Chapter 23 #2
“It is our ceremony,” Zalis said. “We can do as we please.”
He fetched the massive canister of sugar and set it in the middle of the low table.
“Do we really need that much sugar?”
“It is best to be prepared.”
Gemma laughed. “Is this a lesson about problem solving together? Or communication?”
“Perhaps. It is about starting our journey together,” he said, adding a generous spoonful of sugar to each cup. “We can pretend that the tea is delightful and suffer, or we can fix the problem.”
“How do we start? With a polite lie or with a painful truth?”
“Yes,” he agreed.
She finished her cup and gently tapped the cup against the table, silently asking for a refill. “Sugar really does help. It’s woody and astringent but I could see this served with a pound of sugar and over ice. It’d be refreshing on a hot day.”
Zalis had another sugar-heavy cup. He was glad that he had decided to wait for the ceremony, rather than insist that Gemma drink a cup on their first night together. If they had gone through the motions of the ceremony then, it would have been exactly that, empty gestures. This felt real.
“What’s the look for?” Gemma asked.
The silken robe had slid, exposing her shoulder. She resembled a flower that blossomed in the winter, pink petals against snow. She appeared delicate, fragile, but he knew she was not. He had never known anyone with such strength of will and such resiliency.
“You look like a flower in snow,” he said, which barely expressed the depth of his feelings. He burned for her. He always would.
“You look very nice too.”
“Tell me again.”
GEMMA
“I love you,” she said.
He surged to his feet, knocking the coffee table and threatening to tip over the teapot, and gathered her into his arms. They made it exactly two steps before collapsing onto the sofa with Gemma straddling his lap. His kiss was electric, intense and possessive.
“Is that your way of saying it back?” she teased, breaking the kiss.
His reply was more growl than verbal, but Gemma got the meaning. He loved her too.
She pulled on the sash at the front of his robe and undid the hooks keeping it closed. Slowly, inch by inch, the cream silk slid off, revealing him.
Dark inked patterns glowed against lavender skin. He was hard angles and harder muscle, but was also giving and patient. The outside was nice, but the inside was better. He had a beautiful soul, full of whimsy and dry humor.
She cradled the side of his face. “You’re so gorgeous.”
He removed her robe. The silken fabric fell to the floor in a whisper.
Dipping his head, he kissed a path down her neck, spending extra time where the curve met her shoulder. She felt the scrape of teeth but no bite. Not yet.
This position mimicked their first experience in the car.
While that had been hurried and needy, this was measured.
Her fingers skated over his tattoos, watching them light up on contact.
She liked being able to watch his reactions, something their height difference would never allow in another position.
With a hand in the center of her back, he tipped her backward and lavished attention on her breasts. Sharp teeth scraped her nipples, making her moan.
“The shower was fun, but it’s not what I want,” she managed to say.
“Tell me what you want, my mate.”
She ground down on his hard member. “This. I want you inside me.”
His hand went down to the juncture of her thighs, stroking her and parting her. He groaned, obviously pleased with what he found. She was pretty damn thrilled too. His fingers were thick and talented as they worked her open, preparing her.
“I can take you,” she panted.
He lifted her with a hand under either thigh and positioned her over his cock. She braced one hand against his shoulder and the other on the back sofa cushion.
Slowly, she sank on it. It wasn’t smooth sailing, filled with starts and stops, but the satisfying burn of stretching around him was worth it.
All of him finally, filling her.
His skin was glowing like fireworks in a summer sky. Not just the tattoo patterns, but where she touched him. Traces of finger prints and kisses left a history.
She grabbed his horn, using it to pull herself up, only to slide back down again. She felt every thick inch of him, every ridge hitting all the right spots. His hips rose up to meet her, pumping into her.
“Tell me,” she said. “Tell me.”
“I love you.” A kiss. A thrust. A groan. “I love you more than there are stars in the sky.”
Pleasure coiled inside her, tighter and tighter. She was so full, her entire body buzzing with sensation, that she felt like she would explode, and she wanted that. Full explosion. No apologies.
He nuzzled the curve of her neck, eyes closed in bliss.
“Yes, Zalis, yes!” It was too much. She cried out with release, her body arching as waves of ecstasy rolled over her.
Teeth sank into her shoulder. The pain vanished into the glow of her climax. They were bound now.
A final thrust and his arms tightened around her as he filled her with his hot release.
They clung to each other, hearts racing.
“I chose you,” she whispered.
This was real. This was forever.