Page 56 of Oracle of Ruin

Rowan gently massages my scalp but says nothing as I tilt my head back onto his lap, letting my eyes shudder closed. I probably just ruined his pants.

Still, he says nothing. Not as he rinses my hair, nor conditions and rinses again. Even as I finally move to rise from the pool and he turns his back again. I sigh dramatically, but nerves nip at my stomach and I open my damn mouth before I can think twice.

“Am I that hideous?” I ask his turned back. It is supposed to come out as a joke, but the small laugh sounds broken even to my ears.

He turns around, his motions stiff. Rowan’s gaze darkens and he swears under his breath. He stalks a pace closer to the pool, leaving my clothes at the edge of the water. “Get out of the water.” His tone is commanding, yet not demanding.

Nerves ripple in my chest under his hot stare, but I find my body obeying. Slowly, I rise, walking to the edge and allowing the water to sluice down my body in taunting rivulets. Rowan traces each one’s path with his eyes, his gaze hungry and dark. Suddenly keenly aware of his assessing gaze, I move to cross my arms over my chest but he is quicker, holding them to my side and finishing his sweep of my exposed body.

“You don’t need me to tell you you’re beautiful,” he growls before dropping to his knees. “But just in case you still have doubts.”

My knees buckle as he plants a kiss just above my navel, his hot breath skittering across my wet skin. One of his hands slides up to cup my breast, his thumb teasing the firm peak while his other clasps the back of my thigh. His kisses trail lower and a soft whimper escapes from the back of my throat. Gods, is this really happening right now?

Rowan looks up. Laei, he is beautiful, staring up at me from beneath those thick lashes and on his knees before me. He holds eye contact as he presses another kiss to me, this time just above the apex of my thighs. His approval rumbles through my core at the soft moan. He’s barely touched me and yet I feel as though I could come apart just from that stare alone.

“You have to tell me when to stop.”

“Gods, don’t stop.”

It is all the permission Rowan needs before standing swiftly and bringing me with him, my legs instinctively wrapping around his middle. I hardly have time to blush before he lays me down atop my towel, bracing himself above me. His shirt is off in a moment, tan, corded muscle now exposed and showing off just how powerful the man before me is. I reach a finger up and trace one of his scars, eliciting a small shiver.

Nerves settle in my stomach and I halt my hands on his chest. “I’ve never done this before.”

“I gathered.”

“No, Rowan, I—”

“Do you want me to stop?”

I shake my head, and he places his lips on my neck again.

“We don’t have to go all the way. There are other things I’ve been dying to do to you, sunshine.”

The things his words are doing to me couldn’t possibly be healthy, nor is the way my heart flips at the sight of him over me. I feel… safe. Protected. And in a place where so much violence has occurred against me, he is like my miracle solution.

“Okay.”

The word barely leaves my lips before a sharp moan escapes as Rowan lowers himself over me. His lips trail from my neck down to between my breasts before he takes one into his mouth, teasing the sensitive nub with tongue and teeth. Something new creeps into my body—a hot desire incomparable to what I felt while reading those books back at Mavis’s. This is stronger, needier, and gods, it feels sinfully good.

Heat pools between my thighs and my head would slam against the ground in pleasure if not for Rowan’s hand. My hips buck off the ground as he takes my tender skin further into his mouth and gently scrapes his teeth across the tip. His fingers grind into the soft flesh between my hip and my thigh, pinning me in place.

“Gods… gods,” I moan.

Rowan looks up with a devilish grin as his spare hand trails lower. “Yes, love?”

I would’ve retorted with something equally witty, I’m sure, if he hadn’t swept his finger over the sensitive bud between my thighs. His fingers circle again, eliciting another moan from the back of my throat. I nearly whimper when his mouth leaves my breast, it suddenly feeling empty without his presence.

Never have I felt so lost in anything. This need clouds my every sense. There is no more bathhouse. No more Nightwalkers, no more war. There is only Rowan—Rowan and his wickedly talented tongue and fingers.

Then he hooks an arm underneath my knee and pulls my leg over his shoulder. I nearly shriek in shock and embarrassment, as I am now fully bared to him, but Rowan’s not staring between my legs. He holds my gaze, his own predatory and ravenous.

“You’re in control, Mei Reinha. Tell me how you want to be worshipped.”

A choice. A choice to continue or leave things as they are. We’ve already crossed so many lines, pushed so many boundaries tonight. And yet the ache in my core is unbearable and desperate for his attention. I need him like I need oxygen. The way he claimed my title as queen rather than princess does nothing to assuage that heady need. No, it only grows. With no hesitance, I finally whisper,

“Take me.”

The first flick of his tongue sends me reeling, my reality all but shattering as Rowan leads me towards the edge then backs away again. Desire thrums potent in my veins as he dips his head lower to get better access, his tongue flicking across my core, then lazily back towards my apex. I gasp his name, my fingernails biting into his muscled back. He groans, the vibrations sending pleasure rippling through me. My hips thrust towards him involuntarily and he laughs.

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