I expected to feel relief when I arrived in the main tent, but my small bed did nothing to calm the yearning of my skin, which only Dahr’s presence could settle. The soft bed sheets I had wrapped myself into did nothing to appease the cravings my body was experiencing, their caress suddenly too harsh compared to what I needed my skin to brush against.
Still, I nestled into the bed and waited the long minutes it took for the warrior to return with a harsh breath, as though he was fighting his own urges.
“Everything alright?” I asked without turning to face him and assuming the position I kept taking whenever the thoughtof Dahr became too much for me to handle. The artwork on the leather walls did nothing to distract me this time. I had watched them too many times, studied their stencils and nature over and over, too much for them to become an interesting subject.
Nothing was worth focusing my attention on at the moment, all my senses too desperate to reclaim the close contact I had shared with Dahr.
“My cousin is furious… as expected,” Dahr half-chuckled. I heard his steps moving away and my heart jolted at the possibility that he would prepare for training and leave me alone for the rest of the day.
I allowed myself to turn, gaze searching for him through the tent, to find him leaning over the table, a large water bowl in front of him. I watched how Dahr grabbed a wet cloth and caressed the side of his shoulders to remove the sand from his skin while wanting nothing more than to turn myself into the drips that carelessly flowed down his back.
Fire burnt my skin, making my stomach twist and my brain fog from all the thoughts that invaded my mind. From the need that pulsated through my skin.
I wanted Dahr.
I wanted him like I had never wanted anyone before. Or anything.
I wanted him like a sculptor wanted the perfect piece of marble, I needed him to become the prime material where I could exercise my deepest thoughts and needs. I wanted to lose my sense into him and never wake up from the sweet relief he would offer me.
A sudden burst of rage filled my spirit. Why was I doing this to myself? Why was I always putting my needs and my desires in second place? Why wasn’t I claiming exactly what I wanted, when I wanted it?
Michelangelo surely didn’t mess around when he painted the Sistine Chapel, did he? Da Vinci did not shy away from extracting human hearts from inside cadavers to study them and reach a higher knowledge of the human body, had he? Why wasn’t I now walking towards the man that has invaded my mind ever since I first saw him? Why wasn’t I claiming what was right in front of me?
Determination pushed my muscles, and my body leapt from the bed, tired of hiding myself between those sheets. Forcing my steps onwards, I walked towards Dahr, who must have heard me, because he paused his movement and turned towards me. Just in time to make enough space for me to squeeze in between him and the table, lift my body on my tiptoes and press my lips to his.
Dahrremained still for a long moment, enough for me to question that he was still breathing. His mouth remained closed against mine, not making a single move but not splitting away from the connection I had pulled in between us.
It was only when I opened my eyes to see his own night-sky gaze pinned on me, that I realised he wasn’t going to kiss me back.
Instant regret overpowered my senses, and I immediately released his lips, letting myself fall to my normal height. Unfortunately, I had been too brave in my movement and had placed myself right in between his body and the table, so I found myself trapped, as Dahr’s arms lowered onto the wooden surface to cage me in.
I shook my head apologetically, blinking away tears. The last thing I wanted to do right then was to show emotion. Still, my body proved that, once again, it was planning to go on a rampage of stupid decision making of its own.
“Nora,” Dahr’s voice tensed by my side, along with his body which had become a statue around my own.
“I’m sorry,” I did my best to stifle a sob. “Please, just let me go.”
Instead of doing so, the warrior’s arms tightened around the edge of the table to trap my hips. His pelvis pressed against me to ensnare me with warmth and desire.
Dahr continued to look at me as though I was the mathematical equation he spent his entire life solving and he’d reached the final result. His breath washed over me in rugged huffs, chest heaving with the same anticipation I had emerged into, only seconds before. It was as if he was just now reacting to the kiss, as though his mind needed a few beats to process what had just happened.
“Why aren’t you afraid of me?” His voice tickled my senses, distraught and amazed at the same time.
“Why should I be?” surprise made me blink at his question.
Dahr paused, pressing his lips together as though his following words were too hard to release. When he did, he needed a gush of air into his lungs.
“Because I am a monster…”
On their own accord, my hands lifted to cup his face, shifting it slightly so I could fully see his features.
“Aren’t we all?”
With a sigh that unleashed his relief, Dahr lost all purpose beyond continuing that kiss. Abandoning his reservation, he joined his lips to mine as though I tasted like the most delicious thing he ever had. His lips clashed over mine, tongue pushing into my mouth to explore all the deliciousness there was to find and lashed against mine in a violent dance of their own making.
I had never been kissed like that.
I had never been held like that.
