Chapter 31 Ellowyn
Chapter Thirty-One
Ellowyn
Ihummed happily, swiping at my eyes as warm water coursed through my hair and down my back.
Lavender hung heavy in the humid air as tendrils of steam twirled lazily off the warm water.
If I kept my eyes closed, I could almost picture that I was somewhere else, in a home made for just Torin and me, not kept as some cross between prisoners and prizes in Lishahl.
When this is all over, if he still wants me in that way, we’ll go somewhere that is just for us. Somewhere free and uninhibited.
It’d been months since I’d been able to walk in a garden, feel the roots of creation take hold as I channeled, and it felt like half of my soul was withering and dying. As if the Destruction Magic that coursed through my veins in equal measure was slowly asserting dominance.
I want somewhere I can just create. Can just be. Somewhere with—
My daydreams evaporated, and I sat up with a jolt, ashes and embers already winding up my arms as the bathroom door banged loudly off the stone wall, the force of it reverberating through the bathroom.
I was so relaxed, so lost in my own musings, I hadn’t heard the door to our suite open or the pounding footsteps across our stone floors.
My hackles rose as I searched for the intruder through the steamy darkness, only relaxing when Torin’s sunshine and spice scent overwhelmed even the heavy dose of lavender oil that I’d dumped in the bath.
“Oh,” I said, my heart fluttering and returning to its normal rhythm as I banished my power. “It’s you.”
Torin said nothing, just stalked across the bathroom to stand at the edge of the copper tub.
He was fully dressed, his tunic still neatly tucked into dark blue pants with boots that rose to mid-calf.
It was an odd aphrodisiac, me naked and wet in more ways than one, submerged in the tub while he stood fully clothed outside.
I was at the perfect height in the water to see the erection straining at his pants, and I stared at it for a beat before casting my eyes to his face.
I sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of his disheveled hair and wild eyes, as if he’d run his hands through it repeatedly while coming to find me here.
“What happened? What’s wrong?” I asked, panic bleeding into my voice at the pain and fear that was lancing through his honeyed irises. My breasts crested the top of the water, and Torin pushed me back into the tub with a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“I—I had to see you were alright,” he croaked, voice hoarse with emotion. Frowning, I cocked my head at him and brought one wet palm up to cup his face. Torin closed his eyes, nuzzling closer into my hand as I stroked his cheek with my thumb.
“I’m fine. I’m right here. Have been for a while now,” I admitted sheepishly. Torin only nodded his head, eyes boring into mine.
“Marry me,” he blurted, and I blinked in surprise.
“What?” I asked, hand stilling on his cheek.
Torin’s gaze never left mine, only grew blacker with every passing second.
“Marry me,” he said again. It was never a question, just a demand, and I should be bristling at his commanding tone, but I felt myself melting instead.
“Where is this coming from?” I whispered, adjusting my position in the tub with a small slosh.
“It was always supposed to be us, Ellowyn. You were mine, promised to me, before you were his. I want to fulfill that promise. I want you. Only you. Gods, it’s only ever been you, I think.
” His words were whispered with painful reverence as his hands moved to cup my face, pulling me closer.
Torin’s warm breath fanned over my lips as they parted so my tongue could dart out to wet them.
“Marry me,” he pleaded, a whine and desperation in his voice I’d never heard before. “I need to be able to protect you in ways that I only can if you’re my wife.”
I bristled at his insinuation. “I can take care of myself,” I bit out.
Torin smiled, a ghost of a thing, before it faded again. “I know, Ell. I know. But I need this. I need the peace with you, the quiet mornings and late nights, the after, when all this is said and done. I need it with you.”
A soft smile graced my face as I leaned forward just enough to brush my lips against his. An agonizing sound left his throat as I pulled back, just enough to look into his eyes as I spoke my next words.
“Yes,” I breathed.
No sooner had the word left my tongue than Torin was on me, pulling me by my shoulders out of the tub and into his arms. I wrapped my limbs around him, uncaring of the water that now saturated Torin’s clothes or the puddles on the floor.
Our lips fused together in an instant, tongues and teeth battling as he walked us out of the bathroom and into our bedroom.
