ELRETH

Aaryn's face looked so drawn—lines alongside his mouth and eyes, smudges under his eyes from lack of sleep.

Elreth blinked, forcing herself to stop obsessing about the war before them, and turning her mind instead to her mate, who'd been running around after her and taking her orders all day, while he carried his own grief, and stress and..

"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean to just order you around."

Aaryn frowned. "I don't care about that. I'm saying.. are you listening to me, Elreth? We're talking about the humans being here in a week, maybe. That means that's the time we've got. That's it. Those are the only days we can bank on having together."

He was horrified, and Elreth's stomach plunged to her toes as well. She hadn't thought about it in those terms.

Not only was it possible they only had a few days, but those days were going to be full of danger and stress and—historical

Aaryn's jaw hardened and he stalked up the table to her side, pulling her to her feet and into a kiss before she'd even put the pen down.

"Aaryn! What—"

"Elreth, I am not walking into this—I'm not walking into war without having you. I'm not walking into any day that's given to us without a moment to hold you and be close to you. We can't let this tear us apart.. just in case."

"Don't talk like that," she said gently, putting a hand up to his horrified face. "We're going to figure this out. And we're going to find a way to keep them out."

But Aaryn just set his teeth, leaned down, and pulled Elreth off her feet and into his chest.

She shrieked, laughing nervously and grabbing at his neck as he started carrying her to the bedchamber.

"Aaryn! I have a meeting with the elders in ninety minutes. I have to figure out how to make sure we're all—"

"Well, you can prepare for that in thirty minutes," he growled. "All those problems will still be here then."

"But—"

"I submit in public, you submit in private, remember?" he rasped, nipping at her neck. Elreth flinched, that entire side of her body washing in goosebumps as a breathless laugh escaped her throat.

"This is.. you're dominating me right now?"

"Damn straight I am," he growled, then pushed the door into the bedchamber open with his foot, kicking it closed behind him once he'd carried her through.

There were only a few lanterns lit from their time there that morning, but he didn't seem to care. He walked her over to the sleeping platform and tossed her onto the furs.

Elreth gave a little shriek, but landed with a small bounce and splayed on the furs. She didn't have time to react as Aaryn leaped up after her and without any preamble, started opening the buttons at the bottom of her shirt.

Elreth watched, stunned and turned on, as he revealed a triangle of skin over the waistband of her leathers, and he kissed it, soft, open mouthed, then moved up to the next button, crawling up her body, kissing every piece of skin he uncovered and growling when she tried to lift his head and pull him up for a real kiss.

"Aaryn," she said breathlessly as he reached the top couple buttons of her blouse. "I'm not sure we have—"

But with a flick of his wrists, her shirt was wide open and her breasts exposed—and Aaryn latched on, opened mouthed to the first peak.

Elreth gasped and grabbed for his hair, holding him there as he sucked so hard the tingles flickered between pleasure and pain. But she arched against him, her body responding to his closeness, and to the sheer force of him.

He came off that nipple with a small pop, but immediately cupped his hand around the other and took that one in his mouth instead.

Elreth sucked in a breath and let her head fall back, her fingers still in his hair to hold him close as waves of glittering pleasure began to was through her, like he was twanging a cord that attached her breast to her belly, to the apex of her thighs, and every time he plucked it, her body shook.

Then he came off that breast and pushed himself up onto his knees, grabbing his own shirt from the collar behind his head and pulling it forward and off, tossing it to the floor at the side.

Elreth's eyes widened as his body was revealed—leaner than he'd been a month earlier, she noted with some worry—but rippled and ridged with muscle, his chest rising and falling as he unbuttoned his own leathers and freed himself, before dropping over her again, hands braced on the furs to either side of her arms, his eyes fixed on her, despite his hair falling between them as he gazed on her.

Their eyes were locked and the words Elreth had been about to say died in her throat.

"I want you," he rasped.

"Me too," she whispered, cupping his neck and pulling him down into a heated kiss.

Too soon, though, he started to kiss his way down her jaw, her neck, then her body, his tongue laving the skin between her breasts and he slid down her body to her leathers and unbuckled them, tugging and stroking, unwilling to stop kissing her even when it got awkward to slide her leathers off.

But he did it, growing to himself when he'd thrown them aside, then cupped her leg behind the knee and lifted it, kissing her ankle, then her calf, and starting back up.

Elreth gasped again, covered in goosebumps at the delicious waves of tingles that followed his gentle fingers, and not so gentle mouth as he climbed back up her body again.

"Your leathers," she gasped when he found her breast again. She pulled him up into a kiss and reached for his leathers, sliding her hands into the back of the waistband to cup his ass and push them down. But her arms weren't long enough.

With a low, purr of a chuckle that would have done any leonine proud, Aaryn pushed himself up and off her again, shucked off his leathers, then crawled back on.

"Hold on, El," he groaned as their lips met. He'd pulled her leg up as he returned to her, bending it back and stroking his way up her shin as he took himself in hand. "Hold on."

"But, why—"

Elreth cried out as he entered her in one frantic thrust that she felt to her toes.