Chapter 17 Shiloh
SHILOH
Rivven was right. By the time we got back to his place, I’d just about become a Shiloh-cicle.
I’d been having so much fun that I’d barely noticed how cold I’d gotten.
Skating with Rivven had been exhilarating.
I’d never felt anything like it. The tummy-dropping feeling of zipping along with that kind of speed.
All while knowing that he would never let me fall.
“Hello, everyone!” Tasha said when we entered the dining room of the saloon.
She, Warden Tenn, and Warden Hallum were all seated together at a table, their comms tablets out, like they’d all been working on something together, taking notes or making plans.
I wondered if it had to do the with the OBGYN position that Tasha had mentioned in the group chat.
As we stomped and scraped our boots off on the mat by the door, Warden Hallum rose from his seat and approached.
His cool eyes scanned us – taking a little extra time on me.
I got the sense he was checking to make sure no mishaps had happened while I’d been out with the three of his men unsupervised.
“Hello,” I said, making sure to smile reassuringly at Warden Hallum in particular. “We’ve had such a lovely time together!”
It was true. I’d enjoyed being with Xennet and Dorn. Xennet was a weirdly wholesome brand of chaotic, and Dorn seemed to be a good-natured sort of grump. I could see myself being really good friends with both of them.
But…
That was it.
The only person who made my heart feel like it was being drawn rapidly on skates across a frozen pond, the only one I wanted to kiss (again)…
Was Rivven.
“I’m going to draw you a bath,” Rivven said. “Want to get you warm.”
“That’s alright!” I said. “There are kind of a lot of people here right now.” I didn’t want to abandon everyone and disappear for an hour in the middle of everything.
But Rivven must have taken my words another way. White flared in his eyes.
“I will stand at the door. No one will come in.”
He didn’t give me a chance to respond before he’d strode purposefully through the dining room and into the kitchen.
“What’s that? You’re going to have a bath?” Tasha asked, coming over to join us. Warden Tenn followed close behind.
“Apparently,” I said. “Sorry. Is that alright?”
“Of course! It’s freezing out there! You guys were gone for ages.”
“We were skating on the pond!” Xennet said. “Though Dorn spent most of his time flailing around and falling!”
“Nearly broke my own blasted tail,” Dorn muttered.
“Bath’s ready.” Rivven was back. “Go on in. I’ll make sure you’re not disturbed.”
A bath really did sound amazing right about now.
“Thanks, Rivven. I’ll be back soon, everybody.”
Once in the kitchen, I closed the door. The last thing I saw on the other side was the broad, muscled expanse of Rivven’s back as he dutifully stood guard.
Having him standing there made me feel even more secure than a lock would.
I realized then that I’d never trusted a man as much as I trusted Rivven, outside of my own father.
I could rely on Rivven. I cared about him. And I was most certainly attracted to him. Last night had proved that without question.
When I undressed and got into the bath, a really big part of me wanted to softly call his name. Invite him in. I doubted his big body would even fit in this tub with me. But we could try.
I could sit on his lap.
It would be awfully crowded. His big cock would be butting up against me. Hard again, like last night.
I shivered with pleasure at the thought, and at the sensation of the lovely hot water on my chilled body. It was only the fact that so many people were just on the other side of the door that kept me from slipping my hand down between my legs.
Despite not wanting to keep everyone waiting, I lingered in the water.
I was surprised by how tired I was now. All that exertion out in the cold had left my limbs rubbery with use.
Even though Rivven had been doing most of the work guiding me around the ice, my muscles had been clenching in new ways in order to help me keep my balance on the skates.
And I was flipping exhausted as a result.
I was nearly asleep when a sound on the other side of the door had me dragging my eyes back open, sitting up a little straighter. It was faint. It sounded like someone being hushed.
“Shhh…Shhhhh.”
My first thought was that Rivven had somehow intuited I was falling asleep, and he didn’t want anyone else to be loud and wake me up.
He had said that I wouldn’t be disturbed, after all.
But I couldn’t hear anything else out there.
No one seemed to be making any other noise that required shushing.
And now that I thought about it, I doubted saying “Shh” was a universal sign for telling someone to keep it down. Zabrians probably wouldn’t say that.
Curiosity had me hauling my dripping body from the tub.
Ever since my first bath here, where I’d drip-dried in front of the fire, Rivven had started leaving me big, soft blankets to use as towels.
