Chapter 568

Elain was still panting when Lucien bent to press his lips to hers softly, and then she watched him as he lifted himself enough to be able to see her face. The image of Lucien bracing himself over her, his hands beside her as he held his own weight over her sent heat straight between Elain's legs. She was unable to take her eyes from him, enjoying the way the faelight played along his gorgeous skin, and the way his ruby hair fell over one shoulder, already slightly messy from where her own hands had moved through it. Even if Elain had not been able to feel everything from her mate down the bond, which felt as if it had been thrown wide open, everything was reflected quite plainly on his handsome face.

Lifting one of her own hands, Elain traced her fingers carefully down Lucien's scar, from brow to jaw. She watched his eyes close at her touch, and the fact that she knew he had never let anyone else touch his scar like this sent another wave of heat through her. Sometimes the situation still struck her as miraculous. She had never, in her mortal life, thought that she would ever have a faerie lover, and yet here she was. Mated to the Heir of the Day Court and unable to imagine anyone or anything more perfect than Lucien and their future together. Smiling at him as one of his hands carefully pushed her hair back from her face, Elain gently trailed her fingertips along Lucien's jawline. She could feel him pressing himself against her, and her heart raced quickly in her chest. She could hear Lucien's heart too, and she smiled again as it quickened as her fingers reached his throat.

"Nothing could ever come close to this…" Lucien's words were barely breathed out, but Elain heard him clearly.

"I was thinking along similar lines…" She slid her other hand across Lucien's shoulder as she held his gaze. "The fact that you let me touch you like this…" She traced his scar slowly, "That you allow me that… closeness…"

"You are my mate…"

"Yes…" Elain nodded, cupping his scarred cheek in her hand, "That is fact… but it is all that it entails. A closeness I had never even known was possible…"

"There is nothing comparable for mortals." Lucien stroked her hair back from her face once again, his eyes locked on hers. "Or even for fae who never find their mate."

"And I feel so sorry for them." Elain breathed, "I would no longer know how to exist like that; to exist without you."

"Then it's good you will never have to try." Lucien gave her a lazy smile, one of his hands sliding from her hair and down her shoulder and arm to her waist. Down the bond she felt a flicker of mischievousness from her mate, and the anticipation in Elain only increased. She was burning still, throbbing with need, and the look in Lucien's eyes as he met her gaze once more told her that he knew exactly how she felt.

"I…" Elain gasped when his fingers scratched gently at her hip, "am glad…" Elain hummed her approval when Lucien adjusted her hips, shifting her into a better position beneath himself, and he grinned at her again when she wrapped a leg around behind his knee. She wanted him. Needed him. Then, gripping one of Lucien's forearms tightly, she met his gaze again. "Please, Lucien…"

Giving a soft laugh, Lucien bent and pressed a small kiss to the tip of her nose. "As you wish, Petal."