Chapter 11
Chapter
Eleven
RANE
H ot fucking water. If something better in the world existed, I wasn’t aware of it.
It lapped around me as I soaked in the bathing chamber’s sunken bath, my back against the wall and my ass plunked on the stone bench that ran the perimeter under the water. Candles sputtered from a stand in the corner. Steam rose in lazy curls, carrying the spicy scent of whatever oil I’d tossed in the water before splashing in. I closed my eyes, my muscles slowly unknotting from five days of watching my back in the Edelfen.
Andrin entered, his footsteps as recognizable as the surge of power that preceded him. I kept my eyes shut as his footsteps stopped and the weight of his stare fell over me. After a few seconds, the sound of his boots hitting the ground echoed off the marble.
Clothing followed. Behind my closed lids, I marked each piece as it fell. Jacket. Shirt. Trousers. Belt. The little dagger Andrin wore at his waist. The slightly larger one he didn’t want anyone to know he carried.
His sigh eased through the chamber, and my mind supplied me with a vision of his body unencumbered by cloth and steel. The temptation to open my eyes and let reality replace memory was almost too great to resist.
Almost.
Water splashed, then sloshed more urgently against my chest as Andrin entered. His sharp intake of breath rose above the sound of the water, and satisfaction curled through me.
“Fucking hot,” he said. “Why do you always make it so hot?”
“No one invited you,” I murmured without opening my eyes.
He gave another sigh, and I pictured him scowling as he settled against the wall, his thick arms stretched along the marble and water teasing his nipples.
Long moments stretched. Somewhere, water dripped in an irregular rhythm. Steam swirled around me, filling my lungs and raising sweat at my temples.
Andrin’s surrender came in yet another sigh—this one tinged with a growl.
“Are you going to tell me what happened at the Covenant, or would you like me to guess and you can say cold or hot until I get it right?”
I opened my eyes. As usual, my memory hadn’t failed me. Andrin caught my eye when he was clothed. Nude, he commanded it. Water dotted his thick, round shoulders, each drop begging for my tongue. Steam wreathed his plump pecs and the ripple of abs visible above the water. He’d tied his hair back, but one stubborn dark red strand snaked down his chest, the slightly curved tip daring me to delve beneath the bath and explore the rest of him. As if I needed the encouragement.
“Where’s your pet?” I asked.
Pique flashed through his eyes. He shifted in the water, creating small waves that lapped against the wall at my back. “Whatever you think you saw wasn’t there, Rane.”
His defensiveness merely fueled my suspicion. “I saw you standing next to our bed with a traitor.”
“Because I nearly fainted on it. And Walto is the traitor, not Mirella.”
I sat up, some of my anger fading. “Nearly fainted? Why?”
“It was nothing.”
I was across the bath in under a second. “What did you do?” I demanded, grabbing his face and examining it. “You’re pale.”
“I’m fine . The children were restless. I took them outside and showed them the forest.”
My anger weakened a little more. Andrin had a well-known soft spot for the Embervale’s children. All three were orphans. Like him, Yendorn had never known his mother, who died at Yendorn’s birth. Finian was too young to recall anything about his parents. Valina longed for friends and adventure.
I stroked my thumbs over Andrin’s cheeks, letting the bristly hairs of his beard scratch my skin. “You shouldn’t take such risks. Not even for the children.”
“They’re the most precious things in the kingdom,” he rasped. His hands found my thighs under the water, making me aware that I straddled him, my dick nudging his.
I moved my hands to his chest. “Why was Mirella out of her cage?”
Andrin grunted, the sound vibrating my palm. He pulled me into him, his nostrils flaring when our cocks rubbed together.
“We were supposed to attend the feast,” he said. “I got distracted by the children, so we didn’t go.”
Lust blistered through me. I dug my fingers into his muscle and rocked my hips, dragging my shaft along his. “Poor little pet. You didn’t even feed her.”
“Ginhad will take care of it.” He slid a hand under my balls and stroked my opening. “What happened at the Covenant? Did you make contact with the villagers?”
Water followed my movements, lapping gently against the wall as I rutted against Andrin. He pushed a finger into my passage, and I spoke in a breathless rush as a sweet burn spread through me. “I delivered your message, my king. Walto Lornlark is certain to receive it.”
