Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
HENRY
The question barely left my mouth before Garrun snatched me against him and twisted, putting me beneath him.
He cut off my laugh with a heated kiss that made my toes curl and stole my attention long enough for him to reach for something, the pop of a stopper finally drawing my focus.
My hand, which had been clutching Garrun close to me, ran down his shoulder to feel what he was doing.
He moved before I could touch whatever it was that he was grabbing, shifting his body to one side to make room, and when the grip on his arm moved between my legs, I felt my breath stutter in my chest.
“It is oil,” Garrun explained, running slippery fingers over my hole and making me gasp. “It is to ease the stretch and provide lubrication for me to enter you.”
The sweet barbarian always made sure to tell me what was happening so I didn’t feel lost. He likely didn’t realize how sexy it was for him to explain it to me like that, though.
The dirty commentary only made me more needy, and when he pressed one finger inside me, I groaned, lifting my head to capture his lips to muffle myself.
Garrun was too distracted to notice the tactic, his finger moving slowly in and out of me while he tangled his tongue with mine.
He pulled out all the way and reached for the oil again, and when he pressed back inside, the fit was tighter, but not painful.
The slight worry I’d had after Simon’s comments drifted away, and I relaxed into the touch, rocking my hips a little just to feel him moving inside me.
The third finger bordered on too much, but then Garrun did something with his fingers, brushing along the front of my passage, and what felt like an electric bolt shot down my spine, making me gasp as my hips bucked, unintentionally making him brush that spot again and again.
“Oh, gods, Garrun!” I cried.
His lips coasted over my cheek to my ear, whispering in a way that made my whole body shudder with pleasure. “It is called the key to pleasure,” he murmured, brushing it again and making me moan. “It will feel better when it is my cock. Do you want to–”
“Gods, yes. I want you inside me. Please!”
If it felt this good with just his fingers, I was dying to know how it felt with his cock.
When he reached for the oil again, I followed his reach, smiling against his mouth when he helped me touch a small pot that held the oil before dipping my fingers inside.
He guided my hand to his length, helping me slick him up with the oil, and it was my turn to make him squirm as he thrust into my palm and gasped against my mouth.
“Kolrav…”
I loved the warning in his tone, like my teasing was driving him crazy. When I grinned at him, he nipped my bottom lip in retribution, sucking it into his mouth to soothe the sting as he rolled between my thighs again.
My heart hammered wildly in my chest, so loud it almost drowned out our heavy breathing as Garrun pushed my thighs up against my chest. I felt exposed and a little embarrassed, but before I had a chance to get too worked up about it, I felt the hot blunt tip of Garrun’s erection rubbing over my hole, drawing all of my focus as he teased me.
“G-Garrun!”
“I do not wish to hurt you, erska. We will go slow–”
Oh, no. Not this again.
“I don’t want slow! I trust you, Garrun! Just– Please!”
He stilled for a second, seemingly surprised by my outburst, but before I could let out a sob, the sensations too much and not enough at the same time overwhelming me, he gave into my demand.
Pressure made me gasp, my back arching in surprise, and then the head of his cock pushed inside me, causing me to tighten hard around the intrusion.
“Ungh! Henry!”
I moaned, unsure if I wanted more or if I wanted him to pull out.
It was more intense than I thought, a slight burn that made tears prick my eyes, but hearing the noises he was making, the gritted groans that he couldn’t seem to hide, made me want to pull him closer, to bring him pleasure like he’d been doing to me.
A hand moved between us, slick with oil, and wrapped around my erection, making me clench around Garrun’s length again.
He grunted, and I could feel the tremor in his body as he fought to stay still, but he didn’t move aside from the hand stroking me, distracting me from the discomfort.
It wasn’t until I was thrusting into his hand that he tried again, pushing inside me little by little while distracting me with his hand.
By the time he was fully seated inside me, the burning discomfort had turned into a pleasurable kind of heat.
My legs clenched around his sides, my hands on his face as I felt every twitch of his expression.
The way his jaw tightened as he fought for control, the way his nostrils flared when I accidentally clenched, gripping his length tightly.
He was at war with himself to take care of me and the realization made me want to laugh and cry at the same time.
He was still taking care of me, and for once I didn’t feel like a burden because of it.
We were sharing this moment. And I could take care of him as much as he took care of me.
Running my fingers over his lips, I lifted my head enough to kiss him gently, pulling him down until there was barely enough space between us for him to do more than hold my cock.
It didn’t matter. When he finally gave into the urge to pull back and thrust inside me, the way my body rocked caused me to glide through his hand all the same, making me shout from the dual pleasure.
His insistence on going slow disappeared entirely as he started fucking into me.
