Chapter 36
Chapter
Before I could say anything, Aidenar lifted me from the floor.
His arms were strong and sure, and the warmth of his hands bled through the thin cloth of my slip, setting my skin aflame.
He carried me to the bed and laid me upon its edge, gentle, yet with such intensity in his gaze.
He leaned over me, and his mouth found mine in a heated, unhurried kiss.
His hands began to wander down my body, brushing over my breasts, my waist, my hips.
Each touch was a spark that woke a deeper fire within me.
He drew back all at once. I looked up at him, breathless and bewildered.
He walked around the bed and halted at its foot, facing my parted legs.
Before I could form a single word, he caught my thighs and pulled me in one swift motion to the very edge.
He sank to his knees on the cold stone floor, his silver eyes gleaming in the dim light, as if he saw something in me I didn’t yet understand.
“Aidenar, what are you doing?” I asked, startled. My voice trembled, betraying the storm that raged within me.
“What your body wanted me to do for a very long time,” he murmured, his lips brushing the inside of my thigh, soft and almost reverent. His hands stroked my legs in slow, deliberate paths, as if he wished to learn every inch of my skin by heart.
“Aidenar, but…” I began, seeking words, but he silenced me, pressing his thumb to my lips.
“Hush,” he whispered, his voice like a warm wind curling around me. “Tonight I want to watch you come. I want to see you fall apart for me.”
His words sent another shiver through my body.
He slipped his thumb between my lips, and I, scarcely aware of myself, began to lick and suck at it softly.
A fierce light flared in his eyes. I saw arousal, but also something more, something that looked like a triumph.
Slowly he withdrew his thumb and, without breaking our gaze, let his hand travel downward until it reached the heat between my thighs.
He began to caress me there in slow, circling strokes that made my hips move of their own will.
With his other hand he drew down the neckline of my slip, exposing my breasts.
His fingers closed around them, teasing my nipples until my body felt as though it burned from within.
I had never known such a sensation. My skin seemed to glow with it, and where his touch lingered, a deep, aching sweetness gathered.
When his mouth descended to taste me, I could scarcely breathe.
At first his kisses were light, then firmer, more demanding, until my thoughts scattered.
He watched me with those silver eyes, full of dark satisfaction, as though every tremor, every quiet sound he drew from me belonged to him alone.
His fingers slid inside me, moving with a steady, knowing rhythm, so precise that my body arched of its own accord.
I caught his hair in my hand, tugging lightly, unable to hold back the soft moans that slipped from my lips.
My eyes closed as a wave of heat spread through me, growing stronger, harder to contain with each breath.
“Aiden…” I whispered, yet I could not find the rest of the words. My body was like a rising tide, ready to break upon the shore.
He only tightened his grip on my breast, and his movements became more insistent. He moved up, his face coming close to mine while his fingers continued their relentless rhythm, drawing me to the very edge.
“I want to hear you moan,” he breathed in my ear, his voice like a sweet, poisonous draught. “I want that sound. It belongs to me. Only to me.”
His words were the final push that sent me over the brink.
He bit my nipple gently, his hands continuing to caress me.
My body arched, and I tried to stifle a scream, but I couldn’t.
Moans tore from my throat, louder than I wanted, and my body began to tremble in uncontrollable spasms. His movements slowed, but he didn’t stop, slowly bringing me back to reality.
I lay beside him, my head tucked into the hollow of his neck. My body still trembled, struggling to find rest after what I had just endured.
“If I could, I would take you like this every night,” he said softly. “Every day I would watch you lose yourself for me, watch your body arch for me, hear you moan into my ear.”
His words stirred something in me that I could not name. I didn’t wish for him to stop. He was the only one I wanted to surrender to completely, he could do anything to me. I would let him. I wanted it. I remained silent, not wanting him to know it. To know how much control he had over me.
I rested my head against his chest and listened to the beating of his heart, swift and uneven like my own. His hands glided over my body in slow, soothing strokes, as though he sought to calm the storm he himself had summoned.
We lay in silence, with only the whisper of the wind from the balcony filling the room. By his side I allowed myself to be fragile, unguarded.
At some point, Aidenar broke the silence. I had known this question would come.
“I know I should not ask,” he began, his voice uncertain, “but how is it that…” He faltered, unsure how to shape the words. I knew well what he meant.
“That I have never been with anyone,” I said bluntly, before I could stop myself.
Aidenar looked at me. “You are beautiful, and of a good Family. You probably had many admirers on the islands.”
I sighed deeply. All the memories I had tried to leave behind gathered again at the edge of my mind. So much had happened that life on the islands seemed like a distant dream.
