“Always remember, te avio päläfertiilam. You are the keeper of my heart and soul.” He drew his palm very gently, very slowly and very possessively down her body, from her neck, over the curves of her breasts, to her mound and then the junction between her legs. His touch was barely there, but it was definitely a claiming.
Her sex clenched, a liquid heat, an awakening of a hunger she hadn’t known existed, as if by touching her, claiming her, he’d suddenly awoken the woman in her. Need spread through her, a strange tension coiling deep. Her hips would have squirmed restlessly had she allowed it, but she was far too disciplined for that. She lay passive, looking up at his face, wanting to touch him, to trace the lines carved deep, the strong jawline. He could become an obsession if she wasn’t careful.
“Every rising, when you wake, know that you are in my keeping. As my lifemate, you are first in my thoughts on rising and last when I close the soil over our heads. There are no lies between lifemates. You can hear them, Elisabeta. Believe in your ability to hear lies. You are Carpathian and you are powerful in your own right. You can hear anyone lying to you, especially your lifemate. I want you to have confidence in your ability to hear lies always. Once you know that, once you believe that, you will recognize all lies told to you in the past.”
He was beautiful. His face was so rough no one else would ever call him that, but she knew he was. She knew Julija didn’t altogether approve of him and would never have accepted him as her lifemate, nor would Lorraine. She also knew that she was seeing only one side of Ferro. He was showing her unfailing kindness and it was all very real. Eventually, she would reach further into his mind and see more of him. She wasn’t ready. She wasn’t strong enough yet; she would have to build up to that. For now, he didn’t seem to mind caring for her, and while he did, she would learn. She learned fast.
“Piŋe sarnanak.” His voice was soft. Amused. The sound played over her like the touch of fingers. His hand slid back up her body to cup her breast. “I love the way you look at me, as if I mean something to you rather than being a man to be afraid of.” He bent his head toward her, his eyes on her face, and then she lost sight of him as his lips touched her chin and then her throat.
Her heart jumped wildly. The sensation was truly without precedent. His lips were firm yet soft. His jaw had the smallest bristles that scraped along her skin, setting nerve endings alive. His teeth teased her senses into heightened awareness. He trailed more kisses down her throat to the curve of her right breast. His hand cupped her left breast, his thumb setting a mesmerizing strumming back and forth over her nipple. Each light brush sent a dark fire streaking to her clit, inflaming it until blood pounded and she could count her heartbeats there.
His teeth sank deep and she cried out at the sheer ecstasy of the erotic bite. In spite of her discipline, her hips shifted restlessly in his lap, the cheeks of her bottom sliding over his groin, rubbing, feeling the shape and size of his heavy erection. That added to the hunger coiling so deep and tight in her body. His thumb and finger tugged at her nipple while he drank, the combined sensations spreading flames through her body unlike anything she’d ever known.
Images poured into her mind. His body moving in hers. Sharing the same skin. Her legs wrapped around his waist. Her body bent over a bed while he took her from behind. On her hands and knees, his arm around her waist while he took her hard and fast. Spread out on the floor with his mouth pressed between her legs, devouring her. Her on her knees, her lips stretched wide around his cock. She felt his need. His hunger mixed with her own until she couldn’t tell who felt it more. She only knew her body was slick, hot and aching. He filled her mind and every one of her senses.
Ferro’s tongue swept across the twin holes his teeth had made in the curve of her breast, and he shifted her in his arms. “You need to feed, sívamet.”
She was already addicted to his taste. She wondered if the moisture she felt on her bottom, where his cock leaked his essence, tasted as wonderful as his blood did. The moment those images had entered her mind, she wanted to explore them one by one. Her teeth slid into place and her mouth watered at that mere thought of feeding, yet already it was so much more.
Even as he shifted her in his arms, he bent his head to her right breast, his mouth drawing the soft curve deep, flattening her nipple to the roof of his mouth, stroking and caressing and then sucking while his fingers tugged at her left nipple. His teeth scraped erotically and then nipped, a small sting his tongue soothed instantly. He kissed the upper curve of both breasts and then lifted his head, giving her access to his chest.
