CHAPTER SIXTEEN #2
He leaves before I can get a word in edgewise even though they said they would send it up.
Maybe he’s gone back down to speak with her.
My eye twitches and I sigh. It takes a moment to notice where the tub is located: near the window with no dressing screen.
No wonder he left to get the food. Maybe I should be thankful for the privacy, but I’m tired and my emotions are running high, and nothing sounds better than a bath right now.
I make quick work of turning on the taps and filling the tub with water as hot as I can get it.
I waddle over to the small stand that holds soaps, salts and bubbles for all your bathing needs and dump a bit of each in the tub, leaving the bar of soap nearby.
My muscles are killing me and I momentarily worry about how I’ll get into the tub, knowing that I can’t lift my leg very high off the ground.
Fuck.
I keep throwing nervous glances at the door as I painstakingly strip down, and when the tub is full and bubbles cover the top, I try to climb in and instantly realize that isn’t going to happen.
So I do the only logical thing I can think of and lean against the metal rim and slowly roll into the tub so I don’t splash water everywhere.
I fail, but that’s a problem for future Ravina.
My muscles begin to relax and I groan deeply at how amazing the hot water feels against my body.
As the aches dull, so does my mind and my eyes begin to flutter.
As I’m lulled into a sense of comfort, my traitorous mind wanders back to the moment on the beach when Aemon wrapped his shadows around my neck.
It was such a bastardly, domineering thing to do, but I couldn’t help but be overcome with need for him.
I was so mad, but never have I wanted to be ravished more than in that moment.
My hands trail down my body, needing relief from the heat that seems to be growing in my lower stomach these past few weeks—I now realize it is because of the bonds.
Being around my mates. All the confusion I’ve been feeling towards them.
The heated looks they give me. I damn near broke the moment Jesper touched me earlier.
My fingers graze my swollen clit and I gasp.
“Well this is a beautiful sight to walk in on,” Aemon purrs as he places the tray down on the bedside table.
This time I gasp for a whole other reason, removing my hand. He moves over towards me and settles at my back, and I turn to peer up at him, feeling extremely vulnerable.
He gives me a look of pure need that has me clenching around nothing. “Relax, I’m just going to massage your neck. I know you’re sore; you’d be good at hiding it if I wasn’t so attuned to your body.”
I sink deeper into the water, hiding below the bubbles. “Just a massage and nothing else,” I state, even though I want so much more.
His warm, calloused hands graze my shoulders and my flesh prickles with awareness. “Until you beg for my touch, Little Dream, I won’t go further. You have my word.”
I nod, not trusting my voice to say anything else.
Those hands of his feel as if they’re made of pure magick as they dig into the knotted muscles of my neck and shoulders, and a deep groan escapes my lips causing me to stiffen. When he doesn’t say anything I begin to relax again.
By the time he’s done, I’m a puddle, and I wish he would do that all over my tense and knotted body.
“Would you turn around so I can get out and get dressed?” I ask.
He chuckles. “Of course. Just tell me when you’re decent again.”
I wait a moment while he settles on the far end of the bed, staring at the wall, making sure he doesn’t turn around.
Then ever so slowly, I manage to get out of the tub.
I’m still hurting a lot and it takes some maneuvering, but within a few minutes, I’m dried and dressed in my tunic and panties.
No need to get fully dressed in leathers again if I’m going to sleep.
“Okay, it’s safe to look.” Moving with next to no grace, I head towards the steaming bowl of stew and a thick cut of buttered bread. “Thank you for grabbing the food. I didn’t even realize how hungry I was.”
He takes the other portion. “Of course. Are you still in pain? Don’t lie to me this time.” He fixes me with a stern look.
Dipping my bread in the thick gravy, I take a bite while thinking of what to tell him.
I settle on the truth. “My thighs, hips and lower back hurt the worst, but I’ll be okay.
” And I will be. I was in just as much pain when we first got to Kraryn and I survived.
Although, I’m not looking forward to the flight back if I wake up tomorrow feeling the same way I did last time.
He nods in acknowledgment and we finish our food in silence but it isn’t awkward, it’s comforting.
When I finish the last bite, Aemon takes the bowl from me and places it back down on the tray.
“Lay down on your stomach. I’m going to help you with your pain.
If you want, of course.” His face stays blank, but his eyes betray him—it was the same look he used to give me when he really wanted to do something but didn’t want to give away how much.
The small memory makes me smile. “I suppose that’s okay.” Even after all this time, I still don’t want to tell him no. Yet, as I lay on my stomach, I’m overcome with nerves, but not just that—excitement. I want Aemon to touch me, I realize.
His hands fall on either side of my hips and he begins, staying overtop of my tunic. He works the muscles deeply, using his thumb to push in circular motions, and I have to bite my lip to stop me from responding.
He works his way down to the sides of my ass and then lower, heading to my bare thighs. I’m not sure if it’s his warm hands kneading into my tender flesh or if I’m just that wound up, but I moan.
Aemon’s hands freezes. “We should stop,” he whispers.
“I’m sorry—”
His hands squeeze my thighs again like he’s trying to control himself. “No it’s not that. Our dragons seem to have forgotten to close their bonds all the way. We’re feeling the remnants of their… mating,” he states quietly like he’s afraid to break this moment, but he doesn’t let go.
I realize he’s right, but I also know that this is what I’m feeling too. It’s not just the dragons, and it’s confirmed when I finish closing my bond with Vasari. “It’s okay, it’s just a massage right?” I swallow thickly, glancing at him from over my shoulder.
