Page 50 of A Spell of Bones and Madness
“I—yes,” she managed to get out, before two fingers grazed against her navel and Ander began to slip down the silken panties.
He slid two fingers inside her, curling them toward his palm. “Look at you, wet for me already.” In and out he stroked, using histhumb to circle around the bundle of nerves that made Katrin’s back arch right up from the bed. “We are going to keep you nice and soaked before you take me.”
Her teeth rolled over her bottom lip, how would she be able to take him? Ander was massive, there was no way he was going to fit.
Ander leaned down, sensing her apprehension, meeting her forehead with his. “Don’t worry, Starling, I’ll be gentle.”
“I know you will.” Katrin’s breath hitched in as Ander began to stroke his cock across her center. It was the most intoxicating feeling she’d ever had, a drunken bliss that even liquor could not cause. Her entire body, the blood pumping in her veins, seemed to be full of him. His scent. His warmth. His smile. And she wanted to keep this feeling forever.
Ander slowly eased himself into Katrin, letting her body adjust to his girth. It was different than she’d experienced before. Usually her body fought against itself, but now it welcomed the heat and thrill of Ander’s body inside her.
“More,” she groaned out. He was going too slow. She needed to have him fill her entirely. He slid further inside her, bracing one hand beside her head for leverage.
“Look at you. Taking my cock so well like a good little girl.”
A whimper left her lips. How could one man make her feel like this? A euphoric buzz. Sunshine caressing skin. The way the water feels as it cocoons around you. Everything. Every emotion. Every feeling. All at once. With every thrust into her, Katrin fell more into the abyss. Ander’s pace quickened, but she took it with a sense of ferocity, digging her nails into his back and bringing him closer to her.
“Turn around,” he whispered through clenched teeth.
Katrin could only nod, inching back slightly before rolling over to her stomach. With one hand Ander stroked the outline of her scars that lay across her back. “You’re so gods-damned stunning, Starling. Scars and all.”
Her heart filled with warmth. He’d always loved her, no matter how dark her past was, no matter her shame or hurt for the past. How had she not seen that from the start?
Ander gripped her hips, pulling them up slightly as he slid back inside her. This sensation was entirely different, his cock hitting places she didn’t think it could, eliciting sound after sound from her. He kept one hand on her hip while the other moved between her legs. Each thrust inside her was met with a circle of his finger on the most sensitive part of her, working in tandem to build her up to pure ecstasy.
“Alexander,” she moaned, unable to bear the sensation of his fingers on her as he buried himself in her center. Release. She craved release. And she was almost there.
He let out a groan, fisting her hair and pulling Katrin’s head so she was looking back at him. “I’m going to need you to say that again.” Gods, his stare was feral. His cheeks rosy and his muscles clenched tight as he moved again and again inside her.
“Alexander,” she whispered out, her eyes going soft as the waves of pleasure finally crashed into her. Her body pulsed around him as she gripped the silken sheets into fists. Ander’s body went limp behind her as he finished in tandem with her, his breath heavy, inching them back down to the bed.
All this time. All this time that is what intimacy was supposed to feel like. There was no more fear left in her heart. Only wanting. Only love. They lay in bed for what seemed like hours after, the only sounds from the wind whipping against the bedchamber windows and their breathing. Eventually she had dozed off, fully consumed by his arms wrapped around her waist and his sweet scent calming every piece of her.
When Katrin woke, the whole night had escaped her. It had been a long time since she did not wake in the middle of the night doused in sweat or clawing at her throat, trying to lull the screams that weren’t able to escape from inside her.
Rolling over, Katrin patted the other side of the bed, now empty and cold to the touch. Where had Ander gone? She rubbed at her eyes, letting the room come back into focus when she noticed a note lying on the pillow.
I left some fruit and bread on the table for you.
Meet me at the training ring outside the wall when you wake.
Do not keep me waiting too long, Starling, or I will have to come pick you up and carry you here myself.
Rolling out of bed, she meandered over to the wardrobe, thumbing through an assortment of clothes until she found a newly washed training outfit. Buzzing already sizzled along her skin and Katrin was not sure if it was from the lingering feel of Ander’s touch or her power begging to be let out. It was strange,when they had been skin to skin she had felt pure ecstasy, but also this need to release every ounce of her power. Let it flow through Ander. Mix and combine with his own until it was released back into the earth. Perhaps it was because she had avoided using any of her power since they’d escaped Alentus, fearful of what it might do, if it would overwhelm her.
All the more reason to make her way down to the training center. Katrin slipped on her trousers, thick shirt, and leather vest before lacing up a pair of fur-lined leather boots. Plucking a few pieces of fruit and placing them into a napkin, Katrin hurried out of the room and headed toward the wall. When she arrived at the training ring, Ander was punching a leather-wrapped tree trunk, his hands bound with linen, protecting them from scrapes and light bruises.
“Glad you finally made it, Starling.” Ander didn’t even turn toward her, he simply knew she was in his presence, and it made her heat even more than she had last night.
“Well, I would have been here earlier if you had woken me up. Is there any way I could convince you to come straight up to bed and skip this whole training exercise?” She sauntered her way over toward him, a wicked smile curving on her lips, but he aervaded over to the other side of the training ring.
“As much as I would love that, we only have days before we leave for Cyther, and you need practice. You are one of the most innately powerful children of a Grechi I have seen, but you need to learn to harness that power. I can teach you, even in the short time we have, but it means you must not try to distract me.”
Katrin huffed, but nodded her head. He was right. She did need every second of training she could get, especially if she hoped to prevent Edmund and Khalid from raising an Olympi.
So they began to fight, Ander talking her through every move she should make, each step that would make it easier to convert her power into weapons. Katrin was awful at it, to say the least. It wasn’t that she couldn’t conjure the multitude of weapons Ander was shouting at her, but that when she did, they seemed to take on their own course rather than go in any particular direction.
“If you don’t work on your aim, you’re going to singe my arm right off—or worse, blind me,” Ander chuckled, though the way he threw up a shield of fog made Katrin think he might just be serious.
