Chapter Forty-Two
THE SPY
Itugged on our clasped hands, forcing him to stand and walk around the tub.
He kept his eyes on me, moving slowly, a lion with his prey.
His loose pants hung low at his hips, the arrowed muscles at his waistline drew my thirsty gaze.
He used his free hand to release his pants; they pooled on the floor.
Biting my lower lip, my heart raced in anticipation.
His body did not disappoint. It would make even the most exquisite marble statues weep.
He kept his underwear on as he made to step into the gleaming copper tub, his large arousal unmistakable.
I arched my brow in question. A half smile coerced a dimple to his scruffy cheek.
“Your pleasure is my pleasure, m’est kisertes.
I’ve thought about doing this for a very long time.
My turn will come later.” The words came out in baritone silk.
I scooted further back into the arms of the massive tub as he stepped inside. Desire and anticipation coursed through my veins. His patient self-restraint almost made me jump out of my own skin. I didn’t want him to take his time. I forced myself to relinquish control and follow his lead.
I’d give him fifteen seconds.
He knelt down in front of me, water lapping at his thighs, as I opened my legs, inviting him closer. His broad shoulders blocked the view of the mountains through the window. Moonlight illuminated his body, forging him into a glowing god.
He softly held my jaw, along with my heart, in his sturdy hands.
His eyes, heavy with want, overflowed with adoration as he tilted my chin, taking his sweet time searing me with his gaze.
I wanted him to mark me. With his eyes, his hands, his tongue.
I shoved a little encouraging wave of water at his back.
“So demanding,” he chuckled. His hand curled around the back of my neck, bringing me closer.
His lips crushed mine and I met him with equal vigor.
My lips parted and he took his fill of my mouth.
The sweep of his tongue flipped a switch in my body.
Everything around us fell mute. Water curled out of me, and the tub sloshed with our movements.
I arched into him, needing to feel the weight of him, my fingers grasping at every inch of his toned body.
He eased back onto his heels, pupils blown wide. Amusement crinkled his eyes as I whimpered in protest. “The dreams that have plagued me at the thought of your taste…” He shook his head, chuckling. “Don’t let me drown.”
Want lanced through my body, heating my core.
His hands delved beneath the surface of the water, finding my calves, smoothly exploring their way upward.
I could feel my desire warming between my legs as I leaned my head back, relishing in his command of my body.
His fingers meandered to my knees, stroking upward as they splayed hungrily, stimulating the delicate skin at the top of my inner thighs.
He edged to my center, leisurely exploring every dip and curve.
Ice crystallized along the tub’s edge where my grip cut into it.
I never knew connection until this moment. I didn’t understand care before this man. I never felt so greedy and so generous. I’d never been so exposed and cherished as I was in this candlelit bathroom.
Dom dipped his head under the water, and I finally connected his previous words to his actions.
Immediately, I threw my magic down, allowing him to breathe below the surface.
I felt the curve of his smile against my inner thigh as he dragged his tongue toward my center, his teeth grazing the sensitive skin.
I welcomed him into me. He gripped my hips, tugging them downward, urging my legs further apart.
The heat of his mouth coaxed an unbidden groan. My body begged for more, and his shadows answered as his tongue performed its own brand of magic. Ribbons of velvet shadow snaked up my stomach, teasing my nipples and tightening around my neck.
My skin flushed, and I could feel his magic beckoning my blood toward the surface, where his mouth sucked and teased against me.
I was an inferno of sensations. Every touch of hand, tongue, and shadow scored into me, branding me as his.
And I freely gave in to him. He could suck me dry and I would beg for more.
Each stroke and caress tuned a harmonious note to a collective symphony.
My core tensed as the crescendo built. The metal candle holders dipped in their floating vigils.
Light flickered against the copper bowl of the tub.
My knees started to come together with my collective groans.
Dom’s hands forced them back down, opening me further. I would obey his every command.
Like a magnet, he found the throbbing pulse at my center, nibbling, then sucked on it, amplifying my ache. My back arched at the sensation. His satisfaction transferred to me through the hum of his approval. I bit my lip as my body tensed and thrummed in eager response.
“You’re delicious,” he spoke into me, the blow of his breath a different stimulation to my core.
My breath quickened as I buried my hands into the floating strands of his dark hair. He sucked harder as blessings and curses spilled from my lips, his attunement to my body its own form of worship.
My focus on anything but his mouth made my hold on Dom’s air bubble waver.
With an impatient flick of my hand, I parted the water around him, enclosing us in a giant bubble of the tub’s water, effectively clearing his path to finish what he started.
Water swirled with the iridescence of my magic, a mimicry of the transcendent colors my aura surely emitted.
Dom locked his eyes with mine as he worked me mercilessly.
His fingers gripped my hips as he poured every ounce of tenderness and desire into his work.
