"I do trust you implicitly," she said. "I can't imagine a situation where I wouldn't."
"What if I were to blindfold you? Would you be able to handle that?"
The field of flowers below them was beautiful, like a thousand glittering stars staring up at them, rather than looking down on them. Skyler's breath caught in her throat. Her heart gave a wild jump and then settled, following the steady rhythm of his. A million butterflies took wing in her stomach, but her breasts tingled, her nipples growing hard and she felt the familiar rush of damp heat gathering between her legs.
"I wouldn't mind trying," she said, fear skittering down her spine even as every nerve ending in her body came alive.
He put her down in the very center of the field, stripping her clothes from her with a simple wave of his hand. The night air teased her skin, playing over her like a million fingers, caressing and stroking until she trembled with desire.
"I love looking at you," Dimitri told her. "You're so beautiful." He turned his finger in a small circle, and she spun slowly around for him. "Let your hair down, sivamet."
Obediently, Skyler lifted her arms up, the action lifting her breasts. The coolness of the night air and that simple act of stretching upward sent a small rush of liquid heat pulsing between her legs. He didn't have to actually touch her to make her body want his. The glacier-blue of his eyes turning cobalt with intense desire was enough.
She let the thick silken mass of hair fall down her back. Already it was banding with color, giving away her stark hunger and need for him. He was fully dressed, his eyes dark with a mixture of love and lust, a sinful stamp of pure sensuality on his face.
Around her the fragrance of the flowers began to take on his scent. The smell was intoxicating and potent. Her mouth watered. The tip of her tongue licked at her lips. She could taste him already, that addictive, masculine, foresty--warrior flavor she craved. It was stamped into his skin, there in his kiss, his blood and the male essence of his body.
He leaned down and chose a bloom, offering it to her with both palms open. As he did, he shed his clothes, standing tall in the midst of the field of beautiful flowers. He looked magnificent to her, very male, already hard and thick and eager for her attention.
"Sometimes my slumber is disturbed when images arouse me, taking hold of my body, setting my imagination and hunger free, all the things I want to do with you, Skyler, all the things I want to show you that will bring us so much pleasure."
The sound of his voice, so smoky and sensual, an instrument of velvet playing over her body like the touch of fingers, like the cool of the night, wreaked havoc with her nerve endings. It took a moment to tear her gaze from his impressive erection to inspect the blossom. The Night Star flower seemed to have an impressive erection of its own.
Skyler found herself blushing. The ovary was a deep crimson red, with two striped filaments, but the stigma had color infusing her entire body because clearly it was shaped exactly like Dimitri's heavy erection. There were even thin white bands as if the stigma had been scarred as he'd been.
"Use your tongue, csitri, the way you would on me." His voice went low. Sexy. Mesmerizing.
Her gaze jumped to his. She lowered her head to the open petals, still looking at him, her tongue stroking along that long, bulbous head and thick shaft. She licked under the head and down the sides, curling her tongue, pretending it was him. Wanting it to be him. Sharing with him that she wanted it to be him and not a flower.
The taste was all Dimitri--his mouth, his blood, even his skin. It was addictive, that spicy, vivid flavor that burst through her body and sent blood surging through her veins.
His eyes darkened more, the hunger building in them. His shaft thickened, the girth enlarging impossibly, the head leaking small drops of nectar. She licked her lips, craving more.
Dimitri held out his hand, palm up, for the blossom. She gave it to him a little reluctantly. Still holding her gaze, he lapped at the honeyed liquid along the filaments and ovaries of the flower.
21
Skyler's entire body went hot, tension coiling tight. She nearly groaned with wanting him. Everything about him was sexy, but watching him devour the nectar as if it was her feminine cream he was consuming made her go a little weak.
"Kneel back on your heels, sivamet, your thighs open for me," he instructed. His voice went a little rough.
