Page 43 of Our Vicious Oaths
Malachi nodded while beginning to wash the day’s filth away from her front side. He left a trail of suds covering her breasts, stomach, the front of her legs, and then moved to the inside of her thighs. “At the risk of you boiling me alive in my own bath, I feel compelled to point out how big of an asshole your father was, and he didn’t suffer nearly enough with the death Rishaud handed him. My one regret from your wedding isnotkilling Sylas myself,” Malachi bit off.
Ah, there was everyone’s favorite murderous fae king.Him reverting back to his usual form would’ve placed her on more solid ground if not for the achingly tender, nearly reverential caresses he kept bathing her with. The nature of his touch left her throat dry and a disturbing sensation squeezing her chest.
“I would think Rishaud slipping the execution you intended for him would be right up there on your list too,” she said around the dryness.
He dragged the soap higher up and gently ran it between her legs. “Rishaud will be dealt with soon enough, and I cannot be too annoyed about the delay when it’s allowed me to reap other unforeseen benefits.”
Kadeesha gasped and grabbed back on to his shoulders when he ran the back of his knuckles over the most sensitive part of her, which was already pleasantly aching from the sex they’d just had. “I didn’t take you for a king who’d so easily trade vengeance and the total dominion you greatly desire for ass, no matter how good it is,” she quipped.
Malachi sat the soap on the moonstone edge of the pool and retraced the path of the lavender bar with his bare hands. He lingered in certain areas, his gaze darkening when he massagedher ample ass, her full breasts, the smooth planes of her stomach, her voluptuous hips. “Goodis an understatement and we both know it.” His voice was husky and thick with the filthiest of promises. “You’resublime. And didn’t you hear what I just said, Princess? I haven’t traded anything. I’m just seeing the positive side in needing to be a patient man for the time being.”
He pressed down on her shoulders in a silent order, and she bent her knees, dipping lower into the water and letting it cover her up to her chin. “Head too,” he murmured, and she let him push her head fully below the water. When she broke the surface again, he held one of the glass jars that rested on the pool’s edge in his hand. It contained a liquid that smelled of lavender like the soap. The many other jars were filled with scrubs, oils, and dried flowers.
“You have quite the assortment of items in a man’s bathing chamber,” she said blandly as he scooped a handful of jelly-like liquid out of the jar he held, placed it back on the pool’s edge, and began running the shampoo through her hair. If she thought the way he’d massaged her shoulders and back was heaven-sent, it had nothing on his deft, strong fingers against her scalp. She practically hummed. Instead, she settled for teasing him, “I’m assuming this is all for the female companions you entertain since I don’t imagine you give a shit about smelling like lavender.” She did not make the comment out of jealousy. It was merely an observation. She didn’t care who or what Malachi did before, during, or after her. That wasn’t the nature of their … dynamic.Bargain.
“I do like lavender, actually, when I’m especially keyed up tight. The scent soothes me,” he said, working the shampoo lather through her numerous braids section by section. “And nobody enters this space except me. I realize how selfish thisis about to sound, since your respite offers the same to other people as well, but this bathing chamber is my Oleander House. It’s my peace away from court.”
“Then why am I here in your sanctuary?” It was a foolish question to ask since it pointed to her making gains toward what she’d set out to do with Malachi—seduce him. But he wasn’t the kind of man who’d so easily let anyone encroach upon his territory, and part of besting your enemy meant learning intimately about what made them tick. At least, that’s why she told herself she pursued an answer.
It has nothing to do with the flutters when he told me I’m the only woman who’s been in his inner sanctum.
“I truly do not know.” Malachi spoke it like the enigma made him feel chagrined. That made two of them. “Let’s get your hair rinsed,” he then said while scratching her scalp in a way that made every now-loose muscle and bone in her body purr in content. When she killed him, could she keep these hands? she mused as she ducked her head under the water and ran her own hands through her hair to get the suds out good.
