Chapter 14 #2
Erich stood back from her, his eyes roving over her body. Tingles shot down her arms as she remembered the way he’d touched her. The feel of him so near and yet outside her reach was torture.
She needed to say goodbye. Whether he was a dragon or a man.
A prince or a corrupted. The goddess had chosen Liane’s path, and her destiny couldn’t be entangled with his.
But stars above, she wanted him more than she’d wanted anything in her entire life.
She’d thought saying goodbye would have closed this chapter, that she would have been able to set him aside, as if the memory of him wasn’t consuming her day and night.
“Erich. How are you here?” she gasped. Something between a question and a desperate plea.
“Do you want an answer, or do you want to kiss me?” He closed the distance between them but didn’t touch her. She kept her hands firmly at her sides, though she was desperate to feel him, to run her hands over the hard planes of his chest and arms.
“A little of both.”
“I know the host, Leonhard. He invited me and said I would want to be here, and now I know why.”
His gaze burned into her, set her aflame, made her want to burn with him if only to turn them both into ash and be freed of this torture.
Hand trembling, she reached out to touch his face, to see if he was truly there, and he wasn’t some delusion.
His stubbled chin brushed against her palm, and turned to kiss it.
His lips moved up to her wrist, along her arm, up to her shoulder.
Liane leaned into him, hands draped around his neck, melting into him as his mouth lapped at water droplets along her throat.
He took his time kissing up her neck, nibbling on her ear before moving to her lips. Soft and gentle at first, as she opened up to him, his tongue thrust into her mouth, invading her like a conquering general.
She moaned against him, and his hands balled into fists at her waist, as if it was taking all his self-control not to run his hands along her body.
“I’ve missed you,” he groaned against her mouth.
The words shot through her, and any questions or thoughts of saying goodbye were chased away by the feeling of his hands along her hips, gripping her so she could feel his hardness against her belly.
Warmth pooled at the apex of her thighs, and she rubbed them together, fighting the urge to wrap her legs around his waist and climb him.
She broke apart their kiss, chest heaving as she stared at his dumbfounded expression.
“What spell have you put over me?” she said. His forehead was pressed to hers, his lips parted, his hands splayed against her hips.
“I was about to ask you the very same. Liane, no one has ever consumed my thoughts in the way you do. I cannot stop—”
She silenced him with another kiss. If she heard his next words, she’d give up anything and everything for him if he asked it of her. Her hands tangled in his hair, and as his tongue swirled around hers, their teeth clashed together as if neither of them could get close enough.
His hand moved down over the swell of her hip, gathering up the fabric of her skirt, hiking it up to draw his hand along her thigh.
She quivered beneath his touch as he slipped closer to her sex, pulling back her undergarments as he rubbed against her mound.
Her breath hitched as she pressed against him, desperate for more as he teased her, building the anticipation.
With her leg hooked behind his leg, she ground against his hand and bit down on his shoulder to stifle her moan.
“You like that?” he growled in her ear as he slid a finger to part her folds and pressed his thumb against the bundle of nerves there.
Her eyes widened as he made slow circles, building in speed.
She kissed him, biting at his lower lip, as she rode against his hand amongst growing waves of ecstasy, bringing her nearly to the brink before he pulled away.
Liane shamelessly whimpered as he did. Then he popped his finger into his mouth and sucked the juices off it.
If she had been wet before, she was drenched now. He looked at her as he swirled his tongue around his finger, eyes hooded.
“Ever since that night, all I’ve wanted to do is taste you. Can I?” His voice was husky and sent a lustful shiver down Liane’s spine.
If he didn’t, she might burst apart at the seams.
“Please.”
He picked her up, carrying her over to the garden bench before sitting her down.
Then he knelt before her like a supplicant, his hands on her thighs as he pushed back her skirt, and then parted her thighs and rested them on his shoulders.
Liane squirmed in anticipation, bucking up toward his mouth.
He chuckled against her, his warm breath fanning her and building the anticipation for what was to come.
He breathed her in, his eyes flashing gold in the dark as he looked up at her.
Was this the dragon or Erich? She wasn’t sure she cared in this moment.
He ran his thumb across her sensitive nub once more before he parted her folds with his finger and moved in and out of her slick opening.
She arched, begging him to go deeper, and then he grasped hold of her rear, bringing her up to his mouth, and swirled his tongue as he thrust with his finger.
Stars reeled overhead as she bit down on her hand to dampen her moans of pleasure. With her free hand, she grasped hold of his hair, forcing him down as she ground against his face.
“You taste incredible. Do you know you drive me insane?” he murmured.
“Yes,” she gasped. It was the only word she could utter in her lust filled haze.
He inserted a second finger, and all she could think about was him, the feel of his tongue as he matched her rhythm. She rose higher and higher until she was pulsing with ecstasy and losing herself in him as she climaxed.
By the time it was over, she felt limp and wrung out. Erich lowered her legs and pulled down her skirt, before sitting back on his heels.
She could see his erection straining against his breaches, and she attempted to grasp his waistband, but his hot hand on her wrist stopped her.
“Let me—”
“Come away with me, Liane,” he said at the same time.
The post-orgasm haze must be confusing her. She sat up straighter.
“Where? Your room?” She laughed.
“No. Leave the church, Liane. I came to Basilia to save you from the Avatheos.”
She bristled and pulled away from him. She thought of the Avatheos’ menacing presence and the twist in her gut that she couldn’t seem to quite ignore.
“I don’t need to be saved. I’m destined to save the realm.”
“He wants to use you, Liane. Don’t you see it? He’s hurting you. You said so yourself.”
Silence followed, a yawning, strangling silence that threatened to consume her. She wanted to fill it, but found her tongue too thick to properly form words.
“That’s insane. He needs me to save the world.”
He shook his head. “I’m not explaining it right. Please just trust me.”
She stood up. “Is that why you did this? Was this some form of manipulation to get me to go with you and the elf? They’re plotting to overthrow my kingdom. You know that, don’t you?”
“It’s not like that. If you’d talk to Fritz, you’d understand.”
“And let him put me under his spell? Maybe you’re the one who’s been deceived.”
“Trust me, it’s not safe. Look, I can explain more once we’re away.” He reached to grab hold of her wrist, but she pulled away before he could touch her.
“Why would I go anywhere with you, Erich? You’re corrupted.” The verbal blow landed, and he winced. She remembered the last night they’d spent together.
“Perhaps what we did just now was a mistake,” he said.
She laughed bitterly. “You cannot be serious.” She crossed her arms. “You come in here, bury your face in me, and then have regrets? Typical. I never should have given you another chance.” She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her arm.
“I shouldn’t have said that,” he said. His eyes darkened again, and she felt as if he were trying to control himself. “Which is why it should be the last time. I can’t control the dragon when I’m around you. It wants you.”
Those words sent a chill down her spine, and she hated how much it aroused her to think of his claws and scales coupled with his dexterous human hands.
But it was good that he was drawing a line in the sand.
She couldn’t keep doing this, not as the avatar, not as a woman.
She had some self-respect. She knew men, and he would only hurt her in the end, and her life was meant for the church.
Eventually, he’d grow tired of her and move on.
“Well, good, because you and your dragon can’t have me.” Then she turned and walked away without a second glance because she feared that if she did look back, the doubts would continue to creep in.