Chapter 9 Arabella
Chapter Nine
ARABELLA
The first thing I absolutely knew as I came to consciousness was that Amun was in bed with me.
His familiar scent was wrapping around me like his magic, in a possessive and claiming way, and his voice was in my ear as he softly recited something in Coptic.
I couldn’t focus enough to understand what exactly he was saying, but it was soothing to my ears and I could feel the emotion saturating his voice.
“Precious,” Amun said softly, “are you waking up?”
Not quite awake enough for words yet, I let out a soft sound of agreement, listening to the rest of the room to see if any of my other mates were present.
I didn’t think they were, and I worried that maybe the danger wasn’t over, that War was still a problem and that was why they weren’t here—but our bond didn’t feel full of tension, at least not enough to make me think they were in trouble.
Instead the soft lull of the connection to all of them ran under the one between Amun and me, which was particularly vibrant because of his proximity.
“Take your time,” he whispered, tucking a piece of wild, wavy hair behind my ear and kissing the shell of it. My toes curled at the sweet gesture, and it convinced me to try to open my eyes, which felt heavy like the rest of my body. I wasn’t sore, just…hazy?
I felt relatively good outside of that, though.
“Where is everyone?” I asked, finally blinking my eyes open. I was facing a wall with Amun behind me, his arm secured around my waist.
“That is something you may want to be fully awake for,” he rumbled.
Well that woke me up fast. I turned into him—mind you, far slower than normal—and searched his gorgeous, vibrant eyes. “What do you mean? Is the institute still in trouble? Did it not work?”
Amun pressed his thumb across my lips and effectively, sweetly, silenced my concerned ramble that had totally been escalating. At the sight of his calm expression, I relaxed back into the bed, my worries mostly eased.
“It worked. War is gone, and the institute is safe and warded once again. Everyone is safe because of you,” Amun said.
“Oh good,” I breathed out. “So what did you mean?”
“The humans that were left behind—those who were injured, as well as any that didn’t run—have been brought into the institute for questioning—”
I jerked up in bed, but before I could get more than an inch, Amun tugged me back down, a low rumble leaving his throat. “No getting up yet.”
“Amun,” I said slowly, in a state of shock, “are you telling me that the institute has humans in it—like a lot of them? We brought people who just waged war on our home into our home, with all the nightmares who put their lives on the line to protect it? Nightmares who don’t realize the full extent of the influence they were under… ”
“I see your point,” he said, concern crossing his features. “The others will keep them safe and unharmed—mostly. Unless they act out. They know you would want that because of how it could reflect on the institute.”
I couldn’t help but love that he hadn’t just dismissed my concern, that he’d actually considered what the others would do. I believed he was right, for the most part, but things could go wrong—easily.
“I need to get up. Amun!” A laugh slipped out of me at the end as I was pulled back down, but this time it wasn’t just by his hands, it was also by his magic. Fabric binds appeared out of nowhere, wrapping around my waist and keeping me flat on my back.
“No. You need to stay in bed.”
I smiled. “I seriously feel perfect.”
Amun made a low rumble and studied my face. “I still don’t like it, though it doesn’t surprise me. That young sis meta ran in here to give you some of her magic before disappearing again in a rush.”
“She did what?” I felt humbled that she would do something like that for me, especially since I hadn’t even known that was a possibility. “Okay, now I really need to get up.”
Amun made a noncommittal noise and shifted so his nose was buried against my throat, as his lips skimmed my collarbone. “In a little bit. I think you need more rest.”
I really did feel one hundred percent, but at the same time his growly tone really appealed to me. I wiggled slightly, trying to fight getting turned on, but then his throat produced a noise that had shivers breaking onto my skin.
Amun’s death magic rolled over me, and I felt almost dizzy as it invaded my senses, flashes of magic darkening the room on the edges as everything outside of us turned absolutely silent. I whimpered as more fabric appeared, wrapping around my thighs and arms.
“Amun…”
“Just making sure you don’t move,” he explained, his voice rough.
“Oh, is that all?” I asked breathlessly. “If you’re going to trap me in bed, I feel like we can—”
His thumb ran over my lips once again and interrupted me. “After everything we’ve gone through and you getting injured twice, I’m extremely on edge, and I don’t trust my reaction to what you were about to say.”