Her heart jumped and more liquid spilled between her legs. Keeping her gaze on his, she slowly sank down in front of him. The ground was covered in soft petals, cushioning her. He put the blossom right at the junction between her legs, so that the open petal caught any liquid spilling from her body.
Her heart pounded as his fingers brushed across her thighs. As he straightened, standing very close to her, her face was almost level with his erection. All she would have to do was kneel up. Her mouth watered, craved more of his taste.
"Tied vagyok. Yours I am, csitri," he said softly, his gaze growing even hotter. She couldn't look away from him. "Sivamet andam. My heart I give you. Te avio palafertiilam. You are my lifemate." He put his hand on top of her head. "Do you understand, Skyler? I'll always be yours. This body, this heart, my soul, belongs to you."
She nodded. She did know. He always made her feel as if she was the most important woman in the world to him and everything he was, belonged to her.
"Bring the flower to my cock, and hold it there while you repeat the same words back to me." His voice dropped another octave and she shivered with anticipation.
Cupping the blossom in her open palms, she inhaled his scent deeply as she slowly knelt up. Keeping her eyes on his, she brought the flower beneath his heavy sac, so that his balls rested inside the open petals. Leaning forward she took a long, slow lick up the shaft, over the head seeking more of his addicting taste.
His hands caught the back of her head, fingers fisting in her hair. "Say the words back to me, sivamet."
His scent was heady, all around her, as hundreds of blossoms in the field took on his fresh, masculine aroma.
"Tied vagyok. Yours I am," she whispered, and opened her mouth to draw that large, glistening head into her mouth. She suckled strong, pulling out more nectar. He shuddered, his strong thighs bunching with tension. She slowly drew back, licking down the shaft. "Sivamet andam. My heart I give you." Her tongue danced underneath the very sensitive head and then licked all the way down to the base, until she could sip at the nectar in the flower and stroke her tongue over the velvet flesh nestled there.
"Skyler." He hissed out her name, his voice edged with tight control.
She smiled. "Te avio palafertiilam. You are my lifemate." She kept her gaze steady on his, wanting him to see she meant every word. "I belong to you, Dimitri, all of me, heart and soul. This body is yours as well. I know I'm safe with you."
He had earned her trust over several years. She knew with an absolute certainty she wanted their relationship to progress. If at any time she was afraid, she knew he would stop instantly. That knowledge gave her more freedom than anything else ever could.
"If we weren't already lifemates, I would braid your hair with the smaller flowers and stems, but because you are, you feed me the petals and I'll feed you and the ritual will be complete." When she started to rise, he kept his hand on her shoulder, holding her there.
Skyler smiled up at him, pulled the flower to her and once again licked along the stigma before pulling a petal free. He bent down to reach her hand, taking the petal with his teeth. As he did so he fed her one. She wasn't surprised that it was velvety soft and bursting with the taste of him.
When the petals were consumed he slipped a blindfold of soft petals woven together around her head, the fragrance heady with passion. The world went completely dark. Her heart jumped, but again she felt a coiling tightness building in her deepest core. The wind caressed her body and teased her hair. There was a small silence and then his hand stroked through her hair, down to her shoulder and lower, until he cupped her breast. Deprived of sight
, every nerve ending was heightened. Her entire body shuddered with need.
"Do you want to try this? You don't have to."
Her body pulsed for his. She could barely breathe with the hunger for him coursing through her. She would do anything for him, try anything, but more, she wanted to do it for herself. She wanted to prove to herself she could trust him no matter what and feel only pleasure in everything they did.
She nodded. To steady herself, she reached out and found his thigh. The moment she touched him, the trembling lessened.
"Feel the wind on you. Feel the way your hair falls so soft and sensual down your back and slides over your skin."
His voice was commanding. Mesmerizing. She shivered again. Fear? Excitement? Anticipation? Her core was on fire, a melting liquid heat that demanded fulfillment. Her mouth watered for him. She'd been so close to her goal, wanting to give him the same kind of pleasure he gave her. He knew her body, every square inch of her and she had been too shy to make her own demands of his.
