*
Alicia closed her eyes as she felt Daniel’s memories, feelings, thoughts, fears, and hopes. She could see Chris and Daniel as children, their parents, their king, and some of their people. She could see the day they met; more importantly, she could feel his emotions as if they were her own. She could feel the desire that flared in him whenever they were close. She could see the many nights he spent thinking of her.
She felt his panic when he didn’t hear an answer from her on the phone. She felt his anger and his rage at learning someone might hurt her. She also felt his love and the need to be with her, to have her in his life.
It was then she found what he called his Dau-Hael, and she followed the importance of the term through his water. So it means shared ocean. His emotions around the two words were strong, and she began to get a deeper understanding of what she meant to him. Sharing his water with me is the same as giving away a part of his being. It was a powerful sentiment, and the depth of the meaning touched her in a profound way. She felt so many things from him and experienced his memories as if she was reliving them.
“Do you understand?” Daniel trembled as he waited. She could still feel his emotions and hear his thoughts, and the fear of losing her seemed to be driving him to the edge of insanity.
She could only stand still with her eyes closed. She continued to see everything, experience everything, feel everything. It overwhelmed her for a time before she could recover. “Daniel…” There were things in his memories, beautiful things and terrifying abilities.
“Please tell me you understand. Please.”
“What is it you actually do for a living?”
Daniel shut his eyes and let out a long sigh. “I’m an enforcer. It’s my job to eliminate threats to our king, to our people.”
“Eliminate threats?”
“I stop people like the man who tried to take you today. People who have done very bad things. Look.”
Daniel replayed the memories of some of the victims of his targets. Alicia could see how they were tortured, how loved ones were killed, abused, mutilated, and manipulated. She could see every insidious detail, and she knew the people who could do such things had no regard for anyone else’s life.
He showed her the families that were devastated, the innocent victims, and the funerals he had to attend. He showed her what the man could have done to her earlier, and he allowed her to feel his need to protect her from those threats, to show her he would do anything to keep her safe.
“Do you understand?”
Alicia wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him into a deep kiss. She spoke into his lips, feeling a measure of understanding even though she wasn’t happy about this particular part of the revelation. “It will take time to process, but I understand.”
*
Daniel returned her kiss with one that could evaporate all the water around them. He pulled her close and groaned into her mouth as he pressed his body into hers. He reacted to her in an instant, and he broke the kiss to look into her eyes as he always did.
“I love you, Daniel, but promise me—no more secrets.”
“I love you too, and I promise, no more secrets.” Her words made him feel as if his heart would stop, and he held his breath. He searched her eyes, and all he could see was love and desire. No apprehension, no uncertainty, and no fear. Without hesitation he kissed her again, burnishing her lips with his before he pulled his mouth away. “Tell me to stop, beautiful.”
“Daniel…” Alicia was breathless, and with her body touching water, he could feel the heat surge through her.
“Stop … talking.” She kissed him again; the feel of her full lips intoxicated him as she pulled him closer, as if she was hungry for more contact with his body.
He didn’t want to wait another moment, and he pulled at her soaked clothing. His movements were quick, but the garments were difficult to remove. The fabric clung to her skin as if each item held on for dear life. “I’m sorry.” Two small words, offered in apology for the action he was about to take. Manipulating the water in the cloth, he ripped the clothes from her body and tossed them onto the bathroom floor before he pulled off his own apparel to join hers in the saturated pile.
He allowed his hands to roam freely over Alicia’s body, noting every shiver and every gasp. He brought his lips to her neck and placed soft kisses across her skin while he covered a breast with his hand, applying squeezes of alternating pressure.
He could feel her response through the water, and he sensed the intense pleasure that flowed through her body as he touched her. Her breath was shallow as he moved his lips over her skin, and the intensity of her moans increased when he sensed a pulsing sensation beating deep within her.
He wasn’t distracted by what he felt from her, and he trailed kisses down the center of her chest and onto her breast. They had spent so much time together, and they were finally having this moment. He didn’t expect the connection he had with her to deepen, and as he extended his tongue to lick around her areola, he never felt as close to anyone as he did to her now. I love you so much, beautiful. Alicia’s moans were all the encouragement he needed, and he covered her nipple with his mouth and pulled on her firm flesh.
He luxuriated in the feel of her breasts. The contrast between the firmness of her nipple and the lush, smooth skin surrounding it stimulated him. He spent long minutes laving her firm mounds. He turned his attention to the rest of her and peppered her with kisses in a trail down her body.
When he reached her hip, he lifted her leg and placed it over his shoulder before using his fingers to spread her open. The sight of her glistening in front of him was almost more than he could handle, and in the space of a heartbeat, he buried his face into her folds and began to lick and suck her sensitive, hot flesh.
He reveled in the feel of her hips as they bucked forward, and when her muscles quivered, he moaned into her as he continued to taste her.