“Amun,” I whispered. He finally looked up, our lips a breath apart. “I feel amazing—in fact, I feel better than I did before I passed out. I promise I wouldn’t lie about that. I know you can see and feel that I’m fine.”
The man had an innate connection to my body. If Saint owned my soul with his death magic, then Amun owned my very heartbeat. I felt like he could control it so easily, and at times it was like our hearts beat in sync with one another.
Amun studied my expression for a long moment and exhaled. “You really are okay.”
It was a statement, but I nodded anyway.
“Well…” I hesitated, feeling flushed. “Mostly okay. Honestly, I’m really turned on now. Tying me to the bed may keep me here, but it’s also really hot.”
“Fuck,” he snarled, his eyes darkening. “I can scent how turned on you are—”
“You should fix it,” I said in a teasing voice. It was the final permission he needed—he surged forward and sealed his lips to mine.
The kiss was deep and intense, and the fabric binds tightened further around me, pulling open my thighs so he could wedge himself between my legs.
His hard length pressed right against my needy center, and I was glad that someone had changed me into an oversized shirt so that my panties were the only thing separating the two of us.
Well, that and his clothes, which I currently hated.
“I want nothing more than that,” he growled softly.
“Then take it—take me.”
Amun groaned, and I nearly pouted as the bindings broke, until he rolled us so that I was on top of him, straddling his large frame.
His fingers ran over my hips as he gave me a hard look.
“If we do this, I want you to take the lead. I won’t risk hurting you, which means we go at your pace, precious. ”
Which meant I got to explore him as much as I wanted. I wasn’t going to waste this opportunity.
“Deal.” I leaned down and nipped his lip, completely focused on exploring Amun as my fingers toyed at the edge of his shirt. His hands tightened on my hips before letting go to slip off his shirt, my breath catching as my eyes ate up his scarred, tattooed chest.
His skin broke into shivers as my fingers ran over his bare skin, and his in turn ran up under my shirt and along my sides, clearly wanting to touch me as much as I wanted to touch him.
Offering him a coy smile, I dragged a nail down the center of his chest before leaning down to press my lips to his, leaving the lightest of kisses before moving to his jaw and down his throat.
He was tense as he tried to hold back his magic, which was ramping up beneath his skin, but the man was trying so damn hard to be patient.
I moved down his frame, scooting backward as I trailed kisses along his chest until his hard length hit right at my center, causing a moan to leave my mouth.
“Precious…”
I continued to kiss down his abdomen, my tongue darting out to run over his skin as I moved further down. It was a self-inflicted torture, denying myself the contact I so desperately need but I knew that the buildup would be absolutely worth it when Amun broke and lost control.
And I would absolutely make that happen. I may not have had a lot of experience, but I was going to try my damn best.
As my fingers ran along the edge of his pants, I looked up to see him watching my teasing touch with a burning need.
I didn’t hesitate to tug down the sweats he had changed into and free his erection, a moan nearly leaving my lips as I wrapped my hand around his length.
Amun’s fists tightened in the bedding as I decided to be bold, feeling empowered at how much I was affecting him.
Leaning forward, I ran my tongue over his massive cock. Amun cursed, his head falling back as I took him in my mouth. I took him as far back as I could, feeling a shiver of pleasure as I nearly gagged on his length, loving his taste as precum coated my tongue.
“Your mouth is fucking perfect,” Amun growled. His hand gripped my hair, the touch demanding, but then he softened it as if reminding himself. I pulled back, running my tongue over the tip in a swirling pattern, before deep-throating him again.
This time his cursing was in a language I didn’t even recognize, and his hand tightened in my hair so roughly that it almost stung. My thighs pressed together as I tried to keep him as deep as possible, my clit pulsing as I nearly came from his reaction alone.
Pulling back up, I planned on taking him—
“Amun!” I squeaked as I was suddenly pulled up his body, his hands unyielding as they pulled at my shirt and tore it down the center.
I whimpered in excitement as he snapped the side of my panties and tossed them to the side, rendering me naked in less than a second.
His breathing was rough and fast as he looked over me, his gaze zeroing in on his mark on my arm, my hand splayed in the center of his chest.
His green gaze flickered up. “I love you, precious, but I’m worried I may fuck you like I don’t.”
Well, when he said it like that…