Chapter 24 Remind Me
SOUNDTRACK: Nearly Break by Steven Rodriguez
~ DONAVYN ~
Heart pounding, I pressed Bren back against that tree, intending to reassure and kiss, perhaps touch her—remind her of her beauty.
But my body thrilled, and I was forced to plant a hand on the trunk of the tree, over her shoulder, to brace myself when she grasped the lapels of my jacket and pulled me down.
Her kiss was deep, frantic. Her hands clawing.
I wavered, wanting her—always wanting her.
But it was a night full of people. She just needed reassurance.
She’d had a tense exchange with a man who wanted her.
Ruin was here. Her shame had crept back in.
Of course she’d be reminded and need soothing.
I’d soften the kiss, whisper to her what I’d do when we returned to our rooms, and—
She bucked against me, dropping one hand to stroke me through my trousers, sending a bolt of pleasure through me that turned my need to insistence.
I went still and broke the kiss, panting, staring at her as she clawed at me. Her eyes were open and locked on mine.
‘Just don’t damage the dress—I can’t get undressed, Donavyn. But please… I need you. I need to remember what we have isn’t like what these people do to each other.’
‘Bren, there are people nearby—’
‘They don’t know about this spot, right?’
‘No, but—’
‘Please, Donavyn. Please.’ Her gaze was pleading.
Oh God.
New plan.
Exhaling heavily, I tipped up her chin and pulled her in, diving for her mouth again, tasting her deeply, insistently, leaning my weight against her, pinning her to the smooth bark of the wide tree.
‘You don’t make a sound,’ I growled in her head.
‘I am not sharing the sound of you with every fucking tomcat in this maze.’
She nodded quickly, her breath quickening as I dove for her again, cupping the back of her head so her hair wouldn’t be mussed and covering her with my body as she fumbled at my waist, unbuckling my belt and pulling my shirt from my trousers with short, sharp tugs, until she got it loose and her little fingers made short work of the buttons.
When she spread her palms on my abdomen I sucked in and she leaned back, bringing her eyes up to meet mine and biting her lip as she slid them down to loosen my trousers and free me from them.
Holy shit. We were going to do this.
Still holding her gaze, watching for that flash of fear, or shadow, and finding nothing but the heat of her want, I reached for the neckline of the dress, slipping fingers along that tight seam that pressed her breasts upwards, plumping them and slid my hand in to cup and knead at her—then slid the plump soft round out of the unforgiving confines of that corset and had to swallow a groan when her nipple hardened right before my eyes.
She gasped when I lowered my head to tug that firm peak gently with my teeth and grabbed for my hair, holding me against her, body stiffening and hips bucking when I sucked.
But the angle kept my body away from hers, and that couldn’t be borne. So, with heavy a muttered curse, I let her go only long enough to lean down and grasp the hem of her dress, slide my hands up her legs and lift the skirt until I grasped her ass in both hands and could lift her.
She nodded quickly, urging me on through the link as I repositioned her and her body slid against mine, her soft heat embracing me, inviting me.
The urge to call for her, to growl, to make some fucking noise was so urgent, I kissed her fiercely to cover it. For a time we tangled, her hands on me, while I held her ass, pulling her against me with both hands and kissed her with such ferocity our teeth clinked.
She was higher than me now, her flesh tantalizingly close to taking me, it would take only the right angle, a gentle nudge.
I broke the kiss and inhaled deeply, lifting one hand out from under her skirts to brace on the tree and ground myself. But when I dropped my face to her chest, her bare breast was right there, and I wasn’t a strong enough man to resist.
Opening my mouth on that sweet nipple again, I clawed the hand into the tree for purchase, rubbing myself against her and desperately stifling the gasps and groans I wanted to release into the night.
‘Bren… fuck.’
‘Don’t stop.’
Coming off her nipple with a frantic suck that made her twitch, I lifted my head to find her staring down at me with glazed, hooded eyes, her jaw slack and fingers clawing into my hair.
My mate stared at me with nothing short of lust.
But would she still feel that way when this was done? When the fear had passed and—
‘Donavyn, stop questioning. I can feel it. There’s no question in my mind—’
‘Are you certain?’
