Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
I lifted my face to the water, languishing beneath the warm needle-sharp droplets which splashed against it. The shower I stood under was one of many faucets that were lined across a dark green tiled wall. After what we’d been through, even the weak pressure felt like a fountain.
I enjoyed every second, praying to Hekate for the waters to wash away my anxieties and thoughts.
The bathing chamber was no different to being in the London underground, except without trains of course. A low domed ceiling weighed down on me from above, and the endlessly tiled floor and walls gave the room the impression of an endless box. At least the being behind the Witch Trials had taste. Clearly this bathing chamber was created for a number of people to use at once. Except right now I was alone, naked as the day I was born, cleaning days of grime, dried blood, and tension from my body.
Arwyn stood vigil at the door, making sure no one would come in. I’d hesitated when I’d left him. It was easier to keep the distance between us minimal. But he respectfully kept his eyes averted, as though he anticipated the thoughts running through my head.
At one point, I went and checked on him, sure I’d heard him speaking to someone in a low voice. I snatched a rough towel, wrapped it around my waist and ran for the door. But by the time I opened it, the corridor beyond was empty beside swirling shadows in the corners.
‘Everything ok?’ Arwyn asked.
I searched for the second person. ‘I thought I heard you talking to someone.’ I laughed it off, but nothing felt humous about my paranoid reaction. ‘Maybe Romy had come back but?—’
Arwyn lifted his hands to either side of him. ‘Just me, sorry to disappoint.’
That was when I felt his eyes trace over my bare, damp chest. Reminding me I was practically naked before him, only a thin layer of material between us. ‘I should get back and finish.’
I almost expected Arwyn to offer his assistance. If he had, I didn’t think I would’ve declined. At least with him, it made thinking about anything else impossible. ‘Yes, Hector. I’ll be waiting for you.’
I’ll be waiting for you. His words acted as a distraction long enough for me to wade back through the bathing chamber and step beneath the spray of warm water again.
My hand cupped water, rubbing them over my arms until the patches of dried blood melted off. A pink puddle spun at my feet, slowly slipping towards the grated plug set into the floor.
It had been two days since Jaz’s attack, two days since I’d betrayed Romy and she’d left.
We’d moved ourselves to the library I’d first found Arwyn in. At least in there, a hearth was always burning and there were places we could sleep. That didn’t stop me from wanting to go back to our room daily, just in case Romy had returned to look for us.
She never did.
My wounds had healed quicker than they would normally, and without the aid of salves or potions. I had a feeling it had everything to do with the old magic I’d opened myself to.
I felt… different after using it. Changed. I couldn’t explain it, nor did I try to for Arwyn. Instead, we spoke of nothing and everything. Favourite books, TV shows, hobbies, anything mundane that took the focus off bloody Trials and demons hidden far beneath us.
Distraction. That was what he was. A way to sink away the hours. Arwyn had an uncanny ability to snatch my attention and refuse room for any intrusive thoughts.
Even now, as my fingers traced water over my skin, it was Arwyn I thought of. I knew he’d be pleased to see the change in my body. My bruises had faded to a simmering green, like algae across the surface of a lake. The cuts had sealed, leaving the skin pink and itching. I’d caught him looking more times than I could count, worry etched into his brow. Whereas Arwyn had relied on more doses of the salve to stave off his demonic suffering, I needed nothing but rest. It seemed my body had plans of its own.
I picked up the bar of soap from the shelf in the wall. It smelled of honey and verbena, making my mouth water and skin shiver with anticipation at finally being clean. Lathering the creamy bar over my chest, my shoulders, down the narrowed dip of my hips and swell of my thighs, though, it was Arwyn my mind went to. I imagined how far he went as a distraction. Instead of my fingers I felt, it was Arwyn’s I imagined. The soft rub of soap was his mouth, his lips, his tongue
‘Hector, are you decent?’
I clutched my length with my spare hand, spinning round to face the entry way of the bathing chamber. If I wasn’t so surprised by his sudden appearance, I might’ve taken note of the slight hardening to my cock. Arwyn stood before me, like the universe had plucked him from my thoughts. He had his gaze diverted down, and a hand lifted over his eyes.
‘If you’re asking if I’m still naked, the answer is in the fact the shower is still on.’
‘I just… you came out and I…’ It was endearing, hearing Arwyn stumble over his words.
