by Skye, Sariah
“Yes!”
Bash nodded slowly, stepping towards me and cupping my elbows with his hands as I fought to look at him. I wanted to be mad, but I knew I couldn’t really be—mostly because he was probably right. I sure wasn’t going to admit that, though. Instead I just swiveled around on my heels and refused to face him.
Which I remembered was a bad idea, as he moved his hands on my ass. Again.
“Okay, babe, I’m sorry. I’m being a dicknugget. Whatever that is,” he agreed, with a short laugh.
“Yes you are. And a douchecanoe.”
“Right, a douchecanoe.”
“Yeah. A total douchecanoe of the greatest proportions. One that’s floating like a turd down the Bullshit River,” I insisted, offering him another glare over my shoulder as Bash let out a very loud, obnoxious laugh at my expense. Or maybe because I was funny, but since I was ticked I was going to go with the former.
“Right. I’m that. I’m sorry, Avie,” Bash said. I felt him step closer, and could practically feel his body heat through his cotton clothing. “Can I make you a bath instead? You know… not because you smell, but so you can relax?”
I dared to glance over my shoulder as he set his hands on my ass again, grabbing a good handful before wrapping them around my waist, and yanking me into him. He placed a kiss on the corner of my mouth and regarded me with a pleading, steely-eyed stare. I heaved a sigh, giving Bash a small smile, and tried to not crumble under the heavy weight of his alluring gaze. “Okay. But no hanky-panky,” I warned. Why was I insisting that when five minutes ago I was ready to jump someone’s bones? I really didn’t know why, except I was torturing him. And, myself in the process.
“No hanky-panky? You sure?” He released me, and tightened his arms over his chest, carefully flexing the rigid muscles of his forearms and biceps, and his lower lip puffed out gently in a pleading, apologetic pout. I immediately pictured nibbling on that damn lip and scratching my fingernails over that blond stubble on his chiseled jawline. Despite all the stiffness I felt in my bones, heat continued to pool low in my belly, and my knees—weakened anyway from work—knocked gently as his icy stare hooded.
Fuck it.
I was about to give in when the genius incubus closed the short distance between us, gripped my hair tightly behind my head, and slammed his lips into mine hungrily. Like a junkie finally getting her first fix in a long, long while, I immediately responded without even trying to. My body pressed against his and I gripped his arm tightly, the other hand snaking behind his neck and urging him closer until we were nearly fused together in a mass of molten desire.
His tongue demanded entry and my lips parted for him immediately, deepening the hot, hungry kiss from wicked to straight up sinful levels. His grip on my hair tightened more, making me moan quietly and break the kiss. “Fuck, Bash. I said… no…” I tried to say huskily when he jerked—not too hard, but enough—my head to the side, exposing my throat, and he licked the lines of it up and down, nipping and kissing carefully. I could hear his quiet, evil laughter in my ear when he moved up to my earlobe and grazed his teeth over it. “Shit…” I shivered and ground my hips against him, needing to feel more of him against me.
In response he dropped his hands and stepped back, grinning at me with kiss-swollen lips, and giving me the sultriest, heavy-lidded “fuck me” stare I’d ever seen from him.
“What—” I began to protest, when he began to pull his shirt over his head and toss it the floor. I bit my lip and grinned smugly. “What are you doing?”
“You said it was bath time, right?”
“I did, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did. Then we can go to bed.”
“We can?”
“Yeah. And if I’m going to get you into that bed, you need to be clean first, right?” He asked, reaching out and trailing the tips of his fingers over my check, and down the side of my neck, making me shiver with need.
“I do, do I?”
Bash nodded slowly. “You do.”
“Hmm,” I said, my lips pressed into a sidelong grin. “This playful Bash… I haven’t seen him before much. I kind of like it.”
He shrugged gently, not minding when I began roving my hands over his chest and around the lines of his defined muscles on both stomach and pecs. His eyes fluttered shut after a moment. “Gods Ava… the shit you do to me. You bring out the playful side—I’ve never really met that guy before.”
“Is that so?” I asked, smirking up at him through heavy lids, loving how he melted under my touch. “Not even back in the day with that… other chick? The mayor’s daughter?”
