Chapter Nine #2
A genuine smile tugged at my lips as she sighed deeply and tilted her head back.
This was what I needed to be doing—focusing on making her feel good in whatever way she wanted and allowing her the space to decide if she wanted to talk about what had occurred.
Shoving my hatred and need to hurt Malakai and his men in the same way they’d hurt her deep, deep fucking down within me, I forced myself to be present in this moment for her.
After she’d rinsed out the soap, I repeated the process with the oil.
While allowing that to set, I grabbed the sponge and lathered it with soap before gently running it along the skin exposed to me.
Dragging it along her throat and shoulders, I offered it to her to continue with other areas. “Here you go, love.”
She didn’t take it, but instead turned to look at me out of the corner of her eye. “Why’d you stop?”
My mouth opened to answer, but almost instantly, I snapped it back shut, unsure of what to say.
“I want you to keep going,” she urged me, turning her head back around and sitting up out of the water, exposing more of her back to me.
Swallowing the desire bubbling within me, I ran the sponge over her back before dipping it down to the bottom of the tub and brushing it over every inch of her skin. As I pulled it up and reached for more soap to clean her arms and chest, I just barely heard her say, “With your hands.”
My eyes snapped shut with her request, and I inhaled sharply as my cock twitched at the idea of running my hands along her smooth, bare skin. Fighting the urge within me to say that this was too fast after what happened today, I put the sponge onto the counter and filled my hands with soap.
This isn’t about you, Elijah.
Of course I wanted to touch her soft skin. I wanted to learn the curves of her body and worship her for the beauty that she was. I could only hope that she didn’t think I was taking advantage of the situation.
Pausing with my hands around her in the air, I questioned, “Are you sure?”
Her hands emerged from the water, gripping my own and pulling them to rest flat against her collar bone, just above the swell of her breasts.
“Yes.”
Slightly entwining our fingers together, she began to rub my hands over her skin until I cupped her breasts. A groan bubbled up from my chest at the feeling of her, but I let out a short cough to try to cover it.
A light laugh, nearly a giggle, escaped her as she turned her face to press a kiss to my cheek. “You’re kind of adorable, Elijah.”
Adorable? I could say with absolute certainty that I had never once been called that in my life.
“Oh, yeah?” I growled out, moving my fingers to pinch her nipples before rolling them gently.
Kyella’s head fell back onto my shoulder, and I continued to tease her as her hands fell away, granting me free rein. A breathy sigh puffed from her lips as I tightened my grip further.
“More,” she moaned, and I had to force myself to stop teasing her and quickly clean the parts of her body that I could easily reach from my perch.
I heard her huff of indignation, but before she could scold me, I explained, “I want to clean you and empty this filthy water, my love. Let’s finish cleaning you and rinse this day from your skin.”
The water swirling around her body was murky from the grime and blood that had sluiced from her body in running waves.
I needed it gone, not only for her hygiene, but also so the evidence of her trial wasn’t staring me in the face and constantly assaulting my senses.
I hoped once she was clean and the remnants were gone, I would stop feeling so trapped in my head about this.
I wanted to give her what she wanted, without distractions.
I made quick work of rinsing out the oil in her hair as she cleaned off her legs.
Moving from the stool, I pulled the plug and let the tub drain before returning to the door, hoping the timing was right for the second round of hot water I’d requested to be delivered.
Sure enough, the large buckets were there, but they weren’t steaming as much as the first round.
I’d probably taken longer than I expected, but these seemed warm enough to still be enjoyable.
Returning to the bath, I found her shivering with her legs tucked up and her arms wrapped around her middle. I made quick work of refilling the tub, and she once again dunked under, giving her hair a final rinse before rubbing at her skin.
“All done!” she exclaimed before pushing herself from the tub, dripping and illuminated by the candles lining the room.
There was no evidence of injuries or blood remaining on her, and I felt the pressure that had been weighing down on me disappear.
My eyes all but rolled back in my head at the tantalizing sight of her glowing in the candlelight.
Grabbing the cloth laid out on the counter, I forced myself to wrap her body up and began to dry her off, inch by inch.
As I dropped to a crouch at her feet, dragging the soft material up her calf, my eyes flicked to the apex of her legs.
My tongue darted out to wet my lip of its own accord.
