He moves to my other breast, sucking and nibbling that nipple while he tugs and pinches and rolls the other, still damp with his saliva. I’m trembling. It’s too much, and at the same time, not enough. I’m frenzied, out of control, this aching need all consuming. It’s burning me alive.
Aemon pulls his lips from my breast, peppering my stomach with kisses as he moves down my body. He grips the waistband of my pants and tugs them down bit by bit, kissing and licking as he goes. I lift my backside, and he finishes the job, sliding them down my thighs, calves and feet, then tossing them onto the floor. I’m completely naked, totally exposed and shaking, though not from the cold. Aemon’s gaze burns down my body. I start to cover my breasts and he grabs my hands and moves them up and over my head. “You’re beautiful,” he says, his voice thick with emotion. “Keep them there.”
Those words set off a fluttering in my chest. That fluttering soon turns to pounding as his hands move up my calves, knees, thighs, spreading my legs as he goes until I’m completely open to his gaze. Heat flushes through my body, whether from excitement or embarrassment, I can’t say. Then he lowers his head until he’s so close to my sex, I can feel his breath cooling my arousal-soaked skin. I try to close my legs, but he holds them apart and this, too, just gets me more excited—the way he overpowers me.
He drags the flat of his tongue from my entrance to my clit, and my hips buck off the bed at the shock of it. “Don’t move, witchling,” he says and presses his hand to my pelvis, holding me down. I groan as more arousal floods my sex. And then he’s on me. He buries his face between my legs, licking and sucking at me like I’m his last meal. His tongue circles my clit, and a tingling pressure builds in my core, higher and higher with every stroke. Sweat breaks out across my brow. I’m walking a razor-thin edge, teetering, but not quite going over. The pressure just keeps building, and I’m hollering, screaming for release.
His finger circles my entrance and my shouts quiet as my whole being zeros in on that single point of contact. Then he slips a finger inside of me and the dam bursts. I fling my head back and grip the sheets, my whole body convulsing as wave after wave of pleasure rolls through me. Aemon pumps his finger inside of me, wringing out every last ounce of my orgasm until the spasms turn to aftershocks, then diminish altogether.
When Aemon finally pulls away and meets my eyes, his face is covered with my arousal. My cheeks burn hot with embarrassment as he drags a hand across his mouth. Then he begins to unbutton his trousers, and I completely forget what I was embarrassed about. He steps out of bed and pushes his pants down, freeing his cock. It bobs against his belly, thick and hard and so fucking perfect, my mouth waters at the sight.
He wraps his hand around the thick shaft and strokes it. My belly leaps and my breath goes still in my chest. Any relief I might have felt just a moment ago has vanished, and I am once again an overwound clock, ready to fly apart at the slightest touch. I push up onto my knees and move closer to the edge of the bed, my eyesglued to where he fists his shaft. I want that to be my hand. I want to feel how much he wants me. Tentatively, I reach out and he grabs my hand out of midair, startling me half to death, then he pulls it toward his cock. He runs my knuckles up and down his length, for just a moment, before he opens my fist and wraps my fingers around his shaft. They don’t even come close to touching. My belly drops. His skin is smooth and soft, but his cock is like steel. Gods, is that going to hurt inside of me?
He slides his hand along my jaw and tips my head to look up at him. “It’ll hurt at first, for only a second, then it’ll start to feel good,” he says, answering my unspoken question. “We can stop right now if you’re not ready. I won’t be angry, I promise.”
I smile up at him. “I know.” And I press a kiss to his knuckles. “I want to.”
At that, Aemon gives up all semblance of civility. He crushes his lips to mine, then grasping me by the backside, he lifts me into his arms and throws me back onto the bed. I giggle as I bounce on the mattress, but that giggle falls away when I see the intensity in his eyes. I swallow, my throat suddenly going dry. Aemon positions himself between my legs, then slips a hand under me and squeezes the globe of my ass, holding me captive while he runs the bulging tip of his cock up and down my sex. Arousal drips between my legs, soaking the mattress and slicking his shaft. Another time, perhaps, I would have been embarrassed about such a thing, but I’m too far gone to care, too lost in him—his taste, his touch, the sensation of his skin heating mine.
