Chapter Seventeen
SEVENTEEN
HAWK
The cat is waiting in our quarters, and Aspeth pets it and feeds it as it howls and makes a ruckus while I fill the copper tub near the fire. I’ve never heard such a loud creature, but she pets it (and fur flies everywhere) and talks to it as if it were human. “I know,” she tells the orange beast. “You’ve been sorely neglected today but I promise I’ll make it up to you. What do you think of that?”
I pour the last of the water into the tub and then shuck my clothing, glancing over to see if Aspeth has noticed me. She’s still petting the cat, utterly focused. I yawn, extending my arms out. By the bull god, I am fatigued.
“Oh, big stretch,” Aspeth coos, startling me. I turn and she blushes, her face bright red. “The cat!”
“Right.” I adjust my cock, stepping into the tub, and notice that her gaze follows me as I move. I sink into the tub and groan as the hot water soaks into tired muscles. Gods, it’s been a long week. I relax in the water, and then grab the cake of soap and rub it into the washcloth I’ve hung on the side of the tub.
Aspeth clears her throat. “Should I wash you? Since we’re married and I should be learning about your anatomy?”
I glance over at her. Her cheeks are pink and flushed, her eyes bright. I don’t know at what point she became attractive to me, but I can’t look away from her. There’s something so very earnest about Aspeth. It’s as if she puts everything she has into whatever task she’s focused upon, be it guild business or something else. I suspect that she’d put all that enthusiasm into bed, too, and the thought makes my cock harden. “While I appreciate the offer, you should know that if you touch me, it’s not going to stay just a wash.”
“Oh.” She sounds dazed.
She also doesn’t get up from her spot on the edge of the bed, which tells me everything. We’re not there yet. We’re not at the carnal stage of our marriage, and I fight down the lick of impatience that curls up my spine. She’s gone through a lot in the last week. Hells, I’ve gone through a lot, too. It’s perfectly fine to wait. It’s only the moon—and the knot I’ll be forming—that’s making me addled with lust.
“How was your trip?” Aspeth asks in a bright voice as I scrub at my skin. “Was it a rescue mission?”
“Oh, it was.” My tone sounds bitter, even to myself. I try not to let guild politics get to me, but this season I can’t seem to get away from them. “It took us two days of hard tunneling to find a brand-new team laid out with three broken ankles. They weren’t even in a newer tunnel, or a deeper one. Just idiots doing idiotic things, I guess.”
“Did they find anything?”
I turn toward her, immediately suspicious. “Cave mushrooms, hence the broken ankles. They started hallucinating and ran off a ledge. Luckily it was a short drop. Unluckily for us, we had to carry them back.”
She makes a sympathetic sound. “So no artifacts? That’s a shame.”
“Why is it a shame?” I’m still prickly, thinking about Tiercel’s comments from earlier. About Aspeth being a spy…
Aspeth sighs heavily. “I’m vicariously dreaming through them, I suppose. I’ve always wanted to find an artifact. Not just any artifact, but something important. Something world-changing.” She chuckles, her expression wistful. “I suppose I should settle for ‘any artifact’ before I start going on about world-changing ones, right? It’s just…it must be so exciting. I can’t imagine wasting your time in the tunnels with getting high.”
I relax, because I understand what she means. There’s a rush you get when you first discover something of importance. It’s a heady feeling that’s only compounded when you turn it in to the guild and find out what it truly is…or you’re devastated to find out that it’s a dupe. Or broken. “This is a heartbreaking business,” I tell her. “It gives you the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.”
“More highs than lows, I hope.”
I think of Magpie, and how often she returns to the bottle despite swearing that she’ll quit. “That’s the hope, aye.”
“Mmm.” She’s quiet for a long moment. “May I ask you something, Hawk?”
“Of course.” I dunk the washcloth again, trying to focus on getting clean.
“Do Taurians kiss?”
And there goes my focus. My cock stiffens, surfacing through the water like some sort of hungry leviathan. Aspeth isn’t thinking about artifacts entirely. “Kissing is a human invention. It’s not as comfortable for Taurians. Our mouths don’t work quite like yours. We prefer tail play to show public affection.”
“I see.”
She’s quiet for another long moment, and it takes everything I have not to look over at her. If I do, I worry she’ll see the smolder in my gaze and get skittish. It’s too soon for my eyes to turn red with the Conquest Moon but five hells, I’m feeling its nearing presence in every throb of my cock.
Aspeth is oblivious to my internal turmoil, however. Her voice grows bemused. “I suppose I shouldn’t find it strange. My parents were a marriage of convenience and I don’t recall ever seeing them kiss. Lots of marriages are for convenience’s sake and I know I’m not the first human to marry a Taurian. I suppose I’m not missing out.”
Missing out?
Missing out ? Because of marriage to a Taurian?
I stand fully upright, letting the water sluice off my form. My cock is fully hard and dripping water just like the rest of me, and I look over at her, making sure she sees every last bit of what is on display. “I’ll make sure you don’t feel things are lacking. Trust me.”
