As she had no frame of reference for the death of a Vaturian, perhaps it was perfectly natural they came back to life after death. Perhaps they went to some afterlife and got judged, and perhaps Antares was deemed worthy and necessary to come back. She simply didn’t know.
Whatever the case, when he started breathing again, the three men who had been playing music all turned as white as ghosts, muttered some words in their own language, and ran from the room like the wrath of God was chasing them. She worried about what they might reveal, so she sent Rosalind after them. Naveenah only hoped she would be successful. Watching him lie so still brought her to the realization of how badly his people needed him, which meant she needed to protect him from wild rumor and supposition about what had actually happened here.
Now, however, she was scared to death for both men. Nikolai had gone into the streets after dark. Terrified they would find his lifeless body next, but aware she could do little for him, she focused all her attention on Antares, practically willing him to open his eyes and look at her again.
“Please come back to us, Antares. Your people need you.”
She closed her eyes and dropped her head to where she held his hand with both of hers, saying more of the ancient prayers her mother had taught her. Though she still was not certain who, or what, she was praying to, at least she felt she was doing something.
“And what…” He drew a jagged breath. “What of you, Naveenah? Do you need me?”
Even in his weakened state he was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. He was trying to smile at her but wasn’t being all that successful. She was so relieved that she flung her arms around him in an awkward hug. “Antares!”
He stroked her hair. The sound of his beating heart was the best thing she had ever heard. She ran her hand over his bare chest and placed a kiss over the skin that covered the precious organ. “Are you in any pain?”
“Shhhh. I am alive. Do not worry the rest.”
“Don’t worry the rest? Oh my God, you have no idea how worried I was. You just collapsed. Then when I was trying to hold the thing in place, you stopped breathing, Antares! You stopped breathing for so long.” She realized she was rapidly becoming hysterical now in the aftermath and drew a slow, deep breath to stop it.
“I’m sorry.” She touched his face and smiled, such joy radiating throughout her. “I’m just so glad you’re alive.”
He clasped her wrists and looked up into her eyes. “I am rather pleased about that myself, though still not sure I understand all that happened. I should be in great pain, possibly even delirious, yet I feel nothing. Are you certain I live?”
There was no way to explain the unexplainable, especially to a man like Antares. “It was a miracle, I think, Antares.”
His jaw hardened.
“There are no such things.” His voice held such contempt it nearly frightened her. She remembered her conversations with Nikolai over spirituality and a greater power than themselves, but not once had Antares ever recognized one. Clearly in his world view there was no place for those things that could not be explained by anything other than faith. “I didn’t believe in them, either, but I don’t know how else to explain it.”
Seeing his attempt to rise, she practically jumped atop him to stop such a move.
“Antares, you may be healed, but let’s not push things. I think you should rest.”
“I am not a man for lying around.”
She pressed her lips together to keep the sarcastic quip that had sprung to her mind from falling out her mouth. “I can see that. But a little rest won’t hurt you, either.”
She watched his features in the dappled morning light. He was wrestling with something, but what? She was coming to know him so well it scared her. She was at a precipice in her relationship with Antares. After all, had things gone as planned, they would have made love last night. She climbed on the bed beside him, sitting on her knees. Facing him, she brushed her hand through his hair. “Antares, what happened to you last night? Who hurt you?”
He shook his head. “It was nothing. A disagreement with one of the rebel groups.” He smiled sardonically. “It did not end in my favor.”
She appreciated the way he could make light of such a horrible thing, but she was rapidly moving toward the point of no return with her life. She needed to fully engage here on Vaturia or decide she was simply going to wait out the year and go home.
She laughed.
There was really no decision to make. She knew in everything she was the decision was to stay. If she went back to Earth, she would live out the rest of her life under the weight of unbearable regret.
“What do you find amusing about that, Naveenah?”
She just stared at him for a moment, taking in her decision. How was it possible that everything that had happened to her would end so perfectly? Still, she was tired of the innuendo and half-told stories about the planet, the culture, the politics. If she stayed and embraced this planet as her own, she would dig in and want to be as much a part of the reformation as Antares. She felt it only fair that he tell her everything, once and for all.
“Nothing about your situation, but something about mine.” She placed her palm against his cheek. “Antares, I want to know more about what is happening here. I feel as if so much has been kept from me, and honestly, I’m getting a little tired of secrets. Both you and Nikolai with your half-finished sentences and your, don’t worry about that, Naveenah, as if I’m a frail little girl who can’t handle the truth. I think I’ve earned some trust, and I demand you tell me all of it.”
She felt awful. After all he’d just been through, she was about to pick a fight with him, but perhaps it was simply time they got all this out in the open.
“Magita…” He reached for her, as if he meant to stroke her hair, but she pushed away.
“No. I’ve been on this planet four years now. You may as well consider me a resident as I doubt you have any real intention of letting me leave. Plus, I get it. I see the beauty of it, the need here, I even…”
Dare she say it?
