was mine.

  “You can walk away now.” His gaze dared me. “Before I sink deep into you and make your decision almost impossible.”

  “The more we have sex, the more the beast claims me?” My voice emerged low and raspy.

  His fingers dug into my wrists. “It’s already claimed you. But the more I come inside of you, the more I bond to you. You have a window right now; we’ve only been together a few times before spending a year apart. You can walk away. Free. Like you were before.”

  “You think I’ve been free?” I glared at him. “Did you not hear what I said earlier? You haunt me every moment in my own prison of hell. And even when I was too busy to think, I felt something was always missing. And funny enough, the moment I was with you again, it disappeared. I am tired of fighting you, Lorcan, fighting what I feel and want.”

  “And if you change your mi
nd once we get back? When reality sinks in?”

  “I won’t.”

  “You sure?” He dropped my arms, the blood rushing back into them. “I’m not sure I can go through that again. I’d rather do it now.” Something showed in his eyes, and his thoughts came to mine like words on a page. It was so natural. Not intrusive or scary at all. Oh man.

  “If I did, it would kill you,” I stated. “What you said earlier, you meant it literally.”

  “Not entirely, but I’d continue to get weaker.” His lips twisted. “Fun perks, I’ve learned, of claiming and being rejected.”

  My hand went to my mouth. “The weight loss and lack of sleep was actually because of me?”

  “Don’t take that on. It’s not your fault.” He shook his head. “This is your decision. You have full say in what you want.”

  “I know, but…” Pain and guilt burrowed into my gut.

  “No buts. I will not have you choose me out of pity.” He growled, spinning away from me. “Fuck that.”

  “It’s not pity.” I grabbed his arm firmly, needing him to understand. “It actually physically hurts me knowing I caused you pain. If I had known…”

  “You still should have done the same thing. I hated it at the time. But seeing you now, the woman you’ve become, walking away from me was the best decision you could have made. For both of us.”

  He was right. I would never have grown if I had stayed with him. Maybe eventually resenting him because the pain over Jared would have never healed. I needed the time to develop as a person, as a queen, to rebuild my heart. Now I was ready to be with him.

  I peered at him, still hating the agony that choice put him through.

  “Don’t look at me like that,” he snarled. “I will lose my mind if I get another look of sympathy from you.”

  “Dammit, Lorcan!” I bellowed, getting fully in front of him. “I love you, you jerk! That means I’m going to care if you’re in pain. I’m going to worry if you’re sick or hurting. That’s the way it works. Especially with me. So if you want to be with me you’re going to have to deal with it.”

  He stood there frozen in place, then clamped his eyes shut.

  “Did you hear me? I am in love with you. I want to be your mate; I want to be claimed. It might sound very anti-feminist, but I don’t care. I don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks. All that matters is you and me. And if your beast already claimed me, then I should be on even terrain here. I demand to stake my own claim. It’s only fair. We’re equals, right?”

  Lorcan’s lashes rose, flames scorching his irises. In an instant I was in his arms, crashing back onto the bed, the dweller moving between my legs. When his mouth found mine, I felt the fire burn through me. The kiss was as hungry as earlier but was filled with more intense emotion, like he finally unhinged the gate and let it flood into me, allowing me to feel and see it.

  “There’s only one thing I demand.” He broke from my mouth.

  “What?”

  “This needs to come off. For good.” He grabbed at the chain, knowing who put it there and the declaration it represented. I helped him pull it off, tossing it on the floor. “The moment I saw him put it on you, I wanted to crush it into powder.” But he hadn’t. He never said a word, letting me choose what I wanted.

  Though the charm was light as a feather, the moment it came off I felt a weight lift off me. There was no doubt whom I wanted. My mouth captured Lorcan’s, letting him know without words he was all I desired.

  His hands tore the rest of the shirt from my body, unhooking my bra as I tugged at his shirt, our lips barely separating for him to yank it off before he was back, stealing my breath.

  Our hands skated over every inch of skin, rediscovering each other. My fingers dragged up his back and through his hair. My legs hugged his torso, tugging him down on me. One hand moved down his frame and playfully swatted at his butt, an impish smile curling my mouth.

  “Oh, you are so in trouble,” Lorcan growled deeply.

  Bring it, I thought.

  He pulled back, a roguish grin on his mouth. It’s on, li’l bird, his eyes said back to mine. He climbed off the bed, chucking off my shoes. My sweats and underwear soon followed. He stared down at my naked form, gazing at me like I was the most beautiful, sexy woman he had ever seen. His irises flared with need; he kicked out of his boots, then started on his pants. I climbed onto my knees, stopping his fingers.

  “Let me,” I said. My hands worked the buttons, quickly shoving the jeans to the floor. Lorcan didn’t wear underwear, for which I was grateful. I had forgotten when he said he was a beast it wasn’t simply the dark dweller he was talking about. “I think I still owe you.” I grabbed his hips and gazed up at him through my lashes, reminding him of the promise I made him if we survived the war.

