Page 73 of Blood and War
“… what?”
“Swimming. I haven’t since I was a kid. I know we technically shouldn’t, but I—” She couldn’t help her voice trailing off as her gaze returned to the shimmering water once more. She wanted him. Wanted him so badly she couldn’t think straight.
“If it would make you happy, then I won't stop you.” Kellan righted himself, a soft smile tugging along the corners of his mouth.
“Really?”
“Really.” He nodded.
“Come with me.” She met his stare. Eyes pleading.
“You didn’t even need to ask.” Motioning for him to turn around, he obliged. She was quick to strip down to nothing more than her bra and underwear before sprinting the remaining distance to the water. It was cold. Freezing. The icy water tingled her entire body. Voicing her displeasure as a string of curses left her mouth, she turned on her heels to flee before colliding with Kellan.
“Oh.” She squeaked, letting her hand slowly drop into the water from where she’d caught herself on his chest. Neither of them moved.
Demitria was frozen in her tracks. Unable to move even a finger as he stared down at her for what seemed like hours. The slow shiver that ran through her body was the first indication that she’d regained movement. Beneath the surface, his fingers lightly brushed against her own before latching together, and he took another step into her.
He kissed her. Soft. Gentle at first, before it turned hurried. Frantic as the hunger for the other became almost unbearable.
Demitria didn’t dare pull apart as he lifted her from the water, setting her body down along the edge so only her feet dangled within. Kellan stepped between her, hands unable to leave even an inch of her untouched. His thumb roved in tantalizing circles along her inner thigh, coaxing a soft moanfrom her lips. She’d beg for it. Beg forhimif she had to. At the noise, Kellan dipped his head to her. Into her neck where his teeth grazed ever so softly down. Down until he reached the area before her collarbone and nipped. The whimper left her before she could hold it back, and could feel the smirk on his lips as they traveled across her exposed skin. Kellan’s hands continued to trail up, teasing as he went. Resuming those lazy circles as he neared the hem of what little clothing remained.
This should have been the last thing on her mind. They were getting ready for war, and she needed to prepare herself. But there was something about the Horseman that had drawn her in from the moment they’d met that she couldn’t even fathom the thought of breaking from his grip. Like her body had been waiting solely on him. Waiting for this exact moment, and maybe, this was precisely what she needed.
A stroke of his hand had her forgetting every thought of what was waiting for them tomorrow. Pulling her back into the present, into him, as large calloused hands pulled her forward. Leaving her on the cusp of plunging into the chilling water, but he held her there. Held her steady as his lips found hers once more. She didn’t know where to touch him. Couldn’t decide where to for that matter, so she slid her arms around his neck
His hand ran down the length of her spine and she arched into his touch. Kellan took it as an open invitation and tore his mouth away from hers as he unclasped her bra before discarding it beside them. Demitria had almost been ready to pull him back when he trailed down her neck. Agonizingly slow with his tongue. Further down still. Across her chest before hovering over her breast. The warmth from his ragged breathing sent her entire body trembling beneath him as that heat pooled within her.
“Tell me to stop.”
“Gods no.” She begged. Pleaded. And he was kissing her. Taking her into his mouth as his teeth grazed across her nipple. Another moan left her lips, and she didn’t care who heard. Because nothing had ever felt this damned good. She slid her free hand down his front. Down the hard length of him that strained against the minimal clothing between them. Ready to burst free. She wanted him. Wanted him so bad it hurt. Kellan let out a guttural moan against her touch, and she was pulling his face back up to hers once more. Needing to feel him. To taste him.
She lost all control as his fingers bit into her hip. Dipping down before settling over the sensitive bud between her thighs. He pressed into her, his thumb working deep circles through the fabric as another breathy moan escaped her. She was falling apart in his hands. Coming completely undone, and she loved it. Loved every torturous sweep of those fingers as he stroked her.
“Kellan.” She was begging, and she didn’t care. Could feel him smiling against her neck as he stopped his movement. Near laughing at the growl it elicited from her to continue. Demitria ground herself into his hand as he toyed with the waistline of the fabric. He didn’t need to be told twice, and his fingers found her core. Teasing at first. Toying with her. She drove her hips into him again, and he obliged, sliding a finger deep into her awaiting warmth. Curling inside her. She nearly screamed. Her body rocking against his hand as he inserted another finger. Slow at first, sliding in and out of her at an excruciating pace. And when he quickened, pumping into her, she saw stars.