Perhaps her mind was further scrambled than she thought from Malachi’s adept fingers in her hair, or his compliments about the things she prized most, or the odd spell of peace that had settled between them for the time. Either way, when she rose from beneath the water, she grabbed the bar of soap from beside them and told Malachi, “My turn. Stand up.”
He angled his head, now becoming the stunned party. Then, he wordlessly did as she bid, water glistening against the rich brown of his skin, clinging to his spectacular chest, biceps, abs, and powerful thighs. His body truly was a work of art, one honed to lethal perfection. She openly admired the waves of muscles that carved a path across his entire form. There wasalso the matter of the way the water glistened along the length of his equally impressive cock. Her mouth watered and she envisioned taking him into her mouth right then and there. But she risked looking needy and desperate, enthralled by this male in a way she didn’t want to admit to being. So she continued with her original course and began bathing Malachi clean as he’d done to her. As she lathered his chest, she deemed that since he’d done the same, it was quite fine to ask prying questions of her own. “What else besides this bathing chamber brings you peace or joy?” she decided she wanted to know. She didn’t lie to herself about the reason being anything other than her being intrigued by the ebullient side of him she’d glimpsed and wanting to know what else placed him in a jovial mood.
For a time, he was quiet as she washed his torso, shoulders, arms, and other body parts. She took advantage of the silence to steal a few moments to revel in the feel of his sinfully toned ass, his corded torso, and his enormous biceps that begged to be clung to while she held on to them for dear life as he drove into her. Even within the water, she felt the flood of slick warmth between her legs that was starting to become commonplace whenever she was around this male.
When her hand reached for his neck, he caught her wrist, placed a kiss to the inside of it, and finally answered her. “I’m a man who likes my indulgences, so the list is quite long,” he said with his lips still against her skin. Then, he lifted his head so his eyes met hers. “Dancing and the camaraderie I share with my Cadre is at the top, though. I also enjoy the merriment that the Arena Games bring for midsummer. You’d be dazzled by them too if you were around to witness them. They consist of extraordinary displays of physical prowess, agility, and strengthacross various sports. They’re a delight to watch and participate in.” The gold that glittered vivid and bright in his eyes let her know he meant every revealing word, and now she knew why he’d moved so splendidly when they’d danced. It was a pastime he enjoyed, something he truly liked to do.
“Tell me more about these Arena Games,” she said as she moved her hand upward to run the soap along his neck. His thumb drew small circles against the curve of her spine in a way that made her arch into him while her entire body tingled.
As she finished up the front of him and moved around to the back, he told her about the pageantry of the sporting games among his people that lasted a fortnight, and each day’s end that brought a nightlong revel.
“I’ve never lost a wrestling match during the games,” Malachi informed her haughtily, winking at her over his shoulder with that levity that it was dangerous to think of getting used to. “And no, people don’t let me win just because I’m king. I own the sands.”
Hazardous or not, she laughed. She couldn’t help herself. “I’m not at all surprised that you enjoy wrestling,” she teased.
“Just so you know, I’m all brawnandbrains, Princess.” He scoffed as if he was really insulted.
She rolled her eyes at the same moment he glanced back over his shoulder. He narrowed his eyes and she laughed harder. “Sure you are. Now rinse off,Your Grace.”
She should’ve seen the assault coming from the wicked glint in his gaze. When Malachi sank below the water to rinse off, he grabbed her by the waist, causing Kadeesha to yelp as he dragged her underwater with him. He submerged them fully, letting the water crest above their heads. When he broughtthem up for air, Kadeesha gasped and smacked Malachi’s chest. He grinned—and it wasn’t the smug one, or the derisive one, or the irksome imperious one. It was a genuine smile full of more levity and boyish mirth. She blinked, still not believing her eyes that beheld this side of Malachi. Yet, the disarming grin stayed in place as he spun her around and walked her backward up the steps. She was just deciding that she liked seeing that manner of grin on him when he lifted her into the air and then sat her on the sleek, cool moonstone that surrounded the pool. He splayed a hand against the center of her chest, gently pushing until her back was against the stone. Standing between her legs, with the water rippling around his knees, he stroked himself. “You’re already yearning for me to fuck you again, aren’t you, Kadeesha? But how would you feel if I opted for something different thatI’myearning to do to you?”
