Текст книги "The sea ogres eager bride"

Автор книги: Ruby Dixon

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Текущая страница: 9 (всего у книги 15 страниц)

Chapter

Eighteen

RANAN

Islowly come to.

My mouth feels like a wad of dried out seaweed. It tastes rotten and yet is somehow parched. Something pricks my hot, throbbing leg, sending a dagger of pain sheeting up my calf. I jerk, trying to move away from the stinging pain, but something heavy weighs down my thigh.

“Of course now you’re awake,” I hear Vali mutter. “Your timing could not be worse.”

My eyes feel gritty, and I manage to open them a sliver. As I do, I see her naked back—fiery red with sunburn—facing me. She’s sitting on my thigh. Another hot, stabbing pain shoots up my leg and I vaguely remember the sea dragon. It’s hard to talk—my tongue feels as if it’s coated with sand. “What…are you…doing?”

“Sewing your wound. Be still or I’ll have to strap you down.”

She’s sewing my wound? I repeat the thought several times.

She’s…sewing…

…my wound?

When did she get here? Wait, where is here? I focus my gaze on the ceiling and see the familiar stone of the grotto. Another stab lances up my leg and I hiss. “Ow!”

“This was easier when you were unconscious,” she mutters.

“How long…?”

“Almost two days that I know of. I’ll give you some water once I’m done with this.” She pauses, blows out a loud breath, then breathes in again just as deeply.

“You…all right?”

“Great, just great.” She doesn’t sound great, though. Her voice sounds tight.

I lie back, exhausted and weak and still slightly dazed. I’m so thirsty. I feel hot, too, but that can’t be helped…can it? My leg feels as if it’s on fire, and I wonder if it’s even there or if the sea dragon bit it off. “How bad…is it?”

“Bad.”

And yet she went out and found me? I don’t know how, and I can’t imagine why. I haven’t been kind to her. “Leg…?”

“Still on, but it’s not pretty. It needs sewing.”

“Doesn’t hurt that bad.”

“Well, thank the gods for that. Could be all the willow bark tea I’ve been dripping down your throat.”

Has she? I didn’t realize.

“I’m lucky I had some steeping for a long time. It’s really strong. You’ll feel it when it wears off, though. I guarantee that.”

Lovely. Something to look forward to. Vali has obviously been hard at work tending to me. “Could have…robbed…me. Left. You’d be rich.”

“I’m your wife,” she points out, her weight shifting on my thigh. If I didn’t feel like I’d been pounded by an entire flotilla of hamarii, I might be able to appreciate that she’s straddling my thigh naked, her cunt snugged against my flesh. “I wouldn’t be robbing you if you died and I got your things. And besides, where would that get me? I’d be murdered at the first town I went to.”

“Mm.” I lick my lips. They feel like fish scales.

“Besides, I like you,” Vali continues in that determined voice. “Even though you make it difficult at times. Now, hold still. I need to stitch again.”

Hot pain flares through my leg, and this one seems to go on for longer. A growl rises in my throat and I clench my fists together to keep still. She’s helping me. I know she is. I’m grateful, even if I want to pull her off my leg and have her never stab me with a needle again. The pain ebbs and I wheeze, collapsing back against the soft fabrics under my body. As I do, I think about her admission. “You…like me?”

“You’ve always been kind to me. Even when you didn’t have to be. In my world, that means a lot.” She flexes her shoulders as she moves and then hunches them again, going quiet.

“I…haven’t…been…that kind.”

“Sure you have. We’re still getting to know each other. And this next part is going to sting, because I think I need to sew the muscle together before I sew the skin over it.”

It sounds like she knows what she’s doing. I’m awash with gratitude that she’s tending to me. She found me, brought me back, and she’s going to help me get better. “You know what you’re doing?”

“I can sew a straighter stitch than anyone,” she says. “The scar will hardly show. Trust me. You ready?”

I grunt. “Do it before I think about it.”