If he were an artist, this performance would be his masterpiece.
The symbol above my heart warmed as a tsunami of emotions flowed into me.
I wondered briefly if they originated from me or through Dom.
I peered down at the taut muscles of his sculpted back, flexing as he tore through all my layers. In this moment, everything in our souls aligned. This was where I belonged. This was home. I closed my eyes at the realization, the truth of it settling firm and immovable.
His fingers again moved inside me as if mapping every spot that left me writhing. “Eyes on me,” he breathed. How could I not obey?
“Good girl.” He winked, resuming his work ambitiously, thoroughly.
My body flushed as the pressure increased.
I stood on the edge of oblivion and not one part of me gave a damn.
I could almost hear him command me to come for him.
He thrust his tongue inside me, unyielding, before replacing it with his fingers, his mouth again sinking onto the swollen, sensitive spot, luring every mounting sensation to the surface.
It built and built. My mind fell blank, save for the beauty and passion of this moment.
Somewhere along the way, I’d decided that this type of love would never happen to me. This amount of raw desire, reciprocated, would remain an unfulfilled longing. As the candles flickered, the hinges on the vaulted door I stored my silent hopes in blew right off.
His name left my lips as my vision exploded in starlight. I unraveled. I reforged. This ecstasy pushed into the sacred, and Dom felt it too, his body responding to my own.
He rode my waves until the pulses melted away.
My taxed muscles and waning euphoria left me dazed.
I made room for him beside me in the cradling tub, and he shifted into the space, moving my back to his chest. Every point of contact left me purring in contentment.
I relaxed against the safety of Dom’s broad shoulders. In his arms, protection enclosed me.
He reverently tucked my hair behind my ear.
I released my hold on the globe of bathwater still enclosing us.
It streamlined down the drain. My magic sucked the water from both of our hair and bodies leaving a vaporous mist in the aftermath.
The tub’s copper surface remained soft and warm through the power of Dom’s magic.
“You are magnificent,” he whispered into my ear, leaving a shiver skating down my spine.
A soft smile spread across my swollen lips, and a faint flush dusted my cheeks.
He pressed languid kisses along my neck and shoulders.
“You taste like life and hope and destiny. It’s not that everything else hasn’t mattered.
It all led me to this. To you.” I tilted my head granting him further access to my throat. I would never get enough of him.
“I never knew it could be this way.” I turned toward him in the crowded space.
He adjusted his arms, placing his hand behind my head to prevent it from knocking against the copper wall.
I wound my legs with his, aligning our bodies.
I brushed my hand down his face, his expression wiped of all the scowls he perpetually wore.
In its place lay a vulnerability that suffused the fabric of the air with a tenderness so divine that words would only stain the threads.
Exhaustion clawed at me, shoving its weight through my limbs.
My eyelids betrayed my desire to physically reciprocate.
The softening euphoria, the warmth of the bath, and the multitude of extreme emotions from the day had pushed my fatigue over the edge.
Staying conscious was an insurmountable task.
He stood from the bath, grabbing a towel. I rose to meet him as he wrapped it around my body. Though I relished my own strength and capability, in this particular moment, I let him take care of me.
He helped me out of the tub and back into his room, his hand refusing to relinquish my own.
I didn’t want to think about anything but this man in this moment.
I shut the windows of my mind to all intrusive fears groping their way into my awareness.
As I breathed Dom in, all residual turmoil stilled.
My festering anxieties fell silent in the balm of his presence.
I pulled on one of Dom’s shirts, his scent a warm sedative. The collar fell to the side, exposing my shoulder and the top of our shared symbol. It reminded me of something out of a Sarulien book, but it was more vines than the usual swirling script.
We held tight to one another as we burrowed beneath the blankets. He tucked me in the warmth of his hard body, his legs tangling with mine. “Rest, m’est kisertes.”
“Will you finally tell me what m’est kisertes means?”
He inclined his head, debating his response. Amusement flickered.
“What do you think my greatest weakness is?” he responded, ignoring my demand.
I rolled my eyes. “I would guess it’s your curse. Or the fate of the rebellion.”
He reached for my hand, his thumb making circles around my knuckles. “What if it’s you?”
“Then I suppose that’s more a reflection of your poor taste in women.”
His lip twitched in a barely contained smirk, “It means ‘my temptation,’ ” he relented.
My magic languorously stretched, satisfaction filling my blood, at receiving the moniker. “Surely I can’t be a temptation if…” I placed my palm against his chest. “If I’m already yours?”
He smiled into my hair, pulling me flush against his chest. He peppered my bare shoulder with languid kisses. I relaxed in the ensuing silence. In this small moment, everything felt right. Even if I knew it wouldn’t last.
I registered a whisper, low and earnest against my temple, but sleep consumed me all too swiftly before I could make out what he said.