His gaze snapped up, and he flushed. “You… know about that?”
Whoops. “Yeah… Xander told me. Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that, it came out at a time when he was really upset a couple of weeks ago.”
Bash shrugged. “It’s no big deal, really. But no—this didn’t happen even back then. This is the real-deal, Ava. You and I. That was just…”
“…practice?” I supplied.
He shook his head. “No… more like… a distraction. It wasn’t what I really wanted, because what I wanted didn’t exist. Not until you were born. And… aged into legality of course,” he added with a chuckle.
I smiled slowly, beaming up into his handsome face. My head tilted to the side carefully as curious thoughts invaded my mind. “Sometimes I don’t believe you guys are real. I feel like I didn’t exist before I knew you. At least… not really. Not like now.”
“I know exactly how you feel. It’s amazing when you think about it… all the things that had to happen, all the… stars or whatever the hell they are, or the fates, everything had to align perfectly to bring us all together. It’s more than coincidence, I think,” Bash mused. “Like… I was born eventually to be yours. Nothing else ever came close.”
I felt my insides heat and turn to mush. “Seriously…are you for fucking real?” I chuckled lightly. “You can’t say things like that and expect me to think you’re for real.”
His mouth quirked up on one side, and he took the hand that was tracing circles over his shoulder in his, and pointedly moved it south, pressing against the very hard length constrained by his jeans. “That real enough for you?”
“Um… not sure. It could just be a banana. Or a dildo or something,” I said, as I began to undo his fly and slip my hand inside.
“Or a vibrator named Buzz?” Bash replied with false innocence.
My eyes narrowed and my hand tracked lower, and he groaned gently as my fingers roamed over his long length and landed at his balls. “You sure you want to go there, knowing where my hand is right now?”
He snorted. “I’ll take the risk.”
I massaged and squeezed gently. “Oh fuck…” he groaned.
“Yeah you’re right. I like these too much.” I discontinued my groping as Bash’s eyes slammed shut and he bit his lip. Laughing evilly, I began to saunter casually to the bathroom. He was briefly disappointed before I said, “Are you coming, then? No funny business!” I wanted to laugh, because I knew that wasn’t going to happen, but I could pretend.
“I don’t have to be told twice.” Before I could open the door all the way his pants were already dropped, kicked across the floor, and his hands were around my waist in a heartbeat. He pulled me into him until his lips were just a whisper from mine. The heat radiating from his nearly-naked body, the heady scent of his uniquely fresh and spicy smell, the warmth of his breath on my neck, and the heft of his stare had me nearly combusting from the throes of extreme desire. My lips parted, and I splayed my hands over his trim waist, and awaited for his kiss. But he didn’t comply, much to my chagrin. He smirked and bit his lip gently, and sauntered past me to the tub where he perched on the edge and proceeded to fill it up.
I let out an involuntary whimper of protest.
“Hey, you were the one that said, ‘no funny business’.” Bash tossed me a naughty look over his shoulder. “So… you want a bath, you’ll get one.”
I shook my finger at him. “You’re messing with me, you damn devious incubus.”
He shrugged gently, his shoulder muscles lithely flexing as he did. My tongue skirted across my lips and he sucked in a breath, shivering lightly. He was having just as hard of a time controlling himself as I was. I watched as his fists clenched at his side, and that was made apparent when his gaze tracked upward, steely eyed rimmed with the tell-tale crimson of incubus lust. “I’d never do that,” he insisted, but sounding completely contrary. He was taunting me, and he knew it. Damn him…
I watched with great interest when those eyes skated over the length of my body, pausing momentarily around the curve of my ass. “Something you want?” I fluttered my lashes at him with mock innocence.
“Something I…” He chuckled huskily. “Yeah. I want you to take all that stuff off and get your dirty cambion self in this tub.”
