Courting Kel (14 page)

Wondering if Kel would use his friends’ mounts to escape, he
said, “Yes. But several are drays, raised for use in the fields.”

Clearly exasperated, Kel huffed. “If I remain here, Aren, I
promise—I—” She looked down at her hands. “I thought I’d teach Drew and
Laurette to ride. Erland and Storrtwo, as well, if Caton will allow it.” Her
gaze shifted to his face then to the prophecy cloth.

“Mending fences, Kel?”

“Yes.”

She sounded so miserable Aren didn’t press for a more
complete explanation, although he suspected a lot of hurt feelings were
involved. Kel’s as well as Drew’s. “I’ll be off in the morning then.”

“Will…will you wake me before you leave? If there’s time, we
could breakfast together.”

“I’d like that.”
Very much.

* * * * *

Kel gave up trying to sleep, blaming the light from three
moons that made her bedroom as bright as day. Throwing back the blankets, she
paced to the window and glared her resentment at those insensitive orbs that
kept the goddesses of sleep away.

Hyperbole again, Kel?

Sighing, she admitted the moons also kept her from dreaming
for which she thanked the gods. Although…the dream she’d shared with Aren at
the waterfall was beautiful.

She glanced in the direction of his sleep room, tempted to
join him in the bed, which was even larger than the one they’d shared in the
Princesses’ Palace. No. She intended to leave him once she knew his departure
was not a trap. Once she was certain he wouldn’t double back and catch her
escaping. But oh, how sweet to mate with him one last time. How wonderful to
make a child with him.

Unable to resist watching him sleep, she tiptoed to his door
then peered in. Knowing how warm he was even in slumber, seeing the bedding on
the floor did not surprise her. Her fingers twitched, longing to explore those
sculpted muscles, aching to feel his heat and the comforting thump of his heart
under her palm. And her heart squeezed when she realized he had a pillow
cradled in his arms just as he cuddled her.

Creeping forward, a squeaky floorboard made her cringe and
halted her in place. She saw his arms tighten around her soft replacement, but
when he stilled she risked moving again, drawn by his magnificent body bathed
in moonlight. Her heart beat so loud in her ears she prayed he would not hear.
Reaching the side of the bed, she released her pent-up breath, holding it again
as she put one knee on the mattress and let it take her weight.

“Kel?” His sleepy voice held hope and doubt. Before she
could answer he rolled toward her and repeated, “Kel,” combining relief and
welcome in that single word.

She made low, soothing noises and stretched out at his side.
Without opening his eyes, he drew her to him and sniffed as if inhaling her
scent. She breathed deeply, savoring the aromas of his warm flesh and musk. She
burrowed closer and celebrated his contented sigh.

His fingertips fluttered down her arm and hesitated over her
hand. Sensing diffidence in his touch, she turned her hand and melded their
palms and fingers. Emboldened, she moved their joined hands to her breast.

His cock stiffened against her belly. Her nipples hardened
and her breasts swelled. Reaching between their bodies, she shifted her hips
and his cock until it rested at her opening.

“Gods,” he whispered, thrusting into her, then sighing once
again. And not moving.

Well, his cock pulsed and his hands cupped her buttocks. And
he sort of groaned. She thought about shaking him awake then dismissed the
idea. She didn’t want to waken him completely. Just enough to bring them both
to bliss and him to wonder if it was real or only a dream. Chewing on her lower
lip, wondering if she dared taking matters into her own hands—
or pussy
,
she thought, smothering a giggle in her hand—she flexed her hips. His hips
pushed back and his cock got a little harder. At least she thought it did. Her
pussy felt fuller and wetter than only seconds ago.

Aren’s hips rose and fell then rose again, pushing his cock
a little deeper. He felt so good she couldn’t suppress her mewls. Slapping a
hand over her mouth to smother more noise, she wiggled her own hips. Aren
groaned and his eyelids flickered. Kel froze. Aren did not. Shoving deeper,
gliding back until only his cockhead remained inside her, he repeated the process
until Kel had to smother her cries of delight in Aren’s discarded pillow. And
his gentle, almost tender claiming brought her to stunned, shattering release.