She had caught some of the erotic images in his head and she wanted to be all those things for him. Right now, kneeling on the soft petals unable to see, the cool night air playing over her body so that she was acutely aware of her breath, her every movement, she found herself growing even more slick and hot.
Silence stretched. She could hear the creak of tree branches around the meadow as the wind played in the leaves. It whispered over the flowers and insects droned. Several frogs called in the distance, and she even caught the sound of running water. She didn't move, waiting for him. Her breath came and went, but she remained silent, her heart pounding.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when he caressed her right breast with one large hand. His fingers settled around her nipple, the tug more insistent than he'd ever used before. An electrical shock ran straight from her nipple to her core. She gasped, her lips parting, a rush of air escaping. She smelled his spicy scent and then he rubbed nectar across her lips.
"Open your mouth for me, sivamet."
At last. She would truly feel as if she was his. As if he belonged to her. She felt the lash of heat against her mouth and her hands moved up to cup his sac.
"Place both hands on my thighs," he instructed. His voice sounded a little rough, a little hoarse.
Her sheath clenched, melted, dripped wild honey, calling to him. He sounded so sexy. She felt sexy. Through her palms she could feel the slight shudder of pleasure that ran through his body as she licked at the drops of pearl liquid, with that addictive, rare taste. She opened her mouth and allowed him to push inside. The taste she craved so desperately exploded against her tongue and burst through her mouth. Without thinking she suckled, flattening her tongue, wanting to feel pleasure blossoming through his mind. She surrounded him with warmth, enfolded him with love.
She reveled in his groans, in the way his thigh muscles twitched and danced under her fingers. She found herself happy, enjoying the moment, feeling sexy and strong, her mouth tight and hot around him, worshiping him, showing him her love, claiming his body for her own.
He began to move with small, deeper thrusts. Her newfound courage faltered, a small schism of fear skittering down her spine. She was helpless there, blind and unable to stop him if he choked her. A million nightmares rose out of nowhere, flooding her mind, driving out everything around her until she felt rough hands and loud voices, slaps and kicks. Just that fast, her world went from bliss to panic.
Before she could react, his hands were gentle on her head, fingers massaging the tension from her. "You're safe, here with me, and nothing, no one, can ever harm you again. You aren't really blind at all, csitri. You're in my mind and you can see and feel what I do. See how beautiful you look to me. Feel what you do to me, the pleasure you brought to me."
His soft whisper calmed her as nothing else could. Behind the mask of petals, she closed her eyes and inhaled his scent. That male fragrance, so familiar to her, was as reassuring as his voice. Her heart continued to pound, but she didn't lift her hands to remove the mask of petals.
"It's still there, Dimitri," she whispered, wanting to cry. "It's never going to go away."
"Of course not, sivamet," he replied, his voice so tender, her eyes did burn. He removed the mask of petals and gently brought her to her feet. "Your past, like mine, shaped who you are now. That steel running down your spine, that incredible will and determination that allows you to do things no one expects--those attributes came from your past. It's part of you."
"A nightmare." She laid her head on his chest for comfort, feeling she'd failed both of them. "My childhood was a nightmare."
Instantly his arms swept around her, holding her tight to him, surrounding her with his strength and love. "Nothing in our future changes our past. You know that, Skyler. You've always known it. We talked of this moment happening. There is no right or wrong. No failure. We both expected it to happen. It is. That's all."
She let herself find a small smile. "Talking about it and having it happen are two different things, Dimitri. I wanted to please you."
"You did please me."
"I wanted to show trust. How could I be feeling happy, enjoying giving you pleasure and have my past creep into our private moment?" She looked up at him, unable to prevent the tears from swimming in her eyes. "I do trust you."
That was the worst of it. She had let both of them down. How could she think Dimitri would ever harm her?
