by Ines Johnson
Khial wanted to reach out and touch her. To pull her close. To caress her face, her hair. To show her with his body how much he needed her. But he was never good with words. He was even worse when it came to reading people.
With Dain he never had to. Dain would simply walk up to Khial and embrace him, kiss him. Evidence of Dain’s feelings were always made clear to Khial.
The only way Khial knew to express his feelings was physical. But you couldn’t just grab a woman. There was seduction involved. Words that needed to be said. Khial had no patience for it. He needed Jian for that part.
Khial could read Chanyn’s body when it was unclothed. He knew when she needed more pressure or a lighter touch in order to reach her climax. Those pieces of evidences were crystal clear for Khial. Chanyn had never reached out to him while fully dressed. She’d never come up and put her arms around him or kissed him.
They’d all been sleeping together for the past month; Chanyn, Jian and Khial. But the honeymoon phase ended a week ago. A new, unfamiliar routine took its place. Chanyn spent her mornings in the garden, her afternoons at the city’s Hall of Records, volunteering her time in its parchment library. Jian began training new recruits at the Pleasure Hound’s temple. This past week Jian had been working late each night. Khial had been left alone and to his own devices all day.
When Dain was alive, the two of them had spent all of their time together, either in idleness or in sickness. When Dain was sick, Khial cared for him by his bedside. But now Khial had two healthy mates who were used to being active, which meant that at the end of the day, both were tired and headed to bed for sleep.
Khial watched as Chanyn passed another forkful into her mouth. He watched her mouth as it closed around the fork. His dick throbbed as he caught sight of her tongue reaching out to taste the tip of the morsel before her plump lips closed and the fork slid out.
Her eyes were on him as she chewed. Was that a wanton look? Or perhaps she was waiting for him to speak? How was he to know? Chanyn remained a mystery. One he desperately wanted to figure out. Khial wanted to return to his wife’s bed sooner rather than later.
“Have some more.” Khial reached to place another slice of meat on Chanyn’s plate.
She put out her hand. “Goddess, no, Khi. I’m stuffed.”
She closed her eyes and rested her hand on her belly. Her pregnancy was not yet visible. A few times, while she slept, Khial had run his hand over her flat stomach. The growing life inside of her wasn’t developed enough for him to feel it kick yet, but soon.
At the moment, Khial wanted to rub his hands over more than his wife’s belly. He wanted to rub them over her face, her breasts, her supple ass. He shifted in his seat again.
Khial just needed to wait for Jian to get home. Jian would know what to say, what to do, and then, once Jian said the words, Khial could sink into Chanyn’s warm depths. And when he finished he could wrap himself around her body instead of sleeping in the large empty bed he used to share with Dain.
Chanyn yawned. “I think I’m going to turn in.”
She stretched her arms over her head. The movement pushed her breasts together making Khial’s mouth water.
Chanyn rose causing Khial to jump to his feet. He wasn’t ready to part with her for the evening, but what could he do? She said she was tired. He’d never gone to her bedroom alone. The link between them was late for dinner.
“You’re not going to wait for Jian?”
Chanyn shook her head. “He said he’d be late.”
Khial’s balls went cold. They were likely a deep shade of blue by now. He searched for something to say, some words. How had he managed with Dain? He hadn’t. Dain had managed him.
Jian slept beside Chanyn every night. After he’d come home from the temple, he’d simply enter her bedroom and crawl into bed beside her. Khial knew because he waited up each night to listen to the monk’s footsteps down the hall. Khial ached to get up and go to them, but he just couldn’t. What if they turned him away? He couldn’t make his feet take that leap into the unknown.
“Will you walk me up?” Chanyn reached out her hand to Khial.
Khial’s hands went around hers like a vice. If he held her too hard, she didn’t mention it.
Slowly they ascended the stairs, step by step. Chanyn continued on about the teaching job, but Khial only grunted when appropriate. His focus was on her hand wrapped around his bicep and how he could keep it there past the threshold of her bedroom door. His mind was on her hip as it brushed against his on the last step. His thoughts were on the side of her breast which came into contact with his arm as they moved down the hall. Before he knew it they were at her bedroom door.
