He shrugged, unconcerned. “No one knows this forest as they do. As they were watching us, they likely were able to work out where we would be once it became apparent to them that the weather was about to change. I do not know how it works. Drow do not concern ourselves with marking signs of the upperworld weather but rather prepare for every eventuality possible whenever we must go above ground. But I understand that our elven relations have such skills.”
“Fascinating,” she murmured, scooting closer. “But why do all of this for us? That’s what I don’t understand. I thought the drow had strained relationships with other elves, prone to breaking in various wars.”
“Because of you,” he said simply, his eyes brightening with amusement.
“Me?” She stared at him, taken aback. “How can this be because of me? Elves avoid humans or outright kill us if they feel we are a danger or have done something that angers them. I don’t see how that would have earned all of this.”
His deep laughter warmed her, chasing away the chill that had settled over her at this strange situation.
“You would understand if you knew how taboo our situation is,” he replied, and his lips twisted wryly.
“How so?”
Instead of answering right away, he plucked up a bit of trout and lifted it to her lips, the greasy, flaky meat brushing her lips tantalizingly. Why was he feeding her? Surely he had to be hungry himself, unless he thought she expected to be waited on now that they had slept together. She did not know the customs of his culture but was aware that females were dominant. She did not want him to feel that she expected anything other than the equal relationship they had shared.
Giving the offered food a polite smile, she shook her head and leaned away from his hand, reaching for the plate only for it to be pulled out her reach and the food in his hand offered again. She huffed in annoyance.
“This isn’t necessary. You are not required to serve me. We are as equally matched now as we were last night.”
His smile grew, the amethyst light in his eyes sparkling. “I am aware. I would not offer it if it were a matter of service. Simply indulge me and allow me to take care of you as I desire.”
She frowned, trying to puzzle him out, but opened her mouth, allowing him to place the morsel on her tongue and nearly moaned when it practically melted in her mouth. She chewed with relish and found yet another bite of fish waiting when she finished. This time, she did not hesitate to open her mouth, but when he smiled and set it between her lips, she used his moment of fascination with her mouth to snatch some of the fish and lift it to his lips in turn, her eyebrows arching in challenge when he glanced at it with surprise.
“Now you indulge me,” she whispered.
The corner of his mouth curled, and he opened it for the bite that she slid between his fangs and placed on his tongue. His mouth closed, his lips teasing her fingers, and his eyes warmed further as he chewed. Back and forth they fed each other, each bite accompanied by bolder and bolder touches and caresses until he lifted the last bite to her lips. His hot gaze watched her open her mouth, but he didn’t feed her the fish. Instead, he surged forward, capturing her mouth with his own, the fish dropping forgotten to the plate in front of them.
The desire that had slowly awakened at his small caresses flared to life with the kiss. Shifting onto her knees, she returned his kiss and smiled against his mouth with his deep, dominating growl that fed her lust higher. Scooping her legs out from beneath her, he dropped her back into the furs, startling a loud laugh from her as his mouth latched onto her neck, his upper body quaking with a quiet chuckle.
“I suppose we’re done eating,” she gasped at the sting of his nip and the seductive lap of his tongue as he caught the beads of blood. She might have been worried about his obsession for her blood if the wounds weren’t so shallow. His saliva clearly had a healing agent in it that worked straightaway on the open wounds.
His tongue left her neck, and his lips stroked over the spot in a kiss. “Done eating?” He raised his head and gave her a needy look, that one glance that threatened to scorch her clear down to her bones. “Not even close. I have only begun.”
Ashul’s warm hands closed around her thighs. Parting them, he lifted them to his shoulders as his body dropped down so that he lay between her legs, the heat of his mouth inches away from her sex. Robyn stared down at him, meeting his glowing eyes until his gaze dropped to stare hungrily at the offering stretched out beneath his mouth. The hot touch of his lips made her lift her hips with a strangled cry, but it was the touch of his tongue that threatened to stop her breathing. It dragged over her folds in reverent strokes until he finally groaned and fastened his mouth over her sex before spearing her with his tongue.
His talented mouth played havoc with her senses, and he was an absolutely merciless conqueror, his claw teasing at her clit whenever the attention of his tongue was away from it. He did not yield until he coaxed an orgasm from her, sucking and lapping until she quivered against him in attempt to shy away from the overstimulation of his ravenous mouth. She needed something more. There was an emptiness within her waiting to be filled in the way that only he could.
When he finally covered her with his larger body, she wanted to cry out victoriously and lifted her hips at the press of his cock against her opening. She couldn’t stop from lifting her hips even if she wanted to, not with his hetier immediately dropping over her, sliding exquisitely like exploring fingers. His hips lowered, pinning hers to the bed beneath him. His eyes held hers, and he rumbled, the sound stroking over and through her as two of his questing hetier dove inside her channel. She gasped at the sensation, her hips twitching as they expanded, but Ashul stole her breath with his kiss as his cock parted her folds and drove deep with one powerful thrust.
They rode the edge of oblivion together, where time and existence faded away and ceased to matter. There was only pleasure, need, and the sensation of being filled and claimed as his body arched over hers, his fingers wandering to tug at her nipples or clit to send fresh jolts of arousal through her.
Ashul broke into a brutal rut that spiked her pleasure with each thrust that kissed her womb, his swollen base pushing and burrowing deep, forcing the thick head of his cock against her cervix, the thorny protrusions on his cock rubbing exquisitely. That rubbing only intensified when the hetier that had been sweeping over her clit withdrew, its slick length brushing against her ass in just one brief pass before burrowing deep.
Robyn jerked and cried as the hetier expanded and pushed up against the thin layer that separated it from the fleshy thorns of his shaft. Ashul growled against her shoulder, and she felt his teeth cutting her flesh as he thrust harder. His right hand grabbed her leg and lifted it higher against him to free his movements, his hips snapping so wildly that that friction of them brushing against her inner thighs increased her own pleasure.
Then it came—the first aphrodisiac spray within her. Just as before, it made her belly clench and tighten excruciatingly until her orgasm came with such a powerful force that she screamed. Words in elvish fell from his lips. Words of adoration, filled with affection even she could discern. He ground repeatedly against her, riding out her orgasm clutching around him just before his own bellow followed.
His cock jerked violently within her with every fresh spasm of seed spraying against her womb, and when he claimed her mouth again, she could have sworn she tasted a hint of something forbidden between a necromancer and the resurrected. Something that tasted a lot like love.
Gods help her—she wanted it.
ChapterFifteen
Ashul nuzzled the little human curled up against him as he breathed in her sweet scent. He did not wish to so much as move. The languid contentment filling him was unusual after a lifetime of feeling on edge. He had never been one to not yearn for action. Peace had been something he disdained and had no patience for, not when the need to hunt and conquer had pulsed through his blood from the time he came to maturity. And yet, at this moment, he was content without that driving impulse. Content to simply lie and hold a female in his arms, enjoying the connected path of power flowing back and forth between them.
Was this what his most ancient ancestors felt before they were drawn into the life of the noble houses? What sweet temptation.
He blinked at a soft tap at the door, recognizing the light sound that had awoken him. Pushing up onto his elbow, he glanced down at Robyn, smiling at the picture she made, so soft and welcoming in her sleep as if she were not perfectly capable of flaying him with her tongue. Perhaps he did not wish for an entirely amicable female to share his bed like he once thought he did. There was a certain pleasure he had not expected in the push and pull between them that he had not anticipated he would enjoy so much.