Andrin’s eyes went heavy-lidded as he fingered me, delving a little deeper with every slow, thorough pump. With his free hand, he pushed my wet hair over my shoulder and palmed my nape. “I can always count on you to carry out my orders.” He pushed a second finger into my hole. “Isn’t that right, my lord?”
“Yes,” I hissed, clamping around him. The burn melted into something hot and dazzling. “Fuck,” I panted. “Fuck, like that. Just like that.”
“Like this?” He edged closer to the spot where I needed him to be. But not close enough. And he knew it, the fucker.
“You want me to work for it?” I rasped. Gaze locked with his, I squeezed around his fingers, giving him a taste of what I could do to his cock if he ever stopped teasing us both. He sucked in a breath, and I smiled as I rocked harder.
Lust darkened his eyes. Challenge shivered between us as he probed and stroked, doing wicked things inside my body. “A little more,” he said, watching me closely, knowingly. “More…” He pushed deeper, grazing my gland.
Lightning lashed me. My spine bowed, and my head went back. Gripping his shoulders, I rode his fingers, my aching cock slipping against his under the water.
Andrin squeezed my nape. Then his lips were on my neck, his kiss rough and possessive. He sucked at my pulse, pulling and pulling until my skin burned and I wondered if he might be out for blood. It wouldn’t have been the first time. But he relented at last, trailing his lips down my neck as he continued pumping his fingers inside me.
“I want you,” he rasped against my skin. “I want you riding my dick.” He moved his mouth to my ear, closing his teeth over my lobe as he thrust his fingers deep. “I’m going to stuff every inch in here”—another thrust—“and when this tight hole is stretched and open for me, I’m going to fill it up.”
“Yes,” I growled, bucking harder. I tipped my head down, meeting his glittering blue eyes. Water slapped the wall. Our harsh breaths filled the steamy air. “Give it to me.”
Andrin came off the marble. Turning with his arms around my thighs, he practically tossed me out of the water. I was on my feet and across the room in a flash, my heart racing as I grabbed a vial of oil tucked discreetly among the glass bottles of scent. Andrin was on me the second I spun around, shoving me roughly against the wall as he crashed his lips to mine.
We grappled as we kissed, pawing and fumbling at each other. Our tongues clashed, and our grunts echoed in the mist-soaked air. I snaked a hand between our bodies and grasped his shaft.
He broke the kiss with a growl. Planting one hand on the wall next to my head, he watched me stroke up and down his hard length. Plump veins traced over his shaft. Moisture beaded at his slit. When I slicked it over his cock, he jerked, the damp tendrils of copper hair around his jaw swaying. His chest heaved, his nipples tight and pink on his thick chest.
“Get me ready,” he ordered.
I uncorked the vial with my teeth, then dumped oil in my palm and slicked it over his shaft. The wet sound of my strokes mingled with our ragged breaths. His cock slid through my fist, the meaty shaft glistening. I squeezed harder as I neared his tip, and we both watched as a fat bead of pearly liquid swelled from his slit.
“Enough,” Andrin grated, yanking me off the wall. We clashed in another kiss, then stumbled to a wide, padded bench. His eyes glinted as he sprawled on his back, and he bared his teeth as I straddled him.
Steam rolled around us. My throbbing cock bobbed, my balls tight enough to burst.
“Hurry up,” Andrin said, seizing my hips.
A dark thrill shot through me as I settled over him, letting his length lodge in my cleft. “So eager,” I murmured, rolling my hips in a slow grind. Slick, filthy sounds drifted around us as his oiled shaft dragged up and down my hole. “I like you desperate, Andrin.”
He surged up, bringing his lips a hair’s breadth from mine. “Always,” he said hoarsely. “Always desperate for you.”
My breath hitched, surprise stilling my movements. His confession was nothing new. But the look in his eyes was so stark and raw that it almost hurt to look at him.
His auburn lashes swept down, veiling the emotion. “You can’t leave like that again,” he whispered. “Because I couldn’t… I couldn’t bear it if?—”
“You won’t,” I said, cupping his face in both hands. “You won’t bear it.” I claimed his lips, pouring ancient promises into the kiss because it was too dangerous to speak them aloud. Na-sessni , my kiss said, and na-tesku. I vow it. I love you.