White-hot pain sears up my leg and I let out a groan of agony. It goes on for far too long, and sweat beads on my skin. She tugs, and I feel the stitch tighten in place, and then her shoulders hunch. Vali is quiet for a long moment and then tilts her head back, breathing deep.

Is she…gagging?

“You…sick?”

“The muscle was just a bit much. Lots of blood.” Her voice sounds oddly tight. “Just gimme a moment and I’ll keep going.”

“You said you’d done this before.”

“I lied. You can beat my arse later.”

A rusty laugh barks out of me. I’m both surprised and yet not by her answer. The fact that she’s doing this for me tells me just how strong she is. Not many people would do what she has to help me heal. I’m suddenly grateful for her and her stubbornness. And yes, even her lies.

Vali takes a deep breath and then glances back at me from over her shoulder. “This next one’s gonna sting again…”

May Rhagos take me. I grit my teeth and wait.

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Chapter

Nineteen

VALI

Ranan is an absolutely terrible patient. I actually start to long for when he was unconscious, because conscious Ranan is a bear. He’s in pain, that much is obvious. He wants to examine the stitches I’ve made, never mind that I’ve wrapped them in bandages soaked with more willow bark. Never mind that the nasty red lines on his flesh that spoke of infection have disappeared thanks to my tireless cleansing of his wound.

Never mind that I’m constantly making tea and soup for him and helping him piss in a pot so he doesn’t have to stand upright. I bathe him when he sweats, and I change the linens so he has something clean to sleep in every day.

And what do I get in return?

The worst, most uncomfortable peeling sunburn of my life, and an absolute grouch of a husband.

I do understand his frustration—I hate being sick. But by the gods, he’s cranky. The first few days were easier, because he was resting and unconscious for a lot of them. The healing herbs make him sleepy but also have done wonders for his leg. It’s swollen, a hot, fiery red ridge of flesh upraised around my stitch-work, but he can move all his toes (some better than others). It means I did something right with my stitches, and he mends a little more every day.

He mends so much that he gets cranky and lashes out at me when he hurts.

“I’m tired of this tea,” he grumps as I hand him another cup of willow bark.

“That’s the last of it.” It’s not, but he can just cope when I hand him the next cupful. It’s doing him good so he’s going to keep drinking it, I’ve decided. “Down it and I won’t make you any more.”

“Lies,” he grumbles, even as he tips the cup back and swigs its contents. “Deceit. You’re going to shove more at me the moment I turn around.”

“Is your leg less swollen? Then quit griping.” I turn back to the large beaten metal basin I’ve been using to soak the worst of the bloodied fabrics and wring them out. There’s a lot of work that goes into taking care of an ill person, and there’s no one else to do it but me. “You can beat my arse for lying when you’re back to yourself.”

“You keep bringing that up,” he says in a sulky voice. “I would almost think you’d enjoy it.”

I snort. “Or perhaps I’m just wise to your complaints.”

“There’s a healer on the flotilla. He’d have this taken care of quickly.”

I grit my teeth. “Great. Should we chop off your leg and send it away to him then?”

He’s silent at that. I lift up a heavy wad of fabric and wring it, but no matter how many times I soak it, the blood stains aren’t coming out. It breaks my heart to see such expensive fabric ruined, but there’s nothing to be done for it other than to keep soaking it and try again.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Tending to the laundry.” I turn and glance over my shoulder at him. I have him set up in fresh bedding, a mixture of ungodly expensive fabrics that are soft and won’t irritate his skin. His wound is wrapped, his leg propped up on a small, pricey-looking pillow that likely belongs on some rich queen’s bed. More pillows are behind his back, and two of his arms are crossed over his chest, the others flicking with impatience. “Do you need something? I can make more soup, but I’ll need to put on fresh water to boil. Or do you need help to pass water?” I straighten, rubbing my aching shoulders. “Or a bath, but again, I’ll need to draw more water. Or I can change your bedding⁠—”

“You’re tired. Do you ever pause to rest?”

Rest sounds lovely…and very far down the list. “If I do, who’s going to take care of you?”