His eyes are molten but he nods. “If you want me to stop, just say so.”
I give him a jerky nod and rest my head back down as he continues where he left off, albeit this time there’s a tenseness in his hands as they run along my skin.
He works his way back up my one thigh and his fingers accidently graze my panties, right where the most tender parts of me are hidden.
We both moan, his touch eliciting a fire in my lower belly, and it’s then that I come to the conclusion that I don’t care.
I want him to touch me, so I lift my hips and spread my legs a bit—a quiet invitation.
My nerves feel like they’re on fire.
His finger runs up my center and I moan again.
“Just tell me to stop,” he whispers, his voice deep and choked with need.
I find a bit of that courage I had before and reply, “Don’t stop.”
Aemon growls before hooking his fingers in my panties and pulling them down, and when the air hits me, I realize I’m not just wet for him. I’m soaked.
He groans, “Roll over. I need you on your back. I want to see your face.”
When I don’t comply fast enough I’m flipped over, but he’s still kneeling on the edge of the bed. Shadows snake across my body and pull my arms above my head. It’s not his fingers that touch me but his magick. My heart rate increases with fear, but I can see it’s Aemon and I know he won’t hurt me.
More shadows wrap around my knees and pull my legs apart, giving him a full view of me. I’ve never been so turned on and exposed in my life. He moves like a predator, never taking his eyes off me as he settles on his knees between mine.
“I’m keeping my word. I’m not going to touch you until you beg for it, but my shadows are another story.”
Before I can ask what he means, a shadow tendril slips between my legs and rubs my clit, causing my hips to thrust forward, while another teases at my entrance.
“Fuck you’re stunning. Even when you’re bloodthirsty and stabbing me, I want nothing more than to bend you over and have my way with you.
You’ve always been ours,” he purrs as another tendril snakes up under my tunic.
It twists around my nipple and pulls slightly and I can’t help the moan of raw pleasure that escapes me.
There’s so much going on and he’s playing my body like he knows exactly what I want, when I’m not even sure what that is.
The shadow at my entrance disappears and I’m shocked at the whimper that leaves my mouth.
“You’re a needy female, aren’t you? Do you feel empty, Little Dream? Do you want my tongue in your cunt while my shadows play with your body?” He doesn’t touch me but I can feel his breath against my core.
I nod voraciously, lost to the pleasure he’s bringing to my body.
The shadow that’s lazily rubbing my clit stops. “I need your words. I need you to beg for my tongue.”
“Please, Aemon,” I beg, lifting my hips as I search for friction. Anything.
The shadows all pull away and I feel bare without them. “I don’t think you want this enough,” he teases darkly.
Another whimper escapes. “Fucking fates. Please, Aemon. I need your mouth on me. I want you to fuck me with your shadows,” I nearly cry.
Maybe it’s the bond pushing me like a jezebel but I couldn’t care less.
I want Aemon and I need him now. I want to know what it’s like to have him fling me over the cliff.
“Thank the fucking fates,” I think I hear him mutter. “I’m far too selfish to stop right now.”
His tongue licks right up my center and the groan that comes out of him almost has me shattering beneath him. The shadows come back with a vengeance, running along my body, lighting each nerve ending on fire. It’s almost too much, and not enough at the same time.
This tantalizing male circles my clit with his tongue and I feel his tendrils tease my entrance. When I thrust my hips, needing more, he chuckles. “My shadows won’t be the first to enter this sweet cunt. When it’s you and me, it’ll be my cock that will fill you up.”
“Please. I want that so badly,” I beg.
He curses. “We should wait until you have a clear head to make that decision. Just let me make you feel good.” He goes back to eating my pussy like it’s the most amazing thing he’s ever tasted and when he nips my clit, I explode.
My knees try to pull together as my body quivers with release, but he doesn’t let them, using his shadows to keep me spread wide for him.
Slowly the shadows recede and he slides up my body. “That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he whispers before lowering his head and kissing me.
His lips are hard and tender all at the same time and I can’t help but wrap my arms around him and pull him closer, deepening the kiss. The taste of me on him drives me wild, like something primal inside of me has been satisfied.
“My mind is clear now,” I tease when he pulls away, looking down at me with heated eyes. “I still want you to fuck me.”
He groans, dropping his head into the crook of my neck and pressing his hard length against me.
“We should wait. And I don’t know how I’m managing to say this right now with you so soft and willing beneath me.
But if we have sex, we complete the bond.
You should know that first and think on it.
Enough secrets have been kept between us.
It’s why the marks are faded. I’ve been trying to find out as much as I can about mate-bonds but the information is scarce. ”
I blink at what he’s saying. The words set in gradually. Am I ready to permanently tie myself to him?
When I don’t immediately respond he nods softly. “Come on. We should get some sleep, we have an early morning.”
He goes to get up but I stop him. “Don’t sleep on the floor. I can share the bed.”
His brow raises. “Are you sure?”
I pull him back down toward me and kiss him. “I’m sure.”
Aemon grins but still gets up. He grabs a cloth from the shelf near the tub and wets it before coming back. “Let’s get you cleaned up first.”
Before I can even take the cloth from him, he slips it between my thighs and clinically cleans me, but I can’t help the warmth that spreads through my belly.
He kicks off his boots and climbs into bed next to me, pulling me against him, and something in me settles.
With a flick of my hand, I summon the candlelight in the room into my hand and smother it.
“Thank you for coming after me today,” I whisper into the dark. “Even if I was pissed as the void at you.”
“I would follow you anywhere. You never need to be alone again, Little Dream.”