Chapter 304

She hadn't been able to put the book down. All morning Elain had moved from couch to couch, following the warm sun around the room before she had gone out to the garden. She had lay beneath a small tree, despite the lack of leafy shade, and she had enjoyed stretching out on the grass as she had turned page after page of the book. She had lay on her stomach in the grass, leaning on her elbows as she had read, and then she had rolled over onto her back, the book being held over her face as she had used it to shield her eyes from the sun.

Lucien had been gone since breakfast, and she didn't know what he had been called away to deal with or when he would be back. She hadn't minded. Elain had been itching to get back to the book since she had put it away last night. At first it had seemed silly that the characters in the story had been so quick to jump one another, but it had engaged her nonetheless.

Rolling over onto her stomach once more, Elain balanced herself on her elbows in the grass, flipping to the next page of the book as she kept her eyes on the text. Biting her lip, she willed herself to read more quickly. They were back in the library…

Her back hit the shelves and, for an instant, Selina thought that they might topple over, collecting the next shelf, and the next as they all fell in a line. That didn't happen though, and she gave a grunt of satisfaction when Caelin's hands slid to her thighs, gripping her tightly and hoisting her higher. He murmured something against her throat, but she hadn't been able to make it out as she found herself clutching at hi; his shoulders and his back. Her hands pulled at his shirt as he pressed himself even closer, and then she found herself pulling at the skirts of her dress, trying to pull it from between them. Caelin was pressed close against her, hot and hard, and Selina was desperate to remove anything that dared be a barrier between his skin and hers.

"What?" she breathed, trying to be quiet when Caelin murmured something again that she had been unable to make out.

"You taste so fucking delicious." He repeated, his lips at her throat and Selina grinned. She tugged her dress up, bunching it around her hips and then Caelin's grey eyes met hers. "What do you want?" he asked, voice low. "Do you want me inside you, or on my knees?"

"I…" She tried to force herself to think, to work out what it was that she wanted him to do. Both sounded like fantastic options, but here and now she didn't think they would have the time for both. Anybody could come across them like this, she knew it and she was keeping one eye on the end of the row, ready for any sign of movement. "I don't want anyone to find us…"

"Ah…" Caelin winked at her, one of his gentle hands caressing her cheek as he pressed closer, his hips pressing her back into the bookshelf. "Then I guess I will have to keep you quiet." Her eyes met his grey once again and she held his gaze as he adjusted himself with his free hand as the other moved from her cheek over her mouth. Selina let him keep his hand there, ready to stifle any sounds that she made as he ducked slightly lower as she hooked a leg around his waist. That hand over her mouth proved very useful indeed as, when he thrust smoothly up into her, Selina was unable to help a small cry.

"Still reading, Petal?"

Elain looked up, surprised that she hadn't noticed Lucien return to their room. "I… yes." She sat up, brushing grass from her dress as she did so. He smiled and came out into the garden, his eyes moving across her.

"You didn't get burned, did you?"

"I don't think so."

As he approached her, Lucien's smile grew wider until he stopped only a few steps away. "Up to the good bit, are you?" he asked, his eyes moving over her, that golden eye clicking and whirring in the way that had become so familiar and comforting to her.

"To be fair," she replied softly, "It has all been fairly good…"

"That's excellent to hear." He held a hand out to Elain to help her to her feet and she got up, tucking the book into her dress pocket. She could smell him now, knew that he had been wandering over the city, and she moved closer, wanting to breathe her mate in. Lucien's scent was woody and wild, and she absolutely loved it. "Already can't keep your hands off me?" he asked, "I might have to read some of this book myself."

"Or…" Elain purred, slipping her arms around her mate's waist, "You can let me give you the gist…"