Chapter 45 Erik
ERIK
Iknocked on Ariana’s door before I could talk myself out of it. Darkness still lingered outside, but the sun was not far off. With the morning light, she would leave. Too soon. By the sounds of footsteps within her room, it was a sleepless night not only for me.
Her steps stilled their pacing, briefly frozen by my disturbance. Slowly, she approached the door, cracking it open. Wide green eyes looked at me in surprise.
“Erik.” Her voice softly murmured my name before she glanced down the halls, noting the guards at the ends standing at attention. None of them moved but were ready to, should she call for them. There was no one else walking the halls at this hour. Only me.
My gaze traveled the length of her. A loose silk robe cinched around her waist. The material ended at her thigh, showing off her long, lovely legs.
The fabric hugged her curves in the most appealing of ways.
Waves of brown hair flowed down her back, spilling over a single shoulder, half braided with little stones intertwined in long strands, as was customary for their Bavadrin ways.
I had to admit, that look was particularly attractive on her.
It added an almost savagery to her otherwise elegant appearance.
Stepping aside, she let me enter her room. “What are you doing here?” she asked after closing the door.
“I couldn’t sleep either. Figured it may be more enjoyable to visit with you than for both of us to pace around alone until sunrise.” The sheets on her bed were pushed aside, evidence of her failed attempt at rest.
“You crave my company?” She arched a delicate brow, a small smile curving her lips.
“I crave it so much that I rather you not leave once the sun hits the horizon,” I answered, focusing my attention on her.
The smile slipped from her. “It’s one dinner. We have gone over this. Edda ensures I will be alright. I am not discussing this any further.”
She was being so stubborn. And so was I. “How much do you trust Edda’s visions? Seers rarely see the future clearly. Their visions are often difficult to interpret.”
Her jaw clenched. “I trust Edda’s guidance. She has not steered me wrong yet. She said I would be alright when your Lysians came, said I would return, that I would be the future Leader Superior. She was not wrong about any of those things.”
“Does not mean she is right now.” Despite Edda’s certainty that Ariana would be safe, I felt in my gut that this would not go well. It put me on edge.
Ariana folded her arms across her chest. “Are you trying to start a fight?”
“No.” I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I wished there was more I could say to stop this from happening.
Her gaze narrowed. “Why are you even bothering to waste your breath on this again?”
“It’s not a waste if it keeps you safe.”
Her head tilted, and more of that silky hair flowed over her shoulder. “You kissed me the other night and practically ran away from me after that. Now you want to talk about your desires to keep me safe? I do not have time for these emotional games, Erik. Neither of us do.”
The boldness of her words caused me to straighten. “I did not run away. I just prefer more time with you without this trip of yours casting shadows. This is not a game.”
She stepped to the side, attention never straying from mine, arms remaining folded across her chest. Her stance was a barrier, closing herself off from me, preparing to dispute my opposition. Narrowed eyes pierced me as if my answer was not quite enough for her. “Why did you come here tonight?”
“To keep you from leaving tomorrow,” I answered honestly.
“Your words won’t change my mind.” She shook her head slowly from side to side.
“I am not opposed to chaining you to the bed,” I stated, another honest thought. If words wouldn’t do, then that was another option.
She released a low laugh, arms falling to her sides, exuding pure confidence. There was that same spirit which drew me to her from the moment I first laid eyes on her. But her heart skipped an actual beat at my comment. “Even if you were to succeed with something like that—”
“Oh, I would succeed.” I cut her off with a smirk. How delicious it would have been to have her at my mercy like that. Vulnerable.
Tension thickened between us, filling the room.
Ariana’s gaze continued to hold mine. “You are but one Lysian. Conjuror or not, you alone cannot withstand all my Bavadrins, the Sparrows. And I doubt you want to burn everyone to bits if you need us to fight a war. And that is if I spared your breath.” Though her words challenged my suggestion, her heart beat harder.
Like the suggestion did something to her.
“A minor oversight on my part,” I replied.
She laughed, the sound brilliant and light, drawing my smile to the surface. “Again, we are back to you being left with nothing but words to sway me. Like I said, that won’t work. I have no interest in arguing with you over this.”
“Then let me convince you another way.” I approached her.
She stilled, apart from the rise and fall of her chest with every breath.
If she didn’t want words, then I could find other ways to sway her.
If she wanted to throw herself into chaos and play with danger, then I was more than willing to be that for her.