‘Tongue tied?’ I asked, voice soft as a cat’s purr.
Arwyn chuckled, the sound as deep as red wine with multiple notes and tones. I wondered if he tasted as detailed. ‘Not that I’m counting the minutes, but you’ve left me for all but a couple of minutes. I just wanted to… check on you.’
‘Consider myself checked on,’ I said, water splashing over my skin as gooseflesh erupted over it.
Arwyn continued to stand there, waiting for a dismissal or an invite, I couldn’t tell. ‘Well, okay then.’
‘Okay,’ I repeated, warm water slipping over my parted lips. Arwyn made to turn around and leave, but I found myself calling out with a question. ‘I gather what I heard was you talking to yourself. Are you getting lonely out there, Arwyn?’
It was the same question we asked a lot. Since Jaz and her cronies had died, the castle seemed as quiet as death. More so than before. I continued to hold hope that Romy would return. Hekate knew I’d tried to search for her.
‘You caught me, sorry.’ Arwyn’s apology hit harder every time he said it, which was more often than not now. It was one word I wished to rip out his mouth. ‘I should let you get on. Give me a shout when you’re ready to swap places.’
I only focused on his first comment. How the word should had stood out like it didn’t belong.
Because it didn’t.
I leaned out the spray of water, feeling the icy cold air punish me and attempt to force me back beneath the protection of water. ‘You know…there’s plenty of space.’
Still without lifting his eyes, Arwyn moved back towards the door. ‘I really should keep a watch out.’
There it was again, the word should . Like Arwyn was using it to convince himself that was what he needed to do. But the word suggested hesitance. It gave the impression that Arwyn knew what he needed to do, but his mind was telling him otherwise. Which was good, because my mind was screaming for him.
Take me. Take my mind. Distract me. When you’re gone, my mind wanders to things I’m not brave enough to face. Please. Stay. I don’t want to think anymore.
Unlike before, when those thoughts wore through me, this time I didn’t hold my tongue. ‘Arwyn, what do you want to do? Forget it all, forget what you should do. What do you want ?’
I regretted the words the moment they left my mouth. Not because I didn’t care for the answer, but because I worried what that answer would be. Rejection always stung, but I felt that it would shatter me if it came from him.
But Arwyn surprised me. No—in fact, he did the very thing I knew he would. He lowered his hand and raised his gaze up. The confidence in his eyes, the way his gaze roamed from my toes, to my legs, stomach, chest and to my face. There, he held my stare as if it was far more interesting than what my naked body could offer.
‘Careful what questions you ask of me.’ Arwyn’s warning was carefully poised. Perhaps he, too, prepared for rejection, even though we were far beyond it. ‘Are you sure you’re brave enough to face the answer?’
‘Yes,’ I said, gasping as if my lungs couldn’t hold the word. ‘I’m sure.’
Arwyn’s serious face eased into his easy smile. It warmed me more than the water could. Without taking his eyes off me, he reached for his t-shirt and lifted it over his head. One, two, three… six mounds of muscles rippled as he stretched his arms up and dumped the t-shirt to the ground. He flexed, which made me laugh, because clearly he was trying to make an impression. But I’d seen him topless a few times now, enough to memorise every inch of him. However, as he kicked off his boots, unbuckled his belt and dropped his trousers, I realised this was a new detail of him I’d yet to see.
He walked towards me. Not towards a faucet at my sides, but at me . I did everything in my power not to look at the bulge resting in the centre of his black boxer shorts. Or the trail of hair that peeked from his groin up to his belly button…
Oh shit , I was looking, and Arwyn definitely noticed.
‘The door is locked,’ Arwyn said, so matter of fact I couldn’t help but laugh.
‘I wouldn’t expect anything less,’ I said, gesturing towards his boxers. ‘Did you plan on keeping those on?’
‘Wouldn’t dream of it,’ Arwyn replied, his thumb threading beneath the waistband of his boxer shorts.
I took his hesitance as the reason why he hadn’t completely undressed—I was facing him. Which was stupid, really, since I was so exposed that even the shadows in the room were counting the freckles on my arse cheeks. But to play with the idea of modesty, I turned my back on him.
Removing Arwyn from my line of sight made my other senses explode. The shuffle of his feet over damp tiles was loud. His breathing was so clear it was as if he stood directly behind me. I held my breath and closed my eyes as the water continued to wash over me, waiting for proof he moved to another faucet.