If she wanted total honesty from him, it seemed only right that she should give it in return. Still, her stomach flipped. She was about to lay herself bare for his rejection, and the vulnerable place she set herself in was making her dizzy.
“I have even come to love you, Antares, but I won’t be kept in the dark any longer about what is really going on here.”
He looked at her as if she’d sprouted horns and a tail. He maneuvered, taking her hands in his. The look in his eyes became so tender she was swallowed up by it.
“You have come to love me?”
She blinked back tears and tried to cover her heart, lest he was about to obliterate it.
“Are your ears not working any longer?”
He smiled, such a stunningly gorgeous smile, and cupped her face in his hands. “My ears work fine, dear one.” He pulled her close and pressed his lips softly against hers. He moved back and smiled again. “Salty.”
The tears had slipped down her cheeks and across her lips. She laughed and knew then for certain that nothing else in her life had ever mattered until the day she came to Vaturia.
“Antares, please say you’ll tell me all of it.”
“It is my job to protect you.”
“I don’t want to be protected from this. I want to be at your side, and I am not a child.”
As he pulled her close, she straddled him.
“I never think of you as a child, magita, believe that if nothing more.” He ran his finger down her nose, then rested his forehead against hers. “I will tell you all, but first, did we not miss a date last night?”
She had to close her eyes for a moment as the butterflies settled against her stomach.
“We did.”
She forced thoughts of Nikolai to stay out of her mind. It was all so complicated still, but when Antares brought his lips to hers and the soft kiss burned into her soul, she knew everything in her world would chang
e in the next heartbeat.
Naveenah shivered before he even touched her. Her soul was completely ready to be loved by this man. His eyes raked over her body. Without a word, she turned, allowing him to unlace her gown. He did so, slowly, without touching her.
“Undress. I wish to see you.”
She had to remind herself to breathe as his voice reached deep into her soul and took hold of her deepest desires. She stood before him on the threadbare blue rug and did exactly what he asked of her, removing both her dress and her underthings until she stood before him naked.
The floor was cold, even through the rug. Sunlight filled the room now so nothing was hidden from him. She stood still, offering herself up to him. He looked at her for a long time, his heated gaze burning her skin and setting her desire ablaze, but she waited.
He stood off the bed. He brushed her cheek with one finger, then achingly slow, he walked around her in a circle, examining her from all angles. Naveenah stood still. She did not fidget despite how badly she wanted to. His perusal made her feel like a rare treasure being examined and admired for its exquisite qualities and many facets.
“I feel as though I have waited my lifetime for this moment, magita. I intend to enjoy it.”
He stepped back in front of her, tipping her chin up with one finger so she would look him in the eye.
“More than that, I intend to make certain you enjoy it.”
Chapter Seventeen
Naveenah sighed as his erotic promise registered on her heart. He cupped her face in his hands and brought his lips close.
“You honor me, magita.”
His kiss was soft, gentle, with hidden fire beneath licking at all her senses. She pushed her fingers up into his hair, tugging, pulling him just a hint closer. It was she who deepened the kiss, separating her lips and seeking him out with her tongue. He moaned as his met hers, and he wrapped his arms tight around her waist, lifting her from the floor and leaving her feet dangling in midair. He turned and laid her across the bed and watched her with blazing intent as he loosened the ties on his suede britches.
Her gaze momentarily snagged where his wound had been, but not even a scar remained. She reached to touch it, but he grabbed her wrist, forcing her attention back to him.
“You are mine. You will not hide any part of yourself from me.”
She licked her lips and nodded as her heart raced, wondering what he would do next.
“Spread your legs for me.”
She started to laugh, but the sound dried up and caught in her throat. She shivered. She reached to her core and found the courage to do as he asked. She’d never been spoken to like that before, but— good God—she loved it.
He stared at her until she started to cross one leg over the other. She had made only the slightest movement when he placed a hand on her left thigh and met her gaze with his own.
“You do not have my leave to block my view.” He slid his fingers down her inner thigh. Lightly grazing her mound with his other hand, he stopped just short of where she ached to be touched. “You are mine, are you not?”
She nodded enthusiastically, knowing if she said anything other than yes, he would stop.
“I cannot hear you, Naveenah. You are mine?”
“Yes. Yes!”
She felt herself become more aroused than she had ever believed possible, though he’d barely touched her. He reached beneath her, grasped her ass, then pulled her closer to the edge of the bed.
“You will remain still.”
She shivered again, but immediately complied.
He went to his knees between her thighs. She lifted her head to see him, but within seconds his warm mouth covered her pussy, and she dropped back to the bed, releasing a long moan of sheer ecstasy.
The caress of his tongue was slow but full of purpose, as if he knew exactly what to do and how. He ate her with such glorious artistry that she feared she might literally overload. He made slow passes with his tongue from near her ass to her clit, then closed his mouth over her clit, sucking and nipping it until she squirmed and moaned, nearly insane with wanting to come.
