Chapter Twenty-Six
H is hands are on me as soon as I step out of the healer’s ward. My mind is a whirl-wind and I’m completely caught off guard but the frosty scent wraps around me and I let him devour me with kisses.
“I knew there was a reason I couldn’t stand that stable hand.” He pulls me toward him into the dark. “It’s faint, but I can still smell him on you.” I crash into his chest, aligning our bodies so I can touch the most parts of him at once. His jealous response is dizzying. It’s hard to surface from this heady feeling as I try to match his hunger.
In my lust-filled haze, that comment reminds me of the night when he told Gryphon and me who he really was. Something I still haven’t had time to process with everything else piling on top. A deep hum of satisfaction leaves him and he moves to trail kisses from below my ear, farther down, hesitating just a moment at the pulse in my neck. I can feel his teeth lightly brushing across that spot, and my pulse jumps in answer.
His deep hum turns into a predatory growl. This is the first time we’ve been together since he shared that he’s an Ancient. Suddenly, a tingle runs down my spine.
I wonder if he’s going to bite me.
And to my surprise, the thought doesn’t terrify me. It’s the opposite, actually I find my blood heats with the thought. My blood, spilling across his lips and into him. These thoughts turn me on even more and urge me to arch into him, grind into him, unapologetically searching for the friction that will nudge me closer to release, all the while exploring this new world.
“You can have me. You can have my blood. I know you want it.” Each sentence comes out in short breaths and I feel a shudder run through him as my fingertips run up and down his chest. He pulls away from me, searching my eyes. He pauses, his body going still as if he’s struggling with himself on this. “I can’t. You don’t know what that means. I won’t do that to you.” The look in his eyes tells me he’s fighting demons to say those words.
I grind against him, tempting to sway him to do my bidding.
“We’d be connected forever. With your blood in my veins, you’d always be a part of me. Even the smallest of drops. You don’t understand what that means. It’s too much.”
I lean back, trying to get a read on him. The strain on his face tells me he’s serious. There’s no going there.
At least for now.
Instead, I palm his hardness. Rubbing and teasing him, wanting him on me and in me, everywhere all at once. In response, he takes my lower lip in his teeth, tugging and groaning, asking for more.
If he won’t have me in that way, I’ll take him into me.
I kneel, tugging on his pants to free him to me. The way he springs out of his pants, ready and firm, makes my mouth water. With one hand wrapped around him, I guide him into my mouth, licking and sucking all the way down his shaft and back up. Slowly taking him in, inch by inch, until he hits the back of my throat.
I hum, welcoming him in and he instantly hardens further while his fingers play in my hair. He relaxes into the wall behind him as I move. While I take him in and out, I squeeze my thighs together, searching for just a little bit of friction to release the tension building in my core, making it impossible to be still as I suck.
With his pressure on the crown of my head encouraging me, I suck harder until my cheeks cave in and he’s filling me. His hands fist in my hair and I know he’s close.
My movements become faster as I pump my hand in rhythm with him entering me. His entire body stiffens as he comes. He fills me, the sticky warmth sliding so easily down my throat as I swallow every last drop down.
Before I can lick my lips, he pulls me onto my feet and spins me, pressing me against the wall, his hands still in my hair. He wrenches my skirts up just enough so he can slip into me from behind. He drives hard, still slick enough from his come to enter me fully in one thrust.
He pauses. I have just enough time to register that he’s taking me in the small alcove just outside the healer’s ward. I send a silent prayer up to the stars above that no one finds us here, just as he pulls out and thrusts again.
He teases me, slowly moving in and out while holding my wrists above my head. My elbows anchor me against each thrust as I try to match his moves, encouraging him to move faster. Grabbing my hips and pulling me toward him, he matches my rhythm. Faster, faster, and faster. The sound of skin on skin fills the empty hallway, and I release myself completely to his movements.
Remembering others are close, I bite my bicep, stifling the pleasure lighting me up from the inside out. He rides me until my body goes limp and then falls against me, crushing me against the wall—emptying himself into me a second time.