Page 12 of Buzz Kill (Smoke & Mirrors Tavern #7)

Chapter twelve

DECLAN

Rith yelled instructions to the other small demons, and they went over to drag Alwin off the throne and toward the other side of the room. The elf glanced at Rith who waved at him to follow them and he gave in, casting one last glance my way before I was pushed through a different doorway.

The little demons, some of which looked like Rith, and the rest entirely different, pushed me down a hall and through a bedroom. On the other side of this room was a kind of bathroom. They settled me on a hard stool and started pulling off my clothes.

“Hey, hey!” I snapped, grabbing at my pants.

The demons pointed at the buckets of water and tugged at my pants again.

“I can do it myself! You guys can go.”

I made a shooing gesture with my hands to get my point across, but the demons didn’t seem to care what I wanted. Some of the small servant demons were just a small species and I was pretty sure they were older, but at least three, including Rith were children and I wasn’t in the habit of making kids tend to me like this.

“Yeah, no. Where I come from, this is weird and there are child labor laws. You three have to leave.”

I pointed at Rith and the two others and gestured to the door. The little demon almost seemed insulted, but he gave in and made the others go, giving additional instructions to the remaining demons before leaving himself.

I couldn’t even tell if the remaining demons were male or female, but they quickly stole my clothes before scrubbing me down and washing my hair and rubbing me with oils. This must count as the royal treatment in a place like this, so I let them do their thing.

They pulled me to my feet once they were done, but stopped me when I started to head back toward the bedroom. Instead, they led me further into the shower room until we came out the other side into what seemed to be a sauna. The steam was thick and it was hard to see, but the demons led me by my hands deeper into the room.

“Think you guys could at least give me my boxers back?” I muttered.

“Declan?”

Alwin’s voice came from straight ahead and there was a splash of water as he moved closer.

“What is this place, a bath?”

“Of sorts. The size is similar to a pool but the water is hot.”

We reached a set of stone steps descending into the water and Alwin appeared to take my hand from the servant just as I stepped down.

“There is a ledge over this way. How are your injuries?”

The steam was too thick to get a good look at him, but I could tell he was as naked as I was, even if I couldn’t see anything good.

“I’m fine.” We sank into the water and I hissed through my teeth once I was submerged up to my chest. “Shit, that is hot.”

“Do you want to get out?”

I’d been dreaming of a bath since we got to this place. While this wasn’t quite what I had in mind, I wasn’t about to give it up. “No, it’s just a little hotter than I’m used to. How’s your leg?”

“The wound is sealed.”

I hadn’t noticed at first because I was too focused on the water, but Al was still holding on to my arm. I turned my head to face him and he reached out to pull the glamour from around my neck and drop it on the ground next to the pool. My form shimmered back into my usual self, the black markings of the curse visible even through the steam. Al’s eyes lingered there only for a moment before returning to my face.

“Al? Are you okay?”

The words were barely out of my mouth before his lips covered mine. There was a fierceness to his kiss that hadn’t been there when he’d kissed me in the manor. A possessiveness that made me shiver deep down to my bones.

Fuck, yes. I’d been pretty blatant with my flirting since the moment we met, but I didn’t think the elf would ever find me to be a suitable partner, not even for a fling. I certainly couldn’t compare to the beautiful princess that had been offered up to him on a silver platter, but maybe he was willing to toss his standards away for a while in this strange place where all we had was each other. Even if he was just feeling the need to confirm the fact that we’d both survived this mess, even if it was just this once, I was so down.

I moved closer and dropped myself in Al’s lap, straddling his thighs before I remembered his injury and lifted myself up again. Our lips separated, but he didn’t let me go far.

“Is your leg okay?”

Alwin’s hands gripped my hips and pulled me back down. “It is fine.”

His mouth sealed over mine again and his kiss grew even more demanding, almost angry. I was down for a little hate sex and the gods knew Al had plenty of reasons to hate me by now, but the calm, collected elf never lost control like this and I was actually a little worried.

One of his hands gripped my neck, the other had applied force to the small of my back, tugging me closer until my knees were spread wide against the side of the pool and our bodies were pressed together. When we reached the end of my flexibility and he still wasn’t satisfied, Al stood with me in his arms and climbed up to sit on the edge of the pool. The stone beneath us was warm and the air thick with steam. It almost felt like a hazy dream.

There wasn’t an inch of space between us and I shifted against his rock-hard body, desperately searching for some friction. Al grunted and his hand gripped my thigh, keeping me from moving again. He broke the kiss and dropped his forehead to my shoulder, panting in a way he never did, even in the midst of a fierce battle.

I sank my fingers into his wet hair. “Al, are you really okay?”

The man was grinding his teeth so hard I could hear it.

“No,” he finally answered. “When I saw that blade break through your chest, it felt like I was the one who’d been stabbed. And when I watched them pull your lifeless body from the river, I thought I would go mad with the feelings that were overwhelming me. My hands were shaking so badly I couldn’t aim my bow properly. I couldn’t save you, my body refused to obey, my mind was in chaos. Never in my life have I been unable to regain my composure to do what needed to be done. Even now… perhaps I am still going mad.”

His grip on me had tightened to the point of almost painful as he spoke, but I wouldn’t complain. Couldn’t even if I wanted to. Not a single word could escape the tightness in my throat.

His anger I could deal with. I was a fucking expert at being hated by now. But those whispered words filled with anguish from this elf? A confused admission that he’d been genuinely upset by my death, that he cared about me more than he knew how to deal with, that was something I’d never experienced before.

“Alwin,” I finally croaked. “Kiss me.”

