30. I Can’t Promise Not to Eat You
30
I Can’t Promise Not to Eat You
T he water fell from the ceiling like raindrops. Lifting her face toward it, she tried to forget Ryu was waiting for her.She had lead weight in her stomach, which she couldn’t blame on the amount of food she had eaten at their wedding celebration. As she had sat next to Ryu, she had been aware of the low whispers from the tables.
She was not one of them.
She felt every islander’s sights on her, each of their gazes flickering over her like a flame on her skin, burning away what confidence she had until each dish she tried tasted like ash in her mouth. She much preferred their ceremony over the dinner, and it wasn’t until the end that she started to understand the importance of Ryu’s people to be included.
The mother and father of Jun had stood up, not only to wish happiness to the newlyweds in their new lives together, but they thanked them for their actions in saving their daughter’s life. Each islander had stood after their words and bowed lowly before them in not only respect but adoration.
That was when she finally relaxed enough to hear the whisperings were not about the scars that marred her but of how beautiful their future queen looked and how proud they were to welcome her to their island. And as the rest of the celebration continued, Eira’s confidence grew more and more …
Well, until they reached the confines of their bedroom, alone. Then all confidence shot out of her as she ran to the bathroom for a few moments of deep breathing that turned into a much-needed shower.
Toweling off, she pulled on a white silken nightgown that was so exquisite she was afraid to put it on. As she brushed her fiery hair, she listened to what Ryu was doing in the other room. Had she taken so many moments that he had gone to sleep?
After straightening the bathroom, she took another five minutes and was about to step out of the bathroom when she remembered the perfume.
There was an assortment of scents to choose from on the vanity that she had never thought to use before. She would never get used to having all her needs taken care of by Ryu and his staff. Each of the bottles looked so pretty that it was hard to decide which one to choose.
Her hand hovered over the see-through, red-colored bottle of perfume that Yuri had given her as a present. When Yuri had hugged her earlier, she had noticed the scent was missing, and when Eira had told her that she had forgotten it and wanted to go back to get it but couldn’t as the ceremony was about to begin, Yuri had simply smiled at her friend before whispering, only to her ears, that it was actually better that she waited to use it on her wedding night, as it would increase Ryu’s desire for her.
Yep, shewas going to give that a hard pass.
Choosing a pale amber frosted perfume bottle, which had hummingbirds on the outside, she opened it to place a small amount on her neck. The subtle fragrance was exactly what she wanted—she didn’t want Ryu roused from his sleep because of a strong scent.
Not able to come up with anything else to delay the inevitable, she finally stepped out of the room.
Ryu was sitting up in the bed, staring at the door with an expression that had her tummy doing flip flops, but it was simply too late to turn back now.
Maybe not? She wrung her hands and started to turn around.
“Eira.” His deep voice stopped her in her tracks. “Where are you going?”
“I forgot something in the bathroom,” she told him shakily.
“What did you forget?”
Grumbling her confession under her breath, she wished she had never left the safe confines. “To stay there.”
Ryu softly patted the bed beside him. “Come here, darling.”
Swallowing a gulp, which he might have heard, considering the frown that formed on his forehead, she slowly walked toward the bed.
“You know I would never hurt you, Eira.”
She sat down on the edge of the bed, putting as much distance between them as possible.
“I’m just curious—” She started to ask but had to clear her throat when she heard the fear in her voice. “There isn’t a chance you’ll lose control and change into a dragon when we’re … you know …?”
“Making love?” Ryu offered the words she couldn’t seem to form.
“Yes.” She had to clear her throat again. “Making love.”
However, he was not appeased with her pretend bravery.
“It would be nice if you didn’t sound as if you were about to walk to the guillotine.”
Was Ryu aware that when he became frustrated, she could see the reflection of his dragon in his eyes?
Scooting a bit closer to him so he wouldn’t think she was such a child, she confessed her worries, “I’m not worried about being beheaded. I’m afraid you’ll flambé or eat me.”
Ryu’s expression gentled after hearing her legitimate concerns. He ran an even gentler finger just under the neckline of her gown. “I’m not going to be able to make any promises, as I expect there to be a lot of fire when we make love.” His wicked smile had her insides suddenly quivering. “And I can’t promise not to eat you.”
She stared at him, too paralyzed to jump up from the bed when he kissed the throbbing pulse at the base of her throat. “You won’t?” she asked huskily as she was reminded of the pull and need that had been overtaken by her nerves from knowing that tonight was the night and there was no longer a reason to delay their mating.
“Nope,” he growled out in a sensual tone that curled her toes. “But you can bite me back, and I won’t complain.”
“You’re playing with me, aren’t you?” A small giggle escaped her, which had her hand covering the silly noise.
“No …” Lowering one sleeve of her gown, Ryu kissed her bare shoulder as he pulled her down onto the bed with him.“You look so beautiful.”