Ranan scowls. He hates being reminded that he’s a burden.

I turn back to the wet fabric in my hands.

“You look awful.”

That makes me pause. I turn to look at him. “If you’re trying to impress me with flattery, that’s not the best way to do it.”

He flushes, and one hand twitches. He rubs his neck. “I didn’t mean that. Just…you look weary. And you have a bad sunburn.”

Oh. “I got that rescuing you. It’s fine. It’ll fade soon enough.”

For a moment I think he’s not going to respond, but then he grunts. “I…appreciate it. You saving me. It wasn’t expected.”

His quiet words of appreciation leave me flustered. “Well, I don’t imagine the injury was expected, either. Perhaps next time you’ll get injured a bit closer to home, mmm?”

“I still appreciate you. I know this has been difficult.” He pauses. “I am not good at being useless.”

I chuckle. “Now that, I do understand.”

“Why are you washing the fabric? It seems like a great deal of work.”

Oh. I turn and face him, soaking the fabric in the basin again and then twisting and wringing it once more. My hands ache with the effort, but it doesn’t seem to be making much of a difference. The red, rusty stains remain on the delicate embroidery. “It’s very expensive cloth. I’d save it if I could. You could make a great deal of coin on a few squares of this.”

Ranan waves a hand, dismissing that. “There’s more of it. We can throw the stained cloth out.”

“It’s a waste.”

“Yes, but you’re tired.” He tilts his head, eyeing me. “Does no one ever take care of you, Vali?”

His quiet words unsettle me. I give the fabric another vicious twist, and more water trickles out. “Why would they? I’m a slave.”

“You were a slave. Now you’re my wife.”

“Seems like that’s your job then, doesn’t it?” He doesn’t respond to my offhand joke, and I grow even more flustered. “You can still get rid of me, by the way. I won’t hold it against you.”

“More lies.”

“I’m full of them, yes.” I chuckle. “But I mean it. If we’re not meant to be, then we’re not meant to be. I’ve had greater disappointments.”

He just eyes me. “You’re my wife.” He states the words again, calm and assured. “And I am thanking my wife for healing me.”

I set the wet fabric down and wipe my sweating brow. “Thank you. It means a lot.” I take back everything I said about his earlier crankiness. This sincerity unnerves me. I don’t know how to react. I can joke and be cheerful and lie whenever he’s being impossible, but I don’t know what to say when he’s earnest like that. I automatically wonder what he wants to hear, and my mind starts to come up with ideas…but most of them don’t feel as sincere as his careful words, so I keep them locked in my throat.

So I manage a small smile and wring out the fabric one final time before draping it over the makeshift clothesline I’ve created in the back of the cavern, strung between two statues with arms upraised.

“Valessa?”

I pat the wet fabric, smoothing it over the line and turn back to him. He probably needs pain medicine. “Yes?”

But Ranan is eyeing me with an intense, thoughtful gaze, all four arms folded across his chest. “I am unfamiliar with…humans. If I were to take care of you, what would that look like?”

I frown, moving towards the small fire pit I’ve made in a shallow basin of smooth rock. I find the gorgeous steel kettle with the ornate engraved designs and put it into the coals. Maybe I’ll fix him regular tea, not the medicinal kind. Or a stew. I still have some of the jerky he brought for me. I can soak it and make a beef broth⁠—

“Vali?”

I blush, flustered. “I’m not sure what you’re asking. What do you mean, take care of me? You did when I had my menses.”

“Not like that. Like…the way you take care of me,” he continues, words chosen oh-so-carefully. His gaze never wavers from being locked upon mine. “With your mouth.”

Oh. He wants to take care of me in bed? My face grows hotter. “I suppose it would be much the same. You have a mouth, too, after all.”

“Has anyone done this for you?”

I hesitate before answering. My past with sex is fraught. I’ve been a slave ever since I was old enough to have sex, and I was eager to marry because it meant pleasing only one man instead of whomever decided they wanted to toy with me at the master’s house. I do enjoy sex, though, most of the time. I enjoy giving pleasure, and sometimes it feels good to rub up against another person. But pleasuring me back? Pleasuring me? Just me? “You recall I was a slave.”