She’s comfortable on the bed, snuggled up with her cat. At the sight of me, her gaze goes to my cock and stays there, her eyes wide as if she’s just now realizing our size difference. She blinks. Squints. Blinks again. Bites her lip.
Doesn’t look away, though. Not even when I reach over to pick up a towel and dry my arms off, making sure my cock continues to swing free, stabbing at the air with hungry need.
Aspeth sits up slowly, setting the cat on the floor and hanging her legs over the side of the bed. Her expression has changed to thoughtfulness even as she continues to stare at my cock. It prickles with the heat of her gaze, and I can feel pre-cum sliding down the domed head.
“I—” she begins, her voice a croak.
I bite back a chuckle.
She clears her throat and tries again. “I cannot help but think about how you showed me your cock. Would you like to see my body, too?”
“You know I would.” If bulls could purr, I’d be purring right now.
She gets to her feet and tugs at the front of her boxy blouse, at the brown buttons that line the front. It’s the most unflattering of garments on her, but I know what she looks like underneath. I know what she looks like wet. The guild uniform is just a tease. “If I was a bolder sort, I’d make a joke that I welcome critiques.” Aspeth gives me a nervous little half smile, glancing up. “But I confess that I’m an absolute ninny when it comes to my body. If you find something repugnant, please don’t tell me about it. I’m nervous as it is.”
As if I’d ever tell her that she was anything but splendid.
She fiddles with one of the buttons and then glances back at the bed. “Should I be sitting or standing?”
“You should be however you’re comfortable.”
“So in the library with a book upon my lap, then?” she jokes, tossing her blouse to the floor. Next go her boots and stockings, then the trousers she wears. She strips it all off methodically, and when she’s down to nothing but a corset and her thin chemise, she pulls her hair down from its pinned bun and shakes it loose. With trembling hands, she pulls the laces free of her corset and tosses it aside. Her chemise follows after it a moment later.
Then she slides back onto the bed and lies atop it like a corpse at a viewing, her legs tightly together, hands folded at her waist, eyes closed.
It’s not the sexiest of positions, but I’d have to be an idiot not to realize how unsettled she is. I move toward the foot of the bed, giving her space, and eye her pale, plump legs. I like them. I like the rounded curve of her calves, her delicate ankles, and her large feet. She’s tall and solid and made as such, and I’m dying to skim my hand up one strong, thick thigh so I can watch her legs part.
But I can tell she’s nervous. It’s the whole corpse thing, her eyes squeezed shut as if she expects me to take her measurements with a tailor’s tape and tsk over what I find. I curl my fingers around her ankle, lifting it up, and rub her foot.
Her gaze flies open. “Oh—”
“It’s fine,” I tell her. “You’re fine. We’re just a naked married couple in our room together. There’s nothing to be nervous about.”
“Says you. You’re beautiful.” She watches my hands move over her foot, her gaze heavy-lidded. “You’re covered in muscle. I don’t think I have a single one.”
I bite back the laughter that threatens to huff out of me. “I’m pretty sure I spotted one. At least one.” I let my gaze move over her again, lingering at the gentle swell of her belly. She’s soft here, too, an indication of her pampered life, but I rather like it. I like the thought of cuddling up to pillowy softness in a wife. Her breasts are just as large as I expected them to be. Flat on her back, they pull toward her arms, her nipples dark and prominent and tight. All of her looks soft and touchable, and I can’t stop staring.
“There we go,” I tease. “There’s a muscle.”
She laughs, trying to crane her head to gaze at the foot I’m holding near my chest. “Where?”
I lean in, nuzzling her ankle. “Right here.”
Aspeth whimpers, the sound soft and utterly enticing.
“Is this all right?” I ask, even as I run my muzzle against her soft skin. “Or should I stop?”
“I’m fine,” she promises, breathless. Her fingers twist in the blankets at her sides and she watches me with parted lips. “You…my…this is fine. All fine.”
I drag my mouth against her skin. She’s so damned soft. So pettable. “I wanted you to touch me the other day. All you did was look.”
“Oh,” Aspeth breathes, and her flush goes right down to her pretty tits. They jiggle as she shivers, her nipples tightening, and I nip at her calf. “I wasn’t bold enough. Not yet.”
“I’m bold,” I tell her bluntly. “Can I touch you more? Or are you not ready for that yet?”
The look in her eyes grows soft. Sensual. Her hands clench the blankets again. “You can touch me.”
Good. Because I’m aching, my cock as hard as stone. This is about easing her into pleasure, though, and I’m dying to touch her. I want to run my hands all over her skin, to feel her quiver when I caress her. I want to show her what it’s like to be in bed with a Taurian. That she’s not going to miss out on a single thing. That I can make her feel better than any human can, if she’ll just give me a chance.
And now’s my chance. I push her thighs apart, spreading her legs, and lower my head between her thighs before she has time to think about what I’m doing.