Warm, sure fingers pressed against my lower back. It was a soft touch, and yet I gasped out like lightning had touched me. The thrill was electrifying. Arwyn ran the pads of his fingers up my skin. When he reached the top of my back, his fingers splayed to handprints on either side of my shoulders.
‘You’ve missed a spot,’ Arwyn breathed, voice muffled by the spray of water he now stood beneath. ‘Here, and here. And here .’
I swallowed down the lump in my throat, feigning the same confidence Arwyn exuded. ‘Then, since you’re back there, make yourself useful.’
I lifted the bar of soap over my shoulder. It hovered there for a second before Arwyn took it. Then I closed my eyes, lifted my face back to the falling water, and focused on something… anything… that didn’t result in my cock getting harder than it already was.
If that was possible.
Spoiler alert, it wasn’t.
Arwyn covered my back in honey-scented creamy lather, taking the task seriously. Not an inch of me was spared. I couldn’t see him from my vantage point but hells , I felt him.
Arwyn dropped to his knees, continuing his exploration of my body by washing my legs, my hips, down to my ankles.
We didn’t say a word to each other. What was there to say? Thanks for washing me ? No, that was ridiculous, and yet all I wanted to do was thank him. To get on my knees and repay the favour and…
Banishing the thoughts I had was becoming increasingly impossible.
‘That’s better,’ Arwyn said, standing slowly, his chest brushing my arse as he passed it. I turned to face him, drenched and shivering, but not from the cold. He held the soap out to me, his long fingers covered in white lather. ‘You’ve healed well.’
‘Thank you.’ Was that really all I could say? How could this man whittle me down to such a numb, wordless beast? ‘Would…you like me to…’
‘Yes, I would like that,’ Arwyn replied before I could even finish. He peered down at me as rivers of water cascaded off the tip of his nose. His eyelashes had clumped together, thick and dark. Up close I could make out the coarse hairs across his chest. There was a crown of them around his perked, burgundy nipples, set upon a chest of well-defined muscle.
Everything about him was a distraction. A welcome one. And clearly, I was simply repaying the same favour.
Romy would’ve taken enjoyment from hearing about this.
Ignoring the sinking feeling at the thought of her, I threw myself into Arwyn and his offer of a diversion. I allowed my shyness to slip away like the water down the drain, giving way to the man I was before the Witch Trials.The one who could walk into a bar and leave with a stranger at his side. That was all Arwyn was—a stranger to play pretend with. Someone I likely wouldn’t speak with again when this was over… if we survived. He was not my past or future.
He was the present, and I grasped it by the slick reins and took control.
‘Yes,’ I repeated, taking my time to drink him in. ‘Not even a please with that? Where are your manners?’
‘I think I dropped them back there…’ Arwyn tipped his head towards the piles of his clothes. ‘I would go and find them, but then that would mean leaving you.’
I looked up through my lashes, knowing exactly what my lustrous expression would result in. ‘You’re right. I wouldn’t want that.’
His lips twitched, mouth parting to flash the promise of his tongue. Arwyn lifted a hand and ran it over the side of my face. His fingers reached into my hair, nails brushing over my scalp. I leaned into it, enjoying his touch, his proximity, the silent danger of passing the boundary line which was set between strangers. Then he did the one thing I couldn’t allow. He leaned in, lowering his mouth towards mine.
I placed a hand on his chest and dropped my face. ‘Don’t.’
‘Sorry, Hector. Have I misread this?’ His smile dropped with disappointment.
I shook my head, taking a moment to contain myself. ‘No, it’s just I don’t want to kiss you.’ I almost went into a tirade about why kissing was not something I was open to do. Kissing was never even an option I entertained.
I bit my tongue.
‘Oh,’ Arwyn recoiled, taking one too many steps back.
I reached for him in a rush, as though he was a kite being torn away from me in violent winds. ‘I said I don’t want to kiss you. I didn’t say I don’t want to touch you.’
‘Touch me?’ Arwyn’s eyes brightened. ‘Are you sure this is what you want?’
I glanced down, taking note of my erection. ‘I think you know the answer to that, Arwyn. Do you want this?’
‘What is this exactly, Hector?’
I toyed with the question, wondering how honest I should be. ‘A distraction from my thoughts.’