“Daniel…” She managed to call out to him between breaths. He could still feel the thoughts in her head, and they seemed to come through a haze as her endorphins raced through her system. She anchored his mouth against her body, and her hands gripped his hair. When his tongue touched her clitoris, he latched on, sucking it and flicking it in alternating bursts. He looked up in time to see her eyes shut tight. When she moaned and bit down on her bottom lip, he struggled, feeling himself jerk and pulse, but he kept up his ministrations.
Even after the months they’d been together, she was more than he ever expected. The way she responded to him was enough to push him over the edge. They were of one mind due to the water, and he knew she could sense him just as much as he could sense her. When her back arched and her grip on his hair tightened, he swirled two fingers around her entrance, but he wasn’t expecting what he heard next.
“Holy shit, Daniel!” He could feel himself ache when he heard the words, and he tried to focus on anything else in the room to keep from losing it.
When she became unsteady on her supporting leg, he stood and held her close. Reaching between them, he rubbed his fingers in circular motions over her sensitive nerve bundle while moving his mouth up the side of her neck and behind her ear.
Alicia held on tight, and he could feel waves of building pleasure pass through her body. “Daniel. I’m … I’m…”
“Say it, beautiful.” He kept his fingers moving as he watched her face. She was at her edge, and he could feel it. He just needed to give her just a bit more, and she’d fall over.
He could feel Alicia in his thoughts, and the words left her mouth in a high-pitched tone. “Do-ainaa-an!”
The sound of her pleasure and the pitch of her voice when she announced her climax tested his resolve. Hearing the words in his native language eroded his focus even more. He rubbed through her orgasm, and when it subsided, he inserted the tip of a finger, teasing her while he held her tight. When he felt her walls clamp down, he slowly inserted another fingertip into her tight passage. He teased them around
her entrance, less than half an inch inside her each time, until he could feel her hymen.
His breath continued to come in pants, and he placed his lips by her ear. He wanted to feel this level of closeness with her more than anything, but he would never move forward if she was even the tiniest bit uncomfortable. “Beautiful, are you sure? We can stop.”
When he asked the question, he manipulated the water from the showerheads. Thousands of crystal drops hung in midair around them as he waited for her response.
He watched her gaze move to the water before she looked him in the eye. “I’m ready. I want it to be with you.” She paused and swallowed before her lips curved into a smile. “Besides, didn’t you tell me you don’t do one-sided exchanges?”
He nodded and smiled, but never took his eyes off hers. When he removed his fingers, he ran a hand over her wet hair. There she was, closer to him than ever before, shining with water and allowing him access to what no other had experienced with her.
He had never felt the level of need that surged through him as he stood so close to her. The muscles of his legs began to spasm as he positioned himself at her entrance. The heat from her core sent a shudder through him, and he pressed forward at a slow pace, stopping at the fragile barrier of her innocence. “Alicia, I love you more than anything in this world.”
“I love you too, Daniel.”
She knows me, she knows what I am, and she’s accepted me. He loved her with a passion that defied comprehension, and she returned his love in equal measure. Those were the thoughts inside his head as he pushed forward and held himself still. Her tightness caused him to clench his teeth, and primal grunts left his lips. So hot. So wet. We are finally together, my Dau-Hael. It was difficult to hold still when she wrapped her legs around his waist. Instinct wanted him to drive into her over and over, but he fought against it and thought of what she needed instead. This is our first time. She needs to know I will always put her first in our lovemaking.
When he felt steady on his feet, he leaned her back against the wall and held himself still within her for a few more moments. When he felt her walls relax, he began to pull out and push into her with a slow, deliberate pace. As he found his rhythm, he allowed the water from the shower to fall, and the feel of it as it rained down onto them added to his sensations. Everything about her felt incredible, and her every nuance stimulated him. He could feel himself throb within her, and he gripped her hips, digging his fingers into her firm flesh, and held on. When Alicia began to moan, he picked up his pace.
He searched her face for any signs of discomfort or pain as he increased his speed again. When her muscles began to quiver around him, he threw his head back, and a deep rumble began to emanate from his throat.
Releasing one hip, he used his left hand to clasp Alicia’s right. Their fingers laced, and he pressed her hand above her head against the wall. “Can you read my thoughts? Do you know what the Ber-yh-ahnaal is?” He could barely speak as he searched her for understanding.
Alicia nodded and closed her eyes.
“Will you allow it? Do you want your water bonded to mine?” His chest rose and fell as if he’d run a marathon, and every inch of skin tingled with anticipation. He could feel Alicia’s thoughts as the meaning of the bond was revealed, and she parted her lids and looked into his eyes.
“Yes. Bind us together.”
He didn’t hesitate and used this point of contact with her hand to draw a bit of her water from her body into his. Likewise, he transferred a bit of his water into her, completing the second stage of the Ber-yh-ahnaal. “Ali—Alicia!”
He was close, and he could feel her moving toward her own climax. When he released her hand, he gripped her hip again, pumping into her faster and with more force. Random contractions seemed to take over her body, and her vocalizations became louder. Each mewl, each grip of her hand, and each time she sucked in a breath pushed him further toward his point of no control.