Now was the time. If only he could come up with some words.
Then he remembered. Chanyn loved romance novels. He just had to mimic a line from one of the hulking heroes from those pages.
Unfortunately, Khial had never actually read one to know what one of the men might say.
Chanyn reached out for the knob to her bedroom door. Khial stopped breathing, his hand tightened on her hers. With her free hand, Chanyn turned the knob without pause. Khial felt the blood in his erection weep out of him as she crossed the threshold.
Chanyn halted across the threshold. She glanced down at her hand, still trapped by his. She cocked her head, her smile amused.
With great reluctance, Khial let her go and prepared to turn down the hall to his empty bedroom. It looked as though it would be just him and his hand tonight. At least that vice-like grip would be put to use.
“Are you coming in?”
Khial leaped over the threshold and into the room before the sentence was out of her mouth.
Chanyn crossed to her vanity and took off her jewelry. She turned, facing him, and undid the ties to her dress. “Khi?”
Khial barely managed to tear his gaze away from her breasts.
“We’re bonded. You know that if you want to sleep with me, you need only ask.”
Well, that was clear.
Khial went to her then. He took her face in his hands. “Can I kiss you?”
“Ye-“
His lips crashed down to hers. She whimpered.
Khial pulled away from her immediately, memories of their disastrous first time together sprang to his mind. “I’m sorry!”
But she was smiling. Her hands moved from his chest and wrapped around his neck. “I’m fine. I promise.”
He wanted to believe her. But trust was so hard for him.
“If I don’t like it,” she said, “I’ll say so.”
He took a tentative step towards her.
“You know me now, Khi.”
Did he? Her body, yes. For the month after they bonded, Khial had strived to learn every nuance of her body under Jian’s tutelage. Jian was an excellent teacher. Khial could play Chanyn’s body like a finely tuned instrument all the way to a perfectly pitched climax. Each time he’d surfaced from a performance, Jian stood by with a nod of approval, a sexy glint in his eyes.
The knowledge of Jian watching him always made Khial’s dick harder, as did the sight of Jian’s ass as he pumped into Chanyn. The view of Jian’s glossy lips, grinning up at him, after he’d feasted on her core. The feel of Jian’s hand on his back as he gave Khial guidance on how to bring Chanyn to higher places in her pleasure. And every time she flew higher so did Khial. When he came down from the high, he’d often catch Jian watching him with a look of pride, desire and patience in his eyes. It was a look that Khial was not ready to answer.
Seeking Chanyn’s feminine heat was one thing. Seeking another man’s attention, so soon after Dain’s death…
Khial lowered his head to Chanyn and kissed her with slow reverence. She whimpered again, but this sound was unmistakable. Khial heard it clearly. She wanted more.
Khial led her over to the bed.
He lowered her down.
“Can I kiss your breasts, my lady?”
Chanyn threw her hands over her head. He removed her
bras, freeing her ample breasts. He took his time suckling on each one. Her breasts were his favorite part of her anatomy. It was the first way he’d learned to please her.
Khial traced the shape of her mounds with his tongue, loving the crease at the bottom and sides. His tongue climbed to the tips of her breasts. There he found her nipples already pebbled. Khial swallowed his disappointment. He loved suckling the buds when they were soft, feeling the textural change when they hardened into points. He ran his teeth up each ridge. Chanyn squirmed beneath him, ecstasy clearly written in the smile on her face.
This he knew. Her body, he understood. No words or long conversation were necessary. He need only watch the response from her body.
Khial straightened and reached for her panties. “Can I kiss you here, my lady?”
He knew he didn’t need to ask. The way her thighs pressed together, seeking friction, told him what he needed to know. But he wanted her words, wanted the vocal confirmation to her body’s writhing acquiescence.
“Yes, please,” Chanyn whimpered.