Elisabeta took one look around her. They were no longer in the ground beneath the house he had said would be their home. They were on the rooftop, or a balcony on the roof, where there was a large square area fenced in by a thick wooden rail. They lay together under the stars on a thick fur that felt very sensual on her legs. Everything seemed to feel sensual to her sensitive skin.
She looked at his bare chest and her breath caught in her throat. His chest was wide and thick and very muscular. She rubbed her face over the heavy muscles and then dared to kiss the spot she’d chosen to sink her teeth deep. Her tongue tasted his skin. He didn’t hurry her. He shifted her again, widening his legs so that she nestled between them, and one of her hands slid down his chest to find his thick, long cock.
She couldn’t stop herself from looking. His shape was both intimidating and thrilling. He took her hand and wrapped it around his shaft and began a slow pumping motion, guiding her fist up and down. More slick heat spread through her body and gathered at the junction of her legs. He had draped one of her legs over his thighs, opening her body to him.
“Drink, minan piŋe sarnanak,” he coaxed softly.
She scraped her teeth back and forth gently, almost in time to the rhythmic pumping of her fist on his erection, and then she bit into his chest. He threw his head back and she instantly felt his cock swell more, even as that seemed impossible. His taste was even more than she’d remembered, a spicy addiction that added to the sexual hunger spreading through her like a wildfire.
His free hand slid up the inside of her thigh draped over his lap. He rubbed back and forth for a few moments and then his fingers crept steadily closer to her slick heat.
Tell me what you are feeling. It was a command. One he made impossible to ignore.
I feel as if I am on fire.
That is how you are supposed to feel. There is more. I want you to feel more.
His hand crept higher, slowly higher up her thigh, until his fingers found her clit at the junction between her legs, where the blood pounded like mad. He circled there and then gently tugged and flicked. She jumped and cried out in her mind. It felt delicious. Scary. Unbelievable. She wanted more.
Good?
Very good.
His fingers stroked and caressed, dipped into her and then tugged and flicked again until she couldn’t breathe. She had to stop feeding. She couldn’t process the alien sensations and allow her organs to absorb the much-needed sustenance he was providing to her. She ran her tongue across the twin holes she’d made in his chest, closing the wounds.
“It gets so much better,” he promised. “Lie back for me.”
With her heart accelerating to the point she thought it might burst, Elisabeta did as he instructed. She hadn’t known her body could feel so much pleasure. Just like the songs of the earth, her body sang, so the notes were mixed together in a wild melody that couldn’t be separated now. She lay back on the thick fur while he once more shifted position. Her hand was forced, albeit reluctantly, to let his cock go.
She had loved the shape and feel of it. She wanted to believe that he belonged to her as much as she did to him. The sacred vows that had tied them together had proclaimed it so. He had given her his heart, his soul and his body. He had taken hers into his keeping. He seemed to be claiming what was rightfully his.
“Each rising, piŋe sarnanak, I will give you a lesson in something new, something important for you to learn an
d remember. This one is about your body and the pleasure it can feel. The pleasure I can give you and how I feel when I am giving it to you. I want you to stay merged with me the entire time so you feel everything that I am feeling. Do you understand me?”
Elisabeta gripped the fur with both fists as Ferro wedged his wide shoulders between her thighs, spreading her legs. It made her feel very vulnerable, but at the same time very excited.
“Elisabeta, I asked you a question.”
“Yes, I do understand.”
“Good. We will practice what you have learned often, and those things you enjoy I will expect you to gather your courage and ask for or initiate the act between us. Do you understand my expectations of you?”
She couldn’t imagine being that brave, but she didn’t want to disappoint him. She made up her mind that she wouldn’t ever disappoint him. “Yes.”