Not yet. Just hold it a little longer. He pulled himself from her and lifted her up with her knees around his waist. A quick turn allowed him to lower the top half of her body onto the tiled, built-in bench. He kneeled on the floor and held her thighs against his abdomen before he pressed into her and resumed his previous rhythm.
After several long minutes, he pushed her legs down until her feet touched the floor, and he leaned forward over her. When his mouth found her nipple again, he reveled in the feeling of Alicia’s body as her back arched and her moans became even louder. The feel of her fingers weaving into his hair made his skin tingle, and he continued teasing her with his tongue as she held him against her breast.
When he lifted his hand to her shoulder, he noticed a faint glow of bioluminescent light in various spots on his skin. The glowing areas extended up his arms, and they became symbols, pictographs in his native language. Alicia’s body began to mimic this glow with symbols that were the mirror images to his. It’s done; we’re together before Enki.
The act of completing the Ber-yh-ahnaal began to overwhelm him as grunts and moans were released between his licking and sucking. Alicia’s head began to thrash back and forth, and her speech became a mixture of incoherent words and keening cries. Daniel lifted his head as he felt the beginnings of her climax and gritted his teeth in an effort to last through her release.
Her muscles contracted and locked, her back remained arched, and her inner walls began to spasm rhythmically around him. Her mouth was open, but for a time no sound came out. She seemed to be in the midst of a silent scream as she gripped his forearms tight.
Seeing her this way and feeling what he did was too much, Daniel stopped holding back and allowed her sensations to bring him to his own release. He swore in his native tongue, and he continued to pump into her at a frenetic pace.
The symbols’ intensity increased during their orgasms, and they covered both of their bodies. As they began to calm, he looked down at Alicia while still inside her. He lifted a hand and traced a few of her symbols with his fingertips. “Beautiful.”
He watched as she stared at the symbols covering her arms and chest. He followed her gaze as she looked down to find more pictographs on her legs. “We are bonded now.”
Alicia looked at him with wide eyes, and he could feel her disbelief.
“We will be able to speak this way as long as we are touching water or touching each other. You can communicate with me using your thoughts too. Don’t be afraid. Talk to me.”
He felt a great deal of uncertainty within her for several moments, and he could feel her inner dialogue as she wondered what else a Leuk Ahnal was capable of. He released a breath of relief when she smiled up at him. He couldn’t wait to hear the first thought from her. “I love you so much, Daniel.”
His reaction was immediate, and he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “I love you too, beautiful.” He could feel himself pulse within her, and he groaned, knowing she could feel it too.
“Wow, I thought the refractory period would be longer than two to three minutes.”
Daniel brought his lips to her breasts and placed light kisses in response. “I guess the person who wrote that in your medical textbooks was not bonded to you.” He lifted her from the bench and held her securely as she wrapped her arms around his neck and locked her legs behind his back. After he turned the water off, he carried her out of the shower and into her bedroom where he proceeded to make love to her again.
He had waited for her; he wanted this closeness for so long, and now that he had the chance, he wouldn’t waste a second. He took her over and over, carrying her into every room of the house, even on the kitchen floor. The kitchen floor was a compromise because Alicia would not allow him to have her on the table or on the island. “I’ll never let you go.”
Chapter 12
Alicia woke with a start, and squinted when the light of morning greeted her through her basement windows. “What time is it?”
“Hmm?” Daniel responded in a sleepy voice, and she could feel h
is deep relaxation. Without any other words, he pulled her closer and drifted back into sleep.
“Daniel, let me up! I need to shower and get to work.” Alicia struggled to free herself from his embrace and the tangle of their legs. Her actions were halted when she felt his arms close in a firm grip around her.
“No.” He opened his eyes and glared at her as if she’d committed a crime.
“No? What do you mean, no?” She lifted an eyebrow and tilted her head as she stared at him. Why does he think he has a right to tell me I can’t go to work?
“I’m not trying to keep you from work, beautiful, but someone tried to kidnap you yesterday. You can’t just walk out of here like nothing happened. Can’t you take the day off while Chris and I figure out a way to have a few guards around you?”
His explanation calmed her, and she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I have patients, surgery, important commitments… I can’t just take off from work. People’s lives are at stake here, not just my own.”
“You have to understand where I’m coming from, beautiful. Someone, not just anyone mind you, but someone from the nation of Ver-Rist Tokos tried to take you. I can’t ignore that.”
“Ver-Rist Tokos?”
“Let me explain.” Sitting up, Daniel held both of her hands in his as he prepared to give her the details.
“Danny, please. I can’t just leave my patients like this. I have to go to work today at the very least, while we figure out what’s going on.”
“Then I’m going with you.”
“Going with me to the hospital?” It wasn’t strange for him to meet her at work to take her out to lunch or dinner, but he’d never visited for long periods of time.
“Mm-hmm, there is no way in the Mariana Trench I am leaving you alone when I know you aren’t safe.”
“Just how is this going to work? I have surgeries. You can’t just walk into the OR and hang out. There are protocols, and we don’t allow visitors in that space.”
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