I expected him to throw me on the bed, but his hands never left my body as he walked us to the mattress and set me down with a gentleness that had tears coating my lashes.
Our lovemaking was always a rough thing, the two of us fighting for control and dominance.
This, though, was different. Tender. Torin looked at me as he always did—as if I was something precious—but the depths of his love swimming in his honeyed irises was nearly enough to make me drown.
“Torin?” I asked, voice thick with emotion as he reverently caressed my skin, callouses snagging over smooth expanses. The rough pads of his fingers trailed over my peaked nipples, drawing a harsh breath from my lungs, before he gently traced the swell of my breasts.
My chest heaved with the overwhelming sensations as his hands moved lower, branding every inch of my body with his touch. Torin reached the apex of my thighs, fingers skimming my bare outer lips before moving back up much quicker than before.
I followed his path with my eyes until his face was even with mine once more. Noses brushing, we breathed each other’s air as he lowered his mouth enough to press his lips lightly to mine. A ghost of a kiss that had me wanting more, reaching for him. Needing him.
“Torin,” I pleaded again, not entirely sure what I was begging for now—his touch or his words.
He rewarded me with both.
Lips still brushing mine, he parted my folds with one finger, instantly finding me wet and ready.
“I love you, Ellowyn. All parts of you,” he whispered against my mouth, finger exploring the outside of my most intimate parts.
I whimpered as he rubbed against each of my openings, teasing each with the tip of his finger before withdrawing again. The heel of his palm found my clit and circled gently as he continued to mercilessly tease me.
“I know you said you need time.” His words were pained and taut, as if he expected rebuke. “But—”
“The world is uncertain,” I finished for him, fingers finding the back of his head and winding through his hair. “Better to have time to grow together than not have the time at all.”
Torin whimpered. “I cannot stand the thought of losing you,” he whispered.
I gasped as his finger breached my entrance, the circling of his palm causing sweat to bead across my skin as I quickly climbed to the peak of my desire.
Heat spread through my limbs and boiled in my low belly, threatening to release.
“Nor I, you,” I admitted breathlessly, releasing a cry of pleasure as I crested that peak.
Torin removed his hand immediately and I gasped at the loss of him—the loss of connection—before I felt him grappling with his pants. His cock sprang free and he notched himself at my entrance, thrusting inside as if he couldn’t stand another second apart.
We groaned in unison as Torin rested there, seated fully to the hilt. The laces on his pants brushed my clit, sending shockwaves of unexpected pleasure from the roughness.
My heart skipped and want cramped my lower belly again as I thought of how much he desired me; that he was so eager to unite our bodies in pleasure that he couldn’t be bothered to remove his pants completely.
Gods, I love this man.
“Move, Torin,” I whispered, scraping his scalp with my nails. “Please, move.”
Torin lifted his head from the crook of my neck, eyes blazing with lust and mouth set in a firm line. Wonder lined his expression as he withdrew and thrust again, watching every one of my expressions.
His cock dragged against my inner walls, so slow I could feel every inch of him as he pulled out and pushed back in. It was a heady thing, one that scrambled any thoughts other than of him, of the feeling of him, of the connection with him.
Torin never increased the pace, his thrusts deliciously slow but hard as he carried us to dual peaks. Never once did he pull his gaze from mine, never once did he break our connection. I watched in rapt fascination as his face tensed, teeth darting out to capture his bottom lip.
He was fighting his orgasm, wanting to delay the moment as long as possible, and that fact alone had my second release building quickly.
I concentrated on the small noises of pleasure that spilled from his full lips, the way the laces scraped against my clit, the feeling of his cock as it pushed deep inside to that pleasure point only he could find.
My nipples pebbled and skin erupted in goosebumps as the telltale signs of my orgasm intensified.
“Torin,” I pleaded, hands scrambling against his back for purchase. “Torin, I’m—I’m,” I panted. He bit hard on his bottom lip, red coating the whites of his teeth, as he fought his own pleasure.
With a cry, I came undone, my eyes shuttering closed as waves rushed over me.
Torin’s groans mixed with my whimpers as our souls broke as one, pieces flying apart to be knitted back together. Only this time, some of mine belonged to him, and some of him was woven in the fabric of me.
Just as it always was supposed to be.