“Yes!” she gasped aloud—and I lurched for her mouth to silence her, diving into her with my tongue as I gave in to the need, positioned her, urging her to hook her ankles behind my back, then let her slide down my body until I took her to the hilt in one thrust.
She sucked in through her nose and her head fell back, but I followed her, snarling silently against the gasp of relief of having her.
On my first retreat, she bit her lip and let her head tip forward, her eyes opening—bright and needy—until I thrust into her again and her jaw dropped, no breath. Again, and a tiny choke broke in her throat. Again, and she sucked in—and I took her mouth again, swallowing her stifled whimper.
She struggled then, pulling me close one moment, bracing her hands on my shoulders the next.
I hadn’t taken her like this before, and it was clear she sought something, pulsing around me, teeth on her lip, rocking to meet me, heels digging into my ass, hips rising the next moment, her nails in my back as she fought for purchase.
With me pinning her to the tree, and her legs curled around me, only her hands were free. I held her by the thighs and showed her every way I loved her, taking her slowly, but decisively, kissing her when she threatened to make sound, while her need intensified.
Bren gripped my shoulders, clawed down my back, fisted my hair—then back to my shoulders. She called my name in the bond, and tiny sounds in her throat sent a crackling thrill through me from where she hooked a hand behind my neck, down to the pooling heat behind my navel.
Unable to resist, I cupped one hand under her knee to keep her high, then picked up the pace, pulling off the tree only far enough to give her hips room to move.
Bren’s mouth dropped open and she arched back, bending one arm back to brace against the tree and meeting me thrust for thrust.
I was thrilled, and stunned, and desperate. Desperate to have her, to protect her, to keep her away from all these pricks that, if they caught even a glimpse of her now—abandoned, temples sheened in sweat, one breast bobbing with our movement—would fight to have her.
Watching her walk away from me an hour ago, even with her arms hooked with other women, the simple knowledge that other men would look for her, hope for her, felt like having one of my ribs pried loose. I needed her back, nestled safely next to my heart.
I couldn’t stop touching her, taking her, swallowing the growl of her name.
But soon the world fell away and I was aware of nothing but her breath thundering past my ear, her body rippling against mine, her nails biting into my shoulder.
As we both climbed towards that impossible peak, I prayed God gave us the control for silence, and leaned into her, wallowing in her—the soft curves of her embracing me, the sweet, desperate gasps that escaped her lips, and the silence when her breath caught.
My pulse pounded in my ears.
Then I looked down to see her breast pressed hard against my chest, watching that nipple roll with the movement of our bodies, and I almost came.
“Shit, Bren!” I hissed.
She tightened on me, but I knew she wasn’t there yet. And this position gave me no room to help her. With a desperate warning to her in the bond to, ‘hold on!’ I pulled her away from the tree and pulled out of her.
She shuddered and whimpered, but I kissed her protests away, then turned her, letting the front of her skirts drop and lifting the back, scrambling to gather it over her back as I issued frantic instructions in the bond.
‘Brace on the tree. Bend forward. Widen your stance.’
Nudging her knees apart and bracing to retain control, I stroked her, found her core and took her, hurriedly clamping a hand over her mouth when she cried out, then I bit down on her shoulder to keep my own groans silent against her skin.
As I ground into her, finding our rhythm, sliding one hand down—first to cup her breast and tweak her nipple, then up the inside of her arm where she braced, tracing the delicate skin with my fingers as I began to pound, sliding my fingers between hers and gripping her hand with mine.
With the other hand, I slid a palm down the back of her thigh, then back up, until her skin prickled and her head came up, then I reached around to stroke her from the point where we joined, then up, slowly, pressing, sliding, until I found that nub, massaging, up and down, slower than my thrusts, but insistent—and cursed when I felt her begin to tremble and she gasped.
Bridging myself over her, panting in her ear, her body held to me, but enveloping me, nothing existed but her.
‘Silence… we must—’
‘Donavyn!’
Curled over her, still biting on her shoulder, my hands shook with the force of my need as Bren stiffened, then arched, her back bowing, ass rising and knees trembling as she found her peak.
She clamped down on me and I swallowed a roar, forced to cover her mouth again when she sucked in to find air for her own cries.
Bren threw her head back, my hand clawed over her mouth, and the rush of her joy and bliss shoved me over the edge of control. My orgasm detonated, taking my sanity with it.
