Chapter Forty-Seven
Aren
Dietan gazes at me so intently, I have to look away for fear of melting.
I’m not wearing a stitch of clothing, and I reach for the sheet to cover myself, but he stops me. “I want to see you,” he says, his eyes hungry.
“Well, fair is fair,” I say, blood roaring in my ears and heating my face as I sit up and reach for the buttons of his shirt.
My nimble fingers undo the buttons one-by-one, until his shirt flutters away from his torso, revealing several bandages.
I reach out and run light fingers over the healing wounds.
They’re now a reminder of what he did to protect me.
I glide my hands down to his trousers. Like me, he’s not wearing any smallclothes, and there’s nothing small about this man.
But I knew that already. I blush at my boldness, then smile.
Of course, I took charge. I’ve never been one to just lie back and let things happen to me.
Not in life, and evidently, not in the bedroom, either.
I unbutton his fly, and his trousers drop to his knees. Dietan, scars and all, is now completely vulnerable in front of me, as I am before him.
I want this man. I burn as my eyes roam his body. His broad chest, corded muscles, the fine golden hair leading to where it’s apparent he wants me.
Then he pushes me back onto the bed. He lays beside me so I can feel the entire length of his body against mine, nothing between us. He groans at the contact, and I close my eyes, enjoying the feel of him. He’s so warm, and his heart is beating as fast as mine.
I think he’s going to kiss me again, but then he turns and hovers over me on his hands and knees, kissing a trail from my neck all the way down my stomach. Each kiss more stirring than the next.
He reaches my core, and with a gasp, I rise up onto my elbows to watch as he kisses that most tender part of me.
His eyes meet mine, and I groan, flopping back in the bed.
Never has anything felt this good. Never.
He flutters his tongue across me, and I arch my back and shudder.
His strokes are gentle, almost careful, but I want more.
“More?” he murmurs. “Did you say more?”
“Mmhhmm,” I say, not realizing I spoke out loud, but now I can’t even form words, because what he’s doing with his mouth and tongue feels so good.
No more tentative touches. He flicks his tongue as he sucks my sensitive bud between his perfect lips.
But still, I want more—I need more. I squirm underneath him, something cresting, something hot and just out of reach.
Just when I’m sure I’ll go out of my mind chasing a feeling I can’t name, that remains stubbornly out of reach, Dietan slips a finger inside me.
The added pressure on top of the exploration of his lips and tongue draw me closer to the elusive something.
Like storm clouds darkening the horizon, the feeling bears down on me, relentless and inevitable.
Just when I think the heavens might open, drowning me in sensation, Dietan… stops.
He rises up on his knees and looks down at me, poised at the juncture of my thighs. He’s flushed, his face intent and eager. But now he’s hesitant, a shadow of doubt flickering behind his eyes.
I grab his hand, lacing my fingers with his. “Dietan, please. I want this. I want you.”
“As my lady commands.” There’s no sarcasm in his words this time. Only tenderness.
I squeeze his fingers, as we so often do, as my hips move under him of their own accord.
He takes a trembling breath, all desire again. “I’ll go slow,” he says.
“I know you won’t hurt me.” I beam up at him because I know that this time, it’s true.
He hovers over me and uses his free hand to guide his tip against my entrance. I breathe heavily with anticipation as he barely pushes inside of me. He stops for a moment, and my heart is beating like a bird trapped in a cage.
“Are you okay?” he asks, meaning it in more ways than one. “I can stop.”
I nod my head. I don’t really know what I want, but I know it’s more.
He pushes deeper, stretching me.
That. I want that.
“Yes,” I plead, my voice almost a growl.
He grins, pushing in almost to the hilt. He withdraws slightly and then surges forward again, deeper this time. Goddess, he’s huge. “All good?”
“Harvest mother, yes. I want you.” I don’t mean for the words to come out as a challenge, but they ignite a fire in Dietan’s eyes.
He pulls out almost completely before thrusting all the way back in, and the feeling of fullness takes my breath away.
Then he covers my mouth with his, kissing me as he sets a rhythm that makes my toes curl.
I plant my feet on the mattress and tilt my pelvis to meet his thrusts, and he groans, increasing his pace to match my movements.
“Gods, Aren,” he rasps. “You’re going to kill me.”
“Already tried,” I say, gasping for air. “Failed.”
Then he pushes up on straight arms, changing the angle of his body just enough to create friction on that most sensitive part of me where our bodies rub together.
