Page 79 of Aria's Desire

Her eyes trailed over the breadth of his shoulders, down the strong lines of his back, to an ass that would tempt a nun.

He peered back, his lips curled in a roguish smile. He knew exactly how he affected her, the devil. Aria narrowed her eyes, irritated and impressed in equal measure. Two seconds and he had her heart racing, her nipples achingly hard, and her thighs slick.

She followed him down the steps into the pool, feeling her clit pulse when he scanned her slowly, hungrily, a muscle in his jaw twitching.

She’d come in here with the intention of talking with him, learning about him as she had with Sin, then seeing where things went.

Plans change.

Aria knew, with absolute certainty, that she would lose her damn mind if she tried to sit naked in a bath with him and not touch him.

As though he knew exactly what was going through her head, he blindly reached back for a cloth, never taking his eyes off of her.

Aria paused for half a second, debating. His smirk was challenging, but there was something in his eyes, something almost skittish that had her swallowing a groan and giving him her back when she reached him.

Sanity be damned. He clearly needed a moment, or perhaps he needed to be in control, to set the pace. She knew about his past, knew what sex had been for him. Hell, for his entire adult life, sex hadn’t been about him. It was about pleasing the Queen, with little thought to what he wanted. Then, after Salesh sold him into slavery, his wants hadn’t mattered at all, not to those people.

But they mattered to her.Hemattered to her.

So, she pushed down her own desires and gave him what she thought he needed. She stayed still as he washed her back and arms. She moved where he silently directed, offering no resistance, giving him control. He washed her hair slowly, tenderly, running his fingers through the tresses over and over again, long past the point of being clean.

When he guided her to step up on the short bench seat carved into the pool, she went, then had to grit her teeth to contain her gasps and sighs as he washed her ass and legs.

Goddamn it. This was harder than she anticipated. His touch was driving her insane. Everything he did felt incredible. It was like he knew exactly how to touch her so that even the most innocuous caress had her eyes rolling back.

Her breath caught and held when he prompted her to widen her stance. She knew what was coming. He was eye level with her ass and would be able to see exactly how wet she was. He’d know how he affected her.

At the first gentle swipe of the cloth between her legs, Aria sucked in a short breath. Rellik was maddeningly, mind-blowingly, frustratingly thorough as he bathed her center.

So much so, she realized she was going to orgasm if he didn’t stop. She was right on the edge, eyes closed, hips moving in time with the light, rhythmic, perfectly positioned on her clit, circular motion of his hand…

Aria blinked.

He was doing it on purpose.

She pulled away from his touch before he could push her over the edge, though it damn sure wasn’t easy with how close she’d been to coming, and turned to look down at him.

His features were tight with strain, his lips parted slightly with his short breaths, but there was a distant look in his eyes. There was arousal, yes, but behind that was a blankness.

Understanding had her chest tight with sympathy and more than a bit of hurt. She hadn’t once thought being with her would stir bad memories or throw him back into past behaviors. Maybe that was foolish and self-centered of her.

He’d seemed fine, more than fine, during the ceremony in his old village, but that was different. There’d been boundaries then, ones he knew she wouldn’t cross. Perhaps they’d acted as a safety net for him, allowing him to enjoy without expectation.

She hoped, fuck but she hoped that disturbing blankness in his eyes was just nervousness and not something she’d done. Either way, she had to stop him. They weren’t doing this if it hurt him.

Stepping off the ledge, she held his gaze, her voice soft. “I’m not them, Rellik. And you’re not a daisheik anymore.”

He winced almost imperceptibly. “Aria… ”

She cut him off with a shake of her head. As she got closer, that blankness disappeared and a reassuring blaze of longing, urgency, and need came back into his eyes.

Maybe it was the act of tending to her that had thrown him back to dark places. Watching him closely now that they were face to face, she could see the transformation. That mix of cocky dominance and submissiveness singular to Rellik was back.

“I thought you needed control, to be the one to touch. I was wrong.” Taking small steps toward him, she continued, “I wantyou, Rellik. I don’t want a slave or a toy or just a bed partner. If we never have sex, I’ll still want you. Because you’re more than that. You’ve always been more than that.”

Aria stopped her slow approach when they were chest to chest. Pulling him down to her so they were eye to eye, she whispered, “If you never touch me intimately, I’ll still love you.”

His face spasmed, and his eyes went wide.

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