“So…no? No one has done this for you?”

“No.” It takes everything I have to meet his gaze. “And I’ve never asked, either.”

“Will you let me do that for you?”

“What, right now?” I glance down at his leg.

“Not right now. When I’m stronger.” He leans back against the wall of pillows. “We’ll do it then.”

“Of course.” But for now, I can take care of him. Unsettled, I move to his side and adjust some of the pillows against his back before they slide away. “Let me just⁠—”

He grabs my hand before I can reach behind him, and forces me to meet his gaze. “Are you lying?”

My cheeks feel scalding hot. “No. Not lying. If you still want to, then we will.”

“I’ll want to.”

What can I possibly say to that? I bite back a shy smile.

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Chapter

Twenty

RANAN

Ihate lying on my back like a beached whale. I feel helpless, and pathetic, and my limbs twitch with the need to do something. I need to swim, to hunt, to walk…anything. Instead, I lie here and feel my bad leg throb in time with my heartbeat.

I lie about while my wife runs herself ragged around the cave, taking care of me.

My wife. I taste the words and I rather like them. They’re strange, much like a new hunting knife or uncharted waters, but I don’t mind it. I’m grateful to Vali. She’s saved my life in multiple ways. Not only did she come after me, but she’s worked on healing me. If I’d been alone…the flotilla would have run across my bleached bones eventually.

I glance over at Vali, who is working on some sewing nearby. There are hollows under her eyes from lack of sleep and she yawns as she stitches, but even now, she works. There is hot tea bubbling and a soup of seaweed, fish, and clams simmering over the coals in a kettle. She never stops to rest, even when she’s falling over with fatigue, and I admire her more with every day that passes.

True, she might lie as easily as she smiles, but Vali has more good qualities than bad. Her actions tell me more than her words ever would. I can learn a lot from her. Not the lying, of course, but the determination. The strength to push through even when I’m exhausted.

It’s time for me to do something.

The way I see it, there are two routes to my recovery. I can lie here, useless, and hope that my leg works properly after I have slowly healed, or I can test it now. If it can support my weight, we go to the flotilla sooner rather than later. I see the healer there. I marry Vali in front of my parents so she no longer questions me. I return home with a happy, eager wife.

I like that version of events much more than the other.

So I sit up and curl the toes on my bad leg, testing things. Pain lances through me, but all my toes obey—some more than others. It’s a good thing, though. I try to push off the floor as normal and am unable to do so, however. I glance over at Vali. “Help me up?”

“Wait? What? No!” My pretty little wife scrambles to her feet, tossing aside her sewing. She races to my side, an intense frown on her face. “Lie back down! You’ll hurt yourself.”

“I’ve lain down long enough. I want to test my leg.”

“Ranan, no.”

“Valessa, yes.” I hold a hand up to her. “Are you going to help me or are you going to sit and watch me do this on my own?”

She scowls, but holds out her hand. “You’re a stubborn bastard. If you bust the stitches, I’m going to be incredibly pissed at you.”

If I bust the stitches, it’ll make the choice easy at least. I’ll have no recourse but to lie on my back, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about the sea dragon that even now lurks far too close to my territory. I haven’t told Vali about it yet because I don’t want her to panic. Truth is, once I’ve recovered, we’re leaving this place. If the waters here aren’t safe enough for a sea-ogre, they’re certainly not going to be safe enough for a delicate human female who can barely swim in a shallow puddle.

I take Vali’s hand and she braces her feet wide apart. Even though I’m twice her weight, having her to balance myself against helps and I’m able to heft myself to my feet. I keep my weight off my bad leg and gingerly test putting my toes down on the stone floor of the cavern.

“The stitches look like they’re holding so far.” She sounds proud.

“Aye, they seem to be.” I put more weight on my leg, and crushing pain flares through me. I force myself to continue to press my foot to the ground, testing how long I can put any weight on it.

