Chapter 37 One Last Night
One Last Night
She stared up at him for a long moment. Niel’s arms stayed around her. His dark eyes studied her face carefully.
And then, slowly, he bent down and kissed her.
Niel’s mouth was soft against hers, his lips tracing her own, his hands tight on her back as he crushed her body to his.
Ayla softened against him, pushing her fears to the back of her mind.
Tomorrow was uncertain. But if the terms of surrender were accepted, she’d convince Niel to run instead of submitting to the Queen’s forces.
She would make sure it was not his last night of life, but it could still be their last night together.
That was almost as grim of a thought. A desperate, loud part of her did not want to let him go.
There was no shortage of reasons why the two of them did not belong together, and yet, her whole body, heart and mind, wanted nothing but him.
It was Ayla who deepened the kiss, her hand gripping the back of his neck.
She parted her mouth and drew him with her towards the bed.
They broke apart when they reached it. The look on Niel’s face was wide-eyed, like he did not fully believe it was happening.
He stared at her as she sank down to the mattress.
For a moment she feared he was going to deny her, and braced herself for a rejection.
From what little he’d revealed about Hannes, she knew he might not want intimacy with another person.
And if he did not want to make love, she would not push the matter.
She’d be content just to hold him, and to be held.
He stayed standing, looking down at her, hands briefly clenching into fists before he uncurled them.
“Would you have me, Ayla?” Niel asked her quietly.
She blinked up at him, a little surprised, having thought her own feelings were obvious.
“Only if you want me,” she answered. “You do not need to push yourself. I do not ask it of you.”
“Yes,” he answered, so quickly he was almost interrupting. “Yes, I want you. Need you. But I hardly know what I’m doing.”
“I guessed as much,” Ayla said, and smiled despite the way her heart tightened until she feared it would burst. “That doesn’t bother me. It isn’t as though my own experiences were good ones. We’ll figure out the right way together.”
He nodded, but didn’t move to join her or take her back into his arms. She unfastened her cloak from around her neck, withdrew her feet from her slippers, and crawled to slide beneath the bed’s blankets.
“Come, then,” she offered, as she tugged the covers back up against the cold.
She blinked as he drew a knife from his boot before tugging off his shoes, and another from his waistband.
His dark eyes were trained on her as he lifted the blankets and slid in beside her, until mere inches separated their faces.
Then Niel’s mouth found hers, and his hand settled on her hip. She inched herself against him.
It was still cold beneath the covers, but Niel was warm.
An ache pulsed between her legs, desire burning in her even though they'd just begun.
His mouth was so tender against hers, gentle and yet not hesitant, like she was exactly what he wanted.
He kissed her like she was delicate and precious.
And in his arms, she felt safe, and fearless in a way she could never remember feeling before. Her body thawed against his warmth.
For a moment their lips parted. Niel's eyes sought hers out, questioning, as if checking that she was alright.
Ayla smiled, and he smiled back. She inched tighter against him, until their bodies were not just flush but pressed hard to each other, and found his lips again.
He grinned as he kissed her, even despite their doomed circumstances.
His hand left her hip and slid around her, tightening on her back.
Ayla ground herself to him, twining her upper arm around his neck.
His tongue slid between her teeth as she hooked her leg over his.
They kissed, slow and deep, not gentle now, but like a fire burned between them.
Like they could not allow any space between them at all.
As his tongue swept into her mouth Ayla moaned against him.
The ache between her legs became unbearable.
He pressed against her, his cock hard through his trousers.
She rolled her hips against him in return, sending a bolt of pleasure through her, and was rewarded by the way his hands fisted into her dress.
Niel groaned and closed his teeth lightly over her lower lip.
Ayla repeated the motion. She broke the kiss and slid her mouth down to his neck, pressing her lips to the edge of his jaw, rough with the beginnings of stubble.
In a smooth motion, Niel rolled on top of her.
The dress was up against her hips, and she hooked her legs around his thighs, pulling him tight.
His weight pinned her down, warm and secure.
She was safe in a cage of his arms. His breath hitched as he pushed against her, pressing his length against her aching groin.