"You didn't think I would harm you, Skyler," Dimitri said, gathering her into his arms. He lifted her, cradling her trembling body close to his chest. "I wasn't there in that moment."
Her heart jumped. She gave a little shattered cry and buried her face against his neck. He hadn't been with her. She'd lost him and panicked. Just that one act of aggression on his part and instead of feeling his familiar form--in a field of flowers holding his scent--her past still had such a powerful grip on her that she'd lost the man she loved more than anything. That seemed so much worse.
"I want to go home," she whispered, feeling defeated.
It was as if those men, those terrible monsters from her childhood, had defeated her. They'd won. She'd let them come between her and Dimitri.
To her astonishment, Dimitri put her feet back on the ground. "You are home, Skyler. Wherever I am, is home. There is no more comfort in that house than there is here with me. No one has defeated you--or us. It is impossible unless we allow it."
There was steel in his voice, and the butterflies in her stomach took flight. She threaded her fingers through his to gain courage. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."
He sighed. "Csitri, you're hurting yourself, not me. Why are you so upset over something we knew would happen?"
"I didn't really think it would," she confessed, more to herself than to him. "Not once I committed to you. Every time we've made love it's been so perfect. I honestly thought I could do anything because I do trust you, Dimitri."
"You can do anything," he replied. "What happened here is nothing at all. It will happen again and again at unexpected times and it's perfectly all right. This is not a defeat. It isn't a failure. It simply is."
Skyler swallowed hard. Allowing his wisdom to sink past hurt was difficult, but his calm logic was difficult to ignore. He wasn't upset with her.
She moved in his mind and all she could find was his love for her and the memories they'd made in the field. She could see the image of herself before him with the petals wrapped around her head, covering her eyes, kneeling in the field of flowers. She did look beautiful and sexy. Her body stirred all over again.
"I don't know why I lost you." That was the real problem. How could she have let him go out of her mind for even a moment? That was all it had taken, and she had allowed the monsters in.
"When we make love, the chemistry is very intense and powerful between us," he said. He stroked a finger over her breast and watched her shiver. "The slightest touch and our bodies respond. That's how it's supposed to be, Skyler. Sometimes, when we're
really enjoying what we're doing, we get lost in the act of it, in the doing. It feels good, so how could we not?"
"So I was thinking of myself, not you?" She tried to puzzle it out in her mind.
For months, long before she had committed to him, she'd thought about whether or not she'd be able to perform oral sex when the very idea of it terrified her. Whether she would like it. How to do it--could she actually please him.
She had loved giving him so much pleasure. At the same time, it had brought her pleasure. The field of flowers with his scent, the mask of soft petals, even kneeling before him with her hands on his thighs, feeling that heavy erection against her face, her mouth. All of it was sexy and wonderful. She had gotten lost in the moment, her own body on fire.
He shook his head. "You were definitely thinking of me, sivamet. Had another man crept into your mind I would have banished him immediately. I have always touched you gently. Reverently. Even when I become a little aggressive, you can feel my love in the way I touch you."
She frowned. She hadn't considered that, but it was true. She loved it when he was aggressive, but he was there in her mind, holding her to him. She had always felt surrounded, even protected by his love.
"Shift, Skyler. Let's take to the sky. We can circle around together above the trees and head home. I want you to feel who you are. What you are. Carpathian. A formidable being without me. You have never needed me to be strong. In your own right, you wield more power than most. You are not insignificant or weak. You are Skyler. Dragonseeker. Mage. And most of all, that elusive mother of yours we know so little about, provided you with an indomitable spirit. That is your true self. We all have monsters in our past. We shrug them off as no consequences because we will never allow them to devour us."
Tears burned in her eyes again. She turned away from him and spread her arms, calling to the bird in her mind to come forth. A night owl, one that would take her soaring through the sky. Feathers burst through her skin and for a moment the world around her shimmered into strange colors and then she was in the sky.
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