Page 41 of Pawns of Fate

“You can sleep longer, if you want,” Nicholas replied gently. He looked over at her, noticing that a little color had returned to her face and warmth to her eyes.

“I’d like to take a bath first.” Her stomach rumbled. She clutched it and smiled awkwardly. “Perhaps some dinner, too.”

Her awkward smile made butterflies dance in Nicholas’s chest. He’d missed this woman so much, thought about her every day while he was stuck in that swamp. The fact that she was here with him still felt surreal.

“The bath is through that door. I’ll ask the kitchen to send some dinner to our room,” Nicholas said.

“That sounds heavenly,” Rose replied as she pushed off the bed and meandered to the bath. Gods, how he wanted to follow her. But he’d just promised her dinner.

Nicholas walked brusquely to the inn’s tavern room, which was beginning to fill with patrons. The smell of roasting meat and cold beer filled his nostrils, and his stomach grumbled.

“Can I help you?” the barkeep asked Nicholas from across the counter.

“Two dinners sent to my room, please.”

The barkeep cleaned a mug as he said, “They’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”

Nicholas thought about his wife bathing all by herself. The thought of joining her roused a deeper hunger in him.

“No need to rush. Don’t bring them for an hour.”

The barkeep raised an eyebrow but shrugged in agreement. Nicholas marched back to the room, barely keeping himself from running.

He undressed hastily, wrapped a towel around his waist, and practically tripped over his own feet in his rush to the bath.

“Can I join you?” he asked, as he opened the door and laid eyes on his wife, contentedly lounging in the embrace of the hot spring water. The sight sent jolts of arousal straight to his lower half.

“I was just about to finish my bath. You can have it all to yourself if you’ll hand me a towel,” she replied sweetly, moving to get out of the bath.

His heart leapt into his throat. “I want to bathe with you.” He hoped that the words didn’t sound too desperate.

“Oh, well… That would be alright,” Rose replied quietly.

Nicholas climbed in behind her and stretched his legs to rest on either side of her. He leaned against the side of the bath, sighing as the warm water soaked his limbs. It felt almost as wonderful as Rose’s back pressed against his chest.

“Come here, Rose.” He pulled her closer and breathed in the scent of her hair. It smelled like the inn’s lavender and vanilla soap, with a hint of Rose’s own floral scent. He’d missed that scent dearly and felt himself growing hard as his body began to recall hers.

“You smell even better than I remember,” he whispered with a guttural voice. He lightly bit her ear, then ran his tongue over it.

“Nicholas,” Rose said, shudders running up and down her spine. She squirmed a little in his lap, and the softness of her body only caused more arousal to flood his lower half. He needed to make sure she wanted this, too.

“Rose,” he murmured. “You’ve been through so much in the past few days. I’ll be fine if you only want to bathe right now.” He laid a few light kisses on her neck. “Please, just let me hold you. I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you, too, Nicholas,” she replied with a sultry, breathy voice. She turned her face to his, and their lips found each other.

They’d kissed when Rose had fallen into his arms at the bottom of the cliff, but that had been a kiss of an emotional reunion. This was full of lust and desire. He invaded her mouth with his tongue, and she responded in kind.

His arms wrapped around her waist. Rose’s fingers threaded through his hair. He realized she was twisted uncomfortably in his lap and broke the kiss.

“Face me fully, Rose. Wrap your legs around me.” She flushed prettily at his command, and a soft moan escaped her when her most sensitive flesh rubbed against his hardness.

Her reactions destroyed Nicholas’s last shred of self-control, and he kneaded her lovely rear in his palms as he kissed her and pulled her into his embrace even more closely. Rose’s nails dug into his back, and shudders of pleasure wracked her body.

He broke the kiss, only to dip his head down to her pert breasts.

He teased one of her nipples with his tongue, tracing it with featherlight touches.

It caused Rose to moan, and the sound shot pangs of heat through his entire body.

The need to be inside her, to be one with her, invaded his mind.

When Rose cradled the back of his head with her hands and pushed him to devour her whole chest, Nicholas almost lost control.

He grabbed the other breast with his free hand, pinching her peak and rolling it between his fingers.

His now aggressive touch caused Rose to close her eyes, a look of pure bliss on her face.

When she cried out softly and ground her most sensitive flesh against Nicholas’s member, he let out an animalistic groan.

“You have to stop, Rose. I’m going to come before I even get it inside you. Gods, you turn me into a horny teenage boy,” he admitted through labored breaths.

The compliment made the prettiest smile bloom on her face, so sweet that he felt his heart melt. He’d write an entire book of praise for her if she’d keep smiling at him like that, but not right now. Right now, he desperately needed to be inside of her.

Nicholas kissed her lips deeply again, then stood up, putting his hands under her ass. Rose kept her legs wrapped around his waist until he set her on the edge of the bath.

“I want you inside of me, Nicholas,” she whispered into his ear, then bit it as he had done to her.

Her aura started to shine, a lovely glow the color of spring flowers.

His heart leapt out of his chest and firmly into the palm of Rose’s hand while the desire he’d thought couldn’t grow any larger flooded his entire body.

Nothing in the world gave him more satisfaction and pleasure than knowing he was the cause of her aura shining through.

He sheathed himself fully inside of her, more roughly than intended.

His fingers found her most sensitive nub of flesh, and a few deep strokes were all it took for her to come.

She groaned as her walls convulsed around him.

Nicholas ran his hands through her hair and hummed as he worked to keep himself from crossing over the edge, too.

The tug of her core was like heaven to him.

He pulled out of her, then flipped her around and bent her over so that her ass was in the air, completely exposed to him. He ran his member against her sensitive flesh again, gathering more of her wetness for his cock.

“What… what are you doing?” Rose craned her neck to look at him with wide eyes.

“I’m not done yet, my Rose.” He chuckled darkly. “We’ve barely gotten started.”

He plunged into her again, holding her hips to keep her steady. She cried out. The sound only fanned his flames even more. He tried to go slowly, but her core kept pulling him in and clenching around him. He had to have his fill of her, and before he knew it, his pace and force increased.

Rose moaned while Nicholas bounced her back and forth, then wrapped a hand in her hair and tugged.

She turned her face enough so that he could bend over and kiss her.

He pushed his tongue inside of her mouth at the same time as his strokes between her legs.

His free hand wandered to the bud at the apex of her thighs again.

He pressed down and felt the waves of Rose’s second orgasm rush through her body. It sent Nicholas over the edge as well.

He collapsed on her back for a moment, their labored breathing the only sound in the whole world.

He peppered a few kisses down her neck and onto her shoulders.

“We should clean up,” Rose said in between kisses.

“We did make a mess,” Nicholas said proudly. He looked down at the place where they’d been joined and found himself stiffening again. Rose’s flesh was so beautiful to him. He could stare at it for hours if she’d let him.

Just as he wondered if she would be willing to go for another round, a knock at the door indicated that their dinner had arrived.