CHAPTER EIGHTEEN #2
Standing in the tub beneath the warm spray, I used the bar of lavender soap to scrub myself clean from head to toe. Though my wounds were healing well, some still stung and pulsed—mostly due to the soap.
Once I’d rinsed off, I stepped out of the tub and nabbed a folded towel from the pile set on a corner table. It was thin and stiff, much like those in the bathhouses. It was also a little smaller than those I was used to, but I wrapped it around me.
As I wrung my hair over the tub, a knock came at the door. Heavy. Impatient. Curt.
“What?” I called out.
A grunt was my only response.
“I don’t know what that means.”
Another grunt.
“I don’t know what that means either.” I crossed to my sack and reached for the tub of salve to—
The door swung open.
I straightened fast, clinging to my towel so it didn’t fall. “Gods, have a little patience. I’ll be out in a minute. I need to put some salve on my wounds and then dress.”
Talon stilled as he drank in the sight of me. Impatience slowly leached out of his expression, giving way to something entirely different. His face went cold, his eyes turned hot and hooded … and he pinned me with a look so carnal it near flattened me.
I had no way to counter the impact that look had on me. No way to stop my belly clenching, my mouth go dry, or my mind replay the last time he’d stared at me like that.
He casually braced his lower arms on the doorjamb, becoming a living barrier between me and his bedroom. He blatantly allowed his gaze to slowly dip lower. And lower. And lower.
Bold bastard.
He lazily dragged his gaze back up to meet mine. Those eyes burned with lust, greed, and … invitation.
I went motionless. “No. No, not happening.” But my blood started to heat, betraying me. A low hum came to life in my veins, as if my body was charging up.
He didn’t walk away. Didn’t close the door. Didn’t release me from that unrelenting stare.
“I get that you might be all fired up from battle, but you’ll need to find another woman to help you work it out of your system.” The thought of him with someone else made my belly feel funny, but I couldn’t accept his invitation.
Again, he didn’t move or look away. Those watchful eyes remained fixed on me.
I swallowed, feeling trapped by that blatantly hungry expression; overwhelmingly conscious of how I was naked beneath the towel.
The air turned heavy and muggy. Tension knotted my insides. And, damn it all, embers of anticipation gathered in my belly.
“We’re not doing this again,” I stated, my voice cracking with a lust I couldn’t hide.
A predatory cunning bloomed in his eyes—a hunter scenting weakness. He leaned in ever so slightly, and my heart bashed my ribcage.
“I mean it.” I practically choked on the words.
He kept staring, again edging a little closer without moving his arms from the wall.
The tension stretched out, leaving my nerves in tatters. I couldn’t lie, I wanted him so bad it hurt. Wanted another taste of the pleasure he could give me. But I knew better. Knew he’d later act like no such thing had happened. I wasn’t signing up for that again.
But … it was hard to stay strong when his hunger beat at me, raw and relentless; steadily obliterating my resolve; tempting me to forget the promise I’d made to myself.
It didn’t help that he was so close. Close enough that I could reach out and touch him. Grab him. Kiss him. The temptation to do so was an itch in my blood.
“You’d regret it afterwards,” I reminded him. Reminded myself.
Without freeing me from his gaze, he fisted my towel.
I stiffened, my pulse jumping. “I told you, you don’t touch me again unless you’re done hiding it.”
He tugged on the towel, loosening the knot, and let it pool at my feet.
I stopped breathing, watching as his gaze lapped up the view and turned nothing short of ravenous. “You’re not going to later pretend it didn’t happen?”
His eyes lifted to mine as he gave his head a stiff shake.
“Okay. But you’d better not—” The pressure of his hot mouth stole the rest of my words.
The kiss was deep and bruising and plain ole hungry. It also obliterated my composure, burning up my every last uncertainty.
His hand firmly snagged my nape and hauled me against him. All that easy strength, power, and intensity made my blood go molten.
His hands weren’t gentle as they roamed. They were firm, bold, and rough, the pads of his fingers pressing deep.
As we stumbled over to the bed, I tugged on his tunic. “Off. Take it off.”
He fisted the back of it, yanked it over his head, and dumped it on the floor. No sooner had I untied his breeches than he threw me on the bed like I was a damn doll.
I bounced slightly, watching intently as he swiftly shed the last of his clothes. Then he was curling over me, and his mouth latched on to my nipple. He sucked it hard, every rhythmic tug shooting straight to my core. Fingers probed me there, thick and warm.
And then those fingers were in me—thrusting, swirling, scissoring.
My breaths rushed in and out of my lungs as he drove me closer to coming. Then I broke. My release burst over me, wave after wave of white-hot—
He stuffed me full in one powerful thrust, overstretching the tight muscles. He didn’t check his control. He drove into me with a frenzied lust, prolonging my orgasm.
I clung to the hard muscle of his back and curled my legs around him. There was a sort of vehement determination in his pace, as if he was resolute that he’d finally slake the hunger that neither of us had managed to burn out thus far.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever be rid of it. It was just so oppressive. Dangerously stubborn. I felt a slave to it at times. Felt—
Talon adjusted his angle and then rode me harder, every frantic slam of his cock rubbing over my clit. His lips took mine in another hauntingly addictive kiss.
I gasped into his mouth, clawing at his back, my eyes drifting shut.
A harsh nip to my lower lip made my eyelids snap open.
His gaze bore into mine, warning me to keep them open.
I forcibly kept them locked with his as he pounded into me, but I wasn’t sure I’d manage it for long.
The tension, the friction, the sensations—I was caught up in it all.
He paused, tossed my leg over his shoulder, and began driving his cock deeper. So deep it hurt a little and, oh hell, a blinding pleasure viciously ripped through me. My breath hitched. My back arched. My inner walls contracted. A scream got trapped in my lungs.
Talon grunted through his teeth and started savagely jackhammering into me. A long groan sounded in the back of his throat as he shoved his dick painfully deep one last time. He held himself still as warm ropes of his come splashed my spasming inner walls.
I pretty much sank into the mattress as my orgasm subsided. He lowered my leg and then collapsed onto his lower arms, burying his face in the crook of my neck.
“I would hug you all sweet to freak you out, but I don’t have the energy,” I slurred.
His lips twitched against my neck.
“Shit, you’re smiling and I’m missing it.”
He responded with a grumpy grunt that insisted he wasn’t smiling.
“Liar.”
He bit my throat.
I yelped. “Fine. You’re not smiling. Whatever.”
He licked over the bite to soothe the sting.
A long, satiated sigh slipped out of me. Only one thing stopped me from totally relaxing: there was somewhere I needed to be.
“Much as I’d like to stay here a little longer, especially since I can’t feel my legs yet, I suppose we’d better get dressed and go see what the Sovereigns want.”
Talon lifted his head to meet my gaze, his own clouded with the aftermath of his release.
I swallowed. “Do you think they’ll execute me?”
He slowly shook his head.
“Why?”
He pointed at the eyes marking me as a Sayer.
“You don’t believe they’d risk angering the gods, no matter what?”
Another shake of his head. He stretched out one of my curls and then released it, letting it spring back into place.
“I hope you’re right. If not, if they execute me, I will haunt you for fun. Seriously. Every time you try to have sex, there my ghost will be—smiling at you all creepy.”
Mirth momentarily flashed in his eyes. Shaking his head, he withdrew his softening cock.
“I don’t know why you think I’m joking, but all right.”