Page 9 of The Time Of Kings (An Afterlife Story #1)

8

THE TASTE OF A NAME

A fter his abrupt departure, I was left looking pretty pitiful. Like some sad period drama version of Bridget Jones Diary when she realises Daniel Cleaver is cheating on her. Of course, I didn’t have fake lashes to strip off my eyes, but I did have a bucket load of mud to get out of my hair and off my face. Something I was smart enough to try and do before getting into the bath and filling it with mud. So, with the help of one of the sheets of linen and the jug of water, I gave myself a good wipe before getting in, my hair being a lost cause at this point.

It also wasn’t ideal washing so much of it with just a bar of soap but hey, it beat scraping oil off my skin like when in ancient Rome.

Of course, it wasn’t enough to wash away my tears as I sat in the bathtub with Celine Dion’s, ‘All by myself’ playing through my head. This while feeling completely and yes, also ‘pathetically’, sorry for myself. Something that had started the moment I was on the toilet. My crying was not just in relief for the chance to pee or that I had an actual seat to sit on. I mean, okay, so yes it did just all go into a removable bowl, as clearly, plumbing hadn’t been invented yet. But it was a step in the right direction I guessed.

Now as for my tears and the root of my heartache, it was simple…

I missed my Draven.

The Draven I knew and loved. But even more so, the Draven who knew and loved me back. The one I could tease freely, or that knew how to make me laugh. The one who understood me and knew everything about me. Because the type of comfort found in that knowledge had been stripped away from me. The weight of not knowing my fate in this unknown world was held above me like an anvil barely secured by an ancient rope. One hanging there precariously with nothing to do but look up and wait for it to eventually come crashing down on my head any second.

An anvil named… the dangerous truth.

I felt completely alone and this time, I didn’t even have Ranka by my side, guiding me through this next unknown. Gods, I missed my friend, and it was a loss I felt often but especially now. In fact, it made me wonder where she was in this time. Forever known to me as ‘her’ because that was who I always knew her as. Who she wanted to be. Who she had chosen to be and not the male she might have started life out as. Oh, how much easier this would have all been had she been here from the start to once again be my guide.

But this was where my pity party had to end, as I knew I had to get out of this bath or Draven would come back and find me still in it, no doubt adding to his distrusting mind. So, once all the mud had been washed from my skin and my hair was clean enough that it squeaked, I got out. Then after wrinkling up my nose at the colour of the water I left behind, I wrapped a sheet around me.

I walked over to a wooden table with the mirror above it, and picked up the comb that sat there, holding it up and saying,

“Well, this is going to take me a small forever… but who knows? Perhaps Amelia’s quest will be over by the time I have finished brushing my hair.”

Of course, this was only the first of my complaints as knot after knot was teased apart until finally my hair was done, now half dry, full of natural long waves.

I was at least thankful for two things as I walked back into Draven’s bedchamber… the first being that he wasn’t there. The second was that there was a dress on the bed, which meant I wouldn’t be standing here near naked by the time he came back. Although trying to tie my own corset was one of the more challenging things I’ve ever had to do in my lifetime, and yes, that did include fighting Demons in Hell.

As for the dress, it was a pale blue, fine muslin gown with a low scoop neckline and a high waist. One that had a narrow ribbon sash under the bust in a darker, royal blue, and the long sleeves puffed at the shoulder. The long, narrow skirt, was embroidered at the hem with pretty, royal blue flowers to match the ribbon. A pair of flat silk pumps finished the outfit, along with my damp knickers after I had done my best to clean my underwear.

I may have not been able to wear my wet bra just yet, but there was no way I was wearing a pair of oversized bloomers that felt scratchy and starchy. Nope, not doing it.

As for my hair, I had just been in the process of trying to plait it to one side, barely making it a few inches down when the door opened, and it seemed as I wasn’t the only not prepared for the sight of the other.

“I had food… Gods.” This sentence stopped abruptly and ended with what felt like some uttered curse whispered under his breath. As if now stunned by what he saw. I guess considering how I looked not long ago, it wasn’t surprising, as I had barely looked like a girl at all.

