Fervor (The Fervor Chronicles Book 1) (19 page)

They finished the meal in silence and he savored the last rays of sun that danced along her skin. Leaning back, she looked satisfied and a little sleepy. Just as he imagined she would look after he had loved her so hard she couldn’t breath. A deep moan escaped as he imagined blanketing her, her legs wrapped around his hips as he pounded inside of her, going so deep…

A yelp snapped him out of his musing. She sat up quickly, her hand resting against her middle, a small frown pulling at her eyebrows. “Remind me not to sit in that position again. There is still glass left.”

“Where does it hurt?”

She shivered slightly and sighed. He swore he saw tears prick here eyes. “It’s the girdle. They layered the glass and then fitted me in. It’s… It’s all right.”

He wrapped his hands around the bars, fury blanketing him. He was too close to succumbing to the electricity flowing through him. “How could they have done that? How could they have hurt you? I swear to the gods I will kill them.” He rattled the bars, pouring his frustration into the metal.

She looked amazed, mouth slightly open, eyes glazed over. She tracked her eyes over his arms, his chest.

He swelled with desire, his cock pulsing with each glance of her eyes. He was desperate, so desperate to be inside of her.

“Which one are you?” she asked.

“What?” Sparks jumped from his skin, dancing around the nearly pitch-black room. He hardly noticed. All he saw was her.

“Your father wrote about you and your brothers often. You’ve already mentioned Brant. That leaves Fisk, Ives, and Arun.”

“Caprice…” His voice was a low grumble.

“You definitely don’t look like a Fisk.” She paused as if gauging his response. “So that leaves Ives… or…”

He groaned in anticipation, waiting for his name to pass her lips.

“I knew it! The moment I read it.
Arun.”
She drew out the name, caressing each syllable.

Smoke wafted from the bars clenched his hands. “Say it again. Need to hear it.
Say it again.”

“Arun.”

His eyesight was gone. He was consumed.

‡

“Y
our whole body
is alight!” Sparks flew all around him. The white bled over his eyes, eating up the color. His hair rose and fell, but that was something she’d almost grown accustomed to. But now, his skin shimmered a beautiful golden-yellow; the shine strong enough that she could make out his outline, bright enough that she saw her hand in the inky black of night.

His hands gripped the bar, and she could see his neck muscles cording. Smoke started to billow above his palms, and the screech of bent metal filled the space. It was so loud she glanced at the door, convinced warrior women would come streaming through at any minute.

Dear gods. He had done it! With one last pull, the metal bars bent wide, and he turned sideways, trying to shove his massive shoulders through the tight space. Finally, he pushed through. His hands were fisted, his chest heaving, his head thrown back. The glow had given him an almost ethereal appearance. That softness combined with his sheer strength made her legs weak.

“Where are you?” he rasped.

“Here.”
Yes. Come closer, please.
Her body was primed. She felt her stomach drop as he took one step closer, then another. A languid heat filled her, a warmth one thousand times more powerful than this strange kingdom. It swirled in her chest, then traveled lower, softening her, making her wet with anticipation. Her body responded to the white of his eyes, the shifting of hair. It meant he wanted her, and she was ready.

“Caprice.” His voice sounded like a soft ache.

“Arun, I can see you. You’re skin, it glows. It’s golden, and it lights you from within.”

Groaning again—why, because she had used his name?—he paused, running both hands through his hair. “I-I think it’s changing. The energy becomes stronger each time we’re together. Wish I knew what it meant.” He turned, took a swing and punched a hole the size of a snow leopard through the stone.

“Because of me? Every time we connect?” The thought should have frightened her. Instead it made her wetter, her throbbing lips begging for attention.
She
did this to him, made him so out of control.

He wouldn’t step closer. “Every time I think of you, want you, to touch you, feel you… Gods, to be inside of you, riding between your silky thighs! I—” His skin hummed and glowed a fiercer yellow, then faded as he clenched his fists and doubled over.

His words… She soaked them up, desperate for more. “Is that what you want? What you want to do with me?”

“Yes.
I would kill for it.”

Kill?

“Bring me the water.”

“W-what? Why?”

“I want you cleaned once and for all of the glass. You will not suffer one more second at the hands of those sadists. Do it.”

Placing the bowl at his feet, she stood slowly. The glow of his skin surrounded her, bathing her in light. She saw his nostrils flare as if he scented her. The arousal in her was at a burning pitch. “Will you wash me?”

“Gods, I
wish,
but I can’t. I will
not
hurt you, Caprice. I would die before that happens. You are my priority. Take off your dress. Now.”

She shivered, loving the command in his voice, deciding no matter what he said, she would have him tonight. He needed it, she needed it and felt as if she would die without his touch. And he thought to deny her?

Fumbling with the intricate buttons at the back of the dress, she tugged and pulled until the dress finally pooled at her feet. She removed the girdle before he asked, biting her tongue to hold in the scream as the bone-herring band peeled back from her skin. As soon as she dropped it to the floor, she felt freer, cooler, and most of the pain was gone. “It’s done.”

“I know. I can smell your need. It makes my bones ache, desperate to taste you again. Your scent is…” He shuddered with longing, “so damn beautiful.”

Yes! Yes, I want that too.

“Take the rag in your hand and start with your shoulders and run it down your breasts.”

She obeyed. The lukewarm water only stoked her desire. She imagined it was his hands coasting over her breath, snagging her nipples.

“Tell me how it feels.” The words were torn from him.

She almost smiled in response until she ran the rag lower and lost the ability to think. Time to bring him into the fun. “It feels wet and hot, just like your tongue. I imagine it, sucking and pulling on my nipple…”

“Princess.”
His groan was deep and long.

“I need help with my back.”

“What?”