As the roar of her heartbeat quieted, she heard their pants
ease to rhythmic inhalations and exhalations. Her eyelids drooped as she
snuggled against him. Recognizing the danger of falling asleep in his arms, she
risked looking at him. With his lips curved in a small smile she pressed a
quick kiss on them, then maneuvered free.

“Sleep well, my love,” she whispered at his door.

Aren’s eyes popped open and his smile widened to a grin. He
waited until Kel’s bed ropes no longer creaked, then made his way to her sleep
room. Not bothering to sneak, he strode to the bed then tossed her bedding to
the floor.

She yelped and curled into a ball, one arm over her breasts,
the other over her knees as they hid her mons. “Wh-what are you doing?” she
demanded, her voice squeaking like a cornered mouse.

“Nothing as yet.” Settling at her side, he pulled her
buttocks to his groin and ignored the fact that she curled even tighter around
herself.

Huffing, she glared at him over her shoulder. “What do you
intend to do?”

“Spend the night with my wife. After all, sweeting, we shall
be apart for several days. I want to take the memory of your warm body with me.
And hope for an equally warm welcome when I return.”

In the semi-light the moons provided, he couldn’t see her
eyes, but suspected they were swirling in a kaleidoscope of conflicting
emotions. Guilt over taking what he hadn’t agreed to share. The remnants of the
pleasure they’d shared. Anticipation of the bliss that stretched before them.
He could imagine all those emotions in her eyes.

“Relax, wife. I only want to hold you.”

“Are you certain?” she asked, a hint of guilt and apology in
her voice.

“I am. I wouldn’t take advantage of you any more than you
would of me.” He grinned at the ceiling, knowing he had rattled her so badly
she hadn’t denied their marriage or called him a liar about his intent.

He heard her gulp and felt her muscles tense. Curling around
her back, he relaxed as if all he wanted was to sleep with her in his arms. Stroking
his hand down her arm, he rested his palm over her clenched fist. Her breathing
evened before her fingers uncurled then wiggled, inviting him to lace his
fingers with hers.

He did and felt a shiver tremble though her hand and down
her body. Burying his nose in the curve of her neck and shoulder, he pressed a
gentle kiss to the tender flesh. Expecting her to move away, he smiled when she
relaxed even more and pushed her buttocks to his groin.

His shaft pulsed, but she didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she
hummed and moved his hand to her breast. Guiding his fingers, she traced her
areola, moaning softly when his caresses made her nipple pearl.

“Kel.” He whispered her name, a prayer and a warning in his
voice. He had reached the point where her rejection might not stop him.

Shifting, she allowed him to slip his shaft into her slick,
tight sheath. He slid his arm under her and found her rigid clit in the nest of
damp curls between her thighs. Mewling, she drew his face to hers and pleaded, “Kiss
me.”

Their tongues met. Their sighs turned to groans as their
rhythm changed from slow and easy to hard and fierce. Her cunt squeezed his
shaft until his balls tightened and exploded his cum deep within her molten
core.

Her eyes drifted closed and she relaxed completely. He kept
her in his arms. She couldn’t pretend she had only dreamed their fucking. How
could she when she woke with him buried to his balls in her pulsing cunt?

But when he awakened again, Kel had already left the bed.
Hearing running water, he knew where to find her.

* * * * *

Kel sensed him even before he joined her in the shower.
Since it felt like a deluge, she thought it should be called a storm or
something more descriptive of its power.

Stop equivocating. Think, Kel!
How could she hide her
intention to run when he could read her eyes so well?

“I know why you came to me last night, Kel.”

Sweet gods, he knew?
“Y-you do?” At least her voice
sounded steady. Would he notice her shaky knees?

“Well, I have a theory or two.” Taking the caill-scented
soap from her hands, he ran it down her back.

“You do?”

“You either intended to pay me back for the dream we shared
in the cave or…”

His soapy fingers sliding between her buttocks around her
hip to stroke her clit made her breath hitch and her mind fog. “Or?” she
managed.

“Or you realized how much you’ll miss me.” Chuckling, he
added, “Did you really think I could sleep through you making love to me?”

Relief made her knees buckle. But Aren had one hand on her
breast and his other between her legs, which kept her from collapsing at his
feet.

“A little of both,” she admitted, feeling able to look at
him. What his clever fingers were doing to her nipple and clit would account
for any strange emotions in her eyes. “And you played dead to the world quite
convincingly.”