Andrin returned the kiss, stroking his tongue boldly along mine. When we were both breathless, he wrenched away and then lowered his upper body to the bench once more. Drawing his knees up, he thrust his shaft against my hole.
“Show me you mean it,” he demanded, lust glittering in his eyes.
The command struck like a whip, the lash wrapping around my dick. My hair dripped water onto Andrin’s chest as I grasped his cock and positioned myself over it. His oiled cockhead nudged my opening and then speared me as I sank down.
All my muscles tightened, instinct screaming at me to stop, to reject the thick, slippery intrusion. A few deep breaths and muttered curses later, I relaxed, my passage opening around him. His cockhead popped past my ring, and I sank lower onto his shaft.
“Rane,” he croaked. For a moment, he seemed overwhelmed, his eyes sliding shut and the tendons in his neck going taut. Then his eyes slit open, and he grabbed my hips. “So good. So fucking tight for me.” He spread his legs and pressed me down until his balls were hot and snug against my ass.
We both groaned. His cock filled me, stretching my walls and nudging my gland. Precome glistened at my tip, and Andrin swiped it away with his thumb and sucked it into his mouth.
“Fuck,” I whimpered, my cock twitching. My heartbeat throbbed in my dick and ass, every pulse threatening to send me hurtling over the edge. But I didn’t want it just yet. Gritting my teeth, I breathed deeply, clawing back an inch or two of control.
“Good boy,” Andrin murmured, pride and satisfaction in his eyes. The praise set a new blaze inside me, and another bead of moisture welled at my slit. He left it clinging to my tip as he ran his hands up my thighs to my ass. “That’s my good boy.” He dug his fingers into my muscle, urging me to ride him. “Now, move.”
I rolled my hips, working my body up and down his dick. Andrin moved with me, spreading my cheeks as he thrust upward. His slippery shaft slid out a few inches and then slammed back inside, his cockhead nailing my gland.
We grunted together, quickly finding a rhythm. Pleasure rolled through me in thick, hot waves, little wellsprings of euphoria bubbling in my veins. And I’d been so wrong. Because this was better than hot water. It was the best thing. Maybe the only thing.
Andrin increased his pace, digging his heels into the cushion and thrusting harder and faster. Sweat sheened his chest and pooled in the hollows between his abs. Gaze fierce, he bucked under me, driving his cock in and out of my hole.
“Fuck, yes,” I said, reaching a hand back and grasping his thigh. I bounced harder, and my dick bounced with me, my shaft smacking his stomach. Our moans mingled. Reason deserted me, my thoughts blanking as pleasure pounded me, every blast like stepping from darkness into the searing sun. It hurt a little, but it was so, so warm and good. I got my feet under me, and I crouched over Andrin, my hands braced on his shoulders and my dick slapping harder.
Andrin’s growl of approval rumbled through the chamber. He held my ass on his palms, supporting me as he thrust faster, his hungry gaze fixed on the spot where his cock pumped in and out of me.
“That’s it,” he grunted, squeezing my ass and spreading me wider. “Come for me. Let me see it.”
I gasped, my hand flying to my cock as if it responded only to him. Gods, maybe it did. He’d staked his claim a long time ago, delving under my skin to mark his territory on sinew and bone.
His blue stare branded me anew as he held me, fucking me so fast his hips were a blur. My balls drew up as I jerked my cock, reality dissolving along with my willpower.
“Coming,” I panted. “Coming so hard…” The orgasm slammed into me, ripping a cry from my throat as I spurted thick ropes of seed across Andrin’s stomach and chest.
He came on a bellow, his fingers digging hard into my ass as he drove his cock up a final time. His curses littered the air as he pumped his scalding release inside me. He was still coming when he pulled his hands from my ass, letting me collapse on top of him. The world blurred as we held each other, panting and sweating. My ass spasmed, and Andrin groaned, his breath gusting hot against my ear.
Reality returned in bits and pieces. Water dripped somewhere. Sweat cooled on my skin. I lay draped over Andrin, my come slick between us. Little tremors frazzled through me as I pushed free of Andrin and flopped onto my back beside him. We lay like that for a moment, catching our breath.