She caught the attention of the Lysian King. If she let me, then I would have her playing with fire.
I reached out, fingertips along her jaw, before brushing her hair back over her shoulder. The touch was featherlight, yet electric. As if just touching her could have been fatal. As if she was more deadly than I ever imagined. And I wanted to tangle with that threat. To make it mine.
She swallowed, her throat bobbing. I wished to run my lips and teeth over that throat.
“Convince me how?” Her voice grew breathy, but her stare held mine with so much certainty that flames burned through me. Her confidence was exquisite. She never shied away from me like so many others. Her boldness did things to me.
“I’ll show you if you let me.” I closed in and stole nearly all the space between us, crowding her.
She craned her neck, viewing me with zero hesitance. “How big of a hit will your ego take when you cannot convince me? Because come sunrise, I am leaving.”
Lethal.
This woman was lethal.
I smirked. “I welcome your challenge.” My lips landed on hers, stealing her breath. Spirit, the taste of her was as delicious as I remembered. Better even.
Briefly, her body tensed, as if surprised when my arms wrapped around her.
A heartbeat later she relaxed into me. Her lips parted, letting my tongue swipe through her mouth.
The kiss was slow, thorough. I savored the taste of her.
Ariana’s fingers threaded through my hair before running over my shoulders, pulling me closer.
My hands explored her, traveling over the elegant curve of her back, her thigh, moving up her side, grazing her breast. I mapped her body with my touch, memorizing the feel of her as she pressed against me.
She breathed a strangled moan into my mouth.
I felt that sound. It ran through me, flooding my veins and drugging my mind. And we were still fully clothed.
She was unlike anything I had ever experienced.
The air grew thick with desire.
Somehow, we had traveled through the room till I pinned her between me and the window, her backside propped against the sill, holding some of her weight.
The scent of her arousal enveloped me, and my thoughts became harder to control.
I fought my urge to take her fully. That was a choice we would both make one day and not under the duress of a threat.
This night was meant as just a taste of what she could have more of if she stayed.
And I only had minutes to sway her before sunrise.
I traced the hem of her robe, hand slipping underneath, running over soft skin. My movement stilled in surprise. She was not wearing anything beneath the robe.
Ariana released a throaty chuckle, the sound sultry and devastatingly effective, blazing straight through me. Lethal woman.
My mouth reclaimed hers. As my hand roamed higher along her thigh, I was met with the intoxicating heat of her.
Her breath hitched before she slightly parted her legs, a silent invitation that I accepted with an eager greed.
I slid one finger inside her, and the sensation was so maddeningly intimate that jealousy flared, envying my own hand.
A low, moan rumbled through her, back arching, breath hitching in sync with my movements. The restraint I clung to frayed with every sound the woman made, every shift of her body. She was unraveling me, piece by piece.
I traced my lips along her jawline, teeth scraping down the column of her neck, until I reached a spot that drove her wild. I fisted her hair, tugging, forcing her to expose her throat to me. Her nails dug into my shoulder. She was going to leave marks. The thought only spurred me on.
I added another finger, stroking her. Her hips rocked, moving against my hand, drawing me deeper into her. The way she felt, the way she responded—it was indescribable.
A groan escaped me as my lips captured hers again, swallowing her gasps.
When I freed my hand from her hair, my fingers brushed along the curve of her neck before wrapping lightly around her throat.
The soft pressure elicited a moan, raw and primal, vibrating against my mouth.
The sound sent a shiver of satisfaction through me, and a slow, wicked smile curved my lips.
So, she liked a touch of dominance.
I could more than work with that.
I squeezed. Not enough to hurt her, but enough to tease, to threaten. Beneath my touch, her pulse fluttered like a bird’s wings, fast and unrelenting.
Between her legs, I maintained the rhythm she enjoyed, driving her towards a fast approaching the edge. Ariana trembled, her desperation spilling out in those exquisite, breathless sounds that made me ache for her.
I could feel the tension in her body coiling tighter and tighter. Her heart thundered, her breathing shallow and ragged. Her hand clamped down on my forearm, while the other gripped my shoulder.
And then, she let go.
Release washed over her, consuming her entirely. Her body arched, nails digging in just enough to sting as she shattered, trembling and writhing in my arms.
Just as the first ray of morning sunlight broke over the distant horizon, casting a golden glow across her skin, painting her in hues of fire.