I even noticed the way he swallowed hard as his eyes scanned down the length of me, coming back to my now clean blonde hair flowing freely by my side. The loose tendrils framing my blushing face down to my waist. I swear, the look he was giving me had the power to singe the edge of my dress, making me wonder if it would any second simply unravel. The hint of purple I had witnessed already told me that he was too far in his emotions to stop it. Just like every time I had witnessed it when we had first met all that time ago. Every time questioning it as possibly being a trick of light.

Well now I knew better. Now I knew the man who stood in front of me and what the sight of me biting my lip nervously would do to him. Hence why he uttered,

“Mea vellus aureum.” Something I now knew meant ‘My Golden Fleece’ in Latin. He had said this to me enough times over the years. But then as if something had snapped within him, he narrowed his gaze before barking out,

“Leave us!”

At first, I felt the confused sting of this demand, along with the sudden change in his demeanour. But this was before realising it had been aimed at the maid who had followed him inside, not me. The poor girl had brought in a tray of food and had been standing there waiting for her orders, and now she looked terrified of her master’s wrath.

I couldn’t say that I blamed her. Not considering how frighting and intimidating Draven could be. Meaning she quickly hurried out of the room after a quick curtsy he completely ignored on account of him yet to take his eyes off me.

The moment she was clear, he used his foot to slam the door shut behind her, making me initially jump at the sound. Christ, but I could just imagine how nervous I would have been had this truly been our first time together. He had most definitely learned restraint over the centuries, that much could be said.

But as for now, he was breathing heavily like some wild animal about to pounce, and I half wanted to run away, and half wanted to run towards the beast of him. In the end of course, he took both decisions from me as he took long, purposeful steps towards me. As for my own reaction, all I managed was to take a few cautious steps backwards until my back hit one of the bedposts before he reached me.

I even opened my mouth to speak when he ordered,

“No words… only this…”

Then he took me into his arms and kissed me like it was his first, his last, and every kiss in between. As if he had never really kissed before this day and what he found in my own was an equal amount of passion.

For me, it was as if this was the first breath I was finally able to take after a day of drowning.

He was my everything.

And if such complexity that was our love had to be stripped down to a simple word, it would have been this…

“Finally.”

A word he uttered over my lips, telling me instantly he knew who I was to him. That his fate had finally been gifted to him after thousands of years in waiting. It hit him all at once, whereas I had been living my own fate with him these last three decades. I had spent years fighting for our fate, battling against all that stood in our way and having our love for one another tested time and time again.

But for Draven, in this time, there was nothing that could possibly stand in our way. Not even the restrictions painted by this century’s society. I knew that when he deepened the kiss until, I swear, I was close to finding release.

My fingers curled in his waistcoat and every time he felt them tighten with a desperate grip, he rumbled his own pleasure at knowing that he wasn’t the only one gripped by our first kiss. The depths of which was one we both gladly indulged in. This as our tongues duelled and our lips melded together like the last two puzzle pieces fitting perfectly into place. One that painted a picture of our future lives. A picture that was now complete and despite that little voice in my head telling me this was too dangerous, it was a warning that went by completely ignored.

Especially when he gathered me up by the waist, lifting me until my feet lost the floor so as he could freely walk me around to the side of the bed. Then he lowered me down, following me there before holding his weight above me, caging me in with his muscular frame. And despite this being done for the thousandth time, it didn’t make it any less perfect. As every moment with Draven was a moment I treasured like a gift. Okay, so maybe not when we argued, and I wanted to throw a pillow at his head.

“Gods, you are so beautiful,” he told me, pulling back from our kiss enough to stroke a gentle hand over my head. A tender action that had him pushing my damp hair back from my face, making me bite my lip like I always did when slightly nervous. Because everything about this reminded me of the first time I met Draven, and how anxious I was back then.

“And this lip, gods what it makes me want to do to you,” he told me, making me blush before deciding to be brave enough to raise myself up enough to say,

“Then why don’t you?”

The bold statement first caused surprise to bloom in his dark eyes. This before it quickly morphed into desire, as those same eyes seeped into purple flames. Something that as years spent as his wife I no longer needed to question. But as a mortal of this era and one he had just met, then I knew it should have been something I questioned.

