Page 42 of Silent Lucidity

Tenthil understood something new now, something he’d not realized before, something he would never have realized without Abella—he could derive joy from his mate’s pleasure. Making her happy madehimfeel happy…and that was not an emotion with which he was very familiar.

He opened his eyes at the sound of her footsteps. She appeared in the bathroom doorway, caught his gaze, grinned, and closed the door.

Tenthil’s heart skipped a beat; this was the first smile he’d seen from her since they danced in Twisted Nethers, and he’d forgotten how radiant, how infectious, it was. Its warmth pierced his chest and spread throughout his body; he couldn’t help but grin himself.

Perhaps I have a chance of making her happy, after all.

A new sound drifted to him from the bathroom despite the muffling effect of the closed door—the gentle rustling of fabric. It was followed by a change in the tone of the falling water; Abella had stepped into the shower stall.

She released a long, low moan.

The pleasure in her voice shifted Tenthil’s mind in a different direction—was that how she would sound when he mated with her? He had seen her naked body while she was unconscious in the safehouse, but he’d somehow managed to keep focused on treating her wounds. Now, he could not help but imagine the water cascading over her bare skin, dripping from the tips of her small, pink nipples, and trickling over her mound and toned thighs.

He grunted against the ache as his cock went erect, dropping a hand to his groin to grasp his throbbing shaft through his pants. How long had it been since his last release? Time had lost much of its meaning in Abella’s company; days had passed, perhaps. Not that his own hand would provide much relief. Anything he did for himself would be hollow, meaningless, unfulfilling. The treatment of a symptom rather than the cause.

He neededher.

Forcing his hand up, he walked into the bedroom, slid off the backpack, and set it beside him as he sat on the edge of the bed. Once he’d removed his boots and set them aside, he tugged his shirt off over his head, tossing it next to the backpack. The caress of cool air against his bare skin did nothing to ease the desire burning in his veins. He curled his hands into fists and rested them atop his thighs, bowing his head.

I can focus past this. I am in control of myself.

Another sound came from beyond the bathroom door—music. His mate wassinging.

Tenthil raised his head to stare at the door, his ears twitching as the song dipped low and soft—so soft that he had difficulty hearing it through the barrier and over the falling water. Without meaning to, he stood up and drifted to the bathroom, his mind clouded in a haze created by the allure of his mate’s sweet voice.

He leaned forward, pressing a hand and an ear to the door. Her voice steadily increased in volume as she continued singing. Despite his translator granting him knowledge of each individual word, he couldn’t quite understand their meaning when strung together in song, but he didn’t care—because she was singing, and it was beautiful, especially after her long period of silence.

Her song changed several times as he listened over fifteen or twenty minutes, each bearing its own tune, rhythm, and lyrics, but her voice remained constant; she sounded carefree. Happy.

This is how I want her to sound always.

Even when she turned the water off, Tenthil could not bring himself to move away from the door. Her words gave way to pleasant humming, as pure and entrancing as her singing had been. He curled his fingers against the door; he would never allow the Master to silence her. Would never allow this world—or any other—to take her from him.

The click of the interior handle was his only warning before the door opened, granting him a split second to straighten. Abella gasped and froze in the doorway, one hand still on the handle, staring up at him in surprise.

Tenthil’s swept his gaze over her. Her pale skin bore a healthy, pink flush, and her dark hair hung wet around her shoulders, its tips beaded with water droplets. She was clad only in an old towel, which was wrapped around her torso; it revealed the tops of her breasts and ended mid-thigh to showcase her long legs.

That single glance was more than enough to rekindle Tenthil’s desire. It roared to life inside him, swirling in a firestorm to suffuse his entire body.

“Were you, um, standing outside the door this whole time?” Abella asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

He took a step forward, eliminating the space between them. Abella did not retreat; she simply tilted her head back to keep her eyes locked on his. The warm, humid air inside the bathroom only served to strengthen her scent, which enveloped him and added a lustful note to the lingering haze in his mind.

Tenthil lifted a hand and brushed the back of his finger over her cheek. A shuddering breath escaped her. He trailed his finger lower, following the delicate curve of her jaw, tracing the graceful line of her neck, flowing over the gentle swell of her breasts. She shivered, her breasts straining against the towel. His eyes followed where he touched; he was spellbound by her body’s responses, enthralled by her scent, enraptured by her feel.

He met her gaze. Desire burned within the green depths of her eyes.

His body tensed, and he clenched his teeth. Instinct roared within him to take her, to mount her, to rut her, to make herhis.

“Tenthil…”

Though she spoke only his name, her voice said infinitely more, rich with her every secret.

In a rush of movement, he curved his hands around Abella’s ass, grasped the backs of her thighs, and lifted her off the floor. She wrapped her legs around his waist and plunged her fingers into his hair. Her blunt nails grazed his scalp. In three quick strides, he carried her into the bathroom and pressed her back against the wall, his mouth slanting over hers to claim her lips in a savage kiss.

Tenthil groaned in surprise when her tongue flicked past his lips to stroke his tongue; her sweetness filled his mouth, and he delved deeper, seeking more. He ground his cock against the juncture of her thighs. She tightened her grip on his hair and moaned, undulating her pelvis against him in return. Intense pleasure swept through him. His claws lengthened, and he snarled against her mouth as shudders wracked his body. Her heat pulsed into him through his pants, and the scent of her desire, thick and arousing, flooded his senses, pairing with her taste sent him over the edge.

“Abella,” he growled, holding back nothing.

---