Rennick stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, loathed to put his dirty clothes back on. An overnight stay had not been on his agenda, so he’d brought no other clothes. In the village, he hadn’t thought to grab more than a new shirt to replace the one he’d torn.
Amelia looked up, her lips parting as her eyes trailed over every inch of his exposed skin. Her gaze left a trail of heat in its wake, and his cock slowly rose under her perusal. Discretion didn’t exist in a room the size of a dinner plate, and he had no choice but to obviously press down on his growing erection.
“I don’t have any clean clothes,” he explained. “Do you have men’s clothes lying around?”
If she did, he would kill every man in the kingdom.
Amelia swallowed hard and dragged her eyes to his. “I don’t. Are you going to sleep…” She waved her hand haphazardly, indicating to his naked body.
“Yes.” He closed the distance between them. “Or would that make you uncomfortable?”
“It’s fine.” Rennick bit back a smile as she stumbled over her words and red crept up her neck into her cheeks. He wondered if she flushed when she came, too. “I don’t know where you’ll sleep,” she added, glancing over her shoulder at the small bed in the corner.
“If I hold you, we’ll both fit.” He didn’t need to assess the bed. He would make himself fit on a pea if it meant being next to her. “I won’t try to fuck you,” he added. “Unless you ask me to.”
She straightened and narrowed her eyes when he smirked. “Sleeping
only.”
Damnit. Whipping off his towel, he sauntered to the bed, relishing in her sharp intake of breath and the mutters that followed.
“I’m only doing this because I feel like I know you,” she said defensively, but why she felt the need to defend her actions, she didn’t know. They were mates. “I don’t jump into bed with men simply because they ask.”
He turned to her slowly. “Good. I try to avoid bloodshed when I can.”
Eyes wide, she whirled around and snuffed out the candles, then quietly felt her way to the bed.
Amelia sat carefully on the edge and laid back, facing away from him. No matter what she said, he knew his nakedness made her anxious. He draped the towel over his hips to put a small barrier between them.
Gathering the comforter and sheets, he pulled them over their bodies, turned on his side, and laid his arm over her middle. Her body lay stiff against his. “Did you hurt Gilpin?” she whispered.
The mention of her past lover made his teeth grind together. Sitting up, he looked down at her silhouette, shown only by the moonlight filtering through the window. “Does the answer matter?” Does she still care for him?
She rolled slightly to meet his gaze. “Yes.”
“I killed him.” Lying would have eased her fears, but she needed to know him completely. He was a man who would slaughter the masses for her without question. Not even the gods held as much power over him as she did.
Amelia made a strangled sound and tried to scramble out of bed, but he grabbed her hips and yanked her back. “W-why would you kill him?” Her voice rose an octave, the tremble more prominent with every word. “He didn’t do anything wrong. It was my decision.”
Amelia’s fear penetrating his chest awoke his own. What if she leaves me?
As Rennick took in the deathly pallor of her face and her shaking hands, he sighed. “I wasn’t going to kill him at first, but he said you were nothing.” She scoffed, and the fear that had invaded Rennick’s chest shifted into angry indignation. “It doesn’t matter if he called me an ugly bitch. You
don’t kill an innocent man because of it!”
He sat up, maneuvered her onto her back, and hovered above her, caging her in with his arms.
“Everyone has a moral line they won’t cross.” His chest heaved, and Amelia braced a trembling hand against his chest. “I don’t need a line to know what’s considered good or bad, but if I did, there isn’t a line I wouldn’t cross for you.” He lowered himself and brushed his lips against hers. “I will write your name on my chest with the blood of any man who tries to covet what is meant to be ours. Innocent or not.”
 |
Amelia stared, slack-jawed, into the eyes of a cold-blooded killer.
My cold-blooded killer. She jolted at her own thoughts. “What is wrong with me?” she whispered, rubbing her eyes. Gilpin was an innocent man.
“You’re perfect,” Rennick said with so much conviction she almost believed it herself.
“I’m going to hell,” she muttered, hating herself for being unnaturally turned on by his words. Gilpin, please forgive me.
Rennick moved back to his side of the bed and turned on his side to face her. “If he was a good person, he rests now in an eternal paradise. If he wasn’t, he deserved to die anyway.”
The words were as simple and pragmatic as they were fucked up. She looked to the gods. “Please let us into the heavens when we die.”
Her mate draped his arm across her stomach and pulled her close. “Wherever we go, we go together.” He buried his face in her hair and
inhaled. “Gods, you smell good.”
A small laugh escaped her. “Are you sniffing me?”
“Of course.” He did it again, burrowing his face into her neck.