Oh fuck yes… My stomach swooped anxiously and the nerves between my legs pulsed and ebbed, thoroughly turned on by his words. I wasted no time complying, peeling off my underwear and tossing them aside; the sexy blond siphon watched me with predatory interest. He dropped his own blue boxer briefs, unleashing his gently up-curved, totally erect cock, and climbed into the large tub, beckoning me with a crook of his finger. I wasn’t sure what had gotten into him lately—he wasn’t normally this…umm…insistent. But I figured he was getting a good dose of my Avalon lust.
And at that moment, I didn’t care, watching the water splash over his alabaster skin, leaving trails of wet over his chest. I had the urge to slide my fingers over his chest and shoulders; to feel the droplets against his warm skin. So I climbed in the tub myself and proceeded to do just that. His legs parted to bring me closer into him, and even though his hardness poked into my stomach, he wrapped his arms around my shoulders, and brought me into him. “You said no funny business,” he said, with a chuckle. I lifted my head and shot him a scathing glare.
“I didn’t actually expect you to listen to that,” I said with a chuckle, and he grinned.
“Ah, good to know. I didn’t want to further incur the wrath of the High Avalonian Priestess.” He flashed a wink at me, and I groaned.
“Ugh, enough of that.”
“Seriously…” Bash’s tone turned from seductive to serious; the crimson of his irises even faded some. He adjusted himself slightly so he sat a bit higher than me, and began scooping handfuls of water into my hair. “Just… relax. And let’s get cleaned up so I can take you to bed and dirty you up again.”
A surge of heat shot straight between my legs. Oh fuck yes…
But, true to his word, Bash didn’t succumb to using any seductive tactics. Intentionally, anyway. Unintentionally he succeeded in getting me all worked up, by washing my hair; his fingers were heaven against my scalp as I leaned against him. He washed my body from head to toe—literally—and by the time he was finished I was nothing more than a pool of relaxed mush. Between the hot water and his even hotter body, all the tension and pain I’d been feeling was gone, replaced with the constant ebb of desire.
Having washed himself up quickly—damn men always got it easy—he helped me out of the tub and wrapped us in fuzzy purple towels. After draining the tub, he pulled me into him, his skin still damp and hair darkened from the water slightly, giving him a bit more of an edgier look than his normal “boy-next-door” gorgeousness. His torso and chest were bare, and I couldn’t help but run my fingers along the lines of his arms and shoulders, making him shiver lightly. He grabbed the towel wrapped around my chest, fisted both ends, and pulled me forcibly into him, looking intently upon my face. “You know I fucking love you, right?”
I laughed quietly, remembering just a short time ago when I blurted nearly those very words to him. “I fucking love you too.”
“Good. Now let me show you,” he said, with a devious wink and a bite of his lip, and before I could protest—not like I would—he dragged me onto the bed, pushing the towels aside and crawling over the top of me. My breath hitched at his predatory smirk and as he crashed his mouth to mine my back arched, and I rolled my hips over his thigh. “Dammit, Bash… don’t torture me. I don’t have any patience for this tonight.”
“Since when do you ever?” He kidded, and I gently smacked his shoulder. Chuckling, he pressed his lips to mine again in a gentle kiss, but quickly brought it to sinful levels with a few nips of my bottom lip, the thrashing of our tongues against each others, and I rocked myself against him, hoping for friction between my legs. “Soon…” He said huskily, as he began to lower himself down, trailing a path of kisses over my jaw line… my neck… down my chest as he found and palmed one of my breasts, while he caught the nipple of the other in his teeth, rolled his tongue over it until it peaked, biting down gently with a tug. I gasped and thrashed under him, the little bit of pain sending shooting arrows of lust through all of me, setting my body aflame and bringing me closer to release.
“Shit, Sebastian, and here I thought you were an ass m—oh god…” I moaned, threading my hands in his hair and gripping tightly when he lowered himself enough to seek out my core with his lips. He swirled that damn talented tongue of his over my clit, around the taut bud, plunging a finger inside and seeking the g-spot deep inside, and massaging it until I cried out and panted, the desire inside nearly too much to bear. When he sensed I was near, he pulled out and crawled back over me with a shit-ass grin twisting his sexy, delectable mouth.
