Page 83 of Beneath the Cursed Veil

Despite the lust drowning me, my heart stuttered in my chest, constricting uncomfortably tight. Vareck settled in behind me, his legs braced on either side of my body. A strong arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me so my back met his chest. I tried to ignore the thick shaft nestlingagainst my backside, but it was almost painful from how turned on I was.

Instead of touching me, like I wanted, Vareck dipped a washcloth in the water before pouring some sort of soap on it. The smell was floral, but light and not overwhelming. While the cloth was likely soft, it felt rough against my sensitive skin as he began the process of washing me, and first up was my face and neck. He gently wiped and re-wet the cloth over and over, removing traces of silver.

“Is there anything you don’t want to do?” he asked quietly, cleaning one arm, then the other.

“I, uhm, no.” My back arched when he started on my chest.

“Nothing?” He paused. “I know it’s hard to think right now, but I need to know your limits.”

I groaned, arching my back against him when he stopped moving. The breath hissed between his teeth. A sharp pain made me gasp, then moan. He bit me.

He bit my ear lobe, and I should have been alarmed.

Keyword:should.

Biting between fae wasn’t the same as with humans. All it took was a slip of control for our fangs to break the skin and a mate bond would be formed.

Sure, Faerie lost true mates because of the curse. Chosen mates, though? Happened all the time.

“Behave,” Vareck ordered gruffly. It didn’t escape my notice he hadn’t used persuasion. Maybe he didn’t actually want me to behave . . .

I leaned back, tilting my neck to the side in an open invitation as my hands settled on his muscular thighs. “I’d rather we didn’t.”

He muttered something under his breath that sounded like he was asking for a god to give him strength.

Ha. There were no gods in Faerie, not since Amoret’s demise.

“Meera, if you can’t focus, I’m going to have to compel answers out of you and Ireallydon’t want to do that.” I lightly ran my nails up and down his thighs, making him shudder. “Please.”

That word made me pause.

He was a king. Royalty didn’t say please. They didn’t beg. Except, he did. For me.

I took a deep breath, trying to pull together my jumbled thoughts. “You asked me something. What was it?”

Vareck laughed softly, but it was tight. I wasn’t the only one feeling the effects of the pixie dust. He was just better at controlling his reaction.

“Your limits. What are they?”

“Um.” The scenarios that flashed through my head had my blood boiling. I clenched my teeth to keep from making a sound. Except to answer him, I had to speak. “I’m okay with most things.”

Vareck groaned as he resumed washing me. “That’s not an answer. I don’t want to take things too far.”

He had good intentions. I knew that. He was trying to do this the right way. And sober, uninhibited Meera appreciated it. She, however, was not here. “Anything we’ve done in dreams is fine—other than biting.”

The idea of it made my body flush with arousal, but I wasn’t making a decision like that while under the magical equivalent to ecstasy.

“I can work with that. If at any point you want me to stop, all you need to do is say it. Okay?”

“Yes. Now can you—” My words died a quick and lustful death when the washcloth rubbed one of mybreasts, then the other. His strong fingers circled my nipples. Pleasure shot straight between my legs.

“Tell me something.” His warm breath fanned my ear, sending a wave of goosebumps down my arms. “That first night we were together, what would you have done if I were in bed when you woke up?”

“I . . .” His hand traveled down my stomach, to the junction between my thighs. “Oh gods.” My back bowed, pushing my hips forward.

All too soon, his hand slipped away, washing my legs instead.

“Words, Meera. I want them,” he growled.

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