In his mind—as exhausted as he was— he saw those tits bobbing rhythmically with each ferocious thrust he would give her when they did make it to coupling.
He drank in the smooth flatness of her stomach, nipped-in middle and the sinfully rounded curve of her delightful rump.
Arousal burned through him in violent, astonishing waves, fierce and all-consuming, unlike anything he had ever felt before. Heforced his hand to let go of the doorknob and tried to gather his scattered wits.
Concentrate on the task at hand, you bloody bacon-brained idiot.
The savage self-castigation did nothing to stop the twisting needs humming through his body.
He pulled the blanket up and asked, “Are you joining me?”
Ariadne slid in between the sheets while he shucked his robe, blew out the lamp, and took his place in the large tester bed. He saw and felt how nervous she was and snorted, “You’re not lying on a bed of nails.”
She giggled and turned on her side, “Is this lesson number two?”
He rubbed his eyes, “Yes. A small one in a different type of intimacy.”
“I believe learning how to be compatible while sleeping is equally as important as other types of intimacy,” he said while reaching for her.
Instantly, she pressed herself into his chest and hips, and instinctively, her free leg stroked up his shin. Tilting her head back, she accepted his kiss. He kept this touch tender, exploring, and not rushing to find a peak.
Pulling back, Cedic slipped his good arm around Ariadne and pulled her close. She rested her head on his shoulder. He stroked her back and hair.
Soon he felt her breath slow and deepen, and, in her sleep, she shuffled and cuddled into his spooning body. He was asleep before he took his next breath.
Cedric awoke to a soft, warm body next to him. He was disoriented for a moment as the odd scent of delicate perfume reached his nose. As he came more fully awake, he caught the lilac scent that only belonged to Ariadne.
He also realized that his bad shoulder was screaming with pain. It was stiff and sore from sleeping on a side he tried to avoid. However, the ache seemed to lessen when he looked down to see Ariadne curled around him like a kitten.
He gently kissed her forehead and whispered to her. “I must get up.”
She slowly opened her eyes, and her sleepy gaze was the most seductive look he’d ever seen. “Is it really morning? I have not slept that well in ages.”
He shifted a little to ease the ache in his shoulder while getting a better look at her, but ended up too close; they were forehead to forehead, nose to nose, and lips to lips.
Apologetically, he pulled away while gingerly sitting up, trying to control the wince from the pain in his sensitive muscle, but it was not enough.
Ariadne followed him and reached out to him, but then drew her hand away. “How can I help?”
Grasping his shoulder, he nodded to a cupboard, “In there is a jar of salve that helps to ease this pain and tightness.”
She slid from the bed and, in the dim light, took the tub from the shelf and hurried back to him. Opening it, her head jerked back for a moment before she leaned in and sniffed. “Does this contain wild lettuce?”
His eyes closed, “I have no idea what the apothecary puts in it.”
She kneeled on the bed and, taking a handful of the concoction, liberally spread it over his shoulder and began slowly massaging it in.
The tight muscles eased, and the singing pain lessened the more she dug her hands into his tight skin, and soon enough, the medicine dulled the pain altogether. For some unknown reason, he did not tell her as the feel of her hands on his skin was so soothing, he wanted to revel in it.
Once, three years after the accident, he’d dared to have women from a discreet club to have a human connection, but the wayshe had recoiled and gazed at him with pure revulsion, he’d sent them away with extra coin to keep their silence.
From that night, he had not dared to try that again, and the more her hands coasted over his skin, the more he realized how starved he was for simple touch.
“Cedric?” Ariadne sounded amused.
“Hm?”
“You’re drifting asleep,” she said.
