Page 105 of A Baron of Bonds
We were finally supposed to have a moment to breathe back home and instead, our friend was growing weaker by the minute.
“How did Heimlen cure the Black Fever? His journals said you helped.”
“I tried it just now. He pretended, Karus. He pretended to find a spell enhancement that would work and then left forHyrithia immediately after.” He shook his head. “It didn’t work on Pompeii. I don’t even know if it’s a real spell.”
“We have to search Heimlen’s study then. There must be clues about how he really did it. Since he used the Blight to create the Black Fever, there must be a clue on how to cure this, too.”
“I think that’s a brilliant step forward.” He began to unlace my shift, letting the thin strings fall at my chest before slipping them down my arms. It fell in a soft sigh at my feet, leaving me bare, my skin still flecked in places with spots of black. I stepped out of the shift completely and brought it to the fireplace.
He unbuttoned his too-tight, too-short pants and threw them in as well, letting the wall of magic disperse for just a moment to do so. I tossed in my undergarments, and we watched the flames flicker over what we couldn’t risk getting onto anyone else’s skin.
“Won’t Pompeii be angry with you for burning his trousers?”
“After this, I’ll commission a new wardrobe of whatever he wants.”
I took his hand and we entered the washing room, the steam a welcome sense of normalcy. We stepped into the enormous tub, and I picked up a rag and bar of rose hip soap. I began scrubbing his neck, healing small burns on his chin as I went, kissing them away after using magic to return the skin to its usual sandy hue.
A bit of black stubble was beginning to show, and I brushed my fingers along the sharp line of his jaw, each prickle of rough hair catching on my skin.
He watched me touch him in a mixture of love, worry, and admiration he always seemed to project to me. I knew his concern was about more than this new illness. This was also about how theSimulair Solumspell affected me, and how he knew I was not going to back down from insisting I could use it again.
We would meet this impasse continuously, I was sure of it, and the best thing I could do right then was to show him that I was alright. I could show him that the spell had its setbacks for me, but that I’d made it through this time relatively unharmed, and I could do it again.
I took those moments in the steaming water to show him exactly how fine I was. I slowly, softly brushed the pads of my fingers down the hollow of his neck. They slid down his chest, following the lines of his ribs and over the plains of muscle that had shown more definition again over the past few weeks.
My palm slid over the hard length of him, and he inhaled slowly, his lips parting as I leaned forward to kiss him gently. My lips met his with each slow stroke of my palm.
He lifted his hands from the soapy water and slid them around my neck, taking the kiss deeper, pulling me to him. “I know what you’re trying to do, Karus,” he whispered low on my lips.
I slid my legs over his, pushing myself against him, my breasts pressed to his chest, his arousal pressed to my stomach. “I would hope so, Baron Revich.” I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, kissing him deeply again.
He pulled away and lifted my chin, catching me off guard. “I know you want to convince me you’re unharmed.”
“I am unharmed.”
“Then prove it. Show me, Karus. Show me you can take care of yourself.” He took my hand and guided it between my legs, pressing my fingers to the center he wanted me to touch, holding my fingers and moving them in circles to show me what kind of taking care of myself he meant.
I did so.
Gladly.
He leaned forward, grabbing the rag and soap from the water to wash the Blight from my skin. I closed my eyes and releasedmyself to his touch and mine, pausing a moment to dip my hair back into the tub.
“Don’t stop,” he ordered, bringing my hand back down to what was now slick between my legs. “You don’t stop. You keep going. Keep touching yourself, and don’t stop until you’re ready to beg for me to slip inside you.”
I gulped, a flood of excitement racing through me as my body ached to feel full and completed by him alone.
He slid the soap down my breasts, moving to my neck to kiss the dip into my shoulders. “I want to hear you beg for me, Karus,” he whispered. “I want you push yourself to the edge until you can’t live another moment without me…fucking you.”
I wanted himnow.
I was demanding in bed, and I knew that. I always wanted all of him all at once, quickly, greedily filling me, making me whole again while he pounded inside of me.
His thumb brushed my nipple before his mouth, hot and soft, covered it whole, and I groaned, my fingers moving faster in the water.
He scraped his teeth gently over the peak, and I grabbed the back of his neck to bring him in closer, to love me harder.
Gently, he took my hand from his neck, backing away from my breasts and kissed my palm, then the inside of my wrist, sending the trail of his lips down my arm.