  “And I’m collecting with a year of interest.” He smirked, his lids hooded as I let my fingers run the length of him. He swore when I gripped him, moving my hand up and down. I remembered the first time I had held him like this. The memory of us in the bathtub had made appearances in many of my fantasies over the past year.

  “Tell me how you like it.” I licked the length of him.

  “Do-ing good so far.” He huffed, his head going back with a groan as my tongue wrapped around him.

  I was nervous, but Lorcan had a way of making me feel comfortable with myself. And not embarrassed to ask. If I had to practice over and over, I would learn exactly what made him lose his mind. He knew how to make me.

  It was only fair.

  TWENTY-THREE

  Kisses trailed across my shoulder blades, waking me from a brief but peaceful sleep. I grinned, snuggling into the pillow, my eyes not ready to open. I was exhausted and sore, but in the best way possible. I was pretty sure Lorcan was trying to make up for a year in a few hours. One orgasm rolled into the next throughout the evening, our need only increasing instead of diminishing. Finally my mind and body had given over to sleep.

  Clearly my break was over.

  Lorcan’s mouth nipped behind my ear, his hand sweeping my hair off my neck. I hummed out a happy noise, stretching my limbs.

  “What time is it?” The windowless room made it impossible to tell the time.

  “Little before eleven.”

  “Really?” I yawned. We had to meet the group in about thirty minutes. “Did you even sleep?” Drowsily lifting my lashes, I looked over my shoulder. Only the dim green exit light by the door gave me enough to see his outline, his eyes glowing even brighter than the light in the darkness.

  “Enough.” He worked down my neck. “Too many things distracting me.”

  “Talking about me, being caught here, or the mission?”

  “All the above.” His tongue drifted along my jaw. Rolling me onto my back, he hovered over me. “But I think by far you were the most distracting.” His hand glided up my inner thigh, brushing me. “Especially this.” His mouth moved to my breast. “And this.”

  I swallowed, a moan already curling out of me.

  A touch was all it took, and I was completely at his will, ready to challenge his fever with my own. I knew couples went through the honeymoon period where they couldn’t get enough of each other but eventually petered out. What I knew of fae in general and particularly Ember and Eli or West and Rez, it didn’t appear those mated to fae ever got over that period. I couldn’t be more grateful. I’d never not want him, craving his touch till the end of time.

  “What happens when I die?” The thought shot out my mouth before I could stop it. Lorcan’s head jerked up, the corners of his eyes creasing.

  “I don’t think we have to worry about that for a long, long time.”

  “But eventually I will.” My fingers ran over his stubble, my thumb tugging at his bottom lip.

  “You’re going to live for thousands of years.” His teeth grazed my thumb, biting it. “Why are you thinking about this now?”

  “Because you live pretty much forever. I’m just curious.”

  He grabb
ed both my wrists and pinned them back into the pillow by my head with one hand, red flaring through his gaze.

  “From what I’ve seen we don’t do well at the loss of our mate. We may not die, but we go a little insane.”

  My eyes widened, hating I would cause Lorcan to go crazy.

  “Ken, I’ve lived a long, long time. I plan on living even longer... with you.” His knees pushed my legs apart, his free hand hooking my thigh up on his hip. “But if you must know, I plan to follow wherever you go…and when you go.”

  His declaration fell on me, taking me a moment before the meaning soaked into my skin. I was the girl no boy ever looked at school; now I had a man, a sexy beast of a man, not wanting to live without me. My brain struggled to wrap around it.

  We may have not started as a sweet love story, but I loved where the journey had brought me. Here, in this bed, with the man I loved. My head pitched up, my lips colliding with his with deep hunger. He was mine. And I was never going to take that for granted.

  Our mouths grew hungry and desperate, his gaze flickering to mine.

  What do you want, li’l bird? Tell me, his gaze said to me.

  I want you deep in me. Hard, I said back, the blunt words no longer sounding foreign or embarrassing.

  Whatever the Queen demands. His eyes glistened with mischief. He flipped me over on my knees, wrapping my fingers around the bed railing, his hands running up the back of my thighs, spreading my legs. He scraped the tip of himself against me.

  “Oh god.” I moaned, my back arching, wanting more. “Please. Now.”

  He tortured me instead. His mouth started at the base of my spine, licking all the way to the back, his tongue working in places I never thought I would want touched. Pleasure so unbearable consumed me that I made a noise I had never heard before.

  “Like that, li’l bird?” It really wasn’t a question, my whimpers displaying I did. His fingers and tongue continued to play with me, dipping farther until my legs shook. I couldn’t get a full breath, ignoring my pleas, pushing my pleasure to the limit before backing off again.