She scrunched her shoulders and rolled sideways to face away from him. He tugged her close, pressing her snuggly against his chest. “Sleep. We have a few hours of travel tomorrow.” He buried his nose in her hair again, drawing in another whiff of her scent.
“Stop smelling me,” she mumbled and pushed at his large arm. “You’re crushing me.”
He chuckled and moved his arm to rest on his own leg.
Feeling him against her back made Amelia want to do anything but sleep. She internally scolded herself for insisting they do nothing sexual.
A couple of hours later, when counting the planks on her ceiling didn’t help her insomnia and Rennick had long been asleep, she trailed her hand down her body toward the apex of her thighs. If she didn’t get relief soon, sleep would evade her all night.
Their towel barrier was long gone, and his semi-hard dick pressed against her ass was too much to bear. Would getting up to go to the bathroom wake him? She didn’t want to chance it. Staying in bed with slow and silent movements might be safer.
Snails moved faster than the hem of her shift slid to her waist. Once the fabric rested on her stomach, she dipped her hand into her underwear.
The tips of her fingers skimmed past her clit and delved slightly into her entrance, wetting them enough to glide smoothly across her skin. She remained hyperaware of Rennick behind her and tried not to pulse her hips as her fingers moved in gentle circles on her clit.
His filthy promises resurfaced, and she wondered if he would make good on them. She bit her lip to hold back the moan summoned by the thought of his handsome face buried between her legs.
A large hand covered hers over the top of her underwear, and Rennick’s deep voice rumbled, “If you don’t like me smelling your neck, you will hate what I smell next if you keep that up.”
“I thought you were asleep,” she choked out, slightly mortified, but mainly aroused by his large hand so close to where her body wanted it. The feeling only intensified when he lightly stroked the back of her hand through the thin cloth.
Her head dipped when he slid his arm from under her pillow and pressed himself closer to the wall, guiding her body from her side to her back. He propped himself on his elbow, his eyes never leaving hers as he moved his hand down to caress the inside of her thighs.
“Couldn’t sleep?” he asked, his voice cavalier like her hand wasn’t inside of her pussy.
She shook her head, unsure what to do, but when his fingers trailed up the sensitive skin of her inner thighs and over her hand again with the slightest pressure, her hips moved on their own accord.
His hand continued its ascent, moving over her bunched up shift to her breasts. The friction of the silk moving over her nipples made her whimper and close her eyes.
“Eyes on me, love.”
Her lashes fluttered open, and a light sheen of cold sweat broke out on her forehead from the anticipation.
“Do you know how many times I thought about you touching yourself?” He trailed his eyes down her body, stopping them where her hand disappeared into her underwear. He sat up to position himself between her legs. “Millions.”
His face stopped inches from her lace-covered pussy, and when he looked up at her, she gave a subtle nod. His teeth were on the white cloth in an instant, biting the fabric. His large hands lifted her hips, and her legs flailed a little. With her underwear still between his teeth, he moved them down her thighs, stopping at her knees to remove them the rest of the way with one of his hands.
It was the most erotic thing she’d ever seen, and arousal coated her fingers. He grasped her wrist and brought her hand to his face. His tongue ran the length of her fingers until the tips were at his lips. “I knew you’d taste divine,” he said before sucking her fingers into his mouth.
All she could do was stare with fascination. “Get up,” he commanded. She scrambled out of bed and waited expectantly. He laid back and beckoned her closer before grabbing her waist and hoisting her over to him. “Bring that perfect cunt to my face, love.”
High winds didn’t shake trees as much as his words made her body vibrate with need. She positioned her knees on either side of his head, holding her shift up to see him.
He stared at her pussy and licked his lips. “I have waited for this moment since I knew what it meant to eat.” He looked at her face. “Grab the headboard and sit down.”
A boldness she didn’t normally possess overcame her, and she moved down his chest, or tried to. He grabbed her hips with a growl. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“To do this,” she said as seductively as she could and leaned forward, pressing her mouth to his. A large hand cupped the back of her head, holding her in place. His tongue licked her lips, and she met it with her own, tangling them together in a sensual dance.
She moaned against his mouth and rocked her hips against his stomach. He broke away, panting. “Move your pussy to my face or I’ll move it for you.”
She shifted her body up, but before she could lower her hips, he tugged her down, impaling her with his tongue. She cried out, bracing one hand on the wall and the other on the headboard.
Breathing must have been impossible for him, but it didn’t stop him from licking every inch of her. She tried to raise her body, but he held her firm, his tongue moving between the valleys of her sensitive skin, circling her clit, and driving her mad.
His movements switched between frenzied and languid, the drag of his tongue creating a sensation like no other. He’d push into her entrance, only to trace his way to her clit and suck until she screamed.
