I slide forward, onto my knees, and hold on to his leg. “Stop.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop doubting yourself.” I gaze up at him. “I don’t care that you can’t fly. I only asked because I know it’s hard for you. I don’t care if you don’t have huge magic. I don’t have any. I don’t care if we have to walk every step of the way to Castle Lios. I just want to be with you. We’re in this together, the both of us. Every step of the way. Understand?” I cling to his leg, pressing my cheek against his strong, strangely bent thigh. I run my hands up and down his leg. I wonder if our child will have knees that bend backward like Nemeth, or if they will be like mine. I wonder if they will have wings.

I wonder if they will have his huge, giving heart.

I brush my lips over his skin. “I love you, Nemeth. I don’t want anyone but you. Understand? You and I are doing the best we can, no matter the situation. None of this is what was expected to happen. We were supposed to stay in the tower, but they were also supposed to bring us food. Now we’ve left, and we’ll figure it out. All of it. But I don’t want you blaming yourself. Not when you’re the best thing in my life.”

HIs hand lands atop my head, and I don’t even mind that it brushes over my sunburn. His fingers dig into my braid, his remaining claws tugging at my hair. “I would do anything for you,” he rasps. “You know that, yes?”

I love the hunger in his tone, the yearning. And even though I’m weary and sunburned, I want nothing more than to touch my mate right now, to pleasure him and show him how much I adore him. I slide my hand up under his kilt, brushing my fingers over the linen wrap underneath. “I want you.”

“Now? After the day we’ve had?” When I nod, he groans, and as I stroke my fingers over his cock, I can feel it hardening in my grasp. “I cannot give you my knot, milettahn. We do not dare the enemy finding us locked together and helpless.”

“Then don’t give me your knot,” I whisper, rubbing him through the fabric. “Just let me suck on you and give you pleasure.”

Nemeth groans, and I know he can’t resist.

I stroke him harder, gazing up. “Take your kilt off for me?”

He nods, and quickly divests himself of his belt and then the kilt itself. The linen wrap goes next, all the while I grab the pack I’d been sitting upon earlier and use it as a footstool. Now, when I’m on my knees, I’m the right height to pleasure my massive, tall mate. I sigh with anticipation at the sight of him naked, his cock rigid in front of me, his knot not yet full. Unable to help myself, I reach out and clasp him in my hands, rubbing my face against his shaft.

“I love this,” I whisper. “Love the feel of you in my hands, your hot skin against mine.” I run my cheek along his cock, just enjoying the feel of his hardness. “Love knowing that this is mine to play with.” Just touching him makes me ache, my pulse throbbing between my thighs. I could cheerfully worship his cock all night long, but something tells me he’s going to want more than just me rubbing on him like a kitten for hours. I grip him at the base, looking up at my mate’s glowing green eyes. I love the way he watches me as I lick him from knot to tip, then swirl my tongue around the head. A burst of pre-cum flavors his skin, and I lap it up, not surprised when another droplet replaces the first. He’s perfect, my beautiful Nemeth, the tapered tip of his cock all but begging for me to suck upon it.

So I do. I’m not one to deprive myself, after all.

I take him into my mouth and love the ragged sound he makes. Love that his hand carefully tightens in my hair. Love the sharp inhale of breath when I tongue the underside of his cock and then suck him deeper into my throat. I work him with my mouth and tongue, my hand squeezing over his now-taut knot. As I do, I gaze up at him, as if he’s the only thing in my world, because I know he likes to watch my face when I suck on him.

Nemeth’s eyes are fierce with need as he watches me. I suck him deeper, even though my jaw aches with the size of him, and the head of his cock buts against the back of my throat. My eyes water and saliva pools at the corners of my mouth and still I take him, my gaze locked on his.

“Candra,” he breathes, his voice reverent even as he rocks gently, shuttling into my mouth. His movements are careful, but I don’t want him careful. I want him unhinged. I want him lost in the moment. We both need to forget about the stress of today.

So I hike my skirts up and slip a hand between my thighs, stroking my clit even as his hand settles heavier on my head.

“Greedy thing,” he mutters, and then shows me that I’m not the only greedy one. He pushes on my head, forcing me to take more, and drool slides down my chin. He thrusts again, and I make a low noise around the cock stuffed in my mouth, my fingers moving faster over my clit. I can’t even get close to his knot, but it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that he’s using me, fucking my mouth with his quick, jerking motions, and I love it. I love that he’s got a firm hold on my head now, his cock hammering against the back of my throat as he works towards his release. I love the grunts he makes, love how stretched my lips are, how red-hot his knot feels under my grip. I whimper as I rub my clit harder, close to the edge. I just need a little more⁠—

Nemeth’s breath hitches and then he lets out a low, guttural sound. In the next moment, my mouth floods with his release, his knot like a rock beneath my grasp. I immediately lose my orgasm, drawing back and coughing as his seed fills my mouth. He spills over my face and then onto the front of my dress as I draw back, one hand on his cock and squeezing his knot in the way I know he likes. I murmur his name over and over again as I milk him, not caring that my traveling dress is ruined. It’s just a dress, and Nemeth’s need at this moment is far more important than anything else. “I love you,” I tell him, gazing up adoringly with my messy face. I’m hit with a surge of emotion so intense it brings tears to my eyes. “I love you so very much.”

He groans again, then covers my hand, squeezing his cock one last time before heaving a tremendous sigh of release. His fingers stroke my cheek as he catches his breath, and I use my hem to wipe my face clean of his spend. His knot is swollen now, aching and huge, and I run my fingers over it as he shudders with aftershocks of pleasure. It takes time for his knot to go down, and I can probably make him come again just by teasing it with light, stroking touches as he waits.

But Nemeth pulls me away with gentle hands, shaking his head. He drops to kneel beside me, pressing my face with kisses despite the fact that I’ve just wiped away his cum. “You are incredible,” he tells me. “The most perfect, beautiful, talented creature.”

“I am pretty great,” I tease, running my hands over his chest. “It’s all true.”

He captures my mouth again and nips at my upper lip. “Did you make yourself come?”

“Not quite, alas. My fingers weren’t fast enough.” I’m feeling playful and more like myself despite our rather dreadful surroundings. This is who I am, I remind myself. A sexually confident tease who is loved by a big, delicious, winged Fellian. In or out of the tower, that won’t change.

“A shame,” Nemeth tells me between light, hungry kisses. “Luckily for you, I know where to find a mouth to finish the job.”

“Now that sounds like an excellent idea. Should I lie on my back?”

He looks around us, eyeing the moldy straw. With a quick kiss, he releases me and tears open one of our packed bags, digging out a blanket and spreading it over the ground. “Here,” he says, voice gruff and his eyes a deep, delicious, sated shade of green. “Lie down for me.”

I don’t need to be told twice. In the next moment, I’m on the blankets, wriggling with anticipation when he pushes my skirts up faster than I can haul them to my waist. He tugs my bloomers down, tearing at the delicate fabric with his remaining claws, and then his face disappears between my thighs. My breath catches in my throat as his hungry mouth latches onto my clit, going straight for the best part. With a moan, I cling to the sleek horns that arc back from his brow, trying to find something to hold onto. “Just like that, Nemeth,” I pant. “Gods, your mouth is so good.”