‘I appreciate your open honesty when it comes to using me.’ If Arwyn hadn’t grinned as he said it, I would’ve thought he was offended. ‘But since we aren’t mincing words, why don’t you tell me how you want me to help with that endeavour?’
My hand was still on his chest, palm slick with water and anticipation. I trailed it down. Down and down, until the defined bumps of muscle stopped at his hips.
‘I want you to fill…’ I paused purposefully as Arwyn’s thick brow peaked. ‘My mind.’
Arwyn took my spare hand from his hip and lowered it to another muscle I’d yet to pay attention to. He guided my fingers around his cock, gasping slightly as I took it in hand. ‘Oh, I’ll fill something, Hector. Not only your mind. That’s one promise I can make.’
‘If we do this,’ I said, swiftly moving my wrist back and forth. Hekate really did a number crafting Arwyn. My fingers could barely touch around his girth. ‘If we really do this, just know that nothing changes between us when we leave this room.’
Something clouded Arwyn’s bright eyes. Was it disappointment? Or mutual understanding? How different were the two emotions really?
‘I hear you, loud and clear.’
‘Good,’ I nodded, continuing to stroke his length. ‘I’m glad.’
‘Before we start, you should know the answer to a question you asked me days ago,’ he began. I felt my heart sink, but not from dread.
‘Spit it out.’
Arwyn leaned in again, bringing his lips to my ear. ‘I don’t make love, I fuck .’
‘Well, that is good news,’ I replied, unable to hide the flush from my cheeks. ‘Because I enjoyed being fucked.’
‘Then we’re a match made in heaven, little kitty.’
‘Didn’t I warn you about using that nickname?’ The soap had yet to leave my other hand. I lifted it between us, turning it around to get his attention but it slipped out of my fingers.
‘Clumsy boy,’ Arwyn said.
“You have no idea.”
Slowly, I bent down to pick it up. My mouth passed the curved end of Arwyn’s hard cock, lips so close the water falling on it splashed and hit my face. Instead of taking the soap and straightening, it was my turn to get on my knees. I didn’t care about the discomfort of the tiles, not as I took in Arwyn who looked down the length of his body at me, with hope parting his mouth as to what was to come.
‘Have you forgotten about the soap?’ Arwyn asked as I leaned into his cock and brought it to my mouth.
‘ What soap?’ I asked, grinning up at him.
Arwyn exhaled a long breath, full of tension and desire. Then he put his hand to the back of my head, anchoring his fingers in with my hair. ‘You wicked, wicked little witch.’
You have no idea.
Arwyn stumbled back against the green-tiled wall as I took his cock in my mouth. His knees buckled beneath the pleasure, his cry echoing over the barren room. Every muscle, large and minute, tensed and flexed as he stretched.
It was impossible to take every inch of him in, but I gave it my best shot. As my tongue curled around his tip, my wet cheeks tightening as I sucked the droplets of taste from him, I thought of nothing but ruining Arwyn. I wanted him to be a shell of the man I was beginning to know. I wanted this moment to last long after it ended, so I had something to take my mind off the world around me.
Arwyn kept his hand on the back of my head, moving along with the rhythm of my sucking. I gagged a few times, tears joining the running water that continued to cascade down over me. But I was getting better, working my throat around the…nine or so inches he had hidden between his thighs. The length wasn’t even the challenge, it was the girth. I loved a challenge, so I wouldn’t stop until every single inch got to feel my lips around it.
When I needed a break, I lifted his shaft and focused my tongue on his balls. I popped them into my mouth, sucking with intense focus whilst drawing my fist up and down his cock. I could’ve continued doing it for hours, but it turned out Arwyn didn’t have the stamina. He almost finished twice by the time he reached down, hooked his arms beneath mine and hoisted me up to face him.
My world turned as he swept me from the floor, guided my legs around his waist and spun me until it was my back pressed against the tiles. The chill of stone made me groan aloud, alongside the firm grasp of two hands placed on either side of my arse.
‘Hector, you’re…’
Sexy. Strange. Demanding. Exciting. All adjectives used to describe me by men I’d knelt for. I waited for which one Arwyn would use, preparing to add a tally to the growing list of titles.
‘Beautiful.’ Arwyn finished.
‘Well, that’s a new one,’ I said aloud, although Arwyn was so focused on looking into my eyes it was as if he didn’t hear me.
‘Beautiful, and deserving of someone far greater than me.’