She was close. So close to that sweet release that would leave her breathless against him. She whimpered. Moaned again and again as his fingers drove into her over and over and over. He kissed her neck. Bit again into that sensitive spot before her collarbone and she exploded around him. Body trembling at the wild release that consumed her, and he rode her through it. Heldher as she slowly came down from the peak of her high. And then he was kissing her again. Soft. Sweet. But she still ached for him. Wanted nothing more than to feel the solid length of him embedded deep within her.
To hell with the rules and the fucking high council. She wanted to feel every gods damned inch of him, and didn’t care who she pissed off in the process, not when she’d endured so much. Fought so hard to be here, in this moment, with him. When denying that pull had been unbearable. She’d given in, and so had he. Holy gods, did they ever, and she wouldn’t change a single moment of it. Wouldn’t trade this feeling for the world. Because she deserved it more than anything. She saw that now. Because through all the bloodshed. Through all the pain, she was allowed to be happy.She was allowed to hope.
Demitria didn’t know when they’d left the greenhouse. When their clothes had been picked up only to be strewn about the floor of the room she had been staying in for the night. The euphoric high had been so great that it had all passed in a blur of motion. A messy movement of rushed kisses and dancing fingers along warmed skin that gleamed under the moonlight in a sheen of sweat.
It wasn’t until she’d been backed into the wall of the room that she’d been able to come to. As Kellan claimed her mouth with his own. She ran her hands up his bare chest, feeling the rough scars beneath her fingertips. A story lay behind each one, she was sure. Stories she’d hope to hear at some point, if he was willing to share. After the battle, she’d ask. Demitria wanted to be fully present for whatever awaited her tonight. No lingering thoughts but the feel of him moving inside her. His hands everywhere on her. That was all she wanted.
Kellan lifted her with ease, holding her slim body in his arms, and she felt every glorious inch of him pressing up against her. Her hand tangled itself within his dark hair as she ferventlykissed up his throat. His chin, and then to his lips. Nipping at them with enough pressure to sting, but not hurt. To portray the need she felt so deep within her. He answered by leveling her on the bed. Hovering over her like he was a predator ready to devour her whole. She’d let him. Gods, she’d let him do whatever the hell he wanted to her.
Demitria could feel the pressure of him at her core, yet he moved at an intolerably slow pace. Waiting. Questioning if she’d back out now. She could see it in his eyes as he restrained himself before her. She needed him. Needed to feel every inch of him, stretching her as he pounded into her over and over again. Wanted him to fuck her so hard she’d forget her own name. Digging her nails into his back, she pulled him into her. Pulled him in until he was fully seated in her, and she kissed him. Held his face, her forehead pressed to his own as he pulled out slowly. Out until only the tip remained and he plunged into her again. Faster this time, in one smooth movement. Stretching her to the brim. Filling her with every inch of him, deeper than the last, and she pulled his mouth back down to hers. Craving the taste of him. The only thing she could do as the pleasure soared through her.
He thrust into her with a new fervor, and she lifted her hips to meet his. Arching against him as that unyielding need built within her again. She clenched around him with each stroke, every time he buried himself deep within her. Kellan growled at the sensation of her tightening around him. Groaning at the wicked grin that laced her lips.
“You should have tried harder to kill me in that cave.” His body shuddered, voice husky as he sheathed himself inside her again. Harder. Faster than before. Each thrust grinding her into the bed. “Left me for dead.”
“Not a chance.” Breathless, she barely managed the words. Could hardly think straight as the feel of him took over hersenses, and nothing existed except the way he was moving inside her. She was on the verge of that threshold again. That wild power building up, up, up until it was ready to explode. Kellan kissed her, muffling her cries as she came undone around him, more intense than the last. Her entire body unraveling as he kept his pace, never breaking rhythm until his own release found him moments later.
Panting, their eyes never broke. It wasn’t until Demitria had moved to cup his face that he lowered himself, still housed within her. She kissed him again, nuzzling into his neck as his arms wrapped around her. Like he could shield her from the world.
Nothing mattered but the feel of his body against hers. The war going on around them, the battle they’d meet tomorrow, nothing. She’d stay in this room with him until her last dying breath if she had the chance.
Her only regret was fighting the pull between them for so long.
