I nodded, and he gathered some supplies, setting them on a stool he’d dragged next to the tub’s edge. Then he climbed in behind me.
Pampered didn’t feel like a strong enough word as he massaged my scalp with the shampoo again, working the suds along my shoulders and releasing any remaining tension thereas well. He soaped a thick cloth and washed my arms and chest, my neck. He had me poke one leg at a time out of the water so they could receive similar treatment. I reached for the cloth, but he shook his head.
“Stand up, Feather.” I did, and he wrapped one arm around my legs to hold me steady as he reverently ran the cloth between my legs. “Are you sore?”
“A little.”
He nodded and helped me sit again, leaving me to soak as he took care of washing himself. I’d reached for him first but had been denied.
“If you start touching me, Phin, there will be no rest. And youneedto rest. This is only the first day.”
I’d pouted, but he was right.
Once he was done, I’d been bundled back into a plush towel. “I brought everything from your bathroom in case there was something you needed.” He gestured to the unused side of his countertop. “I’m going to find us a clean sheet.”
I nodded and took the opportunity to take a dose of the light-green elixir Greta had sent, brush my teeth, and apply some of the rich moisturizer for my face that I’d found in Revalia.
Tap fetched me once again, this time pulling me by the hand instead of carrying me. Once we were comfortable on the mattress he brought over the full tray and started feeding me.
“I’m not incapable of caring for myself,” I said, after being offered the third bite of bread and cheese with some kind of preserved sausage.
“I know.”
“So why?—”
“Because I can.” His eyebrow went up, and I swallowed, a flash of heat distracting me from the protest I’d half-formed. “Because I want to.”
I didn’t try to argue any further.
Once Tap was certain my stomach was full and I’d drunk enough water, he pulled me down with him and covered us with a sheet. Sleep chased me the moment I was horizontal, and I fell into a peaceful place of semi-consciousness with his heartbeat under my ear and his fingers tangled in my hair.
I wokehot but with the need to relieve myself much more pressing than the dull ache in my womb.
“Phin?” Tap called as I slid off him and went into the bathroom.
“I’m okay,” I replied, hurrying into his water closet. And I was, until I was washing my hands. The need attacked with a viciousness, my knees nearly going out from under me as I rinsed off the soap.
Within a breath of me crying out, Tap was in the doorway, urgency in his gaze.
“Help,” I panted. He approached with clear intent to pick me up, to carry me back to the mattress but there was no time. “No. Right now.”
“Here?”
“Yes.” I nodded, the throb overwhelming, sweat making me feel damp everywhere.
His gaze turned ruby as he stood behind me, eyes fixed on us in the mirror. “You want to see yourself, Phin? How lovely you look as we cement this bond between us again?” I could only moan, and my eyes closed as his hand slid around my throat. “As you wish, little mate. I am yours to command.”
I buckled further, pressing my bare ass up against his body, finding him hard and ready. “Now,” I repeated, shifting back and forth impatiently. “I need you.”
“Greedy little angel,” he growled, making me repeat the word we’d agreed on if I felt uncomfortable before plunging into me from behind.
Sore or not, the moment he filled me up I sagged against the counter, his hand around my throat the only thing keeping my chin from falling to my chest.
Tears filled my eyes as he started to move, slowly at first and then with intent, my hips saved from banging against the counter’s sharp edge by the hand towel he left folded there for the sink.
His eyes held mine, flickering between silver and red as I panted and moaned, his jaw flexing with every thrust. The ink on his arm was a stark contrast to my bare skin, and when he tensed the grip he had on the sides of my throat, my body responded by clamping down, making him groan.
“You’ll surely bring me the most glorious of deaths, Phin. But more than that, the most beautiful life.” He paused in his movements, making me cry out in complaint. “Can you use your voice, beloved?”