The elf’s grip on me tightened as if he was fighting the urge to do just that. “You don’t understand, I don’t want to hurt you. I am not in control and you need time to heal.”

“You won’t hurt me. I’m pretty much healed and right now what I need more than anything is you.”

It took another minute for Al to loosen his grip. He settled me on the rock next to him and stood. “Give me a moment.”

While Al was gone, I dragged my hand through the hot water, noting once again the way it clung to my skin. I rubbed the water droplets between my fingers and realized it was actually quite different from the water on my world.

By the time Alwin returned with bundles of fabric in his arms, I was already lying back on the rock, prepping myself with three wet fingers. The elf froze when he saw what I was doing. Based on the towels, he’d probably planned on drying me off and taking me to bed, but now he struggled to follow through.

His hard shaft bobbed over me and I stopped what I was doing to grab one of the towels from his arms and drop it on the ground before kneeling in front of him. He still hadn’t moved when I swallowed him down. Alwin hissed through his teeth and there was the sound of tearing fabric before the rest of the towels hit the ground next to me. His fingers sank into my hair, and I could feel them shaking with a barely restrained urge to pull.

“You’re… injured,” he protested weakly.

Rather than answer, I hummed around him and his hands tightened reflexively in my hair, tugging slightly. I teased and tormented him until he couldn’t take it any longer and even when the elf finally snapped, he paused long enough to settle me on the towels before pushing inside me.

My back arched, and I hissed in a breath at the sudden intrusion. Alwin froze and panted over me, his eyes squeezed shut and his brow furrowed as if he was in pain.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured.

I let out a breath and shifted under him, testing my body as I slowly moved against him. “It was just sudden. I’m good now.”

It took a little more teasing before the elf began to move, slowly at first, but then with a power that was as determined as he was in battle. Al leaned back and pushed one leg to my chest, hitting my prostate with every pass as my moans echoed through the cavernous space. There was no way any servants that came to check on us wouldn’t know exactly what we were doing.

With a frustrated huff, Alwin pulled himself free and pulled me to my hands and knees before driving himself into me again. His chest pressed against my back and his thighs trapped mine between his. He held himself up with one strong arm while the other wandered over my body, fondling my nipples, pressing against my belly as if he could feel himself pounding into me, brushing over my shaft and sliding past my balls until his fingers pressed against the place where he was sliding in and out of me. There wasn’t anywhere he shied away from.

His face was buried in my neck and his teeth scraped against my skin as he pressed kisses down my shoulder. Suddenly he nipped harder, no doubt leaving a bruise behind, and I yelped in surprise. It wasn’t like I’d never been bitten during sex before, but I hadn’t expected it from my elf. And when I instinctively pulled away, he made a sound of displeasure and did it again. This time I was expecting it and didn’t pull away, letting him leave his mark as he pleased. That seemed to satisfy Alwin and he continued pounding into me with renewed force.

“Alwin,” I whimpered, nearly begging for more.

While his hands had been all over me, they refused to linger where I wanted them most. Hearing his name echoed back at us through the steam room, my voice sounded truly debauched even to my own ears. Alwin shuddered over me and his thrusts grew even more forceful.

Tears pricked my eyes, I needed to come so badly it bordered on pain, but Alwin refused to grant me relief. I reached down to do it myself, but Al caught my hand and pinned it to the ground.

I shivered. “Alwin, please,” I tried again. “Please, I need you, I need more.”

A grunt sounded by my ear. Al’s fingers tightened where they held me down, and I felt his cock throb inside me. It seemed the man was not unaffected by my begging.

Without an ounce of shame, I began moaning his name with every thrust of his hips. And every time I did, I could feel him losing control.

He finally gripped my cock in his hand and stroked and I nearly cried with relief.

“You’re doing that on purpose,” he snapped.

I bit my lip to hide a smile, but his next thrust was a punishing blow and my teeth broke through the skin, filling my mouth with the coppery taste of blood. In the next moment, Alwin flipped me to my back again, barely pausing before driving into me again. His crystal blue eyes trailed over my body, lingering on my now bleeding lip. He bent forward and swiped his tongue over the wound before kissing me deeply. There was something different about this kiss. There was still power behind it, but also something else. Less a loss of control and instead something almost… affectionate?

I didn’t have time to dwell before he’d driven me to the edge again. My hands gripped his shoulders and my legs wrapped around his hips and this time when I moaned his name, it was without thinking, among a stream of babbled prayers and curses that normally never left my lips during sex. I couldn’t help it, the man hit all the right places and made me see stars.

My words were clearly affecting him and it was only a matter of time before he lost it. Alwin groaned as his cock throbbed and exploded inside of me and only then did he resume stroking me as he shuddered through the aftershocks of his orgasm. As soon as he came down from the release, he pulled free and lowered his head to take me down to the back of his throat. His fingers pressed into me, sliding in easily and brushing against my prostate again and again. It took no time at all for my orgasm to hit, and my shout echoed through the room as I shuddered beneath him.

My limbs released the elf and fell to the ground where he joined me on the towels and pulled me against him. The gesture was far more affectionate than anything I’d expected from him. Honestly I’d half expected him to issue a formal rejection the moment he caught his breath, but he didn’t seem inclined to do that at the moment.

Maybe he’d get to that part once he was over the near death experience. Losing someone on your watch probably wasn’t an easy thing for someone as responsible as Alwin. So I let him pull me close where he could feel my breath on his skin and my heart still pounding against his chest. You’d think that damn thing would’ve settled down by now, but apparently I was out of shape. Maybe the blood loss was still affecting me. Giving in to the moment, I looped one arm around his waist and let my eyes fall closed. Healing always took it out of me.