Holding silence brought everything into perfect, crystalline focus for a single breath… then we fell. Tumbled off that summit.
Together, we twitched and jerked, I dug my boots into the dirt for leverage as we rode out the final waves then slid back to earth together.
Slowly, devastatingly, reality returned…
I cupped the top of her head as she slumped a shoulder against the tree and let it take our weight. My knees shook, and my temple against her neck stuck to her with sweat.
Then a shudder rippled through her and I went still, blinking, facing the reality of what we’d done.
The risk.
Holy shit.
“Bren—”
“Thank you,” she whispered, shaking her head and giving a small, shaky laugh. “Thank you, Donavyn. I love you.”
We took pains to separate slowly. I used a handkerchief to clean her gently, leaving kisses on her thighs and cupping the back of her calves until her knees stopped shaking.
But finally, we faced each other. She combed fingers through my hair, as I tucked her breast back into her dress, and we made ourselves presentable again.
Then, with high points of color in our cheeks, and sweat at our temples, our eyes met.
We both went still, drinking each other in.
It was a risk. A stupid, reckless, necessary risk.
I could feel her happiness, yet, also felt the pinch of something cold and fearful underneath it.
Tucking a fluttering tendril of hair behind her ear, I swallowed. “What is it? What pains you?”
She smiled and shook her head. “I fear everything less and less… except losing you,” she said, her eyes dropping to my chest as if the words embarrassed her.
I grasped her chin and lifted it, made her meet my gaze. “That makes two of us, Bren,” I muttered.
She inhaled sharply and let her hand slide down to the center of my chest, right over that space where the bond nestled next to my heart. My body—and the bond itself—leaped for her touch. “I’m just grateful you’re here,” she finished in a whisper. Then tipped her head against my chest.
I held her there, tightly, for some time as our hearts slowed and synced.
When the first boom exploded overhead, my body snapped to attention—expecting attack.
But even as Bren startled, I pulled her close and pointed up into the sky where crackling, red and white lights burst into flame with a staggering boom, then cascaded, dropping towards earth and fading to nothing, before another night flower bloomed.
Again and again, the lights and fire surged, scattered into fragments, then descended in cooling trails that disappeared before they reached the treetops.
Neither of us spoke.
I hoped that, like me, she took those moments to let go of the intrigue and danger, to forget the pressures and simply rest. Clinging.
Cheers rose—nobles enjoying the display, though some of those cries sounded suspiciously like a different kind of celebration.
But, eventually, the last of the night flowers bloomed, and then we were forced to face the fact that we had a job to do. Both of us.
When the night sky remained dark except for the tiny pinpoints of stars, I looked down at her, to find to her staring up at me, her expression solemn.
“Are you ready?” I asked quietly.
She nodded and took my arm, though she clung to it a fraction tighter than usual.
But I tucked my elbow against my side, pinning her hand to my ribs and drew her back towards the hedge, and the nobles who would soon begin to wonder about our absence.
We were both quiet for the rest of the evening. But even when we were drawn apart, I felt her eyes on me, or watched until she turned into my heated gaze.
‘You are stunning, Bren.’
Her cheeks flushed and she smiled into her drink, nodding at Faye, who was deep into her cups and babbling.
‘And you’re mine,’ she sent back, glancing at me from the side, and sending an image of me braced over her, naked and thrusting.
Holy shit.
I prayed I didn’t look like the staggering, helpless boy that I felt like in that moment.
‘I have a job to do, and you aren’t helping me focus,’ I muttered in the bond, but I underlined the gruff words with a heated rush of need.
I’d thought we were flirting, but there was a hesitation in her before she responded, and I actually turned my head to check on her.
She didn’t smile, but her eyes found mine and neither of us looked away, despite the audience.
‘Will we make it, Donavyn? Do you think? Will we get to be together and alive and home and… just live? Ever?’
‘Yes,’ I growled and almost walked to her, but she turned her head quickly to Grace at her other shoulder, leaning in to say something. I was drawn aside a moment later—the king’s man calling some of us to gather for His Majesty’s pleasure…
But as we continued on our mission, as we endured the frivolous chatter, and sidelong glances, I just prayed that God would make certain my words came true.
Will we make it, Donavyn?
Yes.
Yes, we would.