by Rachel Red
His mouth curved in a sly grin.
"So let 'em. This cavern has a door. With a lock."
The hot springs were a series of several caverns, each of them with natural shallow springs of various sizes. This one was the only one with a door for some reason
"But...what if people hear us while we're...."
The uncarpeted caverns could really resound with echoes, to say the least, and they shared thick stone walls and a ceiling, which was at least thirty feet high, and it didn't connect to any of the walls. Meaning, it was not hard at all to hear what was going on in other caverns, which was usually just laughter and conversation.
"What if people hear us while we're...being intimate?"
Victor and I both had a tendency to get a tad vocal at times.
"Again, let 'em. If it makes them uncomfortable, they can come back to the springs another night."
I had to admit, the idea of making love somewhere outside of our rooms was kind of a thrilling one. The idea of possibly even being heard was also kind of a thrilling one for some strange reason. Though I hadn't heard anyone in the other caverns for a little while. But that didn't mean more people wouldn't be coming in over the course of the evening. That didn't even mean other people weren't even possibly in the other caverns right then, just soaking silently.
More than a little turned on, I fought a smile, feeling Victor's already-hard member between my legs. "Okay."
His deep gray eyes glimmering in the glow from a few electric lights hanging at intervals along the cavern walls, he set me down on my feet and then left the cavern, telling me he'd be right back.
He soon returned with a big basketful of folded, clean white towels, which normally sat at the end of the hallway that led to the hot springs. "I've never given you a full body massage before, and I want to right now. But I want you to be comfortable first."
The prospect of Victor's hands and long, strong, fingers all over my body sent a current of electricity racing through me from head to toe.
He began covering a low, wide stone bench jutting from one of the cavern walls with towels, and glanced at me over his shoulder, his eyes twinkling. "Have any lotion in your bag?"
I always brought a big bag containing hair ties, bottled water, and other odds-and-ends to the hot springs with me, and I sure did have a bottle of lotion. I couldn't have been happier about that. I began rifling through the bag and came up with the lotion just as Victor finished blanketing the wide stone bench with at least a dozen towels. He'd also placed several on the ground next to it, where I figured he'd sit or kneel to give me the massage
I hesitated going over to him and stood holding the bottle, suddenly a little shy. I'd never had a full-body massage in my entire life. Despite the fact that Victor was my husband and had been for several months, and despite the fact that we'd made love too many times to count, it still seemed like a pretty intimate thing to have someone massage your entire body, maybe just because it was something new. And maybe also just because I'd never been entirely comfortable with my body and my curves, and still maybe wasn't, at least not a hundred percent, despite knowing how much Victor loved my figure.
Seeming to read my thoughts, he came over to me and took me in his arms, his low voice rumbling near my ear. "I love every single inch of your body; I love it to absolute madness. I want to show you just how much. I want you to feel completely relaxed, and cared-for, and cherished."
His words were just what I needed to hear. I tipped my face up, and he began kissing me, moving his hands to cup my full bottom over my bathing suit. It wasn't long before he pulled my bathing suit off and looked me over from head to toe, his breathing accelerating, before kissing me again. I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders, pressing my softly rounded belly against his hardness.
Maybe fearing that we wouldn't get to my massage if our kissing went on much longer, he broke the kiss, led me over to the plush towel-cushioned bench, and guided me to lie down on my stomach. He hadn't even begun the massage yet, and I was already beginning to feel pretty relaxed from a combination of the wine I'd drunk, the time I'd spent in the warm springs, and his touch.
He knelt beside me, took the lotion from me, and pumped some into his hand. "Close your eyes if you want to, beautiful Kate."
He didn't need to ask me twice.
"And beautiful doesn't even fully describe you. Nor does gorgeous. There's never been a word invented that could fully describe your beauty."
I smiled, marveling at how a man so strong, tough, and stoic could be so tender and sweet. How a man normally a bit stern around the people of the town he led and protected could become so romantic and loving while in private. How a man could go from taking out Oppressors while in dragon form, fierce, to melting his wife's heart with a few simple words mere hours later.
I first felt his strong hands on my feet, his touch firm enough not to tickle in the least. He stroked my arches with his thumbs, the lotion making them glide smoothly over my skin. Presently, he moved the stroking to my soles, and I began entering a state of deep relaxation. He continued on to my calves and the backs of my knees, his touch firm yet gentle, pausing a few times to plant a few kisses on my bare skin, making me sigh.
When he got to the backs of my thighs and my bottom, I realized that I wasn't so relaxed as to not be aware that his touch was making an ache develop low in my belly. Which only intensified when he planted a few slow, lingering kisses on those areas of skin as well. He massaged my back, arms, and shoulders, his slick fingers kneading every last muscle, before moving on to the nape of my neck, first brushing aside few strands of long blonde hair that had escaped my messy bun. I began hoping he was going to ask me to flip onto my back so he could continue the massage on my front, and within a little while, he did.
