His breath hissed over my scorched chest and he ground against my thickening cock.“Da-yum.Your hard-on’s practically lifting me off your lap.”
“This is what you do to me.”
The tips of his ears went pink.“Yes.Well.I’m told there’s a way I could actually take it—something called Easewater—”
“I’ve heard of this.”
“—but with all the plotting and scheming going on, I haven’t had the chance to brew a batch myself.”
“Archie.”I cupped his tuskless face and tilted his chin so he was looking me in the eye.“If I am yours, and you are mine, then we have plenty of time for Easewater.There are so many things I want to do with you, we’ll never get through them all in a single night.And it would be a shame to even attempt it, when I want to cherish every touch and taste.”
His eyes flicked to the side.
“What is it?”I asked.
“It’s just that I’vedoneall the things.Many times over, in fact, with countless men—whether I wanted to or not.”Archie swallowed hard, and his scent tinged with saline.“But I can’t say I’ve ever been cherished.”
“Then we’d better do this right.”I gentled him off of me and headed over to the shelves of bones and baubles that lined the chamber.Nothing was labeled.But I’d conditioned enough blades with rocknut oil to know the smell anywhere.
I turned and let my hide kilt drop to the floor.
Archie stood and faced me.His eyes went to my cock, hanging heavy and dark, thick with arousal.“Actually…” he said.“Maybe itisworth taking a brief respite to whip up that potion—”
I unstoppered the oil, gave it a sniff just to be sure, then pressed the phial into his hands.“One step at a time.When I couple with you, I want it to be good.But I won’t know how it’s supposed to be unless I’ve felt it for myself.”
Archie’s brow furrowed.“Hold up.You wantme…to topyou?”
“You just said you’ve done all the things.”
“Well, sure.I just thought…I mean, you’re so….”
Had I ever before seen him at a loss for words?“Since this is all new to me.”
“Being with a human,” he clarified.“Or did you mean being with a man?”
“Being with anyone.”
Archie’s mouth worked and nothing came out.But eventually, he managed, “You’re a virgin?”
I shrugged.“I am untouched…aside from that thing you did with your tongue, obviously.”
Archie sat down hard on the cushion.“Well.I see.”
“I was to be wed.But my betrothed was given to someone else.”
“Oh.”He turned the bottle around in his hands.“I’m so sorry.”
Strangely enough, I realizedIwasn’t.I crouched beside Archie, which put my face level with his.I coaxed his lips toward mine.He moaned into my mouth as I deepened the kiss.I could feel his hands shaking as he pushed the phial of rocknut oil aside and wrapped his arms around my neck.I pulled him closer still, pressing our bodies together and feeling the warmth of him against my bare skin.He wore far too many clothes now, and yet the barrier of the fabric between us only heightened my anticipation.
With one hand, I reached down and slipped a hand between his thighs, stroking him through his tight breeches as we kissed.Archie’s hips jerked forward, and he gasped into my mouth.“You don’t kiss like a virgin.”
“And you,” I murmured against his lips.“You don’t kiss like a jaded man who’s done it countless times before.”
Archie shifted his hips as his cock strained his breeches.“True, I’ve had my fair share of sex.But, kissing?That’s reserved for someone special.”
His tongue skimmed my lower lip, and I shivered.I wanted more.I wanted to touch him, kiss him, taste him—to feel him, in every way possible.
I cupped him between the legs and found a hardness that startled me…mainly because it was most definitely not an erection.
