Chapter 24
Asterion
Iignore the throbbing of my hard cock as I admire my mate, sated with heavy-lidded eyes in my furs.
I get myself dressed, tying a loincloth around my waist. As much as I want to know what it is like to bury myself deep inside her, her body is not yet ready.
I prepare a meal for us to replenish her energy, and she slips out of the furs to join me in the cooking area she has dubbed a ‘kitchen,’ humming along to a song as we work in sync.
She has not bothered to get dressed, still wrapped up in the fabric I gave her.
Her hair is mussed, and she has a healthy pink flush on her cheeks.
I cannot help myself. Now that we have been intimate in some way, I want to always touch her.
I pull her into me, and she squeals as I sandwich her between me and the mud-brick counter.
I nuzzle her neck with a groan. “You smell so good.”
She huffs. “You’re always saying I smell!”
“Little viper.” I trail kisses down the side of her neck. “It was never about you smelling bad.” I kiss along her collarbone. “It was that you smelled so good, it drove me mad with desire.” I press my still very erect cock against her stomach for her to feel my arousal.
Her mouth pops open. “I thought it was because I smelled horrible!” She smacks at my chest, and I chuckle.
I turn her so that her back is to me, and together, we cut the rest of the vegetables, using her hands as my hands.
She presses her backside further into me and does a little wiggle every now and then, keeping my cock aching for her.
“If you do not stop pressing yourself into me, I will have to bend you over this counter and bring you to climax again.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She flicks a smirk over her shoulder at me, purposely rolling her hips once more.
I growl in her ear. “Was before not enough for my eager little mate?”
My fingers tug at the little tie at the top of the fabric above her breasts, letting it come undone so that I can unravel her. I have yet to see her completely bare, and my mouth salivates at having the chance to do so right now.
“How about we play a little game?” The fabric falls to the ground, leaving her bare back exposed to me, and two perfect little globes of milky flesh.
She turns. “What kind of game?”
I am momentarily speechless, dazed by breasts peaked with soft pink nipples. My gaze trails down to the patch of dark curls between her legs that I caught a glimpse of earlier.
I lift her onto the counter, moving everything out of the way, and position myself between her legs. “The game is to see if I can wring an orgasm out of you for every time you ran from me.”
“Seems like an unfair game if I get all the prizes.” Her eyes twinkle with mischief.
“I need no prizes.” I drop to my knees before her and throw her legs over my shoulders, dragging her as close to the edge as possible. She leans back, propping herself up with her elbows to give me better access. The perfect mate. “I already have you.”
I nuzzle into her core, swiping at her folds with my tongue until she cries out. She grabs one of my horns, and I chuckle as she grinds herself against my mouth.
“Oh fuck.” She moans.
I lick and suck until she is a dripping, writhing mess all over my counter, and then I slide one finger inside her, stretching her tight, wet hole.
She pants, and I swirl my tongue around her clit to get her to relax around it before I curl the tip of my finger to find that sweet spot inside her.
I rub that spot and suck at her clit until she clenches around me with a moan, her thighs snapping shut around my head as she holds my mouth exactly where she wants it by my horn until she has finished coming.
“That one was for running from me in the labyrinth.”
She pants, her chest rising and falling rapidly as I stand, pressing myself between her thighs, and licking up the column of her neck.
I hook one leg over my arm while my fingers find her center once more.
I ease one back inside her, gently thrusting it in and out while leaning down to swirl my tongue over her nipple.
She bucks against me as my thumb glides over her sensitive nub in just a tease.
I move my mouth to her other nipple, sucking and catching it between my teeth ever so gently.
Still, I work my finger inside her until she’s slick once more.
I switch fingers, lubricating a second with a few thrusts before joining them together.
Slowly easing two digits inside her, I hike her leg higher over the crook of my elbow until she’s falling back to lie across the counter, completely giving herself over to my ministrations.
The second orgasm hits her out of nowhere with a silent scream, her back arching up from the counter, and her hand gripping my forearm.
My home smells like strawberries, sweet and syrupy.
“That was for cutting the rope the second night.” I lean down and kiss her navel.
She whimpers as I gently pick her up in my arms and carry her to the furs, her body completely spent.
“Do you want me to—?” She looks at my cock standing to attention and weeping from the lack of it. I appreciate the offer, and I ache to take her up on it, but not yet.
“I do not wish for you to exert yourself.” I grab a wet cloth and clean her up before tucking her in, and then go back to making her something to eat while she rests. She will need all her energy to keep up with me, and I plan to see that she is properly cared for.
Now that I know she was not part of a horrible trick and that she has no desire to go home, the built-up resentment and anger I harbored—not toward her, but because of her—has faded away to dust. Katie is sharp and feisty, traits I admire in a mate, and beneath that tough-girl exterior, she yearns to be taken care of.
Just as I wish to be the one to do it. I would find satisfaction in each day I am able to fill her with food, and eventually my cock, and perhaps one day, a babe.
First, I must make sure she is in full health.
Her recovery has been a slow one, her head wound a more delicate injury than most. Perhaps it would not be so had she been in peak physical condition prior, but her body was already suffering.
I make a note to visit the spring every day now that she can make the short trip.
Nonetheless, I believe it will be good for her to be waited on hand and foot, to be shown how a mate should be treated.
She should want for nothing and have all her needs met, and I am a more than willing participant.
The mate bond thrums beneath my skin like a secondary pulse, sated because our mate is sated, for now.
How long until it drives us completely mad, and will I be able to deny it what it wants?
I loathe to hurt the little viper, and there is part of me that knows that right now, she will not be able to take me without injury.