He steps even closer and frowns. “Why? You have said that your clothing is more comfortable to wear. Why would you choose these dresses instead? What changed?”
I clench my jaw and make to move around him to leave but he stops me with a hand on my arm.
“Eden, what happened? Tell me.”
I yank my arm away but can’t quite meet his eyes as I grit out, “That soldier…he said…he assumed I was your whore to be used because of how I was dressed.” I smooth down the fabric of the long skirt. “It’s just better that I wear this style so no one else will think that way of me because of what I’m wearing.”
He tips my chin up, forcing me to meet his eyes. “If I could, I would resurrect that bastard and kill him all over again for you. No man should do what he tried to do to you, no matter what clothing you are wearing. Do not let what happened affect you so.”
I bite my lip to keep it from trembling and give him a jerky nod before quickly changing the subject. “This trip…are you sure you want to go with us?”
His hand drops from my chin and he angles his body away from me not giving me the answer I so desperately want. Tears well up in my eyes but I blink them back and let the anger surge instead.
“Damn it, Luca! I’m not supposed to let what happened to me affect me but you get to wrap your misery around yourself like a blanket and wallow in it?” I pull him back to face me and grasp his face between my two hands. “I’m here now. Let it go and choose happiness. Choose love. Luca, choose me!”
When he leans forward and rests his forehead against mine I think for half a heartbeat that I’ve finally gotten through to him but then I see the pain shimmer across his eyes. He pulls away, turns, and walks from the room leaving me alone once again.
No longer interested in the maps, I slowly walk back to my room. I snag my phone from the dresser and turn on my sappiest love song playlist and then curl up in the chair by the window and do some wallowing of my own. I lose myself in the music and memories of Luca and me in France and all the love we shared there. I don’t know how to break through to him. I don’t even know if he’s planning on coming with us when we leave. I waste a good portion of the day sitting there being sad and miserable - so lost in my own thoughts that I don’t even see Bas and Cade return until a hand on my shoulder has me flinching back into the present. Sebastian’s looking down at me with a concerned expression so I push aside the sadness and smile up at him.
“You’re home! How did it go? Were you able to find people to come with us?”
He scoops me up and switches places with me so that I’m sitting on his lap. “We did. So far we have four indentured families as well as six suitable male and female slaves purchased. I would like at least double that number before we set out but there is time yet to find them.”
I shudder at the idea of buying people but I know that they will be all free once we are away from here. “You explained to them all where we are going and that they will be free of ownership if they come with us? That we will help them set up their own homes wherever we settle?”
He runs his thumb over my bottom lip with a smile. “Of course. The indentured families are eager to join us and to have the chance for a fresh start. The slaves are not quite as trusting of our word. Cade and Finn are getting them settled in one of the outbuildings and will speak with them more in-depth about it. A few of them have family that are also being sold so we will try and buy them as well so they won’t be separated by such a great distance.”
I lean back against his chest and sigh. “I hate that they may feel like they have no choice but to come with us because you bought them.”
He kisses the top of my head and makes a sound of agreement. “Let’s give them all a few days to settle in and for the wolves to keep reassuring them. Unfortunately, they have no reason to trust us.” His hand slides my skirt up my leg and traces circles against the skin on the inside of my knee. “How was your day? You looked…lost when I came in.”
“Hmm, I’ll give you one guess,” I tell him as his fingers trail higher to the inside of my thigh.
He tips my head to the side so his lips can brush against my neck sending shivers of pleasure through me. “I do not need to guess. I know Luca is still struggling with his fears and I know how sad that makes you. I cannot fix Luca’s fears but I can take your mind off of them. ”
The backs of his fingers brush against the damp fabric covering my center as his tongue sweeps against my neck in soft licks causing my breathing to stutter and gasp, “O-Oh, how?”
