Chapter 56 #2
His hand with the soap dipped below the water to press between my thighs. I widened my legs to give him better access, and he dove into scrubbing me with gentle strokes. Our gazes locked as he rubbed back and forth, building my need until I gasped for breath and clung to his shoulders.
“Dare…”
His lips quirked. “What do you want?”
“You.”
One moment, I stood in the water, and the next, I lay flat on the stone beside the pool with my butt right at the edge, and my legs spread wide apart.
Darrow remained in the water, raking his gaze across me, then his attention dipped to my wet center.
Rather than touch me there, he began soaping my rear and legs, taking his time while I lay splayed out for him.
It was so damned erotic that I could barely breathe.
I desperately wanted him to caress my pussy again—not everywhere else.
“You’re teasing me,” I said, half glaring at him.
He began cupping water to rinse me. “And I sense how much you’re enjoying it, so don’t bother complaining.”
“I want your mouth on me.”
The left side of his lips quirked. “If I start, I won’t stop until you’re screaming my name loud enough for my sister and friends to hear you down the tunnel.”
“You think you’re that good?”
He chuckled as he finished rinsing me with a glide of his hand down my leg. “I know I am, and so do you.”
“Prove it,” I dared him, uncaring of the consequences. It would be worth it.
Darrow grabbed each of my thighs to hold them still and then molded his mouth to my pussy.
I cried out when he began to lick slowly, teasingly.
All the while, he kept his gaze on my face.
Just when I thought I couldn’t take any more licking, he began to suck and plunge his fingers in and out of me.
His desire was so strong that it fed mine and vice versa.
We had truly been missing out before completing our mating bond.
He kept licking and sucking rhythmically, taking me higher and higher. I had worried he’d pull back to tease me, but he didn’t. He wanted me coming hard and fast, and in only a few short minutes, I was screaming his name as he worked every throb of my orgasm from my body.
I panted for breath as he pulled away and began stroking his cock. Still staring into my eyes, he moved his closed hand slowly. I started to rise, wanting to touch him, but he shook his head.
“Stay right there and let me look at you while I do this.”
It was hard to lie there with my body completely exposed and him not touching me. “What if I want you inside me?”
“Does it make you wild to see me doing this?” he asked, squeezing the head of his dick.
“Yes.”
He groaned as he continued to stroke himself. “I’m getting close. If you want me to come inside you, show me how you want it.”
My choice. I didn’t hesitate to lower my legs into the water, turn around, and lay my chest on the stone beside the pool.
My ass pointed directly at him. Darrow wasted no time splashing my way, then burying his cock inside me.
It felt so good to be connected to him again that I let out a cry of pleasure that matched his.
“How hard do you want it?” he asked.
I looked over my shoulder at him. “Do your worst.”
He smiled and then grabbed my hair, looping it in his fist. A thrill always ran through me when he did that. It was so dominant and sexy the way he took full control. With his other hand, he held my hip. “Brace yourself.”
I flattened my hands on the stone. He began pounding into me harder and harder with each thrust. Water from the pool splashed over the sides.
All the while, he kept my neck and back arched as he pulled on my hair.
The combination of pleasure and pain was exactly what I needed.
Our wet skin slapped together in a furious rhythm as he grunted from the force of his thrusts.
I clawed at the cave floor like a cat, unable to stop the keening sounds coming out of my mouth.
Why couldn’t we always be like this—wild and free?
Despite him saying he was close, he still managed to hold on until he sensed me near the edge, then he took us both over.
We shouted so loudly that it was a wonder the cave didn’t collapse upon us.
The feeling of him swelling and pulsing inside me fed my pleasure, with our orgasms echoing each other through our bond. The power of it shook me.
When I relaxed, he ran a hand along my back, then followed it with kisses at my neck and downward as he pulled his cock out of me.
I shivered at the feel of his lips. “What are you doing?”
“Showing you how giving me what you want could work to your advantage.”
I glanced over my shoulder at him, where he’d stopped at the small of my back. “How so?”
“Every time you let me worship your body, I’ll give you one of my secrets,” he said, then nibbled on my ass.
I whimpered. “Which one will you give me now?”
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes.”
I would do anything to learn more about him, despite it being a dangerous game.
Now that we were touching again, I didn’t want it to end.
I’d known this would happen. It was why I’d fought it so hard, but sleeping next to him every night with the sheets cold between us had built an ache I could no longer ignore.