His hands still held her ass, positioning her in just the right spot for him to be most effective. His tongue pushed inside her, worshipping her pussy as if he’d never wanted anything more.
“Oh God, I’m going to come. Please, Antares, please. I need to come!”
Naveenah swore she felt him smile against her clit right before he slid his fingers inside her, to fuck her with both hand and mouth. He brought her so close to the edge—another second and she would have been over—and then he stopped. He stood above her again. She wanted to cry, but couldn’t breathe. She curled into a ball and groaned. Never in her life had she felt more desperate for anything. Right now he could have asked anything of her and she would have agreed. Crazy with lust and need, she recognized him for her only hope of salvation.
He climbed atop her, straightening her body and shifting her slightly higher on the large bed as he climbed up.
His kisses came in a wave as he explored and discovered her mouth. She breathed him in, his essence, his taste, now mixed with her own, all that was so uniquely him that she loved so much. His hand cradled her head, and his other supported his weight as he hovered over her.
“You are mine, magita, so I will see to your every desire. You need only trust me to do so.”
Tears welled up. She shivered beneath his kisses, swept away by emotion. No other place in the universe could tempt her away now.
“Love me, Antares. Make me yours.”
He stopped. She saw his throat move as he swallowed hard, then he stood next to the bed and finished undressing. Naveenah had a fast moment of awe mixed with panic when she saw just how large he was. Nikolai was no slouch, but damn, Antares…She looked up at him, questioning in her mind the suitability of this union.
“Our race is larger than yours on the whole. I have all confidence that we will be just fine.”
She swallowed, nodding, trusting him, even though she still had some doubt.
He held out his hand to her, and she took it. He pulled her into his arms, and she wrapped her legs around him.
“I have never been so painfully hard in my life. I am trying to take things slowly, for your sake.”
He looked into her eyes, searching. She nodded agreement, still a little uncertain of the entire escapade, but committed nonetheless.
“Magita, it will never work if you do not relax for me.”
He laid her back on the bed, this time placing her head on the array of pillows. He climbed in next to her. He reached for a set of small vials from a drawer in the table beside the bed and added several drops from each one into the bowl of water she had used to bathe his head previously. A strong aroma of flowers and spices began to permeate the room. She watched his hands work as he dipped and wrung excess water from the cloth, then brought it to her body and began sponging her with the scented water.
She closed her eyes, inhaling the fragrance and following the path of the cloth in her mind, from her shoulders, between her breasts, then over her stomach. She listened as he refreshed the water, hearing it trickle back into the bowl as he wrung out the cloth. He bathed her neck and ran the cloth over each breast. She opened her eyes to see him staring at her with raw desire.
It amused her how different he and Nikolai were. Nikolai never seemed to have any real control. Every time they were together it was let’s see how fast we can get naked. Antares was clearly heavy burdened with lust, but he wasn’t giving into it. It was more as if he was stoking the flames by going slowly with her. He ran the cloth along the outside curve of her waist, then lifted her one leg at the knee. She placed her foot on the bed and held the position he gave her. He continued to run the cloth over her body, under her legs and then over her feet, before coming back up along the inner thigh of her other leg.
He muttered words she didn’t understand, but knew it was in an ancient language similar to the one Nikolai often used. She r
eached for him, her fingers just barely able to touch the top of his head without moving.
“What is that? Those words?”
She rarely had time to ask Nikolai questions like that in the moment. She barely remembered to breathe when she was with him, but this was so very different, and she wanted answers.
“It is an ancient and dead language on Vaturia. One used by the ancient seekers of our land. It is primarily a spiritual language. I was giving thanks.”
She drew a slow breath to keep from tearing up. She had gone all her life without feeling much value, until Nikolai and Antares made her feel utterly priceless.
He dropped the cloth to the floor and rose up on hands and knees, placing himself between her thighs, then lying back down on his stomach.
“I studied humans. This past week while I was gone, I took with me books of human sexuality and anatomy. I think I understand how your body works.” As he spoke he slowly ran his fingers up and down the inside of her thigh. “Though it has similarities to the females I have lain with, it is very uniquely different in many ways also.”
He took both hands and moved the hair that grew between her legs, coming so close to where she needed him to touch her again. She rose from the bed, edging herself closer to him, silently begging him for that touch.
He blew softly on her labia still so sensitive from his earlier attentions. She closed her eyes to steady herself. Silent, she channeled her arousal into feeling more and spread her legs open wider around him. He took her thigh and moved it onto his shoulder, so that her foot dangled down his back. He moved his mouth to suck her inner thigh while he caressed her hip and ass.
He looked back up along her body. She sensed his attention and opened her eyes to meet his stare.
“Relax, magita. Did you enjoy what I did before?
She laughed. Enjoy? What an understatement. No words could describe how she felt about before. She nodded, but that wasn’t enough for him.
To Love a King [The Reformation 1] (Siren Publishing PolyAmour) Page 17
