Page 83 of The Unbound Witch

I could feel the weight of something small on my tongue, but nothing more than that.

“Your only hint is that it’s red. You guess what it is based on the taste or texture, and I’ll let you undress me in that water. Show me what it’s like to be a wraith.”

I jerked upright at that sinful promise. Not that I’d ever be able to feel the stroke of pleasure again, but to hear it on her lips, to see her legs tremble for me, I’d gladly guess every object in the world. Still, I tried to play her game.

Rolling the item around in my mouth, I found it to be soft but firm. Not smooth, but a dimpled texture. I moved the object to one side of my mouth and then the other until a juice leaked free. Fruit maybe. Red fruit.

A strawberry, I was sure. The moment I thought the word, perhaps by memory alone, the most subtle hint of sweetness exploded on my tongue. Drawing the fruit out, keeping my eyes closed, I whispered, “Strawberry.”

“And this one?” she asked.

I didn’t have time to pull away before she popped something else into my mouth. The sweetness I’d tasted before, swept away by something tart. It wasn’t a memory then. I’d really tasted that strawberry. And this. The blueberry.

Opening my eyes, I pulled the fruit from my mouth, leaning forward to lick the juice of another strawberry from Nym’s chin. She giggled as I crawled on top of her, laying her back, pressing my lips to hers until her giggles turned to laughter that melted away as the kiss deepened.

She was it for me. She’d always been it. I lifted the edge of her dress as her breaths shortened. She arched. Needing to feel me against her. But when I pressed further, she pulled away, standing to lead me into the water while she remained clothed.

The dress she wore clung to her skin, revealing every shapely curve of her body. Her stare held mine as she dipped below the crystal-clear water and swam backward. Resurfacing, droplets falling from her lashes and dripping from her hair, I let my eyes fall to her hardened nipples.

“Can you concentrate enough to undress me?” she asked, her tone smoky.

I could have melted into a puddle at those words.

“Probably fucking not, but I’ll give it one hell of a try.”

She threw her head back and laughed again as I dipped into the water, moving toward her. The second I got my hands on the ties at her waist, she dipped below the water, kicking, swimming away. The dress flourishing behind her as my legs did for eternity.

If I wanted to undress her, I was going to have to catch her. This was a game I could play. I surged forward, snatching the loose strings again and focused as I ripped my finger through the laces, forcing them loose. She swam to the surface to catch her breath, and I held the bottom of her skirt, watching as she whirled out of it, her long, brown legs moving gracefully through the sun-kissed water.

I dropped her skirt near the bank as she waded, watching me with those green eyes. I approached like a predator. She darted to the right, but I caught her. In my full arms. Not just a brush of skin or a hand held. I wrapped her in my arms.

Caught by surprise, she gasped, her eyes lit with desire. I ripped the top over her head, exposing only her cream-colored wet chemise that left absolutely nothing to the imagination.

She stopped the game, letting me pull her to the shore. Stepping out with her hand in mine, the final piece of clothing clinging like a second skin. She shivered as I reached for the bottom of the fabric and lifted, exposing her naked flesh.

Focusing on touch alone, on solely her pleasure, as mine would be found wrapped in hers only, I brushed a hand down her stomach, smiling deviously as she clenched those muscles.

Pulling the chemise from my fingers, she laid it upon the ground, using it as a blanket. The desire in her eyes, the way she reached, weakened me. She sighed as I spread her legs, eyes fluttering shut.

On a prayer, I closed my mouth over her core, concentrating until I could taste her. She moaned at the sensation, lifting her hips, undulating as she begged me for more. I took my time, though, tasting, massaging, sliding my tongue between her folds as I devoured her slowly.

Labored gasps and desperate moans escaped as I moved. Sliding up her body, taking the swell of a breast into my mouth as I let my fingers swirl over the hard bud between her trembling legs.

I wanted to tell her everything I was feeling. The weight on my chest when she was near. The way her laughter made me weak. The depth of my dreams of a future that began and ended with her alone. But I couldn’t manage a single word as I watched her twist her face into absolute pleasure, the fading sun lighting her golden brown breasts with a warmth and glow that only lent to the blissful moment.

“Kirsi,” she gasped.

My name on those plump lips sent a shockwave of pride through me. Sliding up her body, I licked the crook of her neck, relishing the salty taste of her skin. She whimpered. Down and down I went, leaving a trail of small kisses over her navel, dipping lower, over the mound and closing my mouth over her core, the sweetness coating my tongue.

Thighs quivering, she called my name again. And again. Until she was screaming with pleasure, her shouts likely reaching the village as I moved relentlessly. Stealing every second of euphoria until she could take no more. Until she twisted away, needing to catch her breath.

We let her clothes dry off on the dead branch of a nearby tree and lay beneath the stars forming in the sky. Taking this moment for just ourselves when the rest of the world was pure chaos and destruction, urgency and desperation… I hadn’t known I’d needed it.

Later, familiars in tow, we wove ourselves back through the village and to Nym’s thatch roofed hut. The moment the door shut and the felines settled, padded paws sounded outside the door.

I turned to Nym and she smiled, nodding. “You might as well let him in.”

Swinging the door open, the white wolf laying in front of the door started.