However, when he swooped down and started kissing me once, I failed to act the part. Especially as heat scorched between us, and enough that he wasted not a second longer before making his intentions clear on where this was headed.

He reached down with his hand so as he could start to gather up the dress I was wearing. Doing so until he finally reached the bare skin he had been looking for, now running his palm along my leg and, of course, making me moan. His hand soon turned into a firm grip so as he could pull my leg up to hook it over his gorgeous arse. But his talented hand didn’t stop in its journey. No, it welcomingly continued up my thigh as he continued to push lengths of material out of his way.

Of course, I couldn’t have cared had he torn the damn thing off me at this point, I only cared that I could now feel the thick, hard length of his cock straining against his breeches. And the second I let my head fall back and closed my eyes at the barest hint of contact he made against my core, I shamelessly rubbed myself against him. And let’s just say, I think my actions must have confirmed his earlier thoughts, because I was definitely not the unsure, blushing little virgin, he might have expected me to be.

In fact, I couldn’t have acted that way even if my life had depended on my doing so. Because being this way with him was as natural as breathing for me. Which meant faking the nervous struggle would have been impossible. So, with every grind of my body against his and every moan that went with it, it ended up being just another green light for him to continue.

And continue he did.

Something that started with him shifting his body up so he could see for himself what I was wearing underneath my dress. And just like having sight of my bra when in the bathroom, he quickly became transfixed by the small triangle of satin covering my sex. I ended up shuddering the moment I felt the back of a single finger caress down the centre, moaning slightly the second it grazed my clit.

“This undergarment… it is…” He paused as if unable to form the words at first, before finishing his sentence on a husky breath. “…enchanting.”

As for myself, well I couldn’t have spoken in that moment even if I had wanted to. He didn’t just steal my words, but he also stole my breath. Just like when he ducked his head down to my core and ran his nose up the satin where his finger had recently made the journey. A bold move on his part that ended with me gasping at the feel.

A deep rumbling sound quickly followed as he took in my aroused scent, sending his Demon side feral as a growl vibrated up from his chest. Any mortal woman hearing this for the first time would have no doubt freaked enough to try to move away. But thankfully for me, my reactions weren’t under scrutiny, and a good job too or he would have been asking me of my mental state.

But as it stood, his need to taste me far outweighed his rational thinking or his suspicious mind. And instead of asking me if I was sound of mind, he was off the side of the bed quicker than eyes could see. One second, he was there looming over the lower half of me, and the next he had me gripped tight under my knees. Then he yanked me to the edge of the bed towards where he was now knelt on the floor. I cried out in shock, a sound that was ignored as he tossed my legs over his shoulders and pulled me in closer to his face.

“So soft,” he hummed to himself as he continued to run his nose up the small amount of material covering my sex. His hands ran up the inside of my thighs before following the arch of the high satin straps that followed the curve of my hips. Then he hooked his thumbs under the elastic and made the slow, sexual expedition down my legs as he pulled my underwear lower. My legs had no choice but to fall from his wide shoulders as he removed them completely.

Once they were gone, he then stood and removed his fresh clean jacket. All the while, never once taking his eyes from me. Even as he rolled up his sleeves, making me squirm under his intense gaze. His strong muscular forearms tensed as he fisted his hands momentarily, as if trying to hold himself back from tearing my dress in two.

“But now it is time to feel true softness, as I taste you for the first time,” he told me once he had lowered back to his knees, this time granting me a firm order, “Now spread your legs for me, my little thief.”

His rumbled command made me swallow hard before doing as I was told. This time putting my legs back over his shoulders without his help and of my own free will.

“Good girl,” he praised, and just like all the times before when he had commended me in the past, I couldn’t help but let a slight moan slip, telling him just what hearing this did to me. But then with the first dip of his tongue against my most sensitive part, my body played out the steps to this sexual dance we had already spent decades performing. Starting with the way my neck arched as the back of my head pressed into the bed. I closed my eyes as a single word was whispered, breaking through the hold my teeth had on my bottom lip.

“Yes.”