Eventually, he scrubbed a hand over his face, then rolled toward me and lifted onto one elbow. “How was it in the Edelfen?”
Memories rushed me, swirling shadow and chattering crows invading my head. “Unimproved,” I said, shoving the visions away.
“But no worse?” Andrin pressed.
“I don’t think it can get any worse.”
Andrin looked toward the chamber’s sole window high on the wall. “It can get worse.”
Palming his cheek, I turned his gaze back to me. “Not if we use Mirella. I just spent the past four days walking up and down the Covenant outside Purecliff. Walto sent search parties. He wants her back. And when he discovers that the mess he created won’t stop at the boundary, he’ll return the Kree.”
Andrin pulled my hand from his face. Curling his fingers around mine, he lowered his voice. “The more time I spend around Mirella, the harder it is for me to believe she’s like her father. What if she’s as innocent as she claims?”
Ah. At last, we came to it. Autumn was a kingdom of beasts, and Andrin was the biggest beast of all. I’d captured a pretty bird for him. And like most beasts, he couldn’t leave his prey alone. No, he wanted to play with it.
I sat up. “She’s her father’s daughter. Have you forgotten Walto’s skill with deception? Or have you been swayed by a pair of nice tits and big golden eyes?”
His nostrils flared as he copied my position, infuriatingly tempting with candlelight playing over his damp chest and glistening dick. “I’m not blind to her charms. Neither are you, or were just admiring the way she poured wine when you couldn’t take your eyes off her the other night?”
“She also poured it into my lap.”
“Because you taunted her.”
“And you haven’t?”
He leaned toward me, his voice dipping into a growl. “I’m doing what you told me to do, remember? Following a plan you forced on both of us after I told you to leave Walto and the Covenant alone.”
My temper spiked. “I was right, and you know it. You just don’t like being wrong.”
He scoffed. “More like you derive endless pleasure from being told you were right.” Challenge flashed in his eyes. “You wanted Mirella. Well, now you have her. If Walto doesn’t seek her, you said we should use her to seek him. If she’s at odds with her father, and I believe that might be the case, how do you propose we win her to our cause? Through cruelty or kindness?”
“Let me guess, you’ll win her over with your dick.” I moved to leave the bench.
Andrin caught my arm, a hard glint in his eyes. “If I thought it would work? Yes. I’d do anything to make sure Finian gets a chance to grow up. We’re running out of time for that to happen.”
I froze, my anger leaving me in a rush. Because Andrin had already done everything. He’d given everything. And each day, he inched closer to paying the price.
“I know,” I whispered, stroking his hair. It wasn’t enough, so I climbed into his lap and kissed him, apologizing with my lips and tongue.
He sighed into my mouth, and he delved his fingers into my crease and stroked lazy circles around the place where his come still seeped from me.
“I’m not going to fuck her,” he said in a low voice against my lips. “And I’m not asking you to, either. I’m simply asking you to at least try to be a little kinder. What’s the harm in seeing how it goes? She’s a tool. Like any tool, she can be honed to fit a specific purpose.”
I stayed in his arms a moment longer, his questing fingers sending sparks shooting over my skin. Then I left the bench. Andrin’s curiosity followed me as I crossed to his clothes. I kept my back to him as I retrieved the item I was after.
Spinning, I rushed to the bench and thrust his dagger into the cushion between his legs.
“Fuck!” he exclaimed, shuffling back. He stared at the quivering hilt before lifting blazing eyes to mine. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Just reminding you.” Bending, I wrenched the blade from the cushion and the wood underneath it. Then I flipped it and extended it to Andrin hilt-first. “This dagger is a tool. Like any other, its danger depends on who wields it. Mirella is no different. You trusted Walto. You can’t afford to make the same mistake.”
Andrin snatched the blade with a scowl. “You’ve made your point. I’d love it if you refrained from making future points an inch from my dick.”
“Of course, my king,” I said, my tone light as I bowed and then went to the bath. But as I sank into the water, any levity I felt fled, replaced with the crushing weight of knowing Andrin was wrong. We weren’t running out of time. We were out of it.
And if we didn’t find the Kree, I’d lose him forever.