Page 82 of Ivory Oath

As soon as Viviana stretches an arm over her head and strokes her fingers through her golden blonde hair, I regret every morning I’ve ever slipped out before sunrise.

This is a little slice of the cabin I can keep. Even with a war raging just outside the gates, I can wake up next to my wife every morning.

Her lips purse and she rolls onto her side, facing me. Her eyes are still closed, but I see them shifting beneath her lids.

I lay my hand softly over her cheek.

Suddenly, her eyes snap open. She jerks away so hard she almost falls off the bed. She would have, except I loop an arm around her waist and haul her against me.

Her heart is thundering. “You scared me,” she breathes when she comes back to her senses. Every muscle in her body is tense. Her eyes are wide, pupils dilated. She’s in fight-or-flight mode in her own bed.

“I didn’t know sleeping next to my wife would be so shocking.”

“Only recently.” As soon as she says it, her mouth curves into a frown. “I’m sorry. I know you’ve been busy.”

I flatten my hand on her lower back. Her tank top is twisted around her ribs and I can feel her sleep-warm skin against my bare chest. It’s been too long since we’ve been this close and my cock is standing up and taking notice.

“I have been busy, but I shouldn’t take it out on you.”

She peeks up at me beneath long lashes. “You’re talking about last night?”

“I had a bad day.” I press a kiss to her neck, where the early morning light is painting her gold. I can see her pulse fluttering. “Instead of letting you make it better, I decided to be on my own. I can tell you right now that it was the wrong choice. This is where I should have been.”

Her hand wraps lightly around the back of my neck, but she’s still rigid. Her body is as stiff as a board underneath me. Even when I kiss the hollow of her throat again, she seems to pull back.

I lift up on my elbows, eyebrow arched. “You’re mad.”

“No. I’m not. I’m really not. I’m—” Her teeth sink into her lower lip, pulling at it. “I’m just tired.”

I nip at her collarbone. “Let me wake you up. Make it up to you.”

Her shirt slides higher and I band my hands around her ribcage. I trace my thumbs underneath the soft swell of her breasts, working over the point of her nipples. Viviana shivers, but her jaw is still set.

“You’re going to make me work for it, huh?” I almost have to force her stiff legs apart with my knee before I can settle between them.

“It’s not that.”

I work my fingers up her legs, trying to stroke some warmth into her. Goosebumps trail my touch. When my hands slide under the short hem of her shorts, the front of her panties is soaked.

“I know it’s not a question of whether you want it.” I smirk, but she won’t even look at me. Her eyes are fixed on the ceiling.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, alarm bells are ringing. But I don’t pay them any attention. I can’t. Not when she’s bare and wet beneath me like this.

“Let’s play a game,” I whisper, kissing my way up her thigh. “Let’s see how long you can stay mad at me while you’re screaming my name.”

On instinct almost, her legs shift open. I manage to flick my thumbs under the thin material of her panties before she snaps them closed.

“I need to shower.”

“What a coincidence,” I growl, looping my arms beneath her back and lifting her against my chest. “Me, too.”

She laughs, but it’s strangled, hesitant. “I think I’m just… out of it this morning. I’ll shower and then?—”

I circle my mouth around her breast, wetting the thin material of her shirt until it clings to her pebbled skin. She moans, arching into me even as she presses on my shoulders.

“I’ll shower and then we can t-talk,” she rasps, already breathless.

“It’ll be hard to talk with my tongue buried inside of you,” I murmur, lavishing her other breast with the same attention. “Even harder when you’re screaming for mercy and begging me for more.”

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