I gasp, then whimper, squeezing my eyes shut as heat, white and furious, fills me and makes my ears buzz.
It feels so damn good. Too good. The way he fills me and… Goddess.
I grit my teeth and hold my breath as the storm inside me finally breaks, a tempest so total that everything in the world fades away except for this man and this moment.
I pulse around him again and again as pleasure shoots through me with the force of a lightning strike. I claw at his back, pulling him closer. I want this to go on forever, and at the same time, I need it to end before I’m swept away for good.
His gaze burns into mine, his body trembling.
When I scream his name, he falls right over the edge with me.
…
I open my eyes just as the first rays of dawn crest the horizon.
I’m warm all over, and my body is still humming from last night. Honestly, I don’t remember falling asleep, but when my eyes focus, I realize I’m not the only one awake.
“Morning,” Dietan says. He’s lying on his side facing me, cradling his head in his hand and grinning like the fool he is. His eyes are bright, slightly lined with weariness, and I wonder if he’s slept since our second bout of lovemaking.
I rub the grit from my own eyes. “Were you watching me sleep? That’s creepy, you know.”
“I was waiting for you to wake up,” he says.
“Were you now? I wonder why…” I tease as I notice the bulge under the sheets. “I see you’re up. Been that way for some time?”
“Longer than I dreamed possible.”
“That must have been hard.”
“Harder than you might guess.” He waggles his eyebrows.
“Really? I might have to investigate.”
“By all means.”
I snuggle closer to him, and my skin tingles all over, remembering the way his body moved with mine just a few hours before.
It feels like a dream. But when he leans over me and tips my chin up to meet his.
I know it’s real. He smiles even wider and slips a hand between my legs once more, a finger stroking and then finding the white-hot center of my body, where I’m so ready for him.
“Looks like I’m not the only one who’s eager,” he says.
“Shut up.”
“No, really. You must have been up all night to be this wet.”
Well, he would know. “Stop or I’ll kill you,” I tease.
“No, you won’t. We’ve already established that you’re bad at that.” He laughs as he adds another finger, slipping so easily inside. He strokes a little harder, and my breath hitches.
“Don’t be so sure. Maybe I plan on using you until your heart gives out,” I threaten, rolling on top of him.
He looks up at me, eyes shining. “Do it.”
Last night, the first time we made love, it was urgent and frantic, as if making up for lost time.
In the middle of the night, we reached for each other once more in the warm haze between dreaming and waking, a balm for the terrors that once filled Dietan’s lonely nights.
But now we take our time, exploring every inch of each other’s bodies.
This morning, I want nothing more than to please him the way he’s pleased me, and so I pull the sheet away, uncovering that glorious cock that’s given me more pleasure than I ever imagined possible.
“Sweet goddess,” I breathe, kneeling in front of him, thanking the Harvest Mother for blessing me with such a lover.
Dietan lies there with his arms folded under his head, and he cranes his neck to look down at me with a proud, lustful grin. “You look good from this angle,” he says as his body trembles with anticipation.
I lean down and give it a long, slow stroke with my tongue, and he groans. His reaction pleases me—emboldens me.
I feel powerful.
So I hold his shaft in my hands, wrap my lips around the head, and take him all the way into my mouth. I love the taste of him, the smell of him, the sounds he makes as he arches his back in pleasure.
His hands slide through my hair, grasping and pulling as I suck his cock and work his length, savoring the salty, sweet taste of him. Every sigh and moan he makes drives me wild.
It feels satisfying to give Dietan pleasure. He’s been through so much pain that making him feel good is a small victory.
“I need you,” he cries as I take him deeper into my mouth. “Aren…please…I need to be inside you.”
I stop and shake my head, a naughty smile on my lips. “We’ll get to that later. Don’t you worry,” I say, then go back to sucking him.
But then he’s tugging me up and away, and I let him. “Sorry, love, but I’m terrible at waiting.”
“Is there anything you’re good at?”
“This,” he says, and in one powerful motion, he tosses me onto my back, shoving my legs apart with his knees.
“Oh—I…” I didn’t expect that. He’s so strong, and so demanding, it makes me melt and burn at the same time.
He kneels between my legs and pull my hips toward him so I’m perfectly aligned with his cock. He pauses for a heartbeat at my entrance.
“Don’t make me wait,” I warn.
And he doesn’t.