Page 45 of The Midnight Arrow
For a long while, it was quiet. The crackling in the hearth was the only sound, besides my own heartbeat in my ears.
“You’re perfect,” he whispered.
“Did you like it?” I couldn’t help but ask, suddenly shy, kneeling in front of him, despite what I’d just spent the better of the last twenty minutes doing. My jaw ached from his size, but I needed to hear his praise like I needed air. “If it was bad, you can tell me. I?—”
“If it was bad?” Lorik rasped, disbelief in his tone. He straightened, though he didn’t bother to tuck himself into his pants before he crouched in front of me. When he kissed me, I gasped. I tried to turn my head away, but he growled, “It turns me on to taste myself on your tongue. You think I’d not like that?”
“Oh,” I breathed.
“Why in all the Four Quadrants would you believe it wasbad?”
“Because…because my first lover told me I was bad at it,” I admitted, half wishing I’d not said anything at all.
Lorik’s gaze narrowed. “Yeah, well, fuck him. His loss. You’re mine now.”
My cheeks heated when Lorik threaded his hand behind the nape of my neck, holding me in place when he kissed me again. My heart thudded.
I’m going to fall in love with him,I thought. And for once, the thought didn’t bring a stab of fear and trepidation with it.
“And for the record,” he murmured against my lips, “I don’t remember the last time I came that fucking hard.”
“Oh,” I whispered, infinitely pleased. “Yeah?”
“Yes,” he hissed. “You want to come again?”
“No,” I said, biting back my smile in fear it might split open my face.
“You sure?” he purred, pressing teasing kisses to my lips.
I laughed. “Yes.”
I pushed at his shoulder, but his hands started to wander.
“All right, let’s go bathe, then,” he said, helping me up into a standing position. My bones protested, my knees reddened from the hard floor, and Lorik brushed his fingers over them. “I’ll get the water hot for you.”
“Thank you.”
A few moments later, we were situated in the small bathing tub, steam curling around us thanks to Lorik’s magic. It was laughable, our position, but someone we’d made it work. Lorik was behind me, his knees drawn up on both sides of me, and I was tucked into his lap. His hands were caressing my body with a soft kind of reverence, and it was lulling me into a trancelike state.
“You’re not using magic on me, are you?” I asked sleepily.
“No,” he whispered. “Just admiring you.”
I grinned lazily, my eyes half-lidded. When had I ever felt this happy, this content with someone? Well, maybe with Aysia, but obviously in a much different way. But with Lorik…I felt comfortable and comforted. I feltloved, even though even thinking that word made me a little bashful.
“Thank you for fixing the trellis,” I said in the quiet. The washroom was dark. We hadn’t bothered to light the candles, but that was all right. Through the small window, there was just enough light from sunset to illuminate the room, casting it invarying shades of lilac and orange. “I can’t tell you how long it’s been in disrepair.”
“I wanted to,” he replied, taking the cloth from the edge of the tub, dipping it below the surface. “I want to take care of you, Marion. I want to help you however I can.”
“Sometimes I think you’re too good to be true,” I confessed.
Lorik didn’t reply, at least not immediately. He only lathered up the cloth and ran it over the exposed parts of my body before he explored underneath the water.
“I fear one day you’ll think quite differently about me.”
“Why?” I asked. “Planning to steal all my potions like the last one did?”
He exhaled a sharp breath, but I couldn’t tell if it was in amusement or not.