Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

My body shook and I let out a moan, my arms finally giving out. I slumped to the ground, my cheek and shoulder pressed against the cool hardwood floor. It felt nice on my overheated skin. I didn’t know how he could still be hard. 

Lucian had made me come so many times that I’d lost count. My legs felt like jelly, my skin was coated in a layer of sweat. I felt gross, longing for a moment to rest, and clean up. 

He was insatiable. His movements became erratic and he came inside of me again. This time he stilled and didn’t keep going. My eyes closed and I took a moment to just breathe in and out, trying to center myself. To tap into that spot inside of me where nothing could touch me. 

His flaccid cock slipped from my body and I felt strangely empty. My hips sank lower to the ground.

“Go lay on the bed.” He ordered and I would have nodded, but it hurt to move. “You’ve earned it.”

I pushed up onto my hands before falling back to the ground. “I can’t.” 

He pulled me up and off the ground into his lap, cradling me against his chest. His fingers stroked through the tangled mess of my hair, smoothing it back. “Little bird, you did good.”

“I’m glad I pleased you.” My words were small, I closed my eyes. Listening to his heartbeat beneath his scarred chest. How was he not worn out?

He chuckled, kissing my forehead as he lifted me up, getting to his knees. He stood, striding over to the bed. “You did, my little mate. Rest now, I’ll clean you.” 

Lucian placed me on the bed, much gentler than I’d been expecting. Was this the same man who’d fucked me so roughly? Who had made me feel like no other could compare after tonight?

I didn’t open my eyes, instead, I listened as his footsteps padded through the room. A door creaked open and then I heard the water running. I counted the beats of my heart as I waited for him to return. Something I hadn’t done in so long. When our parents had passed I’d lay awake at night counting the beats just to take my mind off of what had happened. 

His footsteps returned, coming closer to the bed. It shifted beneath his weight, he sat down beside me. A cool washcloth moved over my face as he soothed my swollen lips. 

“You’re even beautiful now.” His words were soft and I cracked open my eyes, looking at him. He was studying me as he cleaned me off, moving the cloth down the side of my neck. I shivered when he touched the mark on my neck and he smiled. “I’ve heard that claiming a human could make them feel all kinds of things. Tell me, have you ever been fucked like that?”

I shook my head as he moved the washcloth over my breasts. The tendrils of desire snaked through me even though I knew there was nothing that I could do about it. He pinched my nipple and I realized that I hadn’t spoken. “No, Lucian.”

“Good girl. When you claim me, you’ll feel it more.”

“Feel what?” I asked, not understanding what he was talking about. 

“Me, you’ll feel me with every fiber of your being. You’ll crave me like no other.” His tone was dark and I feared that his words were true. How could I crave someone that had used my body so? Sure, he’d made me come. 

This was a way to keep us safe, nothing more. I needed to remind myself of that. 

I had to keep her safe. 

He stood up, frowning as he looked down at me. “I should have brought a basin.”

Lucian turned back to the bathroom and I watched him go. He’d shed his clothing earlier, and I took the time to admire the way the flames from the fireplace moved along his skin. Painting the planes of his muscles in shadows. I didn’t get how he could look so put together still while he was naked. So commanding despite his nudity. 

Closing my eyes, I started to drift to sleep. When the bed shifted beside me, I was startled awake and he laughed. “It’s just me.”

“I know,” I said, not telling him that I knew that it was him. That I felt more at ease when he was near. It was a conflicting feeling. I didn’t want to be relaxed around him, it would only put my sister and I in danger. He ran the cloth over my arms and I let out a sigh, enjoying how he was taking care of me. 

I hadn’t been prepared for this. 

I’d thought once he was done with me he’d kick me out of his room, like some frat boy. Send me back to Kaida and my sister in a walk of shame. Now he was being gentle, almost kind. Was it the bond or just him?

He dipped the washcloth into the basin, his hands wrapping around the rag to ring it out. I hadn’t noticed how big his hands were before when he’d been guiding me to orgasm, gripping my hips. Right now, I just watched his fingers move over my skin. Long and this, his nails trimmed short but still able to bite into my skin leaving marks on me. Tomorrow I was sure to have bruises. He moved the cloth over my stomach, then lower across my abdomen. 

My stomach wasn’t flat, it never would be. How he looked at me made me feel that it didn’t matter. Even if he’d claimed me, there was no doubt that he wanted me. That he found me attractive. Feeling like that made me aroused. 

I watched him breathe in through his nose, his eyes slipped closed. “Good, the way the scent of your cunt fills the room-”

His words trailed off as he tossed the washcloth into the basin. Lucian’s fingers moved over my swollen, tender lips as he moved to settle himself between my thighs. 

His tongue moved over the lips of my sex, soft, gentle strokes that made me pant. He moved his hands to the inside of my thighs, spreading my legs further apart. He feasted on my innermost delicate parts. Cleaning me off with licks that were becoming deeper and deeper. He groaned against me and I moaned his name.

I watched as he thrust himself against the bedding, his body flexing and withering. I wondered what it would feel like to take control of him, to make him beg beneath me. His nose brushed against my clit and my vision started to dim with flecks of gold painting the edges like fireworks before it all went dark.