“Ailsa,” he groaned her name, and she wanted to hear him say it like that again. “Gods, you feel so good.” Without waiting any longer, he slowly nudged into her, inch by inch, penetrating her impossibly deeper.
Ailsa felt pure pleasure splinter straight through her, reducing her to flesh bound by seams this goodness was quickly unraveling. Feeling his eyes trace her body, she removed the lace band covering her breasts, letting the heat from the flames in the hearth burn a new fire beneath her skin. Inviting him to touch her. And the male gladly accepted her invitation, running rough palms over their sensitive buds, building more sweet friction. He worshipped her with adoring hands that pinched and claimed and squeezed so hard, his fingers left red marks on her skin everywhere he dragged them.
She leaned over him, placing her hands on his chest and eased her hips back and forth, matching his rhythm, her partner in this dance of desire. He stared up at her, frustrated moans of need muffled behind gnashed teeth. The fire next to them burned violently as Vali’s eyes began to glow again. A shudder ran through her nerves as his movements against her increased in pace, force, bordering on unrestrained.
Without resistance from herself, Vali pulled her down to his chest and flipped their positions, so her head was resting against a soft pillow and her body was covered with his.
“You are bad,Sólskin.”she teased, snapping her legs around his waist. Her fingers snatched the soft blanket beneath them, solidifying herself as he claimed control.
“And you are perfect,” he murmured. His next thrusts were merciless, a building sensation veiled her vision like the waves of a wrathful sea. She was falling apart as quickly as her world was settling into place. Became undone as her heart was made whole. Each erratic surge of his hips into her center pulled her deeper into the depths of ecstasy, until the world was drowned away and all that existed was Vali. Her mate.Her Fraendi.
The sounds he made only undid her faster, until she was moments from release. Ailsa pulled him close, dragging her nails into his shoulders, arching her back as an explosion of pleasure shattered her into fragments. He reached his climax just as quickly, emptying into her as every muscle tight in his back shuddered into an exhausted stillness. His only movements were the final rolls of his hips as he milked the last ounces of pleasure into her, and she took it all, savoring every drop of him as he spilled his devotion into her.
“Ailsa,” he panted into her ear, his head dipped low before his body collapsed to the side. “Gods below, you are incredible. That was—”
“I know,” she whispered, curling herself into his warmth. “So amazing, I wonder if we could ever simulate something that good ever again.” Her finger made lazy circles across his stomach. The blood on her hand nearly black now in the firelight.
A deep laugh resonated from his chest. “Give me a few minutes,sváss,and I will ease all your concerns.”
Ailsa shut her eyes and listened to his steady breathing and waited for him to fulfill his first vow as herFraendi.
And Vali did.
The next morning, Vali awoke in his own bed in his private chambers. The sunrise gently provoked him, peeking through the dark green curtains lining the wall of windows opposite the bed. A fire still kindled in the hearth from the night—morning—whatever time he finally closed his eyes.
“How long do you reckon before they come looking for me?” Ailsa asked in a voice rough with sleep. He turned to find her on her stomach with a pillow beneath her shoulders, the satin sheets pooled at her waist. She was as bare as he was, though gloriously elegant as though she was poised for a painting. Her hair flipped and curled loosely across the creamy pillow sheets.
He smiled and stretched, feeling the tightness of a fresh rune across the back of his right hand. When she accepted the title of hisFraendi, he brought her back to his room. A hospital bed was hardly the place he wanted to commit such a ceremony, and he wanted privacy in the morning. To see her radiant in his own sheets, drunk off pleasure, and satisfied into a deep slumber. He wanted this image, in this bed, carved into his memory. Her ghost would haunt these sheets until the end of their days.
“I’m sure Seela will be banging on my door any minute—”
“Vali!” a voice shouted in the drawing room beyond the door of his bedroom. Vali groaned and his head fell back against the pillows.
“Did we lock the—”
Seela burst open the bedroom door and sauntered in the room with a wild look on her face. Her violet eyes full of panic. “Vali, wake up! Ailsa is missing and—" her voice cut off as Ailsa sat up in bed, covering her chest with the sheets.
“Good morning, Commander. Do the kitchens have breakfast ready? I’mstarving.”She smiled at the elfin, who stood in the doorway gaping.
“Gods below…” Her cheeks colored a deep shade of scarlet. “Did I just walk in on—”
“Yes, you did. Would you mind waiting outside, Seela?” Vali’s morning voice was hoarse from a very long night.
The commander visibly paled. Her gaze darted everywhere except the bed. “I really hate being your blood bonded sometimes.” She turned sharply on her heel and slammed the door on her way out.
Ailsa’s small body shook the bed with her silenced giggles. She twisted in the sheets until she was on top of him, every inch of her skin warming the place she melted against him. “Good morning,elskan mín.Did you sleep well?”
“I barely slept at all, but you already knew that.” He smoothed his fingers over the subtle arch in her back, formed by her position resting against his chest. The fullness of her breasts filled against him as she sighed, and Vali shuddered beneath her. Her body was a source of both pleasure and pain, the purest form of torture destined to be his undoing.
“Did I?” she grinned innocently. “Who kept you up all night, sweet Vali?” Her fingers combed back his tangled hair, traced his profile with a pointer finger, and traveled down the valley of his chest.
“MyFraendi,” he said. The simple word made her ocean eyes surge with pride. Her hand slipped lower, following the dusting of hair training down his stomach. Vali tensed as she skimmed his length, the simple motion made his hips lurch off the mattress and press into her palm.
“Did yourFraendiplease you?” she asked.
Vali could only nod, his words caught somewhere from his chest to his lips. She squeezed him, relishing as he writhed beneath her, drugged from her power over him with a single touch.
“Would you like her to please you again?”