Chapter 26 #2
“Cedric, what can I say other than thank you. This has not been easy but my easiness into this new life is growing daily because of you. The darkness does not exist any more. Questions, yes, but no darkness. What remains is a confidence in my life now and my connection with you. No matter what happens within here –” I bring his hand up to my temple – “I will remain yours. Because of what is happening within here –” I then drag his hand down to the space between my breasts.
“Because what is happening within here is enough to bring me to my knees. That is what I offer you if I cannot offer you anything else, my mind included.”
Cedric looks as though he is holding his breath, his brow furrowed. Perhaps this was too much.
Too fast.
Too true.
Seconds pass and my ears buzz with anxiety.
“You know what, I’m sorry,” I say, unwrapping my legs to release myself but his hands stay firm on my hips. I look back hesitantly. Nothing in me desires to have the conversation I anticipate.
“My star,” he breathes. Barely a whisper, but all I needed to hear.
“Yes,” I respond.
“I was wrong in gifting you that nickname, I now realize. You have always been more than a star. You are the sun, the moon and everything in between. You are the universe. My universe. The thought that you could try, to forgive me, to open yourself again… it rattles me.”
With his final word, Cedric captures my mouth and body and soul in one movement. I melt into him as if we have never been parted before. Our faces are wet, perhaps from the steam, perhaps from our tears.
Candor has never failed me.
My legs grasp his torso and the water envelops the both of us as Cedric leans me back against the ledge.
With one quick movement, he lifts me onto it and wraps my legs over his shoulders.
I gasp in shock, the cold air heightening my senses.
The blood within me warms as his breath skirts across my thighs and sex.
So damn hot.
“Is this okay?” Cedric breathes against my core. I lean back onto my forearms and nod. The image of him before me is disorienting.
“Hmm…” He blows air on my center and I arch my spine. “Are you sure? I can retreat, if you would like.”
I sit up and lock eyes with him. Cedric rises out of the water and brings his steaming face inches from mine. “Please, my king, make me feel good. Take me.”
Cedric captures my mouth and begins rubbing small, delicate circles.
I moan into his mouth and he quiets me with an exploring tongue.
His fingers continue moving, slowly exploring my anatomy.
His thumb finds the small bud of nerves and I lean back onto my forearms, breaking our kiss.
This does not deter him at all. He begins biting down my neck, leaving streaks of blood like I did to him.
His tongue laps my right nipple, the other palmed by his hand.
Without a chance to breathe, Cedric plunges a finger into my center and I know now that I am not being quiet.
At all.
“Moan for me, Star. Show me you like it,” he encourages as he slides his kisses down my torso. I gaze down at him as he lowers to my sex while pulsing into me, building that pleasuring pressure. How could I resist him?
Deftly, he hoists one of my legs back over his shoulder before descending upon my wet slit.
In this position, with now two fingers and his tongue providing crazed ministrations on me, I feel myself coming to the edge of the darkness.
Everything pulsing in me begs for release as he laps circles and precise movements.
“So wet,” he whispers against me before slightly grazing his teeth along me. I jolt up, unable to contain my noises.
“Cedric, please,” I beg. I moan. I can’t speak coherently now. All I can think is the desire to be claimed by him now.
Take me.
“Fuck it. As you wish, Star.”
With a final lick, he stands out of the water and I fully take in his physique.
From what I felt between clothing and our moments in the water, I knew he had many reasons to be proud.
But now, my mouth salivates at the idea of him.
In comparison to a god, Cedric looks beyond divine. A honed soldier, king and lover.
“When I take you,” he practically growls as his hand grasps my jaw. “When I take you, I want you to say my name. When you reach your pleasure, I want you to tell me. Together.”
I bite my lip and nod aggressively in his grip. “Good,” he replies with a feral grin before spitting on my mouth and plunging himself deep within me.
Stars. I see stars.
“Fuck, Cedric,” I moan into his mouth. Our teeth gnash as he drives into me slowly and fervently. Each movement precise and needful. How long has he been deprived of this?
He grabs under my ass and lifts me from the floor, still working inside me as he brings us both into the warm water.
Goosebumps litter my arms at the temperature change which only escalates the intense passion within me.
He mutters unintelligible words into my skin as if worshipping me with mumbled prayers.
My nails skirt across his back as I feel my breaking point build again.
The edge is near and I bite down on his shoulder to hold back.
With his blood seeping into my mouth, everything grows in strength exponentially.
The feel of him, the desire within me, our connection, the sounds, our movements.
All too much.
Please, Liv.
Cedric, I can’t last any longer. My voice is raspy down the bond.
Call my name.
As you wish, I moan his name and see him physically react.
With me, Star.
We explode together on the last word exchanged in silent frequencies.
With him fully within me, mind, body and soul, I shake and writhe in pleasure.
Cedric pounds into me aggressively as he matches my release.
My fangs release his skin as I moan into the open air around us.
The stars in my vision are back as my heart tries to settle itself.
Our eyes lock and everything in this moment feels right.
No questions. A divine calling. This feeling is more than physical.
It feels universal. This was not what I was expecting.
Not what I originally wanted. It’s caught up to me faster than I realized.
In this moment, he is no longer the king, the monster that I met.
In this moment, with these feelings, he is more.
What exactly, I cannot form into words. Not yet.
What I do know?
We were made for one another.
The Gods assured that.
And I believe it.
“Liv,” Cedric says my name, snapping me back to reality. He steps back a few feet into the water to get a better look at me and I sit up immediately.
“What? What’s wrong?”
The stunned king scans my entire body and I glance down at the same time.
My skin and its regular alabaster has been warmed, no, brought to life with heat.
The water around, already steaming, bubbles slightly and Cedric pulls his shadows around him to block the rising temperatures, but he does not retract.
No, he closes in, fingers skimming along my forearm.
Heat, in its essence, can be overwhelming, burning, but this is comforting. As if an ember was emboldened in me from this passion, this joy. My inner flame, fighting to relight. I bring my hands into view, marveling at the fading heat hue slowly draining from my body.
“Gods, you’re steaming.” Cedric points at my head. “I’ll admit, I’ve never seen this before. Your powers are strong but this is… a new element.” He approaches me and drags his fingers softly up my arms, across my collarbone and up my neck. “So warm,” he murmurs. “You are incredible.”
“What could this mean?” I ask, the orange warmth nearly faded. The chilly air catches up to me and I sink into the water more fully. My mind scrolls past all of the lessons and spells the cess have been trying on me. No, it couldn’t be a result of that.
Heat.
My jaw drops at the revelation. “Heat! Cedric!” I jump out of the water and examine my body again.
No, there is no way she could have known this would happen.
I turn back to face Cedric, who looks utterly confused as I ramble to myself. “Fiona said I needed heat. Warmth. I thought she was speaking generally but this is not a generalized thing.”
Cedric rubs his chin. “Who’s Fiona?”
“A cess I practice next to. A little reserved and slightly out of her mind but she told me a few weeks ago that I needed heat. And now this!” I smile and clap to myself. This could be a breakthrough for my head. But how would she know that?
“I’ll ask Avonde about it.” He smiles at me wide with fangs fully glistening. “Do you feel okay? Could you access your magic right now?”
I nod excitedly and focus on that internal well, the pocket of space I can imagine. Fuzzy, unsure, but it exists. I close my mouth and channel a heated breath in and out of my nose. The thread of magic is sealed tight but if I can melt into it…
Nothing.
“Well, we’ll have to do that again,” I sigh.
“To be sure,” Cedric adds. I wink and send a silent sorry to the guards in the snow.