I leaned into him, wrapping arms around his strong neck. ‘Remember, this means nothing.’
‘I hear you, but it doesn’t feel like that.’
My heart didn’t simply skip a beat. It leapt over about five of them. I blinked away my shock at his words, whilst grappling with an excuse as to why he was wrong.
I couldn’t find one.
‘Have I ensnared you, Arwyn, with my devious mouth?’ I attempted sarcasm as my way around the moment between us. But it was lacking in confidence, so the question came out weak.
‘Yes, Hector. But you did that long before you sucked my cock.’
Arwyn leaned in again, and I thought he’d try and kiss me. In truth, I didn’t think I’d stop him. But then his lips dropped to my neck and pressed against the skin there. I leaned back, water spraying down on me as Arwyn ravaged my neck. He kissed, bit, and sucked. I could perfectly picture the shapes and lines he painted on my skin with his tongue.
‘Please,’ Arwyn growled against my skin, his grip on my arse cheeks hardening as he pulled them open, ‘can I fuck you?’
My nails dug into his broad back. ‘I didn’t expect we’d be doing a crossword, Arwyn. Yes, fuck me.’
‘Consent is important to me,’ Arwyn said between the nips and licks against my neck.
Well, if I thought he couldn’t be any sexier, that proved me wrong.
It seemed Arwyn was full of surprises. If I expected him to lay me on the sodden floor and take me, I was wrong. Usually sex for me was finding some horizontal position on a bed, or floor, or surface. But not with Arwyn. He kept me against the bathroom wall. He rose me up until I was at an angle, half propped by the wall but mostly my weight held by his hands and his waist. Then he used the lather of soap, slathered it over my arse, and his cock.
He drove the head of his cock to my arse and immediately my body eased. I felt the muscles relax, enough for Arwyn to slowly enter me. Slowly, I mean, because the sheer thickness of him was enough to split me in two. Then there was the length. It kept going and going. I expected my body to reject him, for my arse to tighten and pain to come. It didn’t. Not with Arwyn. There was only pleasure and want.
Arwyn fucked me as though it was his life’s only mission to grant me pleasure. He bore into me, over and over. If he wasn’t looking deep in my eyes, it was because enjoyment had his eyes rolling into his skull.
His body leaned into mine, protecting me from the water. Hekate help any witch that came in here to shower next. There’d be no hot water left. I pressed my mouth into his shoulder, biting down on his flesh to stifle my cries. I felt every inch of him inside of me, especially the pressure his tip made deep against my sensitive centre.
‘I hate to disappoint,’ Arwyn said, breathless. ‘But I fear I’m close to making you think I can’t control myself.’
I read between the lines. Arwyn was going to cum.
‘Do it,’ I said, leaning my forehead against his, realising how our breathing had synced perfectly as one. ‘Do what you promised and fill me up.’
That was all the permission Arwyn needed to explode. His thrusts quickened, his strokes growing shallow. I delighted in the lines that creased his forehead and beside his narrowed eyes. I noticed how his breathing echoed the movement of his hips and his mouth could barely shut.
Most of all, I loved the power I had over him. But the truth was, he also had some over me in return.
A sudden rush of pleasure overcame me. There was no warning before the orgasm hit. I threw my head back, stars dancing behind my closed eyelids, as wave after wave devoured me.
Bliss. It was undiluted, demanding bliss.
‘Hector,’ he moaned my name as he withdrew himself from me. Then he slowly lowered me to my feet. ‘I don’t have the words.’
I was still rock hard, pleasure racing through me but far from satisfied. Arwyn could’ve easily turned his back on me, washed himself off, and called an end to this. But he noticed. He looked down, saw my cock standing to attention, begging for attention, and did the unthinkable.
‘Your turn,’ he said, getting to his knees.
I gasped, searching for the right words to tell him it wasn’t necessary. But all that melted, like butter by a flame, as he began to feast upon my length. It was less work for him, because I was not blessed as he was. But, by the hells, this man made me feel mighty.
He made me feel worthy.
I melted in a puddle beneath his touch. If he believed he didn’t last long, I managed minutes less than him. As he looked up with me with his big blue eyes, his cheeks concave as he sucked, the planes of his jaw sculptured like stone, I couldn’t help but race towards the precipice of pleasure.
Without thought or care, I threw myself over the edge and gave into the bliss that followed the fall.