“How did that happen anyhow?” Vali asks. “Was it a trap of some kind? A shark?”

“Big shark,” I agree, since it sounds less fearsome than a sea dragon. “I wandered too close into his territory.”

“Lord Vor is sending you a message,” my wife tells me. “He wants you to keep close to me, obviously, since he’s the one that brought us together.”

I eye her. Is she teasing or does she truly think that? “I doubt the gods care that much.”

“Yes, well, you can think that all you like. All I know is that I promised Lord Vor a fish and I haven’t given it to him yet. I don’t want to face his wrath for not fulfilling my side of the bargain.”

She does have a point. “Lord Vor will understand that you haven’t had a chance to honor his wishes yet.”

“You hope.”

“Aye, I hope,” I chuckle. “But the good news is that I can stand upon my leg.”

“Now who’s the liar?” Vali asks, voice tart. She takes a step back from me and I wobble. “A stiff breeze could knock you over, husband.”

She’s not wrong, yet I’m still encouraged. “It will get stronger every day,” I reassure her. “I simply need to exercise it.”

Vali looks unconvinced. She drops to her knees in front of me, pulling aside the bandages so she can inspect the stitches. “Everything still looks pretty bad. I worry I’ve stitched it wrong. Or what if there aren’t enough stitches to keep everything together?” Her fingers move lightly over my flesh and I hiss in pain. She draws back and eyes me, clearly worried. “Perhaps I should find the nearest town and pay the healer to come out here.”

“There are no towns near here. That’s the point.” The thought of Vali venturing off into the human lands alone terrifies me. I remember how those men on the shore treated her. “And I don’t want a human healer. I have you.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You know what I meant.” I reach down and lightly touch her ear. “You have saved me. You know I am thankful.”

She gazes up at me, smiling, and her mouth is so inviting and pretty that I graze my thumb over it. My cocks respond when she blushes, but another jolt of pain shoots up my leg and puts an end to any amorous thoughts.

“Let me try to walk around the grotto,” I tell her as she continues to kneel in front of me. “See how far I can move.”

“Please, please be careful,” Vali breathes as I move out of her grasp.

I take one wobbling step, hissing with pain when I have to put my bad leg down. A second step proves to be too much and I nearly topple. Vali is right there as I do, putting her arms around me to steady me. I lean on her heavily…and then we both spill to the ground, legs flying into the air.

“Gods!” she cries, even as I snort with laughter. Her gaze searches my face as she struggles to sit up. “Are you all right, Ranan?”

“Nothing hurt but my pride,” I tell her. “But I am encouraged. It is painful, but I can use my leg.”

“Well, I don’t want you doing it! You’re just going to make things worse!” She fusses over me, her hands moving over my bare chest as she frets. “You just need to sit down and relax and⁠—”

“No,” I say, capturing her hand in one of mine. “I have sat about enough. We will pack tonight, and tomorrow we will head out to the flotilla upon Akara’s back.”

“I still don’t know how to swim,” she reminds me, her expression doubtful. “Are we sure that’s wise?”

“I will not be doing much swimming, either. It is simply a change in plans.”

She tries to pull her hand free from mine and get up, but she looks so worried that I refuse to let her go. Her gaze locks onto mine and a small smile tugs at her mouth. She pulls at her hand again, and I drag her toward me. Her soft mouth looks lush and appealing, and I want to kiss away her concerns. Vali leans forward over me, her other hand splaying across my chest. “What are you doing, Ranan?”

I love how breathless she sounds.

“I’m going to kiss my wife.” I slide a hand along her side, caressing her through the fabric. “But only if she wants it.”

Her gaze flicks over my body. “But your leg⁠—”

“Not using it at the moment.” I’m on my back, half on the bedding. Vali is practically sprawled over me, and she’s being careful to avoid my injury. “Does this mean you don’t want to kiss me?”

