Page 135 of In Violent Waves

No, it was only her and him. And his mouth on her. Blood pounded in her ears, and pleasure roiled through her.

“Don’t stop,” she moaned again.

Wilder worshiped her body with debauched fervor.

She felt a tightness in her legs before her body went rigid against his mouth. Waves of euphoria rolled through her as she rode it out.

He lapped it up and didn’t stop until she went boneless against his mouth.

He pulled her undergarment back up and lowered her dress. But she was too focused on trying to breathe normally once more.

“Is it what you expected it to be?” he asked, sitting back against his bench and staring at her with an amused expression as he licked his lips.

Lyra hummed her agreement as she reached for him. “It was even better.”

The summer cottage perched on the rocks was now Lyra’s favorite place in the whole world. Made of sun-bleached gray stone and a pitching roofline, it was very modest for a royal family’s abode.

“It’s very cozy,” she said, taking in the plush, muted furniture and velvety soft rugs that were spread about the main living space.

A quaint kitchen was tucked in the corner. But the entire back wall was made of glass, showcasing dramatic views of the seaside cliffs.An entire horizon of the ocean.She took a step towards it, staying just an arm’s reach from the window.

“I built it.”

Lyra gaped like a fish as she whipped her head in his direction.

“You builtthis house?”

He nodded and leaned against the picture windows. “I needed a place to escape to after everything, and I was calmer by the sea. That, and it’s far away from the court and my father.”

“What happened between you two?”

Wilder didn’t answer for a moment. She could tell he was thinking it over and tugged at the hem of his tunic to get him to look at her.

“It can’t be any worse than what I confided in you.” She blushed. But when he gave her a heart-stopping grin and raked his eyes over her body, she felt the heat pool in her once more.

“That was a good thing. This—is definitely not.”

Lyra sighed and shrugged. “If you don’t want to tell me, fine. But don’t think it’s because you can’t. I’m all ears.”

He ground his teeth and raked a hand through his dark hair. The light shimmered on his briar crown, and he looked ethereal in the afternoon light.

“Fine. I’ll tell you. Tea?”

She smiled at him. “Sure.”

Wilder moved to put the kettle on, and not even its whistling could break her attention from the sea.

Her mind was in chaos, trying to puzzle out what he struggled with that would cause him to venture out here and build a house. He pressed a small blue teacup into her hand, and she took a sip of the lemon mint tea.

“That is divine,” she breathed, inhaling the steam.

He took a seat in the leather armchair in front of the windows and nodded for her to do the same in the matching armchair.

She plopped down and set her cup on the low-lying table.

“I struggled with the weight of my position for a long time.”

Lyra nodded. She found it hard to understand, as there wasn’t a lot of weight to her position. Females were to be seen—rarely—and never heard. However, there was a lot of pressure with carrying her magic.