Page 48 of All the Pain of Promises
A look of determination washed over her face, but she refused to meet his gaze. She tossed the towel over the arm of the sofa and opened a jar of healing salve. Using her middle finger, she scooped out a small amount and applied it to the bruising beneath his eye. It smelled medicinal, like ginger and lemon, but it was nothing compared to the tempting scent ofher.
“No, my lord. I am not afraid.”She trailed her fingertips along his jaw, like she was committing the shape of his face to her memory. “Though I do think you might suffocate from such an endeavor.”
Solarius laughed. “Trust me, my lady, I will not suffocate. But if by chance such an unlikely event occurred, then I could think of no nobler way to die.”
The corner of her lips tipped up and she shook her head. Those wild, fallen waves that slipped loose from her bun teased him. Tormented him. A furious dark pink blush bled into her cheeks, and he wondered if the rest of her body flushed just as beautifully.
She leaned back, placing her hands on her knees, and studied him. “Are you hurt elsewhere?”
His broken ribs were fucking killing him, but his pride kept him from admitting as much to her. “No.”
“Liar.” Her retort held a bite, and she flicked her fingers forward, urging him to remove his shirt. “Nice try. Let me see.”
“It’s fine, I promise. It’ll heal up soon enough with?—”
“Solarius.” Narissa crossed her arms in an attempt to scorn him, but all it did was cause the tops of her sun-kissed breasts to spill over the beaded bodice of her gown. “Take. It. Off.”
He grinned wildly, yanking the hem of his shirt out of his pants. “If you wanted me to take off my shirt, Rissa love, all you had to do was ask.”
Her eyes rolled to the cavernous ceiling of the cottage and then she was leaning forward again, her fingers nimbly workingaway at the button of his shirt, a tiny line of annoyance etched across her brow.
He longed to kiss it away.
When the fabric of his shirt fell open, Narissa’s eyes widened in horror, her golden skin blanched, and she clamped one hand over her mouth.
“Sol…” His name was a whispered prayer coming from her, yet her tone was tainted with sympathy. “You must have broken at least three ribs.”
Solarius didn’t mention she was probably right. Calfair’s cheap magic shot definitely messed him up more than he cared to admit. He glanced down at the damage and gritted his teeth. His skin was mottled with splotches of dark purple, angry red, and sickening blue green. The bruising was horrendous, spreading all over most of his right side to his hip. The pain emanating from that area of his body was a stabbing ache, like a freshly forged dagger was embedded in his bone. He sucked in a sharp breath, hissing when she lightly splayed her palm over his discolored flesh.
Narissa opened another jar of salve. This one was a pale green color and smelled distinctly of fresh earth and grass. “You’re lucky you’re still standing, my lord.”
“You should see the other guy.”
Her fiery ocean gaze flicked to his face, and he flashed her his most charming smile.
“It’s not funny,” she muttered, scooping out some of the ointment with two fingers and delicately applying it to his injury.
He watched her work, staring at her capable hands, at all the pretty rings she wore glinting in the warm firelight. He imagined those same elegant fingers gripping his cock, stroking and pumping him, guiding him inside her wet heat. She was so close, surely it was obvious to her now. Surely she could see the way his cock stiffened, damn nearreachedfor her, but shejust kept gliding those velvety hands of hers over his abdomen, oblivious to his torture. Solarius squeezed his eyes shut and let his head roll back against the sofa. His shaft strained against the confines of his pants. Stars above, if she kept touching him like that, he was going to explode right here. And he wouldn’t even fucking care, because then Narissa would knowexactlythe kind of effect she had on him.
“I should…” Hesitation clung to every word. “I, um…if you would excuse me, my lord.”
“My lady.” His voice was hoarse, and he inhaled a ragged breath.
Solarius felt her pull away. But he did not open his eyes, and he did not stop her. Because if he begged her to stay, he’d be unable to control himself, and he’d fuck her until she could no longer walk. But she deserved more than that from him. Narissa deserved better. She deserved to be cherished. To be honored. And he wanted to worship her, he wanted to take his time admiring every inch of her body. When she finally gave herself to him, he would treasure each breathless moment.
So he would wait, until there was everything and nothing left to say, until he earned the love and trust of his wife.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Narissa could not get away from Solarius fast enough.
She bolted to the opposite side of the cottage, toward the bedroom. Once safely inside, she closed the door and let her body sag against it, let the strength of the hardwood support her flustered state. Shoving back her messy, fallen waves, she took a slow, steadying breath and rested her palms against her abdomen.
She wasnotblind and she was most certainly not oblivious to the fact that he was so plainly aroused by her presence. It was flattering beyond measure to know she had such an effect on him, and truth be told, she’d been forced to squeeze her thighs together more than once while she kneeled before him. But sweet shores, it was his eyes that did it to her.
The way he looked at her, like she hung the moon and danced among the stars. Had he always looked at her like that? Her mind saidnowhile her heart whisperedyes, and there was no denying that shred of truth. She saw the heat simmering in his gaze each time they argued, each time they hurtled snide, uncaring insults at one another. And every time, she ignored it. Every time, she pretended it was rage lurking there instead of lust. But when she tended to Solarius’s face and broken ribs, hissilver gaze was molten, swirling with the charge of desire and longing, and she would gladly have lost herself in those endless pools of liquid moonlight.
Admittedly, it had been slightly rude of her to leave him so abruptly.