He lifted her legs at her knees and looped them over his arms. “Very good. This is one of the most important lessons of all. I have thought of this for centuries, Elisabeta. I studied technique and practices so I would bring my woman the greatest pleasure. Relax for me and let me show you what can be truly beautiful between spouses.”
His eyes were intense, a molten lava, almost glowing red, a cross between a liquid volcano and a carnal predator set on having her. He bent his head and his tongue swiped over her heated center. Her entire body jerked as a flame so bright and hot swept through her, encompassing her. Her sex clenched, making her wholly aware of how different her body was in comparison to his. The shape. The texture. The way they fit together.
Ferro stroked her inner thigh with his tongue and nipped with his teeth, then kissed his way up to that heated entrance that was now pulsing with her need. She tried to stop squirming, but that one swipe of his tongue had left her drenched in liquid flames. In anticipation. Her pulse beat through her clit. Through her sheath. In places she hadn’t known she had. He turned his head, the bristles on his jaw sending more sensations skittering through her body as he gave her other thigh the same attention.
Then his mouth settled between her legs, his tongue moving like a butterfly, fluttering, stroking, gentle at first, driving her out of her mind, roughening and then stabbing deep to pull at her honeyed liquid contents, to devour as if it were his favorite meal. She couldn’t stop the muffled cries from escaping. She grew hot all over as the flames spread through her body, outward from her center to her breasts and down her thighs. Nothing in her life had prepared her for such a feeling. Nothing. She tossed her head back and forth, gripping the fur until her fingernails met her palms, unable to control herself no matter how hard she tried.
Ferro. This feels like I might die, it is so good. I’m scared and happy at the same time. She had no idea what to do, and that terrified her. She didn’t want him to stop because she was doing something wrong.
You will not die. Relax. Just let yourself enjoy what I do to you. Stay merged with me. Feel what it is doing to me as well. Taste yourself on my tongue. Feel how my body reacts when I am devouring you, the pleasure it brings me to see you writhing under me this way.
Elisabeta loved his instructions. She had felt lost and now she could do exactly what he said. She kept her mind in his, allowing herself to feel his pleasure as well as her own. He loved what he was doing. Suddenly, she could taste herself, and it was like an aphrodisiac to him—orange with hints of lavender honey. He couldn’t get enough. His cock was full and aching. So hard he pulsed with need. His pleasure was heightened by the sight of her naked body writhing under his mouth, her breasts jolting, her hips bucking, the sounds of her cries escaping when she tried so hard to suppress them. Her reactions fed his own pleasure.
She did her best to relax, although deep inside that tension coiled tighter, winding together with her need and hunger for him like a strongly bound spring. She feared after a time that she might go out of her mind.
“Ferro.” She gasped his name in caution. She couldn’t stop him. She was his to do with as he pleased, but he was really going to drive her insane with pleasure. Her body didn’t know what to do.
Let go, piŋe sarnanak. Trust me to catch you. Just let go.
She wasn’t certain what he meant but she took a deep breath and forced her body to relax into the strokes of his tongue, the thrust of his finger, the sudden flick of his thumb on her clit. Her body seemed to gather into a great force and then she was swept over a giant waterfall, dropping, dropping, free-falling, the rippling waves rushing over her in rolling heights of pleasure so intense she heard herself giving him a low, keening cry of pure shock.
He rubbed his shadowed jaws on either side of her thighs before lifting his head and looking at her with his silvery-blue eyes. “Did you feel how much I loved devouring you, Elisabeta? It is important that you know I want to feed not only on your blood but on the honey between your legs. That is mine as well.”
He moved cautiously into a sitting position. She was merged very firmly in his mind and knew his cock was full and aching. He had visions of her bent over the railing, or on her hands and knees taking him hard and fast into her body, or her kneeling in front of him, his cock stretching her lips, yet he gave her no instructions. Asked nothing of her. Gave her no commands. He ached, and yet he didn’t ask or demand relief from her. That instantly took away all the pleasure she’d received.