Aspeth squeaks in surprise the moment my tongue brushes over her skin. The thing with Taurians? We have long, mobile, thick tongues. I can lick my own eyebrows, if I’m so inclined, and human men can’t compete with a Taurian who knows how to use what he’s got. Kissing be damned. I’ve got better things to do with my mouth. Leaning in, I drag my tongue over her entire pussy in one smooth stroke.
Her breath hitches and then a moan escapes her. “You…oh…”
“You said you’d been touched before, Aspeth. How much?” With the tip of my tongue, I tease her cleft open, rubbing against the bud of her clit and making her squirm. “Did your human lover do that to you?”
“He—he touched my thigh,” she babbles, her fingers gripping the blanket next to her hips. “No tongue. I—I thought you were going to touch me with your hands.”
“Tsk. You’re going to have to be more specific, wife.” I flick my tongue over her cunt again, and she shivers in response. “Tell me if you want me to stop, then. If this is too much for you.”
“Not too much,” she breathes, and then parts her thighs wider, bending her legs at the knees. “Do you…should I…”
“You stay right there and let me taste you.” I run a hand along the inside of her thigh, watching her reaction, and then lap at her cunt again. The taste of her hits my senses—musky and somehow sweet. She moans again, her hands fluttering toward me before settling back down to the bed.
With amusement, I grab one of her hands and place it firmly on my shoulder. “You can grab the horns, if you like.”
Her fingers curl against my skin and her eyes flutter closed. I tap my tongue against her clit again, and she arches. “You…no, that’s really good. Really, really good. You can do that all you want.” Aspeth’s voice takes on a dreamy quality. “Feels so nice.”
I’m both amused and offended by her commentary. “Nice” isn’t what a bull wants to hear when he tongues his wife. He wants to have her screaming. But Aspeth is a little more virginal than I’d expected, so I need to go slow. Make sure she doesn’t get overwhelmed.
Which is fine, because it allows me to savor every moment of this. I love the squirming she does with every tap of my tongue. I love the taste of her, as soft and delicate as her skin. My cock throbs in time with my pulse, dripping pre-cum all over the floor and the edge of the bed, but I can’t be bothered with such trivialities. I’ve got my muzzle between my wife’s thighs and everything else in the world—including my own pleasure—can wait for a bit. I push her legs into the air and wrap my hand around the base of my cock, squeezing to stop myself from coming before she does.
Because I need to taste her release. Badly.
I tease the tip of my tongue over her clit again, rubbing against the underside of it. I’ve had females in my bed with prominent clits in the past, and they’re easy to tease to climax. Aspeth has sweetly thick folds hiding her bud from my sight, and when my tongue teases over it, it’s barely more than the tiniest of bumps. Perfectly fine. It’s delicate and hesitant, just like her. No matter a woman’s shape or form, I can figure out how to get her off. It just takes a little attention to detail.
Squeezing my cock again, I tongue her and push into her core, using my thick tongue length like I would my cock. She sucks in a breath of surprise, squirming against my mouth. Something tells me that she’s never had that happen before and she doesn’t know what to make of it. Her cunt clenches around my tongue and I thrust into her, but she’s no longer making those little pants of delight—time to change plans. I go back to licking her pussy, using firmer and firmer strokes of my tongue, until she’s wet and juicy and making those sweet sounds again.
This time I focus on her clit, that intoxicating, half-hidden little bit that I know she’ll like attention on. Using my free hand, I push the folds of her cunt apart, exposing her, and it forces the tiny, flushed bud into prominence. I lick her again, and Aspeth’s hands fly to my horns. The gurgling sound that erupts from her throat would make me laugh if I wasn’t so mucking hard. As it is, I stroke my hand down my cock, my fingers messy with pre-cum. I should stop rubbing myself, should play with her pretty, jiggling tits and give them the attention they deserve, but I can’t stop myself. Just like I can’t stop myself from wrapping my lips around her now-prominent clit and sucking lightly.
The cry Aspeth makes is sharp, her hips rearing against my face. I try to pull away, only for her to arch her hips, following my mouth, and so I give her what she wants. Fuck drawing this out. She wants to come? I’ll make her fucking come. I run my tongue over her clit, teasing along the underside before sucking on it again. She cries out once more, then she’s riding my face while I frantically stroke my cock, desperate to get her off before I erupt. The moment I feel the burst of her release against my tongue, I spray against the coverlets, bucking my hips against the mattress as I nut, my face buried between her thighs.
Goddess Asteria’s fabled paradise could not bring me more pleasure than this moment.
Aspeth is panting, her hand to her brow as she struggles for breath. Her face—and her glorious, heavy tits—are flushed and the insides of her thighs are damp with her release. Mine is all over the side of the bed, but I can deal with that. Soon.
For now, I’m happy to pay attention to her pussy, giving it slow, contented licks, and loving the way she trembles with each stroke of my tongue.
I bet I could make her come again without too much effort. The thought feeds some primal urge in me, and I give her a wicked grin before pushing her pussy open wide again and lowering my head.
This time, Aspeth reaches for my horns.