After I'd turned over, he swept his gaze over my entire naked body, a faint low growl rumbling in his chest. I closed my eyes again, wanting to concentrate completely on his touch. With more lotion warmed between his hands, he started at my ankles and worked his way up to my thighs. And though my muscles felt like jelly, I was beginning to become a little less relaxed in other ways. Especially when Victor gripped my thighs firmly but gently and lightly kneaded them, his strong, slippery fingers causing a tingling in the area between them.
When he began massaging my feminine mound with two slow fingers, I couldn't hold back a moan. He soon worked his way from my belly to my breasts and kneaded them lightly before paying even more specific attention to my stiffened nipples, his breathing becoming a little fast and ragged. The ache low in my belly intensified, accompanied by an urgent throbbing in the most sensitive area between my legs.
I opened my eyes, took one of his hands, and guided it down to my femininity. "Touch me. Please."
Needing no further invitation, he slid a fingertip between my slick folds, located my sensitive, throbbing bud, and began stroking it, watching the movement with glassy eyes. My legs spread, I whimpered with pleasure, gently rocking my hips in rhythm with his strokes. His breathing became even a little faster and more ragged still. He continued stroking me, briefly lowering his head to suckle one of my hardened nipples before returning his gaze to my womanhood, and before long, I felt my body hurtling towards climax.
"Don't stop. Don't stop, please."
With a low grunt, Victor signaled that he wouldn't, and I threw my head back, the sensation of his strong fingers on my most sensitive spot the only thought in my mind. Within seconds, my entire body began shuddering, and I bucked my hips to meet his hand, clutching one of his muscled shoulders at the same time. The cry of pleasure I made echoed off the stony cavern walls.
When the last spasm of ecstasy had passed, Victor pulled my upper body into his arms and held me, cradling me, while my excitement ebbed. Panting, I rested my face against the chiseled contours of his chest. But soon I realized that my excitement wasn't ebbing completely. I wanted to give him pleasure, too, and I wanted to feel him inside of me.
Once I'd caug
ht my breath, I lifted my face. "Please make love to me now."
All too eager to comply with my request, he sat me upright, then stood and practically tore off his clothes. My excitement returned full-force at the sight of his long, thick manhood, more than fully erect. Once I'd feasted my eyes on that particular part of him, my gaze traveled the length of his hard body, all six-foot-three of it, his lightly tanned skin glowing in the dim electric light.
He took my hand, pulled me up, and led me over to a stone outcropping in the exact shape of a stair step. "Here, beautiful Kate. I want to take you from behind.” His voice was just about as low and husky as I'd ever heard it.
With a new, urgent ache building low in my belly, I stepped onto the smooth stone step, braced my hands on the stone wall behind it, and leaned over, presenting myself to him to enter. Exhaling with a hiss, he positioned the head of his shaft at my entrance and then slid in with a long, low groan. I moaned at the sensation of being so completely and intimately filled, not even caring if there was anyone within earshot in the other hot springs caverns.
After grabbing onto my soft, full hips, Victor began thrusting, pulling himself almost all the way out before sliding back into my slickness again with a grunt. He continued with these exquisitely long, slow strokes until the ache low in my belly became nearly unbearable. And just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, he accelerated his pace, his guttural grunts becoming a fast series of growls. I pressed my hands into the rough stone wall, arching my back, meeting his thrusts with my hips in order to take every inch of his hard length inside me.
Within a few minutes his smooth, rhythmic pace slowed and became just slightly jerky. He reached around and began stroking my sensitive feminine bud, which was once again aching and throbbing, needing release. I cried out, the sound wild and animalistic, while he continued stroking me while thrusting, making a few low animalistic sounds of his own. Soon we both cried out in unison, our bodies shuddering in climax.
His breathing nearly as fast as mine, Victor collapsed over me, resting his head on my back, and didn't speak for several moments. "God, you have no clue. Absolutely no clue what a gorgeous, sexy, luscious creature you are. If I make love to you every single day for the rest of my life, I could never tire of it. You'll never fully understand just how much you intoxicate me."
I was starting to get a clue. And I loved it.
Several minutes later, we sat embracing on the towel-covered stone bench, me on his lap with my head on his hard chest. I'd almost fallen asleep to the soothing feel of his hand running up and down my arm when he spoke.
"I think my soul left my body for a moment today when I saw that Oppressor with a knife to your throat. For a split-second, I imagined my life without you, without your love in it, and I felt like I was dying. That was, without a doubt, the final straw. I've informed the council that we'll be attacking Cold Creek a week from today. Of course, this isn't a lot of time, but I'm confident we'll be ready. We'll take out all the Oppressors and be rid of them once and for all. And then we'll rescue their slaves and bring them here."
I lifted my face from his chest and looked at him. "I want to go with you all to the fight. I want to help."
With his dark brows furrowed, Victor stared at me for a long moment, frowning. "Not a chance in hell. Have you lost your mind? You-"
"But you can put the protection spell around me."
"Still no. Absolutely, unequivocally no. As we found out today, that spell may protect you from magic, but not from normal, non-magical weapons that can harm you. Like knives. Like even an Oppressor's bare hands."
"Well, I'll bring a crossbow to defend myself with, then. Remember how I'm so good at using a crossbow and how I used one to help take out Alexander right after we got married? So I'll bring one to defend myself with if it'll make you feel better about everything. I'm definitely coming along. Because I'm sure you and your men will have the fighting part more than taken care of, but you're forgetting something. Something pretty crucial. And you're going to need my help if you want this attack to be a complete success."