She sat up slowly and scooted a little away from him, dropping her gaze from the length and girth of his cock. There were pearly drops on the broad head of it that she longed to taste, but he wasn’t giving her that opportunity, although she saw so clearly in his head that he wanted those things from her.
“Elisabeta?” His voice was very gentle. “What is it? Did you not enjoy what we just shared together?”
She moistened her lips. “You know I did.” She detested that he was forcing her to speak aloud. She was merged with him, which meant he could read her as easily as she could read him.
“I want you to tell me why you no longer feel the pleasure you felt moments ago.”
“You know why.” She was horrified that she sounded mutinous. There was silence. She knew instantly that he had issued her a command couched in nicer terms. He had said he wanted her to tell him. He had still decreed she tell him. She took a deep breath. “I am in your mind and can tell you are in need. I would very much like to learn how to please you.”
“That lesson is for another rising. This was for your pleasure, for you to learn about your body and the pleasure I can bring to you.”
His voice said it all. He didn’t expect her to argue with him. There was even dismissal in his mind, and it hurt. Really hurt. She felt as if he was rejecting her as a person. As a lifemate. As a lover.
“Piŋe sarnanak.” His gentle voice was nearly her undoing.
“Look at me.” She wanted to disobey him, but she couldn’t. She forced her lashes up and met his eyes. The color had gone from that blue-silver to more of a darker iron ringed with rust.
“I do not understand why you will not allow me to see to your needs. I wish to serve you, to make you happy. Your cock is full and aching. I want to learn how to use my mouth to bring you to happiness the way you did me. Or my body the way I see in your mind.”
“Women no longer have to serve their men, Elisabeta. This is a modern world and women choose when they wish to have sex with their men and when they want to accommodate them. The men do not do the choosing.”
His voice roughened, turned almost harsh, and she knew from being merged with him that her suggestions had made his cock even fuller and more demanding than it had been. The need to serve him was nearly a physical pain she couldn’t stop.
“I do not understand.” There were tears in her voice. Tears in her mind. But she didn’t shed them. They weren’t in her eyes, although she wanted to weep forever. “You said I did not have to be like the other women and yet you are trying to make me into one of them. I need to serve you. It makes me happy. It makes me feel fulfilled. I cannot contribute any
other way to our relationship. That is who I am and yet you do not want that person. You want one of the more modern women like Julija or Lorraine. I will never—ever—be modern, nor do I want to be. I would try for you, but I know it is not in me and I would fail you.”
Ferro’s arms swept around her and he pulled her tight into his body, at once offering her comfort. “The last thing I want is for you to be a modern woman, Elisabeta.”
There was no denying the sincerity in his voice.
“Then I do not understand what you are trying to make me become.”
“I want you to have the opportunity to choose for yourself to grow into what you want to be. Over time, being around other women, you will learn things from them, and you will see that a life with me will not make you happy. I want you to have all the choices that were taken from you from the time you were a young girl. You deserve to be able to have every option available to you.”
Elisabeta lifted her chin in the air, her gaze fully meeting his. Challenging what he’d said to her. He sounded sincere. He said lifemates didn’t lie and that she could hear lies if they did. She heard no such thing. Then he wouldn’t, either.
“I want to be able to make you happy, Ferro. To see to your every need, almost before you know what you need. That would make me happy. When your cock is full and aching and I can feel it in your mind, that need to have my mouth around you, or have you buried deep in my body, that is what I need to do for you. It isn’t just a want. That is my happiness. That is what makes me feel good about myself. That might not be what other women feel good about, but knowing I make you happy is what makes me feel important and confident. More, my body aches for yours. I want to know of these things I see in your mind and I want them with you. If I really get to make a choice, my choice is to have you teach me to please you. That would be my choice.”
Ferro groaned, the sound breaking from him as if he were really being torn in two. “Woman, you are making this difficult for me. If you give me everything I could ever ask for in my lifemate and then, as time passes and you prefer to be a modern woman, and I cannot be a modern man, I will return alone to the monastery a broken and extremely dangerous being. You see the danger, do you not?”
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