He rolled over and went to sleep. To sleep!
I lay there a while, listening to Vaxarion's even breathing. Then, when I was sure he was asleep, I slipped a pillow and blanket from the bed and laid back down on the floor. Staring upat the ceiling, I processed my day. This wasn't where I wanted to be with Vax, but I was confident that he'd eventually forgive me. Then we could move on. And maybe we'd have a little fun on the way to forgiveness.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I woke up in the middle of the night to movement. As in, someone was moving me. Moaning sleepily, I opened my eyes. Vax had me in his arms. He shifted me onto the bed beside him.
“Go back to sleep,” Vax said.
My eyelids fluttered shut again with a sigh. But I didn't go back to sleep. I couldn't. Not with him touching me. And oh, Gods, was he touching me.
Vax tenderly trailed his hands over my face, smoothing back my hair before tracing my eyebrows. Then he was fascinated by my cheekbones. My jaw. My lips. I knew if I opened my eyes he'd stop, so I kept them closed and pretended to be asleep. I let my breathing go deep and even. My limbs loose.
“My Zixin,” the King murmured, then his fingertips were replaced by the brush of his lips. “Zix.”
Vaxarion's head lifted, but he didn't stop touching me. He must have been sitting up, kneeling beside me, because his adoring hands swept down my neck and over my shoulders. They outlined my pectorals but didn't flick my nipples. No, this wasn't about sexual pleasure. It was deeper than that. More intense. I knew it because he touched me as I longed to touch him. Reacquainting himself with my body. No. Reclaiming it.
His deep sighs made my chest ache. I wanted to go into his arms. To hold him and touch him in the same adoring way. But I remained still, my chest rising and falling steadily. I had no idea I possessed such strong willpower. But for him, to keep him touching me like that, my will was as strong as the Gods.
His hands branched out, tracing the line of my arms. Trailing over my fingertips. He cataloged every inch. Every scale. Down to the tips of my nails. Inward he went. Over my belly. He dipped into my navel, then brushed the bones of my pelvis. After outlining my hips, the King wound his fingers through my nether-curls.
My cock, a far worse actor than me, twitched to have him so near. The King's hand moved away, and I nearly groaned. With that cage around me, I wasn't sure if my groan was out of frustration or relief. But then Vax was back to stroking me, and I didn't care. I wanted this far more than sex. It almost felt like a ritual. He worshiped me with his broad palms, skimming them over my thighs. The way he cupped my knees, then trailed his fingers down my shins became something sacred. It awakened my soul, drawing it to the surface to follow Vaxarion's path. My body tingled until I felt both detached and irrevocably bound. I floated, but a tether held me to him.
Interspersed with those holy touches came the brush of lips and cheeks. The Sea King nuzzled me like a cat scent-marking its owner. By the time he got to my feet, I was completely his. Scent-marked, claimed, branded, whatever you want to call it. There wasn't a single doubt left in my mind that we were meant to be. Whatever he demanded of me, I would do it. Because I knew how much I meant to him now. And I wasn't giving this up. Not for anything or anyone. Not even Vaxarion himself.
Finally satisfied, Vax snuggled in against me and pulled me into his arms. Pressed my head to his heart. I pretended to nestle closer in my sleep, and this won me a rumble of pleasure that vibrated through his chest. He covered us with a blanket and curled around me, his arms both a shield and a cage. But I found that I craved the Sea Dragon King's cage.
Chapter Twenty-Three
A foot nudged me awake. “Get up, slave!”
I groaned and stretched out the kinks I'd gotten from sleeping on the floor. Wait. Why was I on the floor? Vax had carried me to bed, hadn't he? My brain was fuzzy at first, but then it cleared, and I was certain. He had definitely carried me to bed in the middle of the night and touched every inch of me. Well, nearly every inch. He hadn't touched my sex, but that made it even better. Didn't it? I looked up at Vax. He was standing over me, still nude, his arms crossed, wearing a cold, almost cruel expression. I hurried to my feet.
Maybe his secret touch session hadn't included sexy stuff because he needed to keep it a secret from me. Because he wasn't ready to be nice to me. All right. Fair enough. But it wasn't a secret. I knew what he had done. I would treasure that memory forever and it would give me the strength to get through whatever torment he had planned. Yep. I'd face them with a smile. Starting now.
“Good morning, Vax,” I said and grinned. “I had the strangest dream that you picked me up and carried me to bed in the middle of the night.”
“What did you call me?” the King snarled.
“I mean, Your Majesty.”
He narrowed his eyes at me.
Oh, he was feeling particularly vulnerable today. Vax may think I was unaware of what he'd done, but that didn't matter. He still knew what he'd done, and that was enough to annoy him. My teasing him about carrying me to bed—and then putting me back on the floor—didn't help. His annoyance would find its release soon. On me.
So be it.
I tried again, using the hated word that I knew he wanted to hear. The only word that would assuage his anger at himself and me. “Good morning, master.”
Vax grunted and turned toward the door. “Come!”
I followed him downstairs to the landing below. The one with the two doors side by side. Vax opened the one on the right and went into the bathroom. Over the tidal pool marble we went, passing a shower large enough for ten and a length of pale blue counter with two white sinks. We stopped before an enormous bathtub set into the curve of the wall. A window curved with the wall, presenting a lovely view of the city and a horrid view of the blackened garden.
Vax plopped into a white coral chair beside the tub and waved at it. “Run me a bath and make sure the water is the perfect temperature.”
I didn't dare ask him what temperature that was. I just hurried to the golden faucets and turned them on. “Would you like me to add anything to the water, Your Majesty?”
“No,” he said and got up.