She tried to sound innocent, but it was hard to fight the wicked delight. “That’s where most of the glass is and I can’t reach. I hurt, Arun.” She used his name deliberately, preying on his sense of responsibility. He said he would take care of her.

She saw him fighting himself so she backed into him, her shoulders only inches from his chest. With each deep breath in, his skin came within a hair’s breadth of touching her. “I want to, want to so bad, but I can’t touch you. Not like this. What if I burn you?”

“You have never hurt me. You don’t have to touch me. Just use the cloth.
Please.”
Not bothering to hide the longing in her voice, she knew she’d melt on the spot if she couldn’t get him to touch her. She was a Princess of the Glissante. No one, not even this beautiful man, would deny her. She dropped the wet cloth in his hand and waited. “I’m turned. Run it along my back.”

The rag danced along her skin, initially rough and fast, as if he handled a draft horse rather than a willing female, but soon enough his hand slowed, swirling gently, dipping lower.

Her breath caught when he grazed her neck and shoulders. “Yes, there too. It’s all over.”

A burst of light lit the room. Without looking, she knew what it was. The energy in him was growing in power, seeking a release. “Caprice. Have to… stop. I-I’m about to… You’re so soft.” His words ended on a rough growl.

“Don’t worry. You’re almost done.” She couldn’t control her shivers, the heat of him seeping through the cloth. “Now, go lower.” She was beyond shame, only listening to the demands of her body.

A strangled sound came from him as his hands went lower, traveling up and down the crack that separated her cheeks. When he went to dip the rag in the bowl again – she turned. When he returned to wash her, his fingers landed right on her core, right where she needed them to be.

He stiffened, as still as a cloudless night. His fingers moved slowly, exploring her, gliding along her plump lips. “Caprice, I could kill you. If I touch…”

“I
need
you. You finished in my hand. I felt the sparks but nothing else happened.”

“But I wasn’t lit up like a firestorm. No! I’m fighting for control. What if it’s too much? When we touch it gets worse, not better. Nothing can happen to you, Princess. I couldn’t bear it.” His words were tortured but still he didn’t remove questing fingers.

Narrowing her eyes, she allowed the fury to creep up. “If that’s your answer, fine.”

His breath expelled, but he didn’t move away.

“I understand. If you will not touch me, you must doubt I am the woman who ignites your
fervor.
It’s a relief, really.”
Not a relief, not a relief
. But she needed to do something, remind him he believed that they were destined to be together.

“Relief?” He gritted out as his fists clenched, then unclenched, his entire body knotted in tension.

“Yes. It means I am free to find a man who truly meets my needs, who isn’t afraid to touch me.” She kept her voice deliberately airy… and waited.

“I can meet your needs. I have! You will have no other!”

She was baiting him. He had to admit, here and now, that he wanted her. Had to want her enough to trust the
fervor
between them, trust her enough to take the chance. “Oh yes I will! I will have a man who will touch me, love me with everything he has. I would welcome him into me, loving the feel…”

He roared, and sparks jumped in the air. His skin glowed, lighting the room in blasts of heat, like lightning strikes during a winter storm. “You are mine!”

“Prove it!”

He smashed the bowl against the far wall, grabbing her around the waist. Her bare chest mashed into his as the exquisitely soft heat of his mouth enveloped hers. His tongue attacked, and she went weak. His teeth tugged at her lip, his hands cupped her backside, bringing her up high. “Say you will have no other. Say it.”

A secret smile touched her lips. This was where she needed to be. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she felt her soft core come into contact with his warm stomach. Her thigh muscles clenched. The urge to punish him further was there, but he just felt so good.

“Say it. No other!” He was lost in a daze of passion, kissing her face, her neck.

She thought she saw a flash of panic, and her heart melted. Grabbing his face and running her finger against his lower lip, she said, “Arun, there is no other. Only you.” The bright white of his eyes blinked and then skimmed over her face, as if hoping somehow her features would come into focus. Raining kisses down his face, she said, “You. Only you. I need you, Arun.”

“What if I hurt you?”

“Never! You would never hurt me. I will die if you don’t touch me. Touch me now. Please, right here.” She placed his hand against her throbbing clit and almost jumped from his arms when he circled his thumb, once, then twice against her. He placed one finger inside of her and she rode him hard.
“More.”

He groaned and laid her on the floor, away from the broken bowl and dirty dress. The stone felt cool against her skin. A second finger entered, and she cried out, her muscles suckling the digits as she climbed higher. A swell of passion threatened to drown her, but she knew there was more. She felt as if she were rising, riding the wave, desperate to glide into pure bliss.

“Come for me, Princess. For
me.”
He placed his mouth around her nipple and sucked in time with his thrusting fingers. She flew,
flew,
over the edge, her orgasm blanketing her with pleasure. Unable to breath, to scream, she felt her body spasm, milking his fingers. He pulled back from her, and she whimpered in need.
Yes
, that’s what she had been waiting for.

On his knees, he tugged his pants from around him and tossed them across the room. Every inch of luscious skin glowed, and his beautiful cock throbbed in front of her. Sitting up in front of him, she grabbed his long length. His groan ignited her passion, and she leaned in, desperate to know his taste. Her mouth engulfed him. She had wanted this from the moment she’d seen his jutting cock in her dungeon. She dreamed of the slow glide of her tongue on his protruding member. But she could never have guessed at its strength. So firm, yet so silky.

She lapped at his length, and she shivered as his hands fisted into her hair. “So good, Caprice. I’ve never felt this, this…” At his words, she went deep, taking him to the back of her throat.

Moving up and down, she mimicked what it would feel like between them. One of his hands fell from her hair and touched her breast, grazing her nipple. She gasped, and he pulled away from her, the width of his shoulders dwarfing her as he leaned down, further and further. “Can’t wait, Princess.
Need you.”