Ayla ran her hands over the muscular bulk of his shoulders and dragged her nails down his back, over his clothes.
She wanted him closer. Wanted nothing between them.
She let go and grabbed the front of his tunic, looking up at Niel. He ground his hips against hers with an expression of such ecstasy it looked like pain.
“Do you want to take this off?” she whispered.
Niel sat to strip the garment without hesitation.
While he did so, Ayla loosened the laces of her dress and worked it over her head.
With the blankets peeled back she shivered in just her shift.
She balled the dress up and tossed it to the floor.
He stripped another layer until he was shirtless.
She had only a moment to admire the way his broad chest tapered down to a trim but muscular waist before Niel yanked the blankets back up to their jaws.
He was beside her again instead of on top of her.
“It’s so cold,” she complained.
He pulled her against him. He was warm, and she fit snugly against the bare skin of his hard chest. Then he went stiff as her hand settled on his bare skin of his pecs, the knight’s jaw clenched. She met his eyes.
“Should I not?” she whispered. He hadn’t seemed bothered before, only now, when she reached out to touch him.
“I'm fine. Please. Don't stop.” His voice was sharp. Ayla frowned.
“Are you certain?”
“I have never been more certain. It was just a moment."
Moving slowly, and watching his every reaction in case it became too much, Ayla traced her hand down his bicep, then around to the cut of muscles on his upper back.
Inch by inch, he relaxed to her touch, his breath deepening.
His eyes took on a dazed look, a lust so heavy he was drunk with it.
Niel's hips shifted slightly, pushing himself against her as his breath caught.
Niel’s hand was slower as he found her waist, his hand cold through the thin fabric of her shift, but lighting her aflame all the same. His hand moved lower, until he passed the fabric bunched up just below her hips and reached the bare skin of her thighs.
“Your skin is so soft,” he murmured.
His hand traced up her body and over the fabric again, coming between them to brush her stomach before freezing an inch below her breasts.
She could feel his breath hitch against her skin of her cheek. Ayla waited a moment, to see what he would do, then met his eyes. Niel was staring at her with a longing look, like he wanted to touch her and was not sure he was allowed.
Ayla took his hand and moved it up to rest against her breast. Niel’s lips parted, his nostrils flaring as his eyes darkened with desire.
She wrapped her hand back around his shoulder as he slowly kneaded her breast. Ayla bit her lower lip as her core tightened in response.
Niel groaned and squeezed his hand tighter on her.
“I will take off my shift,” Ayla whispered, her voice thick, “if you will take off your trousers. Or, we need not.”
For a moment he didn’t answer, just moved his hand to touch her other breast over the shift. And then, wordlessly, he reached between them to unfasten his pants. Ayla huffed a laugh and wriggled from the shift. She hesitated a moment, then stripped her underpants as well.
“I'm taking off all of it,” she told him. He did the same in silence, then pressed himself back against her.
Beneath the warmth of the blankets she could feel his body in sharp relief.
His stiff cock dug into her hip, and she moved her body against him so that her breasts were pressed to his chest. For a moment their hands found each other’s sides: hips, arms, and waists, tracing the lines of each other’s bodies.
Between her legs an insistent ache pulsed, one she had not felt in years.
Niel's breath came hard and fast. His lips found hers, his kisses demanding now, and she was glad for it, because she wanted to be taken.
Niel’s free hand found her breasts again. Ayla arched her back lightly as his thumb traced over a nipple, and as he squeezed again, taking the whole of her right breast into one hand. He kissed her more deeply, his hand still massaging her chest.
Then he broke away. Ayla blinked hazily at him as he lifted the blanket enough to duck his head beneath it and look at her. Realizing what he was doing, she fought a giggle.
“Would you like the firelight?” she asked.
“You’ll be too cold,” he answered sheepishly. "I just wanted to see them for a moment." He set the blanket back down, looking at her eyes now.
“You can warm me with your hands after,” she suggested. He gave her a longing look, but he didn't move, and she realized that Niel did not have it in him to make her uncomfortable, no matter how strong his desire. She pushed the blanket down to her hips so that he would not have to.