“You fucking tease,” I scolded, my breath heavy and my limbs trembling under the weight of him, his heat and his explosive touch. He drowned out any further protests with a passionate, fiery kiss, with the salty taste of my clit on his lips—which should have struck me as strange, but it never did, because it reminded me of how fucking gorgeous he looked between my legs. And it distracted me as he parted my legs gently, and with a swift motion he sheathed himself inside me.
“Oh, I’m sorry. You said I was a tease? Just showing you that I’m not,” Bash said huskily after he broke our steamy kiss to give me a taunting glimpse.
Still breathing heavy, adjusting to the sudden feel of him, I grinned slowly. “Yeah, I feel that now. And it’s…oh shit…” My heavy lids slammed shut as he began to rock inside me, very, very slowly, before precariously shifting himself until both his thighs were on the outside of mine, tightening and heightening every damned sensation. And holy fuck me… did it feel good. I still didn’t understand how he just instinctually knew all this—all the right angles to drive me mad—but he did, and I loved it every single time.
The room began to swirl around us, and the air grew heady and sultry with the vibe of sex, and he picked up his pace, making me thrash against him, eagerly seeking my release.
He caught my lips in another smoldering, unbelievable kiss that only served to further drive himself inside, harder and faster.
Then I shattered, my back arched and I clenched around him, panting and my skin on fire, every nerve and pore stimulated by him, his words, his devastating sexiness, and most of all… his absolute adoration.
He grinned deviously, and thrusted again, one final time, increasing the sensation. “Oh…shit, Bash!” I moaned, and I clawed at his shoulders, making him groan loudly, matching my own feral, pleasured cries as he suddenly tensed, bit down on his lip and arched himself, reaching his own apex.
“By the gods, Ava…” he panted, catching his breath as he slumped over me, entangling his hand with mine, watching that mysterious thread of gold spin and weave around us.
I snickered, finally able to catch my breath. “Now you sound like Mathias.”
He cocked a brow. “I…don’t think I like hearing that after I’ve just made love to you.”
I slapped at his shoulder. “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah, yeah…”
He glanced around us, at the misty, foggy air. “I still think that’s amazing, no matter how many times I see it.”
I lifted a hand, watching the golden string and the mist swir
l around it. “It really is.” Bash moved over on my side, propping his head up with his hand, bent at the elbow.
“So… can you like… see it? Like your zoom-in thing or whatever?” I asked, curious.
“Yeah, actually. It’s… like a bunch of really, really tiny golden lights. But it’s similar to what you use to heal with, it’s all uniquely Avalon,” he explained, as he slid his hand and fingers over mine, his eyes narrowing as he was probably doing his Bash-thing with it.
When I finally came down from the orgasmic high, my eyes grew heavy from fatigue and I yawned sleepily. “Man. This has been a long day.”
“You’re feeling better, though, right?” Bash asked with a smirk. I turned and grinned at his handsome face, running my fingers along the length of his stubbled jawline.
“Yeah, I am. I just…hope this isn’t the last time,” I said with a worried sigh.
“It’s not, babe. It’ll never be the end of us—there is no end. This is only the beginning.” He slid a hand under my chin and tipped my face up to meet his, placing a loving kiss on my lips as I grinned at his words. He gathered me in his arms and pulled the blankets over us, and I felt safe, and warm with him there; like nothing could ever happen.
“Didn’t you know, Ava?” He said, out of the blue.
“Hmm?” I asked sleepily, I’d already began to drift off.
“You’re my forever.”
I melted.
“I love you, Sebastian.”
“I love you, Avalon.”
Chapter Thirteen
“Get your hands off of me, you verminous cretins!” My father, Lachlan Steele, fought the armored guards with all of his might, but their grips were steadfast.
“Dad! No!”
Lachlan’s glance tracked upwards, finding me in the front of the crowd. “Ava! Please go, you don’t need to see this.”
“I… I can’t.” My lip trembled, watching the two knights—one with deep ebony skin and an expressionless face, and the other blond with pained eyes that almost seemed to be looking upon Lachlan with… sympathy? Immediately even though I’d never seen these men in my life I knew who they were, somehow: Sir Bedivere, and Sir Percival, knights of Arthur’s Round Table.