Page 75 of Of Steel and Scale

He smiled his devilish smile, brushed his lips across mine, then proceeded to echo my earlier movements, kissing my cheeks, my neck, my ear, each sweep of his lips a delicious torture. His kisses drifted down my neck and along my collarbone, branding me, making me shiver. When the water prevented him from going any further, his switched lips for hand, and plucked and teased my nipples breasts with the precision of a maestro conducting a band of one. The shivers grew, and the deep-down ache bloomed, curling upward through my body, demanding and needy.

He slid his fingers down my stomach, brushing across the line of hair as he shifted his thighs, forcing mine wider, giving him easier access. When his finger slid across my clit, I shuddered, a deep moan of delight escaping my lips.

He chuckled softly, his grip on my hands shifting, drawing me close enough to claim my lips and kiss them hungrily as his fingers continued to tease and explore. When they finally slipped inside, I gasped in pleasure and rocked against him, wanting more. Needing more. He chuckled again, and the heated rhythm increased, first with one finger, then with two as his thumb grazed my clit, causing havoc. I moved with him, riding his fingers, my shudders increasing and my breathing harsh and fast. Then my orgasm hit, wave after wave of pleasure fiercer than anything I’d ever experienced. I shuddered and shook and moaned, barely even aware that his touch had left me, too caught up in the backwash of pleasure. Then his hands found my hips and he lifted me up and on to him.

And oh, it was glorious.Hewas glorious.

Thick, and hard, and so damn big it felt like he was slipping inside forever.

And yet it felt so right. Felt so perfect. Like I’d been specifically designed to sheathe this man.

“Look at me,” he whispered.

I opened my eyes and stared into the blue of his. Saw the hunger there, the recognition of perfection. Saw, deeper in those glorious depths, the surprise and perhaps even a little fear—a realization that this moment, this exquisite, beautiful moment, might never happen again, because fate and the plans of others could rip it away from us both.

But before I could catch that thought and worry on it, he began to move, and everything else but this man and the pleasure rising between us disappeared. With his hands on my hips and mine on his shoulders, we moved as one, slowly at first but with ever increasing urgency, until my body shook with the force of it and all I wanted, all I could think about, was release. His, mine, ours.

When it came, it was explosive, wrenching a cry from my lips as his body went rigid against mine and his seed exploded into me.

It took forever to come down from the dizzying heights of completion. When I could finally breathe with something close to normality, I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against his. But for a long time, neither of us moved any further. Then his hand slid around the back of my neck, holding me still as he raised my face and kissed me long and slow. Heat and desire that have been well and truly sated, stirred, and deep inside, his cock twitched, suggesting it wouldn’t take long—or all that much encouragement—for him to become erect again.

And I was perfectly okay with that.

“I guess I should have asked this before I pulled you into this bath,” he murmured, his lips moving ever so slowly down my neck. “But are you protected against pregnancy?”

I laughed. “Indeed I am. And it’s probably just as well, given the fullness of the load I just received.”

“In my defense, it has been a while.”

“That’s not what the rumors would have us believe.”

“Rumors cannot always be believed.”

“So I’m not to believe all those statements about your legendary stamina? Your ability to rise to the occasion again with very little rest?”

The fact he was already half erect inside me again did confirm the latter, but I decided not to mention that.

He grinned. “I’m more than happy to prove both statements, but I suggest we do so out of this bath. Pruned skin is not exactly a good look, at least on me.”

I laughed, caught his cheeks between my hands and kissed him, then lifted myself from his cock and stepped out of the bath. He followed me out and, once I’d shed the dripping gown, swept me up in his arms and carried me over to the bed, where he proceeded to show me just how long and hard a Zephrine prince could go.

I woke to the heat of Damon’s body pressed against mine, the warmth of his breath teasing my neck, and his hand draped loosely across my waist. For several minutes, I did nothing more than lie there, enjoying the closeness, knowing full well it could be some time before another moment of peace such as this happened again.

Last night had been... well, a revelation. I’d always enjoyed sex, but I’d also always been very wary of letting all my guards down and losing myself in the moment and the man. Thanks to our marriage and the irrevocable nature of it, there had been no such worries withthisman, and the end result had been mind-blowing. I’d never felt such a deep connection with another before, and while that might in part be because I’d always held back, I very much suspected it went deeper than that. Andthatwas both scary and exhilarating. While the promise of a bright and perhaps even loving relationship had become a tantalizing possibility, I was well aware that the secrets both he and his father were hiding could yet destroy the fragile framework we’d started to build. While I really hadn’t inherited Mom’s seeress abilities, per se, they sometimes bled through to my instincts, and they were definitely twitchy about the information they were withholding and what it could do tous.

I knew I’d have to confront him about my—and Mom’s—suspicions, but I also couldn’t help the desire to push that moment away for as long as possible.

But now was not the time to be gnawing over personal problems. I had a mission to complete, and I needed to get moving if I wanted to arrive at the aerie just after dawn.

Slowly, carefully, I slid from under Damon’s arm and out of the bed. I’d forgotten to tell him about my mission last night and I really wasn’t up to a discussion about it this morning. I was a soldier, and until I left Esan’s dark and glorious halls for those of Zephrine, I still had a job to do.

He didn’t stir, not then, not when I ran a bath, and not when I dressed. But that was hardly surprising. Maree’s potion could only stave off the utter exhaustion caused by his blood magic for so long, and the man’s monumental effort in bath and bed would probably have shortened its “working life.”

I strapped on my sword, then walked back to the bed, leaning across to drop a kiss on his bare shoulder. He stirred briefly, murmuring something I couldn’t quite catch, his hand sweeping the blankets as if searching for me. I placed mine over his briefly, stilling the movement, then I forced myself to leave him be when I wanted nothing more than to climb back in beside him. After gathering the rest of my weapons and Mom’s short bow and map, I left.

The corridors were shadowed and quiet, the candles flickering in the wall sconces doing little to chase away the pre-dawn darkness. By the time I padded down the stairs, the guards had the front doors open. I nodded a greeting to them, then ran down the steps and over to the stables.

Mik must have heard me opening the side door, because he appeared on the upper landing that ran down the middle of the stable block, hastily pulling on his overshirt. While he and all our other stable hands had their own living accommodation down in the common quarter, they often used the loft compartments upstairs rather than head home between shorter shifts.

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