“I’ll kiss you,” Vali blurts. “I just…I worry. I don’t want to hurt you. I know you’re in pain. Your leg⁠—”

“Is nowhere near my mouth,” I remind her, tugging her close once more.

Her lips quirk, and she leans in, meeting me halfway. Her kiss is tentative at first, but I’m reminded of how much I enjoy the feel of her. The soft, delicate sweetness of her mouth, mixed with the warmth of her body. Her lips give under mine, parting, and when I stroke my tongue against hers, she makes a sound of pure delight.

I pull her closer, leaning into the kiss. I’ve forgotten just how enjoyable it is to meld my lips to another’s. To lose myself in the joining of our mouths, to feel a body yielding against mine. Kissing Vali feels…different than what I recall when I kissed women of my people. She’s made the same as them, but she’s Vali, and somehow that makes it different.

Makes it better. She’s warm and loving and gorgeous and her pink tongue feels like a dream against my own. My cocks stir, and I’m reminded of our conversation from yesterday.

She takes nothing for herself in bed. No male has ever given her his mouth between her thighs.

I suddenly want this more than anything. “Let me taste you, Vali.”

My wife pulls back from me, her dazed expression glorious. Her gaze darts to my lips and then she licks hers, as if wanting to make my taste linger. “I thought that’s what we were doing.”

“I want to taste you between your thighs,” I point out. “Like we talked about.”

She grows flustered, her teeth sinking into her lower lip. “Your injury⁠—”

“Need not affect us when I have four strong arms.” I lift one to graze her thigh, play with her hair with another, and pat the blanket with a third hand even as the fourth strokes her cheek. I am tiring, it’s true. The wound has sapped my strength, yet this is something that I want desperately. “I can hold you and taste you, or you can come and sit upon my face and let me lick you to my leisure.”

“Oh.” Her flustered gaze darts over my face. “You…you truly want that?”

I groan at the hint of excitement in her voice. Just the thought of Vali straddling my face, her warm cunt pressing against my mouth, makes me crazy with need. “I want it very badly.”

She hesitates.

She’s going to decline. I recognize the stubborn look on her face, and my disappointment is immeasurable. But then she shakes her head. “I’ll only do it if we put your bad leg on the pillow again.”

Is that her only request? “Done.”

Vali detangles from my embrace, her cheeks flushed dark with color as she adjusts the bedding. I’m forced to lie back and watch, hiding my fatigue, as she straightens the blankets and then fluffs my leg pillow. When I’m settled down to her satisfaction, I gesture that she should come toward me. “You look at me as if you are afraid.”

“I’m not afraid.”

“Good, because I don’t bite. You think I won’t be gentle?”

“I’m sure you will be.”

“Then be brave and claim your pleasure, wife.”

She wrings her hands. “What if I don’t enjoy it? I’ve never done this before.”

“Then we will stop.”

“But what if you enjoy it and I don’t?”

“There are a great many things I enjoy, Vali. If you hate it, I can avail myself of one pleasure and focus on the ones that bring both of us joy.”

She hesitates for a moment longer and then sighs heavily. “Your pleasure is far more important than mine. You realize that, right?”

“You’re my wife now and no longer a slave. You realize that, right?” I jab back.

Vali scowls and sits delicately on the blankets next to me, folding her legs under her. “I see your point, but this is new territory for me. You’ll have to forgive me if I seem reluctant. It’s not that I don’t like pleasure or don’t trust you…”

“It’s that it’s vulnerable and you don’t like being vulnerable,” I guess aloud, and she grimaces again. “I would be honored if you would let me try this. If you hate it, we never have to do it again.”

Vali chews her lip again, then nods and smooths her hands down her simple dress. She gets to her feet, eyeing me. “How do we manage this?”

I gesture at my head. “I thought you could sit upon my face.”

I say the words casually, as if I haven’t been contemplating this very thing all night. As if I haven’t been wondering what it would feel like to have her thighs clasping my ears, to feel the weight of her upon my face as I press my mouth and tongue against her cunt. As if I haven’t been making myself crazy with the thought of touching her.