“I’m rinsed off now,” she hedged, drawing my focus toward her face.
A beautiful blush stained her cheeks as she bit down on her bottom lip softly. The tips of her fangs were sticking out. Fuck me for almost coming in my pants at the thought of her biting me once more.
Once I deemed her sufficiently dry, I tossed the cloth to the ground and swept her into my arms, dashing to the bedroom and laying her down on the large bed.
She pushed herself further up the bed, settling with her back against the pile of pillows before spreading her legs and curling her finger at me once more.
How could I ever deny her?
The truth was I would never be able to.
I didn’t bother removing my own clothes because I didn’t want a single second of this to be about me.
Lunging onto the bed, I quickly settled on my chest between her legs.
Lifting her lean legs up, I let them fall over my shoulders and pushed myself further up until my mouth rested inches from her core.
I ran my tongue ever so slowly up her lips until I swirled it a single time around her swollen clit.
Kyella squirmed impatiently beneath me, bucking her hips and silently telling me to get on with it. The impatient action drew a chuckle from me. My girl knew what she wanted, and I adored that she wasn’t at all embarrassed to ask for it.
Bringing my hand up and over her thigh, I lifted my head and quickly slipped a finger into my mouth, coating it with spit before I slipped it into her to test her limits.
A loud moan fell from her lips, and I quickly set to work, returning my mouth to her clit.
I flicked my tongue over it and sucked in alternating movements as my finger curled inside of her.
Increasing the speed of my pistoning finger, I sucked long and hard on her clit as I reached up with my free hand to find her nipple and roll it once more. I smiled against her heat as her walls clenched around my finger and her moans grew louder.
“Drink from me,” she cried out, her legs opening wider as I considered her request.
I wanted to ensure she would come, so I held off, wanting to build her higher until she dangled on the very edge of that precipice. Then I would strike.
Slipping another digit gently inside of her, I kept my fingers buried within her and flicked them up and down against a spot inside of her that made her hips buck.
“Elijah!”
My cock was already painfully hard, but when I heard my name fall from her lips in a cry of pleasure, it felt as if my dick had all but turned to stone.
Growling against her pussy, I felt her need climbing and quickly turned my head, kissing a path up her inner thigh. I peppered kisses along it until I felt the steady, strong thrum of her pulse beneath my lips, signaling a vein.
“Come for me, love,” I demanded seconds before I sank my teeth into her soft flesh.
Continuing to work her with my fingers as her essence coated my tongue, I greedily drank her down.
Moments later, her body shook as she let out one final moan, her walls pulsating around my fingers.
Wanting to drag out her orgasm, I continued to stroke her and drink for a minute longer until her body stilled.
Removing my fingers and fangs, my tongue darted out to lap at the two small puncture holes before her body healed them completely.
A lazy smile pulled at her lips, but her eyes remained closed.
“Thank you for allowing me to decide what I needed.” She sighed, sleep beginning to pull at her consciousness. I crawled from between her legs, positioning myself next to her in time for her to roll into me as I settled on my side.
Wrapping my arm around her, I settled my chin to rest on her head and answered, “I’m sorry I didn’t understand that at first, love. I will always strive to understand you more and to ensure I’m placing your wants and needs first.”
She mumbled something incoherent, and seconds later, her breathing evened out. After another short moment, light snores accompanied her deep, even breaths.
My ears picked up on a click of the door opening to her suite, and my body tensed until I heard Kolvar whisper, “It’s us. We want to sleep in here tonight and figured one of us could take turns on guard throughout the night.”
It was a sound idea, and I would never tell them they couldn’t stay here tonight.
They had as much of a right to be here as I did.
I knew they left earlier to give me some time with her, so the least I could do was take the first shift and let them have their moment to cuddle her, taking the opportunity to calm themselves down with the knowledge that she was okay and in their arms.
Slowly inching away from her, I eased out quickly and clapped Kolvar and Dakath on the shoulder as they entered the bedroom.
“Thank you.”
They nodded and went to opposite sides of the bed before gently sliding under the covers and tucking her in along with them.
Walking to the candles in the bathroom, I blew them out before returning to the bedroom and doing the same.
Lingering at the doorway to the sitting room, I glanced back over my shoulder to see the three most important people in the world to me twined together, safe and happy.
I would do anything to ensure they remained that way.