“There was a certain nobleman,” I began, choosing my words with care, “of a family that was counting on liaison with the Veymaris. My father knew he needed strong allies, so he made an agreement with the boy’s father.
He was a few years older than me. Our future betrothal was announced.
There was no talk of a wedding yet, but both families wished for some security.
I didn’t even rebel too much about it. He was handsome, older, rather kind, and the girls adored him.
I thought I could’ve ended up with someone worse.
“Our so-called engagement was mostly a shake of hands between our fathers. I began to spend some time with him. He was a typical lordling. I don’t know if I loved him, perhaps I only wished to believe I did.
“Over time he started to be very controlling. He wanted to decide everything about me, about my life. What I should and shouldn’t do. What was ladylike and what wasn’t. He wanted a perfect future noble wife, sitting in a dress in silence.
“Little by little he began to press me. He thought that, since we were to be together one day, he had the right to me, to my body.” I saw Aidenar’s eyes sharpen.
“It was before I had any power. I was very very young, and I wasn’t ready to be close with anyone.
He grew more insistent, more rough. One day he crossed a line.
” Aidenar’s whole body went tense, veins stood out along his forearms, but he said nothing.
“Nothing happened,” I said with relief. “I managed to escape. Just a few bruises. That’s when something broke in me that day. I told myself I would never let myself be treated like that again. It was probably shortsighted. Our Family would probably be better off if I had married him after all.”
I drew a slow breath. “I went to my mother and told her I would throw myself into the sea if I were forced to endure more of it. She looked at me with that mad, distant stare of hers and understood. I don’t know whether she saw the future then, or only the present, but she nodded and spoke to my father.
The wedding was called off. And I promised myself I would never let a man treat me like that again.
I started training harder, fighting more.
I spent more time at men’s activities than at women’s.
I didn’t want to be seen as a potential wife.
“After a while my power awakened,” I added quietly.
“That changed everything. I became… unstable. For years I struggled with the element, tried to bend it to my will. After a while, I met another boy. A fine sailor. He wasn’t from a wealthy or noble family.
But he was a good man. He was gentle and kind and fair to look upon.
I loved him, as much as a young heart can.
Nothing happened between us yet, I was taking my time. ”
The words caught in my throat. Now I had to say it aloud. I didn’t want to. But there was no escape. Sooner or later, he would have to know.
“Until that day came,” I went on, my voice breaking.
“I waited for him to return from yet another voyage.
His ship had already drawn near our shores when the storm broke.
Never had such a fury been seen in our waters.
Everyone feared the ship would be smashed against the rocks.
I tried to calm the sea, to grant them safe passage.
I was trying to call my element, to save him, but I failed. Everything went dark.
“When they found me on the cliffs, it was already over. Ship never made port. The sea claimed them all. It claimed him as well. The sea I was supposed to control, but I couldn’t!”
Aidenar said nothing.
“Some began to whisper that it was me who had called the storm. That I had killed them. Slowly even I stopped knowing what was true about me. Rumors started spreading. No one wanted to marry a girl with a power she couldn’t control.
Our Family’s fortunes grew worse and the Lords didn’t see any benefits of being involved with me.
“And so I was alone. Everyone feared me. No one wanted me.”
Silence fell between us, heavy as stone. The very air seemed to grow thick. Aidenar didn’t speak for a long while, but his arms tightened around mine. He didn’t pull away. Finally, he touched my face. His voice was soft.
“You don’t have to be ashamed. I know nothing will bring those people back to life.
But you didn’t do it on purpose. You didn’t ask for this power either.
None of us did.” He moved to face me, looking into my eyes with those silver diamonds of his.
“I’m not afraid of you. And I want every part of you. Nothing less.”
I didn’t know why tears suddenly spilled from my eyes.
No one had ever spoken to me like that. No one has ever tried as hard for me as he did.
I kissed him, kissed him through my tears.
I grabbed his neck and back and pulled my body closer to his.
I wanted him more than anything. My whole body trembled against him, and I felt heat in my stomach.
I knew I wanted him within me, that I needed to feel him again.
I crossed one leg over him and began to press myself against the hard line of his arousal.
His cock answered at once. Aidenar, surprised, broke the kiss and looked down at me.
“I don’t want to strain you,” he said. “I don’t want to cause you pain.”
“Aiden,” I whispered, “I am yours. Take me.”
He needed no further encouragement. He was already so hard, pressing against me with all his strength.
He was just waiting for my permission. In one swift movement, Aiden flipped me onto my back and was between my thighs.
I knew I would never get enough. I would never get enough of his face, his silver eyes, his muscular, perfect body, his confident smile.
And now I knew I would never get enough of him inside me.
We yielded to one another without haste. When at last we came together, I drifted off to sleep. Lying next to him, I felt safe.