Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
ARENA
Even the warmth of the crackling fire in front of me couldn’t dispel the cold fear I felt.
I found one in the hotel…
Another shiver ripped through me. After Nav placed me on the mattress and added wood, he disappeared. I could hear him in the kitchen, so I knew I wasn’t alone, but I didn’t know what he was doing. My thoughts wouldn’t stop racing long enough to care.
We’d heard the news on the island radio weeks ago about the mass infected deaths. That thousands had dropped right where they’d stood. No one had done anything to them. No head shots or dismemberment. Just drop and dead.
But not all of the infected. The slower ones…the newly turned had been unaffected.
Did some of the smarter infected survive, or were the ones who were left evolving again like the older infected? We’d lost so many islanders due to their traps and speed. What would we do if they started evolving again?
I thought of the supplies in the basement and my island family. The island was safe. If we stockpiled, maybe we would be okay. But what happened when we ran out of supplies?
The communities Nav mentioned had fresh fruit. Fresh vegetables. And fey.
What if that was our only choice in the future?
Submit to a fey and trade sex for food and safety.
But for how long? No man stayed interested or faithful forever.
What if we got there and—
Nav squatted down in front of me, his concerned gaze sweeping over my face.
“You’re still shivering. Come.” He gently drew me to my feet and led me to the bathroom.
The bathtub was half full of steaming water.
Surprised, I glanced at him.
“You said you wanted to bathe after the fence was done,” he said.
Oh, right.
I nodded and started undressing. He didn’t. He helped me into the water and knelt beside the tub as I sat. The heat helped melt away some of the fear. The washcloth he ran over my skin as I rested my cheek on my knees helped soothe away the rest of it.
It felt so good to be taken care of. Why did I care how long it would last? I didn’t even know how long I’d live.
“Better?” he asked when I stopped shaking.
I nodded.
“Can I wash your front?”
Willing to trade a little groping for some comfort, I leaned back against the tub. Nav didn’t grope, though. He ran the cloth over every inch of my skin, slowly and thoroughly, but without extra attention anywhere. Then he helped me wash my hair.
It felt like heaven to have his fingers rubbing my scalp. I dunked under to rinse, and saw the water wasn’t clear when I came up. Gross. I stood as the tub drained and let him shampoo my hair a second time. The water was clear after another rinse.
“I promise to start moving the solar panels tomorrow,” he said. “You will be able to shower without worrying about warm water then.”
Nodding, I let him dry me off and carry me to the fireplace.
It wasn’t until he sat on the mattress behind me with a hairbrush that I realized he’d ditched his pants at some point.
I didn’t care. I used his knee to prop myself up and watched the fire as he carefully brushed through the tangled strands.
When he was done, he pulled me under the covers and settled me on his chest.
I tipped my head up to look at his face. “Thank you, Nav. It feels nice to have someone take care of me for a change. Would you do one more thing for me?”
“Yes,” he said, watching me.
“Will you make me come on your fingers again? Nothing else. Just your fingers tonight.”
His pupils expanded.
“Yes.”
The drawn-out word made me feel wanted in a way I desperately needed, and I relaxed more fully against him as his hands smoothed over my ass. He was good at distracting me, taking his time and building anticipation for the moment he finally moved his touch between my thighs.
My breath hitched at the first brush of his fingers against my folds. The tip of one slicked through the wetness he’d created, and he stopped breathing beneath me for a second. Was he thinking about licking his fingers again?
I liked the thought and wriggled a little to motivate him to keep going.
He did. Unhurriedly parting me and exploring my depth with one finger before tracing lazy circles around my clit. Every move was steadily adding to the pleasure that built by soothing increments.
Listlessly, I moved against his evenly paced thrusts.
“Do you like the way I touch you?” he asked softly.
My core clenched around his finger, and I nodded, knowing it was pointless to deny what he did to me.
He added a second finger, stroking that place inside of me that disconnected me from logic and turned me into a gratification-seeking hoe. I moved my hips more enthusiastically, but didn’t lift my head.
“Tell me what else will make you happy. More food?”
I shook my head.
“More books?”
I really did like the books he’d found. So many maps. But they weren’t what would make me happy right now, so I shook my head again.
“A shower?”
“Just you,” I said. “And this.”
He rumbled his agreement and let me drift in his steadiness for a few moments before he broke the silence.
“What about the other females with you? What will they want to be happy?”
I jerked my head off his chest to glare at him.
“Stop talking and make me feel good, Nav.”
He scrunched down and kissed the tip of my nose.
“Do orgasms make you happy?”
“Isn’t everyone happy when they come?”
He grunted and curled his fingers so his knuckles were pushing into that spot at the same time his other hand grabbed a cheek and parted me so the heel of his hand was against my back hole.
The contact and pressure shattered me, and I came so hard I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest. He kissed me hungrily to swallow the sound until every bit of energy pulsed out of me.
I dropped my head to his chest and listened to his elevated pulse as he gently continued stroking me through the aftershocks. As it slowed, I relaxed further and felt myself drifting closer to sleep, all the scary what-if thoughts banished.
“Can I taste you tomorrow?” he asked softly.
“Sure.” Orgasms were much better than thinking.
His fingers disappeared. I heard him licking his fingers again and smiled softly against his chest.
What a deviant.
I liked it.
“Can I taste you while you sleep?” he asked.
The idea of him slowly fingering me in my sleep because he couldn’t get enough of me had my core clenching a second before he reinserted his fingers for more.
“Sure. Just don’t wake me up before sunrise or I’ll be annoyed.”
I drifted off, already looking forward to my morning orgasm as he stroked me awake.
I was dreaming of Nav eating me out again.
Only, this time, we weren’t on a boat. We were on the mattress in front of a crackling fire that was warming the left side of my face.
Nav had my legs over his shoulders and was touching deep in my channel.
It felt amazing. So good. Ten out of ten tonguing.
A log fell and popped loudly.
Blinking my eyes open, I realized I wasn’t dreaming.
Nav’s tongue left my core. He replaced it with two fingers, which slipped in easily as his lips closed over my clit. A gasp escaped me, and I reached for his head, tangling my fingers in his hair as I rotated my hips.
He growled his approval and sucked a little more firmly.
I came without warning, crying out and arching with the intensity of it. His fingers changed rhythm briefly, and I felt a new fullness inside of me as I continued to tremble and shake with my orgasm.
He’d added another finger. How many was he using now?
“Your pussy is so pretty, Arena,” Nav breathed against my sensitive skin. “Tell me when I need to stop tasting.”
Then his mouth was back on me, his tongue circling my clit as his fingers found that hypersensitive spot inside of me. I didn’t stand a chance. He pulled another orgasm from me within minutes.
My legs fell off his shoulders, too weak to stay there. He grunted and pulled back to look down at me, splayed wide open for him. As he looked, he pumped his fingers in and out of my channel.
“Your pussy is greedy for my fingers. It took three without hesitation. Do you think it will like my cock as much?” He punctuated that thought with a curl of his fingers, sending another round of aftershocks through me.
I opened my mouth to tell him that we should test his theory when movement over his shoulder caught my attention.
A fey was standing outside the front window, his avid gaze locked on Nav’s fingers between my legs.
I screamed and heel-kicked Nav in the face.