Looking into his eyes, she could no longer see his dragon’s reflection but her face. Humbly, she wondered if that was really the way he saw her. With him, she did feel beautiful, as if they were not only fated mates but soulmates, too, like Itako had said … were they?
Any thoughts she had just obtained whispered away as Ryu rolled onto his side and leaned on his elbow to gaze upon her. When his hand lay upon her belly, he started bunching up the nightgown, and it not only tugged the nightgown downward at the neckline, but it also rose from her ankles.
“That’s a slick move,” she told him.
“I’m glad you approve.”
Raising a brow, she gave him a disapproving look. “Depends on how you learned that trick.”
“I must have learned it in another lifetime.”
She wasn’t taken in by his innocent front, nor had she picked up the hint of his words, too enthralled by his eyes that remained on her chest as the gown slowly lowered to expose her breasts until they were naked beneath his dragon-like raptor gaze.
She jumped when his tongue circled her nipple, but the hand at her waist kept her on the bed. His breath felt hot on her flesh. Instead of frightening her, the sensations fanned her own flame of desire.
Surprised at how quickly Ryu was raising her passion, the word soulmates entered her mind, making her wonder if they were not only fated mates in this life but perhaps soulmates in every life …
Belief began to fill her as Ryu began making love to her for the first time, but the sensations were too familiar. This wasn’t only the second time he had covered her nipple with his mouth, nor kissed her as if her kisses were nectar that he would never get enough of.
With the slick slide of his body covering her, it brought more memories to the forefront of her mind as past and present unfolded like a tight bud blooming to reveal a flower of such outstanding beauty that it couldn’t be seen with the human eye.
The movements of Ryu’s body within her had her sighing at first with pain then of pleasure. She had felt this mind-numbing desire for Ryu before in their past life, forgetting about it in this one until this moment. Their passion had been banked, smoldering, and never truly forgotten, but ready and waiting to be sparked to life once again.
They never left the bed, yet she felt herself soaring high in the sky, held safely in Ryu’s arms as her body responded to his thrusts by clasping her thighs tightly around his hips to hold on as they soared higher. Then, with a rumbling groan, he released them from the coiled tension binding them together to let them fall safely back to reality as they were finally mated and bound, body, mind, and spirit, in this life for all eternity.
“Ryu?” she whispered his name into the glow of the lamp-lighted room while running her hand across his sweat-beaded chest.
He turned his head on the pillow to look at her. “Yes?”
“Itako was right, wasn’t she?” Eira said the words her heart knew to be true when she’d first heard them but were only now confirmed. “We’re soulmates as well. Our souls have intertwined in this life and in our last.”
“No,” Ryu said, lightly shaking his head as he held her loving gaze with his fiercely. “We’ve been soulmates in every life.”
Eira hadn’t taken the sleeping potion tonight, as she was told it was no longer needed. So, why was her slumber stirred when those strange blue-green eyes entered her dreams?
This nightmare, however, was different, as she took up the girl named Chloe’s body. Flashes of her life, like a picture book flipped, appeared before her eyes, and she quickly understood that the wickedly beautiful man named Lucca was actually her lover and was never her enemy at all.
In fact, his method to claim her hadn’t been that much different than Ryu staking his claim over Eira at all …
… She stiffened when he went lower, kissing the scars across her abdomen.
“Beautiful,” he murmured as his tongue wiped every memory of Lucifer inflicting them on her. “I’m never going to let anyone hurt you again, baby.”
Chloe’s breath hitched at the sight and the words he had spoken. How does someone like him exist?
“I know you won’t.” Her trust in him was unbreakable.
The fire burned hotter than ever when he slid his mouth lower until his bearded lips hovered over her center. “I’m going to have to go to confession,” he told her. “God is going to damn me to hell for what I’m about to do.”
“W-Wha—”
With the tip of his tongue, he parted her flesh and swiped up and down her slit.
Chloe jumped at the startling sensation, her head falling back and her legs beginning to shake.
He pressed his arm into her thighs, holding her still. Groaning, he then pressed his mouth closer. “A taste of you … is worth a lifetime in hell.”
When he increased the pressure of his mouth against her, Chloe felt him sliding his tongue inside of her in quick licks, and then deeper as he became more demanding, more hungered.
Lifting one of her legs over his shoulder, he plunged his tongue into her writhing body.
Oh my God. She began panting. “Take me with you …”
… So, when she woke from her sleep and re-entered this life, she wholly understood.
Those dreams had never been nightmares at all but memories of their past life as Eira and Ryu were once Chloe and Lucca. It had been a good, fulfilling life, with a happy marriage and children, but she knew in her heart that this one was only going to be better.
She also knew instinctively that would be the last time she’d dream of their past, and now she would only ever dream about their wonderful future.