His response to my pleasure and acceptance of him giving it to me was to growl his approval against the folds of my sex. Quivering flesh that was no doubt already glistening with my arousal. Just another sign of how badly I wanted this and was more than ready to take all he was willing to give me. Because quite honestly…

I wanted it all.

And he gave me it as soon the sound of me screaming out the first of my orgasms echoed through the room. As though getting the first one out of the way was as easy as simply clicking his fingers and commanding for me to come. Because his tongue flicked against my clit for what seemed like barely any time at all before I felt that familiar build take hold of my body.

One that was quick to erupt from me.

“OH God! Yes… yes… I… I… COMING!” I cried out, panting through the onslaught of his continued conquest against my sensitive bundle of nerves. My clit now felt swollen, and twice its original size. Of course, being that this was Draven, I knew this only signified the beginning, as it was a big kink of his to force as many orgasms from me as he thought my body could take.

Not that I was complaining, there were far worse kinks to have when it came to sex. And over our years, Draven and I had tried a lot of them. But the other big one for my husband had been to tie me up, often leaving me wide open and exposed to him. The sight of me fighting against my restraints and begging him to stop when even I knew I could continue, only added to his pleasure.

And as for now, well clearly this Draven was more than ready for the challenge, and he wasn’t joking when he said he wanted to taste me. Jesus, that seemed like a damn understatement of the year! If he had said he wanted to make a meal out of me, then that would have been far more accurate because that was exactly what he was doing!

He didn’t just tease me with his tongue, but he actually fucked me with it. Spreading me as wide as I could go with his fingers opening up my lips to make it easier for him to spear me with it. This before using it to then lap up the mess he was making. So much so, that I soon realised my knees were no longer over his shoulders but actually pinned up against my torso. As if at some point through my forced pleasure, I had tried to escape by thrashing against him.

“Please… oh God, please… I… I can’t… AHHH!” I screamed once again, and I had lost count by this point.

“I will be the judge of that!” he snarled into my thigh before biting the tender flesh there, making me yelp at the sudden sting. However, unlike my own Draven, and someone who would have broken the skin and drank from me without thinking twice about it, this Draven did not. No doubt because he didn’t want to frighten me with just how deep his carnal thoughts ran and the deviancy of his sexual desires when it came to his Electus.

My pleas for mercy were ignored twice more before he finally believed I’d had enough. This despite knowing had this been back in my own time, I would have not been shown such sexual leniency, nor such restraint on his part.

However, now I was back to being a mortal, it meant that my body was not what it once was and I was back to feeling exhausted. To the point that I was only left to jerk as the aftershocks took hold of my body when he lapped up the evidence of my multiple orgasms. Like his need to savour every last drop my body had made was too much temptation to resist.

He even had to straighten my legs afterwards, bringing them back down gently. This before gathering up my body and lifting me further up the bed so my legs no longer could dangle off the edge.

I didn’t know how long he had been doing this for, but I knew it was long enough that had he been mortal, I would have been concerned for his knees. But like always, he moved with ease and the grace of a jungle cat. Speaking of which, he licked his lips like one in hopes of prolonging the taste of his sexual prey, and holy hell it was hot to watch!

Good Gods, I had no hope.

It was of little wonder why I couldn’t speak yet, and he seemed amused by this fact. Smirking down at me, he stroked back my wild hair from my damp face. Hair that no doubt looked a mess and meant embarking on another mission with the comb in my immediate future. Another sure sign of the begging I had done would be my hoarse voice, and one I knew he would soon hear when he asked me,

“Are you well, my beauty?”

I took a deep breath in before answering him.

“I er… yeah,” I answered, making him chuckle as he leaned down to kiss my lips softly before then whispering over them,

“You were perfect.”

I released a sigh, a loved-up sound to be sure, making him beam down at me. But then I couldn’t help but tease him by asking,

“Tell me, do all your kidnappings end this way?”

He grinned, running his gaze down the length of me before replying.

“Only the tasty ones.”

I laughed at that but before I could reply in kind, keeping our timeless banter going, he suddenly cut through the moment. Doing this by making his next demand of me, and it was one I didn’t know how to hide from him for much longer.

“Now it’s time to…”

“…tell me your name.”