Phoebe’s POV
"Are you cold?" Perry asked when he noticed my trembling.
I wasn’t cold. I was burning from the inside out, desperate to lose myself in him before reality ca crashing back down around us.
The conversation on the mountain still echoed in my mind - all those unspoken truths about heirs and futures and the impossible choices waiting for us. Tonight felt like our last night in paradise before the fall.
I pressed closer to his chest, breathing in his scent of cedar and power. "We should head back," he said, but his arms tightened around like he couldn’t bear to let go.
The darkness had settled around us completely now. Stars scattered overhead like scattered diamonds, mirroring the vibrant city lights sprawling below us. The city pulsed with life, seemingly untouched by the power shifts that had shaken the palace or the justice that would unfold tomorrow.
Tomorrow. Execution day for every traitor. The elders included.
Elder Augustus’s betrayal had dood them all. They cowered in their cells now, barely daring to breathe, let alone voice any opposition to their fate.
Fear had reclaid the palace. But up here, in Perry’s arms, I felt sothing else entirely.
"No," I murmured, tilting my face up to et his gaze. "I want to stay longer."
Sothing flickered in his eyes - surprise, hunger, concern all mixed together.
"Can we..." I hesitated, heat flooding my cheeks. "Can we do it again?"
The words ca out breathier than I’d intended, but I didn’t care. After everything we’d shared tonight - the confessions, the fears, the desperate promises - I needed to feel him inside again. Needed to claim every mont we had left.
Perry’s eyebrows shot up, and that devastating smirk appeared. "What’s gotten into you tonight, love? Your energy is incredible."
His surprise was evident. We’d already joined three tis, and I could still feel our combined releases slicking my thighs, yet here I was asking for more like I couldn’t get enough of him.
Maybe I couldn’t. Maybe I was trying to store up enough mories to last a lifeti.
"You want it too, don’t you?" I glanced down aningfully.
His arousal pressed thick and insistent against my hip, hard as steel despite everything we’d already done. The heat of him made my core clench with renewed need.
Perry groaned softly and pulled tighter against him. "I get hard every ti you breathe near . Just ignore it."
"How can I ignore this?" I shifted deliberately, grinding against his length and watching his control fracture. "It keeps pressing against , demanding attention. Shouldn’t I give it what it wants?"
"Phoebe..." My na ca out rough, warning.
"Shouldn’t I give you what you want?" I corrected, my voice dropping to a sultry whisper that made him curse under his breath.
"You don’t need to do anything. I need your attention more than I need release."
"Liar." I laughed softly, then slipped out of his arms before he could stop .
My hand found his length, fingers wrapping around the thick heat of him. He was so hard it had to be painful, the tip already slick with arousal.
"God, Phoebe..." My na escaped him like a prayer and a curse combined.
At this point, resistance was impossible. He’d give anything - his crown, his kingdom, his very soul - as long as I kept touching him like this.
"Lie back," I commanded softly.
Sothing shifted in the air between us. Perry’s eyes widened slightly at my tone - I was never this forward, never took control like this. Usually I was pliant in his arms, letting him worship with gentle dominance.
But tonight was different. Tonight I needed to feel powerful, needed to drive him as wild as he drove .
Perry obeyed, settling back on the soft grass with his hands behind his head, watching with dark fascination.
"That’s better." I straddled his thighs, my bare skin glowing silver in the moonlight.
His hungry gaze followed every movent as I kissed a slow trail down his chest, pausing to nip at the sensitive spots that made him arch beneath .
"What’s gotten into you?" he asked breathlessly, though he made no move to stop .
"Maybe I’m tired of always being the one getting pleasure," I murmured against his skin. "Maybe tonight I want to be the one in control."
Perry’s sharp intake of breath told exactly how that idea affected him.
When I reached his arousal, I took my ti, pressing soft kisses along his length before finally taking him into my mouth.
"Christ..." He cursed violently, his hips jerking upward involuntarily.
I worked him with lips and tongue until he was practically writhing beneath , his breathing ragged and desperate. Every sound he made sent heat spiraling through my own body.
His hands moved toward my head, trying to guide my movents, but I caught his wrists and pinned them to the grass beside his hips.
"Touch and I stop," I said, my voice husky but commanding.
Perry’s eyes flew open. "What?"
"You heard ." I released him completely, watching his face contort with frustration. "Keep your hands to yourself, or this ends right now."
"Damn it, Phoebe..." His voice was strained, desperate.
The sight of him losing control thrilled beyond asure. For once, I held all the power. I could drive the king of the realm to begging with nothing but my mouth and hands.
"Good," I purred, lowering my head to pleasure him again.
But every ti his hands reached for , every ti he tried to take back control, I’d stop completely. His frustrated growls only made wetter.
"You’re going to kill ," he groaned, fists clenching the grass around him to keep from grabbing .
He could have overpowered easily - could have flipped over and buried himself inside whenever he wanted. But he didn’t. He let explore this new side of myself, let have the control I so desperately needed.
"Don’t you dare stop," he commanded when I pulled away again.
I smiled wickedly up at him. "Say please."
The tables had completely turned on his usual demand, and despite his frustration, he actually chuckled.
"Please," he said, his voice rough with need. "Please don’t stop. Take what you want from ."
Our breathless laughter echoed through the forest as I finally gave him what we both craved.
We spent the entire night there among the stars, switching between tender lovemaking and desperate claiming, as if we could sohow make ti stop through sheer force of desire.
When dawn finally broke over the mountains, painting the sky in shades of rose and gold, I was completely exhausted.
Perry gathered in his arms, my body limp and sated against his chest as he carried back toward the palace.
I barely rembered the journey down the mountain path, but I felt the soft mattress beneath my back when he laid down in our chambers.
His hands were gentle as he began cleaning with a warm cloth, pressing soft kisses to my forehead and chest when I whimpered at the sensitivity.
"Let take care of you first, love," he murmured. "Then you can sleep properly."
Those were the last words I heard before exhaustion claid completely.
For once, no nightmares haunted my dreams.
---
But nightmares beca reality for others.
Several condemned n awaiting execution had their fears materialize as guards escorted them toward the gallows at dawn.
Their deaths would be a public spectacle, broadcast for all to witness.
Reginald surveyed the crowd of furious faces hurling curses at him and the other traitors, calling them betrayers of the crown. Their hatred ant nothing to him now - his fate was already sealed.
Still, he found himself scanning the crowd desperately, searching for one particular face.
Just once more. If he could see her one final ti, even if her eyes held nothing but disgust for him, it would be worth everything.
But as his gaze swept over the execution platform, over the royal viewing area where she should have been sitting beside her king, Reginald’s heart shattered completely.
The queen’s throne sat empty.
She wasn’t even here to watch him die.
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