He’d never explicitly mentioned it, but I’d wondered if he’d seen the puddle I’d left in front of the fire that first time.
I wrapped the towel around myself and cracked open the door.
No one was out there but Rivven. He stood in the exact same place I’d left him, probably close to an hour ago now. At the sound of the door opening, he turned around.
“Everything alright out here?” I asked, scanning the dining room behind him. While I did this, I felt his eyes settle heavily on me. Even without looking directly at him, there was no way to miss the bright white light beaming from them.
“Of course,” he said raspily. “Why would it not be?”
His gaze roved over me. My shoulders. My wet, bare legs. My stomach fluttered, then tightened.
So did my pussy.
“I just thought I heard something. Like, ‘shh.’ Where is everybody?”
“Warden Tenn and his wife are performing some service on the slicer. Warden Hallum, Xennet, and Dorn have gone to tend to their shuldu. I apologise for the noise. I will stop it.”
“That was you? What were you doing?”
His mouth quirked. He scratched at the back of his head.
“Ah. I…I was practising the first sound in your name.”
I felt my eyebrows dart up.
“You were?”
“Yes. That soft sound at the beginning…It is not natural for me. I need to work on it more.”
I wracked my brains. Had I ever heard him say my name out loud before?
No. I hadn’t. I hadn’t heard him say Tasha’s name, either. When talking about her, he always referred to her as the warden’s wife.
Was that why?
“Oh, well, you don’t need to worry about it that much,” I said, stepping closer to him. As if I couldn’t stay away. “We’re from different worlds, with different mother tongues. Pronunciation issues are bound to crop up.”
“I do need to,” he insisted, white fire in his eyes. “It is your name. And that makes it precious to me, Shiloh.”
“Hey! That sounded great!” I focused on that part, so I didn’t get overwhelmed by what he’d just said before my name.
“Not yet,” he growled. “I will keep working on it. I will improve.”
He would keep working on it. No matter what I said, I knew he would. Quietly speaking the sounds of my name into an empty room when he thought no one could hear.
Because it was precious to him.
“You don’t need to improve,” I whispered, my throat aching. I cupped his face with my hands, and he leaned down, drawn into my touch. “You’re perfect, Rivven. Just as you are.”
It was only the second time kissing him. But it felt so natural. So fucking right. The first time had been unexpected and confusing, but also wonderful.
This was just as wonderful. Without the other bits.
It started slowly. Our lips bumping, caressing, exploring. Beneath my closed eyelids, I felt tears. One must have slipped out. When Rivven touched my face, his thumb sliding in the salty path, he pulled back.
“What is it?” he asked. “What have I done?”
“Nothing,” I choked out. “Everything. I’m…I’m happy, Rivven.”
“So happy you are crying these human tears?”
“Yes!” I sniffed, then laughed. “I was worried. You seemed…I mean, after this happened last night. You got so quiet, and I worried that maybe I messed up.”
“Messed…”
“Like, made a mistake.”
His white eyes searched my face with something between hunger and desperation. “Did it feel like a mistake to you?”
“No! It…It really didn’t.”
“Good.” The relief in him was palpable. Guttural. “If I was quiet it was only…I was thinking.”
His thumb brushed my cheek again. Tenderly.
“About what?”
“About what you said.”
My towel was precariously close to falling at my feet. Rivven was so huge, so warm, his hand distracting, delirious, on my skin.
I couldn’t remember what the hell I’d said.
“Which…Which part?” I panted. My nipples felt hard and sensitive beneath the fabric.
“The part where you did not really want a husband.”
I blinked. “Wait. What? Did I say that?”
“You said that you did not come here for marriage. That finding a husband was not your true goal.”
Oh. I had said that. And it was true, so I refused to take it back now. My main motivation in coming to this world had had nothing to do with marriage.
Nothing to do with love.
But things were already changing. He had made them change.
I had to show him. Show him that I didn’t just want a new life anymore.
I wanted him.
Shivering, aching, with new tears in my eyes, I grasped the blanket I was using as a towel and pulled it away from my body. Then, with my other hand, I took his and pulled him back through to the kitchen, dropping the towel and closing the door behind us.
He followed me in rapt silence, his boots thudding heavily on the floorboards. As if it took everything he had in him just to walk, just to exist in close proximity to me while I was naked. I grinned, nearly giddy with the knowledge that he was staring at me and finding me desirable.
Maybe even beautiful.
“Say something,” I whispered.