The loneliness that swallowed me after Sariyah’s betrayal nearly shattered me. I didn’t want to be blind to all the facets of my husband and end up caught off guard again. The more I knew, the easier it would be to see a problem coming and prepare for it.
Ignorance was neither bliss nor salvation. It was willful self-destruction.
He nibbled on my other ass cheek. “I’ve told you very little about my mother’s older brother—the one I recently killed—so perhaps I should start there. He was one of the reasons I fought hard through the dark elf trials.”
Darrow had barely told me anything about Radan beyond running into him in Porrine and that final time while rescuing the princess. The story behind their animosity was still a mystery.
“Why? What did he do to you?”
He plunged his fingers into my still-wet pussy, and I didn’t care that it was a little sore as he stroked inside me while resuming his story.
“My uncle’s jealousy knew no bounds when I came into my powers, and it was clear to everyone that I would one day become stronger than him.
He continuously tried to undermine me before the king.
My grandfather took an interest in me that was far beyond what he’d ever shown his son. ”
I gasped and moaned as he continued to speak. Darrow kissed and caressed me, while gently stroking inside, the way I’d always denied him. I was too caught up in his tale and the desire he fed inside me to care. We were both getting what we wanted.
“And so the more Radan tried to make me look like a fool, the harder I worked to strengthen my powers and become the greatest at everything.” Darrow turned me over so our gazes met, and he stepped between my legs. “In those first few years, he killed almost everyone whom I befriended.”
I could see the pain in his gaze and feel the torture of his emotions through our bond. “It is how I learned to keep my relationships a secret, so no one I cared about would be targeted. He even had spies in Veronna. One of them nearly killed Loden when he was only fourteen before I stopped them.”
Darrow was three years older than my cousin, yet so young to already be fending off attackers on his friends.
My uncle discouraged anyone from getting close to me except Sariyah.
I’d thought it was because she was the commander’s daughter and the king’s great niece, and therefore, the only one who was suitable.
Now, I knew he wanted to ensure that I had only her as my confidant.
My husband and I had both faced difficulties forming relationships as we grew up due to our family’s interference.
“I’m sorry,” I said, sitting up and caressing his cheek. “Neither of us can trust easily, can we?”
He kissed me so achingly that my chest tightened, then he pulled away.
“I trust you with my life, Aella. The trouble is that I’ve had to guard myself for so long that I don’t know how to share my secrets with anyone.
Some aren’t even mine, and others are too dangerous to reveal, but I will do my best to tell you what I can. ”
His fingers traced my thighs, nearly distracting me from forming a reply. I stared into his gray eyes. “How many of those secrets put us in danger?”
“More than I like.” Darrow’s gaze turned fierce.
“If I’d known you were my mate and that I’d grow to care about you, I never would have suggested marriage.
I would have found a way to protect you from afar where my enemies couldn’t reach you.
I’m sorry I’ve dragged you into my problems when you’ve already had enough. ”
The wall I’d put between us was beginning to crack.
He couldn’t lie to me anymore without me knowing right away.
When he spoke now, it was pure truth. “The only way you could have ever resolved the situation with my uncle was exactly how you did it. While I’m terrified of what is happening around us, I’m grateful I’m free for the first time in my life.
I’m where I want to be, not where someone forced me to be. ”
“Good,” he said, then his gaze intensified. “But never be afraid to leave if circumstances become too much—even from me.”
“You wouldn’t come after me?” I asked, lifting a brow.
He laughed darkly. “Oh, I would because every part of me believes you’re mine forever, but there may be times when you should avoid me. Run far and fast if that happens.”
“Like that day in the dungeon when you lost control?” I asked, that moment instantly coming to mind.
He winced. “Yes. I’d rather you run and save yourself than try to interfere again. If anyone has the power to elude me, it’s you with your portal magic.”
“What happened that day?”
Darrow’s eyes turned unfocused, though his hands began running up and down my back.
“Radan did things to me when I was young that I can’t speak about because I hardly remember them, and what little I do comes in the form of nightmares.
To survive, I had to become someone or maybe something else.
If my anger—rage—rises quickly, that side can come out.
The God of Wrath favors me because of it, but when I take his powers, he can control my focus better than I can on my own. It’s…complicated.”
I rested my forehead against his chest, feeling my walls crack even more. “We need to break your curse.”
“Yes, we do.”