“Ella,” he said huskily, “come here.” He drew her to the chair in the corner, and she obeyed, her knees shaky. He sat down and reached up, loosening the ties of herobi, drawing her down to him with his hand on her wrist.
She went to sit in his lap, but with quick adjustment, he arranged her legs so that they were on either side of him. She gasped at the heat coming off him, feeling her nipples tighten in response.
She couldn’t take it any more. She had to ask.
“Ryu,” she whispered, “what are we doing?”
“Shh,” he responded, running a gentle thumb over her lower lip. “Let’s not ruin this with talking. We aren’t very good with words.”
She nodded as he tangled his fingers in her hair. “I love this silver in your hair,” he said, rubbing the lock of silver-blond hair admiringly between his thumb and forefinger.
Ella trembled, pulling him closer wordlessly. This was new territory for them, and she was afraid to speak for fear of breaking this gentleness between them; afraid that this gentleness between them would breakher.
So, she did the only thing she could think of, which was to meet his mouth with hers, and tangle her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck.
Her fingers shook as she gently untied hishaori, while he said nothing, sitting back in the chair and watching her go about her task with hooded eyes.
With a sigh of accomplishment, she pushed the fine silk off his shoulders, her hands immediately going to the hard flesh she found underneath. His skin was hot under her fingertips, and she smiled as she ran her hands over his chest, loving the feel of the rippling muscles under her palms.
One of his hands dropped to her waist, squeezing hard, while the other stroked upward to trace a thumb over the pointed tip of one breast. She arched her back, and he smiled into the kiss he placed on her lips.
Her head spun, even as the moment stretched between them, dreamlike and surreal.
She moved back to look at him, feathering her hands up his skin and onto his shoulders. She moved to his face, tracing gentle fingertips over his forehead and down his nose, before moving down to his high cheekbones. Her fingers drifted to the pointed ears that marked him as an Elf, and she saw him slam his eyes shut at the first touch.
Struck by his reaction, she leaned forward to take the lobe of his ear between her teeth. She had enjoyed it when he had done the same to her, perhaps he would like it, too…
He rumbled low in his chest when she swept her tongue over the point, and she smiled against his flesh as she moved away from him.
His hair was falling over his chest now, and she moved it aside carefully, drawing the silken strands through her fingers reverently. She followed one lock of hair to its end, and found the flat, hard disc of his nipple. On an instinct, she lightly raked it with her nails, and let out a gasp when he moved convulsively against her.
“Again,” she said breathlessly, running her nails over him once more.
His eyes sparked as he moved again, this time more deliberately, his hardness brushing against the heat between her legs. She gasped again, and this time she moved too, hips jerking instinctively.
He groaned at the contact, head falling back against the chair, his eyes slipping shut. She did it again, chasing her pleasure, and this time a spark zipped through her body as well, making her cry out.
And then he was grinding up against her in long, slow strokes, and her breath was coming faster and faster…
Ella blinked when he suddenly stopped, his head cocked as if listening to something far off.
The next moment he was pulling herkimonoclosed, and then he gently pushed her off his body, adjusting his own robes to cover himself.
She hurriedly pulled herself together, her hands shaking and her breath still coming in gasps. She looked over her shoulder at Ryu, who was tying hishaoriclosed and adjusting himself with a wince.
He noticed her looking at him, her eyes wide and lips parted, and sprang up to grasp her wrist in his hand.
“This is not over,” he said to her in a low voice. She shivered at the dark promise in his gaze, and nodded.
Now she could hear it too, the sound of footsteps coming toward them. She spun away from him, standing a safe distance away from him when there was a knock on the door and the door was slid open.
“Oh!” the maid said, her eyes wide, “forgive me, Ryu-sama, Ella-sama.” She looked between them both. “Nitya-sama asked to see the tea room; I didn’t know you were in here—”
As the maid babbled on, Ella noticed Princess Nitya standing behind the maid, her two attendants with her. Her clever dark eyes were on her and Ryu, and Ella suddenly had a sinking feeling that the princess was very aware of what they had just been doing in the room.
“Excuse me,” Ella said, and despite Ryu’s sudden movement toward her, she stepped away from him, and fled to her room.
~