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Victor frowned harder, uncomprehending, and I suppressed the tiniest of smiles.
"You're forgetting something super important. You're forgetting how I could really help you and your men during the fight."
He sighed. "I know you're very talented with a crossbow...and I really am very impressed by that and proud of that. But-"
"No, I'm not talking about my crossbow skills. Although you're right; they'll really help me against any non-magical attacks from Oppressors. But that's not what I mean."
I shifted on his lap, pulling up a towel that had fallen from around my shoulders. Even with warm steam rising up from the pool of bubbling water several feet away, the hot springs caverns could become a little chilly late in the evening if you weren't actually in the water.
"I'm not thinking about my crossbow skills. First, let me ask you this. While you and your men are battling the Oppressors, what's going to happen to their slave women and children? You don't think any Oppressors are going to try to use them as human shields? You don't think any Oppressors will try to murder them out of rage if they feel cornered by you and the other Keepers? You don't think any Oppressors will try to kill some of them simply out of spite when the battle starts to not go their way What will you and your men be able to do about all that? Not much, unfortunately, but through no fault of your own. You'll completely have your hands full dealing with Oppressors."
Victor didn't say anything, his expression troubled, and I continued.
"Also, there's no way to tell if the Oppressors are going to fight you in the air above Cold Creek, or if they're going to make you come down into the actual city to get them. And from what I've heard about Cold Creek, it's a fairly small place with high cinder block walls topped with barbed wire all around. Do you think all the other men will really be able to move around much while in dragon form without knocking over buildings where the slaves and their children are kept? Do you think you'll be able to avoid running them over and hurting them if some of them flee the buildings in a panic?"
Victor didn't answer right away. His hand, which had been caressing the side of my arm, had long since stopped in its movement. When he finally spoke, his voice was thick with emotion.
"I realize that there may be some casualties during this battle. I realize that some innocent women and children may be hurt or killed. And the thought of that...." He paused, sighing. "It's weighing heavily on my heart, to say the least. There there's no other way to approach this battle. The women and children can't be rescued first without the Oppressors being alerted. We've got to first destroy all the Oppressors and then rescue the women and children that remain. Then we have to try like hell to keep the casualties of the innocents at a minimum. We we have to do what we have to do. Because my number one priority is protecting you, first and foremost, and the other residents here at Stonebrook. There is no other way."
"Yes, there is, though. There's actually a way that every single slave woman and child can be rescued, just whisked right away from the fight, immediately after the battle begins. You Keepers don't have to do it, you can focus on the Oppressors. And this way, you all can probably focus even better and fight harder, because you won't have to worry about accidentally harming or killing an innocent woman or a child."
I paused and levitated a bottle of water from my bag of odds-and-ends that I'd brought to the hot springs with me. I'd discovered about two months earlier that a marriage rite called The Mingling of the Blood gave me the power to move and lift objects with my mind. I could even levitate people. When Julia, Elizabeth, and I had been kidnapped by Miles, the former Oppressor leader, I'd levitated us right out of their encampment, along with two of their slave women, Rose and Brook.
I uncapped the bottle of water, took a quick drink, and replaced the cap. "Here's what I'm suggesting. You take me into Cold Creek with you and your men, and then while all of you a
re attacking the Oppressors, I'll levitate all the women and children to safety."
I couldn't be certain in the dim light from the electric lights hung at intervals along the cavern walls, but I thought Victor paled. And then he swallowed, and I was certain of that.
"Absolutely not."
"But-"
"Over my dead, rotting corpse."
"But I can help. On so many levels. And-"
"And you could be killed. Easily. I will never, ever allow this. Never. Your brush with death today was your very last. I will never, ever again allow you to be in a position where your life could be put in danger."
"But-"
"I'm not allowing you to go to Cold Creek, Kate. Under any circumstances. That's my decision." He paused, muscles in his strong, square jaw working. "And it is final."
I didn't need the towel around my shoulders anymore. Anger made a sudden rush of heat course through my veins.
"Well, doesn't what I decide count? I decide to go! And that's my final decision. Doesn't that count for anything?"
"No. Not in this case. Not when your safety and very life is at stake. No."
I sputtered for a few moments, uncertain of how to respond. "Well...well, that's stupid!"
I made to get up from Victor's lap, intending to huff out of the cavern, but he held me fast.
"Listen to me, Kate. Please. Listen to me."
I struggled against his arms. "No. No, I'm leaving. I'm just about to go and...." I sighed, pushing against what felt like iron bars around me. "I'm just about to bolt right on out of here!"
After a few more futile pushes and squirms, I gave up, realizing that I probably wasn't going to be able to free myself and make a dramatic, fiery exit. After all, shifter dragons had the strength of about two hundred men while in human form, and Victor was the strongest of them all.
I sighed, slumping in his well-muscled arms. "All right, fine. Say what you have to say. I'm listening."
To my surprise, he didn't answer, and instead, began planting slow kisses all over my face, his mouth firm and warm.