He pushes himself inside of me slowly, filling me, spreading me impossibly wide, and he’s right, it does hurt. I grit my teeth and clench my hands into fists where they grip his back. He leansforward until his scratchy cheek brushes against mine and says, “Relax. I’ll take care of you, but you have to relax.”
I take a breath and try my best to do as he says, relaxing my muscles and unclenching my jaw.
“That’s it,” he says. “That’s my good girl.” He starts pushing again, even slower this time until he’s fully seated inside of me. It’s a strange feeling of fullness, but the pain has quickly dissipated and the urge to move has me wiggling my hips. Aemon lets out a hiss. “Fuck. You have to give me a second or this is going to be over before it starts.” He draws back and presses a soft kiss to my lips as he begins to pull out of me.
Sparks of pleasure flicker through my core, and I gasp. “Oh gods.”
He lifts one leg, then slides his hand down my thigh and backside. This changes the angle and when he pushes back inside of me, it's even deeper than before. “Fuck.” He rests his forehead against mine for a moment, as if catching his breath. Then he kisses me and, slowly, carefully, he begins to move. The delicious drag of his cock against my inner walls sets off a flurry of sensation like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I moan. Gods, I never knew it could feel this good. Above me, Aemon’s body trembles. He’s holding back for fear of hurting me.
But I want it to hurt. I want him to break me, split me down the middle, then build me anew. I want his everything.
“More,” I say, my voice barely a whisper.
And something in him snaps. With his free hand, he grabs me by the neck, his body curling over mine, and he thrusts into me. Fireworks explode in my core, sending tingling shock waves through my belly and chest. I throw my head back and shout, but Aemon’sgrip tightens on my neck, and he tips my head forward, forcing me to look into his eyes. The intensity of his gaze is both terrifying and so erotic I could melt from the heat of it. He looks at me like I’m his whole world, like nothing exists but him and me and the way our bodies fit together. He pounds into me faster and harder and harder and faster, and the tingling pressure is building again. “Yes,” I shout, no longer caring who might be around to hear.
I gaze up at him, trying to convey what I’m feeling with my eyes.
You are mine and I am yours.
“Yes,” he breathes, as if reading my mind. He pulls me against his chest, our sweat slicked bodies pressed tightly together as we make love. And it is love. Gods help me, I love this man. He is my completion, my other half, my everything.
Pleasure coils in my core, tighter and tighter with every thrust. I’m teetering on the precipice, jaw clenched, muscles taut, waiting for that scale to tip and send me hurtling over the edge.
Aemon’s movements become more frenzied, his thrusts deeper. He’s approaching his climax, I’m sure of it. “Together,” he whispers in my ear, then he slips his hand between our bodies and strokes my clit.
I detonate.
My orgasm barrels into me like a freight train, pleasure so intense it borders on pain overtaking my senses. Aemon slams into me, every thrust setting off more explosions as he chases his own release. Then he comes with a roar, his cock convulsing as he pumps me full of his seed. Our bodies still, our hearts pounding, chests heaving, as we grip each other tight and ride out the final waves together.
We continue holding each other well after the aftershocks have waned and Aemon’s gone soft inside of me. Neither of us wants to let go. Aemon draws back just enough to look at me. He brushes the hair from my face and presses a soft, chaste kiss to my lips.
“Katya,” he says, his breath tickling my lips. “I…” He kisses me again, firm but quickly and clenches his hand around my nape. He curses. “Katya…” he begins again, then stops. I pull back and search his face, his eyes. He doesn’t have to say the words. I already know.
I lay a hand against his cheek and say, “I love you, too.”
54
We leave for Duje just as the sun begins to crest the horizon, the hazy glow swallowing the darkness and painting the winter-bare trees and frosted grass gold. Jael sees us off with a bit of food and water for our journey, and when she slips some contraceptive tonic to me while Aemon isn’t looking, I appreciate her discretion, at least I do once I get past my mortification over the whole thing. The ride to Duje is long and too quiet, but we make good time, reaching the border of Cairn a couple hours before sunset.