She arched her bottom up, allowing Khial to remove her underwear. Once free, she spread her thighs wide for him. Like always, her scent assaulted him. Khial’s mouth watered. He lowered himself, ready to feast. Chanyn’s hips undulated in anticipation. Khial reared back ready to plunge in, when the door opened.
Jian stood in the door frame, dressed in a dark cotton shirt and casual slacks. The every day clothing on the former monk rubbed Khial the wrong way. He’d grown accustomed to seeing the male in the dark robes of his order. But he was no longer a monk. He was a regular male, a bonded male. All that remained now was his gold sash.
Jian took in the sight before him and smiled. Pride. Desire. Patience. “Don’t let me interrupt. Please, continue.”
Khial waited to feel irritation that Jian had interrupted them. It didn’t come.
Jian crossed the room, removing his sash and laying it across the same chair that Chanyn’s discarded dress now lay. He sat at Chanyn’s vanity and crossed his long legs, resting his hands against his abs; abs Khial knew were hard sculpted planes.
Before Khial’s head bowed, he noticed that Chanyn’s eyes were focused on Jian. The chirping birdsong was his imagination. Khial blocked them out, too happy to have a seat in the room once more. It had been five long nights without her in his hands. Khial dove in, seeking her pink bud, sucking it into his mouth, and swirling his tongue.
Chanyn bucked off the bed.
Her eyes might be fastened to Jian, but it was Khial’s name that tore from her lips.
Khial didn’t let up on her bud. He sucked harder, swirled faster. He had every intention of making her come hard and fast. Jian had taught him that a fast first orgasm caused a woman’s core to swell. That swelling felt amazing when a man entered and stroked her to a second climax. Khial never passed up the prospect of making Chanyn’s core tighter for him.
Chanyn arched her hips into his face. Her hands went into his hair as she rocked herself on his tongue. She gasped and her body shook. She came faster than he expected.
The smile on her face as she came down from her high warmed Khial’s heart. She stared into his eyes, peace on her brow. Khial felt an intense sense of rightness. He watched as the haze in her golden eyes cleared. He wanted to take her back there, back to the place where she drifted in a haze of pleasure. There he could reach her and hold her close.
Though he’d aimed for a swift climax, it had been too fast. He’d barely gotten the taste of her on his tongue. Well, he supposed a second orgasm now would make her even tighter for his grand entrance. Khial slipped his tongue down southward into her glossy folds. He felt movement to his side.
Jian joined them near the bed.
Khial wasn’t surprised. The other male could never be too far from Chanyn, definitely not when she was pleasure drunk.
Khial glanced up to see Jian skimming a hand down Chanyn’s face, a smile on his lips as he took in her glazed eyes. Chanyn’s eyes were on level with Jian’s package. Khial saw something pass between them.
Chanyn reached for Jian’s pants. From between the folds of her core, Khial saw Jian’s hand jerk as though to stop her before settling by his side and allowing her to loosen his pants.
A moment later, Jian’s cock was free. Jian leaned in towards her and Chanyn gave his dick a tentative lick.
Khial’s tongue paused. He held his breath. He watched Chanyn’s furtive licks, unable to take his eyes of the sight before him.
Finally, that pang of jealousy came and settled in his chest. Only Khial couldn’t decide where the jealousy wanted to be placed. Did he want to take Chanyn’s place and have Jian’s cock in his mouth? Or did he want to take Jian’s place and have Chanyn’s lips around him?
Chapter Two
Chanyn’s favorite thing was having one of her husbands’ heads between her thighs. She’d had the pleasure nearly every night since their bonding. Either Jian would bow down and worship on his knees. Or Khial would go down on his belly in prostration to worship.
Over the last week, while Jian worked late at the temple, Chanyn had gone without the daily devotion. For the last four nights, Jian had come home after she was asleep. She’d awaken to find him naked behind her. By the time they’d both awakened, it was time to get up and begin their hectic day all over again.
And Khial? Khial would leave her at the bottom of the stairs after dinner.