She was a mess, unable to stop the unintelligible sounds escaping her as she rode his talented mouth. Her hips moved faster, and he moaned against her as his fingers dug into the soft flesh of her hips.
He said something, the sound muffled by her body, and when his tongue flicked over her clit at rapid speed, she came harder than she ever had with his name on her lips. As she rode out her release, her thighs seized and squeezed his head.
Once the twitching stopped, he moved her down his body, resting her on his hips. The shine to his lips made her already warm cheeks hotter, and he smiled lazily. “Beautiful.”
They stared at each other for what felt like forever. Realizing his dick strained against her ass, Amelia lifted to her knees to align herself with the head of his cock, but he stopped her.
“Not tonight.” He sat up, running his hand down her spine. “The first time I have you, I want to take my time, and we have an early morning tomorrow.”
Disappointment surged forward, accompanied by her insecurities. “Don’t do that,” he said, forcing her to look at him. “I want nothing
more than to bury myself in your perfect little cunt, but not tonight.” He kissed her softly and laid back. “Lift up.”
Confused, she did as he said, and he slid his hand under her, lifting his first three fingers. “Sit down, love.”
Understanding dawned on her, and she tentatively lowered herself. He focused on where their bodies would connect to guide his fingers inside.
A gasp caught in her throat as he filled her, and once fully seated, she rested her hands on his chest. Before she could say anything, he said one word.
“Ride.”
He didn’t have to tell her twice. She rolled her hips once, testing out the new position.
Rennick’s eyes trailed over every inch of her, like he couldn’t decide where to focus his attention. “Look how pretty you are riding my hand.” His gaze locked on where she moved against his palm. “So fucking beautiful.”
His fingers flicked in a steady rhythm inside her, making her dizzy as her senses zeroed in on the feeling. She didn’t know how long she rode his hand—it could have been seconds, minutes, or hours as the euphoria took over.
His free hand traced up her side to cup her breast, his thumb grazing over her nipple. He sat forward and hooked the same hand around her back to shift her body from his pelvis to his thighs.
With every roll of her hips, he thrust his large fingers harder. They filled her completely as his palm ground against her clit. “Your cunt can’t get enough.” He groaned. “My fingers are fucking soaked.” He thrust them harder, and she cried out. Her tits bounced with the harsh rhythm, but his eyes were on hers. “Hold on to my shoulders, love.”
Her arms wrapped around his neck, and his hand released the support from her back. It appeared before her mouth and he pushed his middle finger inside. On instinct, she sucked him in and swirled her tongue around.
He groaned again, extracted his finger from her mouth, and moved his hand to her ass. Her body tensed as the tip of his finger teased her back entrance, but he shushed her. “Relax, love. Keep riding and let me take care of you.”
She could only nod, but her movements slowed, afraid of the pain. The pressure of his finger remained gentle as it pushed in slowly. Her body resisted, but when his mouth found her neck, she moaned and writhed against him.
He hummed against her neck, and his finger slipped deeper inside. “Good girl. Hold on.”
What?
His hand, palming her ass with his finger pressed in her tight hole, squeezed her flesh and pushed her hips against his other hand buried in her pussy, creating a bruising pace.
“Oh, fuck,” she gasped. She didn’t know what to focus on—his tongue on her skin, her nipples scraping against his chest, his palm rubbing against her clit, his fingers flicking against the sensitive spot inside her pussy, or his finger filling her from behind.
The myriad of sensations overwhelmed her, and she tumbled over the edge. “Rennick.”
His cock hardened between them as he continued to move her body, and when she twitched with the last of her orgasm, he slowed down until she sat, breathing hard, in his lap, with his fingers still inside her.
His chest heaved in time with hers. “I could come from just watching you.”
She whined when he extracted his hands, and when he held up the fingers covered in her cum, he rubbed them with his thumb.
She covered her face with her hands at the sight of her release stringing between his fingers. “Gods.”
“Embarrassed is the last thing you should be, love.” She lowered her hands to see a mischievous grin painted across his face. He stuck his glistening fingers into his mouth and sucked them clean, rolling his eyes back. “Fuck, I will never get enough of your taste.”
Unsure what to do, Amelia made to get up. “I need to clean myself.”
Large hands captured her hips, holding her in place. “Let me.” He gently placed her on the bed and disappeared into the bathroom, returning with a damp washcloth. “Spread for me.”
Her legs opened, and the warm cloth trailed over her skin until there was nothing left. He tossed the cloth back in the bathroom, picked her up, and laid back on the bed. “Straddle me.”
Grinning, she threw her leg over his pelvis, but instead of fucking her, he pulled her against his chest and ran a hand down her back. “Sleep, love.”