Of what sounds she’ll make when she’s pleasured.

Gods, I’ve been thinking of nothing else since we mentioned this yesterday.

Vali sinks down to her knees by my shoulders and then carefully leans forward, easing one leg over until she’s straddling my neck. Her dress falls over my face and I sputter.

She giggles, pushing the fabric off my chin to expose my grin. “Do you want me naked for this?”

“I’d love to have you naked,” I admit.

With a little smile, she pulls her dress over her head and tosses it away, and then she’s atop me, gloriously naked. Her weight is solid for a human, but to me, she’s light. She trembles, but she doesn’t beg off again. She’s determined to see this through.

My brave wife.

I run my hands up her thighs as she adjusts herself, her knees parted and her feet out to the sides. She leans forward on her hands again, then hesitates, clearly trying to decide the best position. “I’m still not entirely sure how to do this, Ranan.”

“Let me.” I grip her flanks, holding her in place, and one of my lower hands anchors at the small of her back so she can lean against me. We maneuver and wriggle about a bit more, and then she relaxes, leaning back against my grasp.

The scent of her envelops me, and it’s intoxicating. She smells like musk and arousal, and I know without touching her that she’s turned on by the prospect of me putting my mouth on her. My own cocks are fully engorged, throbbing with an aching need that won’t be fulfilled. This is about her.

I take one hand and put it between her legs, running my thumb over the seam of her cunt. It’s shrouded by a nest of dark curls, but I don’t mind that. In fact, I rather like it. It’s just another small difference between our bodies, and I enjoy all of hers. Exploring Vali is like adventuring to new, fresh waters…yet even when I have learned every bit of her form, I suspect I will still enjoy touching and caressing her.

She trembles as I move a hand between her thighs, and that makes me pause. “I have you, Vali. I have four hands to hold you up. I will not let you fall.”

Vali doesn’t look down at me. “I’m not scared you’ll drop me.” Her voice sounds tight. Uneasy. Uncertain.

“Then what is there to be afraid of?” I want to brush my mouth against the soft skin of her thighs, but I want to make sure my touch is wanted, first.

“I…I don’t know.”

“Do you trust me, wife?”

She nods jerkily, as if she hates to even give this small concession. Her unease makes me ache, because pleasure is such a simple thing. Has no one ever thought to touch her in a way that would bring her joy? I hate that she has been surrounded by people that have used her only for what she can give them…and I am no better.

That changes today.

I stroke her thigh with a confident hand, as if I am soothing a fractious hamarii. “Relax, my wife. We will try this, and if you hate my touch, we will never do so again, I promise.”

“I’ve never hated your touch,” she says, voice soft. Her hand goes to her ear, as if recalling all the times I’ve been tongue-tied around her and showed how I felt with a caress there.

It makes me ache all the more. “Then trust me to pleasure you and enjoy myself while I do so.”

“It’s just…difficult.” She squirms against my grasp.

“Because you are giving control of your body over to me,” I state, guessing why she is so hesitant.

“I just…in bed is the one place where I have some control. Where I can get the upper hand. Are you sure I can’t just pleasure you?” She sounds desperate.

“I’m positive.”

She makes a pouty sound and puts her fists on her thighs. “Then let’s just do this and get it over with.”

If I didn’t know her better, I’d be offended at her reluctance to let me touch her. But I know the reason behind her reticence. I know how Vali likes to put on a brave face to hide her vulnerability. I am not put off by her actions. It just makes me want to taste her even more.

I nuzzle along the inside of her thigh, pulling her down towards my mouth.

“If your leg hurts,” she begins, “we should⁠—”

“Hush,” I tell her. “Just hush, my Vali.”

“Hushing.” Yet she trembles all the same.

I kiss along the inside of her thigh, moving towards the tuft of curls that cover her cunt. She smells delightful here, of salt and brine, of feminine musk and delicate skin. It’s a combination that feeds the feral side of me, the side that wants nothing more than to toss her down onto the bed and thrust both cocks into her willing body.