His face twisted in pleasure, his moans mingling with mine as our lips brushed, close enough to kiss but both of us too worked up to actually do so.
Tingling pleasure bombarded me from every direction, my body moving to rock with Garrun’s until the sound of our skin slapping together joined the symphony of the noises we were making together.
When my release hit me, it was so intense, my body curled in on itself, my release splashing all the way up my chest as each thrust from Garrun dragged it out until he moaned against my ear, and the heat of his release filled my channel.
I clenched automatically at the thought of it, making Garret’s moan turn desperate and almost pained, his whole body shaking with the force of his release.
He collapsed on top of me, making me grunt from the weight of him, but when he tried to pull away, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders to keep him there.
“If you think for one second I’m letting you go, you’re more blind than I am.”
GARRUN
Henry’s words, while teasing, were like a salve on the wounded parts of my soul.
He agreed to let me claim him, but hearing how fiercely he claimed me back eased years of pain, distance, and rejection.
He didn’t flinch when his fingers brushed my scars, trailing a hand soothingly over my back without an ounce of hesitation, and when I finally lifted my head to steal a kiss, he trailed more over the scars on my cheeks like they were a part of what he liked about me, not something to avoid.
When a tear slipped out and his fingers brushed against it, his lips turned down in a frown and he cocked his head, expression concerned.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I croaked, kissing him softly so he knew I was being truthful. “I just like the way you see me.”
That brought his smile back, those lines around his eyes and the indents in his cheeks showing up in full force as he beamed at me. When I leaned in to taste that smile, I found I couldn’t stop smiling either. Like the force of his joy carved itself into my face as well as his.
I was still smiling when we came back out of my tent long enough to use the trench and clean up at the river.
It was there that Ekkar came to join us, going straight for Henry like he had been the one to raise and sacrifice himself instead of me.
I didn’t mind it. Henry was impossible not to love. I understood why Ekkar preferred him.
When we went back to my tent, Ekkar ignored his bed in favor of lying next to Henry, letting out a contented sigh when Henry wrapped his arms around Ekkar’s neck and hugged him close.
I took my place at Henry’s back, putting my arm around him to rest on Ekkar’s fur.
And for the first time since the incident, I slept without nightmares.
I dreamt only of Henry and Ekkar, playing together and smiling at me, chasing away any shadows before they had any chance to pull me into their depths.
It was Henry who woke me, trying to slip out of my hold. I tightened my grip on him, dragging him against my chest again, and smirked to myself when he laughed and wriggled in my arms.
“Garrun! I’m hungry!” he complained, though he was smiling. I could hear it in his voice without opening my eyes.
I feigned sleep, wrapping myself tighter around him every time he tried to move away until he was laughing so hard, his whole body shook, and I couldn’t help but join him.
I eventually allowed him to sit up, moving with him and scrubbing a hand over my face as I looked around.
From the sounds I heard outside my tent, I assumed my clan brothers were already awake and moving for the day.
This did not surprise me. What surprised me was that Henry got me to sleep through the night.
The sun was already risen as we stepped out of my tent.
Even on my nights not on duty, I tended to stay up late and sleep in.
I still slept in, but it wasn’t that late when we crawled into bed the night prior.
Which meant I slept a lot more than I normally would, and without nightmares to disturb me either.
Henry stretched his arms over his head with a groan. “I don’t know about you, but it's been years since I slept that well. Sleeping between the two of you was so warm and comforting, I didn’t want to get out of bed.”
Smiling softly at him, I pressed a kiss to his cheek, taking his hand to guide him to the cooking tent for our meal while his other hand rested on Ekkar’s back.
Even Ekkar had slept the whole night, which was unusual for him.
I would have thought he’d have snuck out at some point when he got bored. Perhaps Henry really was magic.
“I would have stayed had you not complained about being hungry,” I pointed out, smirking at him when he pushed my shoulder playfully.
“I worked up an appetite last night,” he quipped, shooting me one of those sultry looks that made me breathless and ache for him. “I need to eat so we can do it again.”
A cackle made my head whip around, but realized quickly that the laughter wasn’t cruel teasing. Simon looked delighted by the conversation he’d overheard, leering at us from his perch in his bondmate’s lap around the community fire.
“Is that right? Did you have a good night then, Henry?” he called out.
Henry’s cheeks turned a light shade of pink, but he didn’t let Simon’s comment get to him, turning in the direction of Simon’s voice before asking, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I would, actually,” Simon replied, still smirking. “I need to know if my lessons are working. So… How’d it go?”
“It was perfect,” Henry replied quietly enough that only I heard him. And I had to agree. Every moment with him was perfect.