Each night for the past week, she’d waited for him to touch her at dinner, to kiss her at the bottom of the stairs, to ask for entry into the room they’d shared since they’d bonded. But each night, his hands only placed more food on her plate. He didn’t follow her steps up the staircase. She felt his eyes on her back as she ascended. Something held him back.
She assumed it was Dain. Khial still grieved the loss of his longtime friend, first bondmate, and true love. Chanyn grieved Dain too. He’d been her first friend, her first love as well. And so she let Khial have his quiet moments alone, but after four nights without him laying beside her, Chanyn was feeling the loss.
Chanyn didn’t want to impose herself on Khial, but watching him tonight at dinner, she began to suspect that Khial wanted more than a quiet moment alone.
His manner was the same as it had been every other night. He still clenched his jaw, but now she believed Khial’s clenched jaw was from want of kissing her. His fingers trembled when he slide food on her plate, but now she trusted without knowing that his fingers trembled from wanting to touch her. His eyes narrowed as they focused on her responses, but she had faith that his eyes narrowed on her lips because he wanted to devour her.
Chanyn had read many books on religion and the element of faith. There was no faith needed in their society. The workings of the Goddess was quite clear. Still she knew that what she suspected Khial felt was based on her faith in him. She’d read in a book once that the reward of faith was to see what you believe.
For the past few nights Chanyn imagined Khial wanted to come to her but didn’t know how. That at any moment, his feet were set to leap up the stairs behind her and take her into his arms just like in her romance novels. Only he was uncertain of himself, uncertain of her wishes.
Tonight he’d spoken of empirical evidence. She wanted to clobber herself in the head. Khial needed evidence. He needed to know that he was wanted. She couldn’t believe she’d wasted so much time waiting for him to come calling, thinking he’d take the leap up the stairs when the way was unclear to him.
Dain would have taken that leap. Jian never allowed their to be a gulf between them. But Khial? He’d had a life of rejection. A life of not trusting the emotions and words of others. If it was evidence he needed, she’d give it to him. And so she invited him in and offered herself to him.
She hoped that was the end of his lack of faith in her desires for him. She’d missed the feel of Khial’s strong body on top of hers, inside of hers, behind hers holding her through the night. She wanted him to know that he never need be par
ted from her if it wasn’t his wish. It certainly wasn’t her wish for them to sleep separately.
Khial’s tongue laving at her sex was like a homecoming. He typically took his time, running his tongue, his lips, and sometimes his nose over every nook, every cranny, every crevice in the valley between her thighs.
Not tonight.
Tonight his velvet tongue encircled her pulsing bud. He flicked with the tip of his tongue at the same time as he puckered his lips in a vice around her clitoris and sucked.
Chanyn began to quake immediately. The vibrations radiating from her pelvis, up her belly to her breasts. A hum of sensation rushed in the opposite direction, down her thighs, pinging her knees, and curling her toes.
Khial sucked hard until she bucked, the radial wave reached the ends of her hair and the tips of her toenails. Then it arrowed back to her core.
Though her entire mind was tuned to epicenter of the quake, the orgasm still caught her by surprise. She’d been in a daze, observing, watching the waves of her body. The orgasm knocked her head back. It arched her back. It hit her so hard she saw stars.
Galaxies exploded behind her eyelids. Worlds died and were reborn in the space of moments while Chanyn cooled and reformed her spirit. The reward of her faith spread through her heart. She opened her eyes and met Khial’s gaze. His blue eyes locked on hers.
Khial was so open and vulnerable, allowing her to see inside of him. Chanyn wanted to reach for him and bring him to her chest and never let him go. He didn’t know how precious he was to her and she ached to find a way to let him now.
Before she could open her mouth, Khial disappeared between her legs once more. She felt his tongue on her still quivering core. Her head lolled to the side.
When she opened her eyes next her entire focus shifted. She saw Jian.
She saw Jian’s package.
Jian’s manhood stood proudly outlined behind the fabric of his pants.
Chanyn’s breathing steadied and her mouth watered.