“I’m going to pull this covering to the side and use my tongue to lick all thoughts of sadness from you. My fingers will slide in and out of you slowly as my lips suck on your swollen, aching bud, and only when my face is all that you see and my name is the only name on your lips begging for more will I let you come. But it won’t be enough, will it? I’ll bend you over that bed and slide my big, hard cock through your hot juices and then deep inside you. Hard, deep strokes to fill you up and when you are screaming my name in pleasure, I will give you even more. I will slide my teeth into your skin to taste your sweet, sweet blood and you will come so hard it will feel like a vise on my cock as you milk me dry. I will give you all the love and pleasure you need to smile your sweet smile for the rest of the day.”
The ache between my thighs is hot and heavy as he rubs and toys against the now saturated fabric. My hips lift trying for more, for harder contact as I pant in his lap. With a growl, he launches us from the chair and lays me out on the side of the bed shoving my skirts up and yanking my panties to the side before he spears me deep with his hot tongue. I buck against his mouth and try to grind my pussy against his face - chasing that sweet spot even as I moan his name. Bas throws my thighs up over his shoulders and my hands find his head so I can clutch at his hair to pull him even harder against me. The shallow thrusts of his tongue in my channel are driving me mad with need and when I pull his hair hard to redirect him to my clit he spanks my raised ass in retaliation. The sting of pain only adds to the pleasure he’s giving me but I’m not prepared for when he rolls us over so I’m sitting on his face.
He pulls back just enough to speak and growls at me, “Ride my tongue, witch!”
I freeze in shocked surprise until his tongue goes exactly where I want it to and circles my clit before he flicks it a few times. His hands slide up my thighs to push the skirt back up and then clamp down to pull me hard against his face. It feels so fucking good that my head falls back and I moan as my body starts rocking and grinding against his tongue and lips. One of his hands releases me now that I’m moving and slides between my legs. Two hard fingers thrust into me and when he curls them to drag against my walls I almost scream his name as shock waves start building higher and higher. A third finger goes in stretching me even more and his lips suck my clit mercilessly sending me right over the edge with a jolt that has color bursts stealing my vision and my body arching like a bow.
I barely have any breath left when he’s flipping me again so that I’m bent over the side of the bed. He covers my back with his chest and murmurs into my hair, “Good girl. Now take my big cock and scream my name.” He kicks my feet apart, rubs one side of my ass, digs in with his fingers and then thrusts into me hard and deep. My back arches against him and he wraps my hair in one fist - pulling me back even further as he spreads his free hand against my lower back to brace himself as he plows into me as deep as he can with every thrust. He’s so fucking big that the stretch of him inside of me burns in such a beautiful way and the pleasure waves start rolling again. A sharp tug on my hair and he’s growling again.
“My name, say my name, Eden. YOU…ARE…MINE!”
I cry out his name and it’s barely left my lips before his teeth sink into the back of my shoulder, triggering the orgasm that comes with it. Now I do scream his name as jolt after jolt of intense spasms of pleasure rock through me and my walls clamp down on his cock again and again until he finally finishes drinking from me. He roars, “MINE!” at the same time as spilling his release deep inside of me. When the euphoria starts to lessen and my vision returns, my body is slack and the only thing keeping me up is Bas’s hand in my hair. I feel him lick at the bite mark on my back to seal it and then he gently lowers me back to the bed where I struggle to catch my breath.
Long sweeping strokes down my back and sides fill me with warmth and love for this man that is mine just as much as I’m his. His love doesn’t lessen how sad I am about Luca but he is right that I will spend the rest of the day with a smile on my face.
Cade
“You need ta eat more than that, lass. ‘Tis a big day and you’ll need your strength.” I tell her, nudging more food her way but she just laughs that beautiful laugh that still sends a kick of happiness straight to my heart. I went so long despairing that I’d never get to hear it again that I treasure each laugh she gives me now.
“If you think a few hours of shopping is a big day for a woman from the future, you’ll be in for a huge shock when you get to my time! Seriously, I can do a few hours of shopping in my sleep.” She laughs again.
