She indeed couldn’t lift her head, but she could roll it to look at him.“Going to have to renege on the promised fourth round?”
He pursed his lips impatiently.“As if you could take another round.In my… zeal, I neglected to pay attention to your fragile mortal condition.”
“Hey, buddy, I’ll see your ‘zeal’ and raise you.No man has worn me out yet.”
“I’m not a man,” he pointed out.
“If you’re fishing for compliments, I’ll give you that one.You, my most succulent of blueberries, are far better than any mortal man.”She didn’t mind admitting it, especially feeling as if he’d wrung every cell of her body dry and replaced the fluid with the finest bubbling wine.Not to mention the wings.It had never occurred to her that the wing fingers—and don’t forget those wicked thumbs at the other end—would demonstrate such dexterity, nor that the wings themselves would be so flexible.Having those oh-so-soft wings sliding along every bit of her skin and basically three sets of ‘hands’ stimulating her, along with his most excellent cock doing the work of angels had been the pinnacle of an already pretty stupendous life of sexual adventuring.“And now I know what you do with the wings during sex.”
“Everything Icando with them,” he agreed warmly, holding out a hand to her and managing to make her blush, before he sobered, interlacing their fingers.“No, I meant that I should have healed you first.I was being selfish and could have waited until you were—”
“I couldn’t wait,” she interrupted.“Did not want to.I will concede, however, that a bit of healing wouldn’t be amiss before this theoretical round four.”She gave him a considering side-eye.“If you’re capable that is.”
With a growl of mock-anger, he used their joined hands to tug her to him, and she went eagerly, more than ready to be overcome again.But he gathered her close and stood, stepping out of the bath, wings spread for balance.Water sheeted off of them, helped along with his magic, a warm-honeysuckle breeze swirling around them so that, by the time they reached the bed again, even her hair had dried.
“Handy,” she commented.“Too bad you can’t use all that magic in the human realms.”
“Whether I can depends on a number of conditions,” he replied, laying her on the bed with infinite care, stretching her out, then running hands along her body, one wing also dipping to caress her side as he sat beside her.“You are all over bruises, Arantxa.”
“Fortunately all these blues and purples are your favorite colors.”She made a joke of it, but she did look pretty terrible, with plenty of greenish browns in the patterns radiating over her body.She didn’t remember getting most of them.“I’m surprised I don’t feel worse.”
“These are all peripheral remnants,” he replied absently, taking one foot in his hands with a barely-there touch, his wing cupping beneath her knee to support her leg.“The elixir I gave you initially took care of the internal healing at least.”
“I should have bathed inthat,” she joked.
He raised a brow.“You did.”
Huh.“Then why—ahhh,” her breath sighed out of her as his lips pressed to her swollen ankle.The relief from that minor pain felt like cool water on a hot day.
He smiled against her skin, tracing the strained ligaments with his clever tongue.“There’s internal.There’s surface.Now I’m getting the in-between.”
“My in-between is enjoying this very much,” she admitted, melting into the bed.Maybe her kneeswouldbe the same again, a cheerful thought if she ever got another chance at that particular flavor.
“From this end, too,” he told her in a voice as soft and sueded as his wings.“The turn of your ankle here, is so lovely.And the arch of your foot.”He pressed a kiss to the spot, sending warm tumbrels of sensation up through her.“Such long toes, and the second toe is the longest.”
“That’s supposed to be a sign of fae blood in a human.Or intelligence.You can take your pick which is more likely with me.”
He chuckled, music in it, and drew that toe into his mouth, suckling lightly before releasing it.“Charming,” he commented before giving each of her toes the same loving treatment, then moving up her calf.
This was new to her, being ministered to, being cared for.Yes, he was using his magic to heal her with blessed generosity, but it felt like more than that.Not that she would un-barrier her heart—that was a non-starter—but she could relax into this feeling of…being adored.Inside her head, she could admit to that, though she’d deny it at the top of her lungs if anyone else suggested it.For the moment, bathed in amethyst light and Azul’s unwavering attention, she could enjoy.Was this how trust felt?
Whatever it was, the delicious feeling made her wonder what else she’d been missing in life.Well, she would go on missing it, because this was only for now.
Azul continued his intimate inventory of her body, describing how enticing he found every aspect of her mortal flesh, in detail, caressing, kissing, licking, healing, and nipping as he went.He reminded her of Zazu reading for herself for the first time and insisting on reading the book aloud to every adult of her limited acquaintance, over and over, pointing out the words as she did, and frequently pausing to recap the story so far.
Except that Azul’s enthusiastic exploration and discussion was, fortunately and of course, actually sexy and fully engrossing.Unfortunately, Azul’s study of her body was also exceedingly more frustrating.The man who hadn’t been able to wait to be inside her a short time ago had transformed into one with an excruciating amount of patience.Several times, she attempted to seize him and end the healing/teasing, but he resisted her easily, using his wings to pin her in place like velvet-covered ropes of woven steel.
“I’m not stopping until you’re entirely healed,” he informed her with that arrogance that perversely appealed to her.“Also, this is my first and likely last opportunity to properly worship your body.I’ll not allow you to rush me through it.”
Cha squirmed in futile rebellion, simultaneously wrung out to the point of wilting and fulminating with need.She didn’t like to think about this being the end of their time together, so she didn’t pursue that angle.There was nothing to argue there anyway.“Surely I have nothing you haven’t properly worshipped before,” she said to the ceiling, shuddering with the erotic intensity of his ministrations, trying to think of ways to hurry him up.
“I’ve never been with a human woman before,” he replied, slowly licking the underside of her breast.
She ignored the completely unreasonable ping of delight at hearing that.Yes, yes—you’re totally special, Cha.Temporarily.Get over it.“Are we so different?”
He lifted his head and slithered up her body, rubbing his naked self against her like a cat, then kissing her deeply.Lifting his head, he held her gaze.“Yes.And you, Arantxa, are unlike anyone else.Stop fighting me and let me have this.”
“I’m not fighting you,” she said, oddly chastened and also touched by his words.And fragile, deep inside, rawly vulnerable in a way she never was.“Ican’tfight you,” she pointed out, managing to add some asperity to her voice, demonstrating by struggling against the wings holding her.His thumb claws curled in response, scraping gently, erotically against the surprisingly sensitive skin at the pulse points of her wrists, making her convulse and hiss out her breath.