She raised up on her elbows and had to fight hard to pry her eyes away from his stunningly large erection. “What exactly would you do to me instead?”
“You are fucking extraordinary,” he murmured, “and you’re exquisitely so when you’re spread out like this as if just for me. I want to feast on you until you scream yourself hoarse and come apart on my tongue.”
Her nipples hardened. Her legs trembled. He plucked at a nipple with one hand and strummed her clit with the other. Her legs fell open as wide as she could force them apart, inviting Malachi to doanythinghe desired. She wanted it all. She’d take it all. Everything and anything. It was yet another thought on a growing list that should’ve alarmed her, should’ve been a screeching red flag, but she’d slipped back into too-far-gone territory. The way Malachi stood before her devouring her with his gaze, as if she was the only thing in the world worth lookingupon, left her skin hot and damp and her body blazing all over. “What are you waiting for?” It was part moan and part plea.
When Malachi took his hands away from her clit, she almost hissed. He hooked his hands behind her knees, spread her wider, and pulled her to the edge of the pool. He knelt on the steps, bringing his face in line with her sex. A languid swipe of his tongue made her legs turn boneless. He repeated the slow, maddeningly lazy motion. It was everything she craved and not nearly enough. “You drive me insane,” Malachi said, low and guttural. “And I could do this, stay encased between your legs and tasting how delectable you are, for an eternity.” His words made her stomach clench. Another swipe of his tongue set it to quivering. Then, blessedly, he stopped playing around and feasted in earnest. He speared her with his tongue, fucking her with it as thoroughly as he had with his cock. She writhed beneath him, a shuddering sobbing mess, because great Celestials, this male was a master with his tongue. He added three fingers at once, stretching her, working exactly the right spot. Again, her pride ripped to shreds. She moaned, grabbed his head, and ground herself against him. She kept her hands tangled in his silky locs as she sputtered his name over and over again. With his fingers and tongue, he fucked her exactly the way he’d come to learn that she liked it—hard and deep and relentless. His teeth grazed her clit, mingling the immense pleasure with a blissful sting of pain, and it achieved what he’d said he wanted—she was reduced to a screaming, trembling version of herself that knew no other words except Malachi’s name, which she screamed until her voice was hoarse and reedy as she ground her sex into his face and left a mess all over it. It seemed to only make Malachi feast on her more fervently, because he didn’t let up for an instant. He licked and bit and tasted her through that orgasm andtwo more until her voice was no more than a ragged whisper and she had to push his head away. “I … can’t … no more,” she heaved out.
Smirking, he moved up the length of her body, kissing a trail along her belly button, between her breasts, and then capturing her mouth, letting her taste herself on his tongue in a kiss that left her breathless. She moaned into his mouth, wantonly rubbing against him. “I need you back inside me as deep as you can get,” she breathed.
“As you wish, Princess,” Malachi said against the shell of her ear. He grabbed her hips, lifted them into the air for leverage, and entered her on a thrust that had her screaming at a pitch that would’ve shattered glass if the cavernous bathing room contained any.
Malachi fucked her poolside and then a second time while they were submerged in the water with her breasts pressed against the edge of the pool and him grinding into her from behind while gripping her hair. The last time, right before dawn crested over the horizon, was in his bed. And when Kadeesha found herself dozing off in that bed yet again, instead of making her way to her own room to sleep, she blamed it on the mentally and physically grueling day and then the endless rounds of mind-blowing sex that quite literally ended in Malachi stroking her to sleep.