“To our mutual satisfaction.” His voice deepened, a promise
of even greater satisfaction. “Turn around, sweeting, so I can see your eyes.”

The last thing she wanted. Knowing she couldn’t avoid it,
she turned and met his gaze head-on.

What she saw in his eyes left her breathless and so aroused
she could only pray her legs would support her. Desire, yes, but so much more,
she couldn’t begin to define the myriad emotions.

“Aren,” she whispered, reaching up to cup his unshaven
cheek. His stubble tickled her palm as he rubbed her hand over it.

“Should I shave?”

“No.”

“Not even to protect the tender skin between your thighs?”

He intended to breakfast on her body? The very idea set off
a war of conflicting needs. Her body heated to near boiling and her juices drenched
her pussy. Had it a voice, her clit would beg for his tongue, lips and gentle
nips. Her nipples would roar their need. Her mind warned her that time was
passing too fast. That she needed him to leave—and soon—or the sun might set before
she could find safe harbor for the first night of her escape.

“Have you—”
time,
she thought,“something to
put under your knees? This floor is very hard.” She couldn’t bear to let him
leave without mating—making love with him—one last time.

“Shower off.” Linking their fingers, he led her to a wide
bench she hadn’t noticed before. “Sit and I’ll adjust the back.”

She didn’t want to let go of him, but her body had its own
priorities. She sat. The bench conformed to her body, supporting her back and
spreading her legs. Her breasts were within easy reach of his hands, her pussy
the perfect licking distance for his tongue. Through a haze of lust, she
realized the bench had risen to give Aren access to every aching, needy inch of
her. Her skin flushed, yet her cravings made her whisper, “Please, Aren. I need
you.”

“Not yet,” he murmured as he kissed and licked his way down
her body.

She shivered, anticipating his tongue lapping her drenched
pussy, his fingers plucking her rigid nipples. And when he finally—
finally
—caressed
her areolas and nipped her rigid clit she expelled a grateful moan and arched
into everything he gave her.

The feelings they’d shared in the cave overwhelmed her
again. Even though she couldn’t see his face, she sensed the pleasure he gained
by pleasing her. His clever tongue circling her clit made her sigh. Licking its
tip wrenched a delighted gasp that seemed to start in her clit then surge up her
body and out of her mouth. When he sucked the tender nub, her hips jerked and
she writhed against his face, her breath pants of pleasure, her voice begging
him to fuck her sounding so needy that—had she an ounce of modesty—she’d have
blushed.

Modesty? Now? When rapture drew so near every muscle
tightened, anticipating its imminent arrival?

“Fuck me,” she pleaded, bliss in her voice.

“Soon,” he promised as if he shared every sensation coursing
through her body. As if he’d taken her inside and knew her as well as he knew
himself. His hoarse laugh vibrated around her clit and she shattered, grinding
her pussy into his face, crying his name over and over.

“More,” she pleaded, uncaring that her voice betrayed her
craving. She was beyond worrying about revealing her lust. She needed more of
this incredible, delicious torment.

“Play with your nipples, sweeting, and I’ll take you to
another galaxy.”

As she obeyed, he slid his fingers into her, pressing on her
sensitive softness while he sucked her clit. Stars she had never seen tore by
her closed eyelids, leaving bursts of color in their wake. Another climax
ripped through her like a sun gone supernova. She shook so hard she expected to
fall off the bench. Tears spilled over her cheeks, swiped away by his rough velvet
tongue.

His breathing ragged, Aren filled her pulsing cunt and
prayed he could withstand the agonizing need to erupt in her sweet heat.
Shifting her legs to his shoulders, he watched her eyes pop open then arrow to
his face. Surprise lightened them to aqua. Then they began to swirl with all
the colors of her bliss.

Then she seemed to go away. Her eyes stormy with hints of
regret and other emotions he did not understand and did not wish to. Fighting
the urge to pound into her, to lose himself in the mindlessness of his own
release, he lapped away her tears then laved the ticklish pulse point where her
neck and shoulder joined. Laughing, she pulled on his hair to plunge her tongue
into his mouth. When at last he eased back her eyes swirled with such joy, his
heart took wing.