“Ro—”
She touched his lips with her index finger. “Not tonight.”
Sitting astride him, she unfastened the line of buttons down the front of his shirt and exposed a chest defined by impressive muscles, sun-kissed and more golden than she remembered. He was so gorgeous despite the old white scars of battles long past, she didn’t think anything could detract from his beauty.
Eager to see more, she followed the fine treasure trail of dark hair leading from his navel to his trousers and unfastened them. He wore nothing beneath, and the sheer majesty of him took her breath away. A few glimpses in the shower didn’t compare. Then, she’d been too furious to appreciate the view, resisting and unable to drink in the sight of him.
Rosalia ran her fingers down his shaft and explored its length, drawing a low groan from his lips as her thumb circled over the tip. She coaxed a single drop of fluid from the tiny slit at the broad head of him, alternating between firm strokes and light caresses.
When she took him in her mouth, his breath sucked in with a sharp hiss. Then he moaned her name, the sweetest two syllables she’d ever heard. No one else ever called her Rosa, but she loved the way it sounded from his lips.
She worked him over slowly and tenderly, licking with her tongue and nibbling where the pulse throbbed in the thick underside of his generous shaft.
Gods, he was glorious.
And hers. Every inch of him belonged to her, and suddenly her pride was meaningless. What good did it her when it held a grudge against an absolutely amazing man who was willing to pledge his life—his soul—to her?
Rosalia only released him for as long as it took to wiggle out of her leggings. Then she stripped him while he lay in the bed watching her with open appreciation in his green eyes, his body long and lean and perfect.
“What?”
He shook his head, wearing a soft half-smile. “Admiring the view.”
“Admire this.” She dipped her head forward and slid his cock between her lips again, picking up where she left off and drawing him deeper than before until a primal growl rumbled in his chest. His hips jerked up, and then he was thrusting in her mouth and clutching the sheets.
Hers.
“Come here.”
Her mouth came off him with a wet pop. “But I’m not fi—”
Xavier hauled her up and tucked her beneath him, stretching his warm body over hers and aligning their hips. When the length slid between her thighs, it sawed up and down the slick cleft of her, returning the tease and toying with the possibility of penetration.
He wasn’t even inside her yet, and she was already prickling with need. “Gods, Xavier.”
Gentle and loving kisses found her mouth, just as his fingers found the sweet bundle of nerves between her legs. He brushed it with his thumb, and then two fingers delved inside her without resistance. In only a few moments, he proved to be as talented as she’d imagined since their moment in the shower, and she was riding his fingers the way she wanted to ride his cock.
“No gods here, love. Just me. Us. This.” His fingers stroked deeper, curved, found a spot inside her that sent pleasure trembling through her core. Her hips arched up from the bed, and her thighs shook.
“Xavier, please,” she pleaded, needing more than mere fingers, even if they were beyond talented. They slid in and out, a quickening rhythm that threatened to send her coasting over the edge.
“So close, aren’t you?”
Close? Close didn’t begin to describe it. He’d lit a fire in her and she was burning up inside, writhing beneath him with a handful of the sheets clutched in both hands.
Then he slid down between her thighs and one flick of his tongue was her undoing, though he locked gazes with her until the moment her eyes squeezed tight in bliss. As she shuddered and trembled around his fingers, he stroked her through the throes of climax.
“You’re beautiful when you come. If only you knew what I felt for you right now, Rosa.”
She didn’t know, but she had an idea.
“Tell me you want me as your mate.”
“I don’t know.” It wasn’t fair for him to ask this of her now when her mind couldn’t comprehend anything but the desire to have him inside her. Somehow, he’d left her sated but unsatisfied, needs fulfilled but body still wanting.
“Then I will wait. I will wait each day until a time comes when you do know—until you feel for me what I feel for you.” Then he rose onto his knees and guided that magnificent length where it belonged.
Xavier made lovemaking into an art form—or a torture, as she thought she could die from the wait—taking his time and slowly feeding her his shaft inch by inch while she struggled and thrust her hips to claim more of him. Pushing both heels against his ass brought her no relief, the man as immovable as a mountain, his arms like steel, one hand anchoring her hips to the mattress.
“I want to savor this,” he said as he glided another delicious inch, the wondrous girth of him surrounded by her receptive body. “Every single moment. Every second.”
The breath shuddered out of her. “You’re taking too long.”
“Are we in a rush? Have somewhere to be?”
“This is the only place I want to be.”
His kiss was gentle, so much softer than all others preceding it. A long stroke followed, then he withdrew and plunged forward anew, hilting deep and granting every inch she’d craved. She gave a satisfied sigh and opened her mouth to him, tongues sliding together in a sensual dance.
More kisses followed—her shoulders, throat, and upper breasts treated to the same loving caress of his mouth, playful nibbles that teased before he soothed them again with a stroke of his tongue.
She climaxed to the sound of Xavier’s praise, the weredragon uttering words she couldn’t understand in the elvish language, naught but her own name recognizable. Then he thrust deep, spilling inside her.
For a long while, neither of them moved. She held him as tightly as he held her, fearing the moment she let go, the dream would end.
It didn’t. He slipped down to the mattress and gathered her in his arms, both of them lying nude against the covers with legs entwined.
He caressed her stomach then her breasts in alternating, lazy strokes. “That was...”
“Yes.” She snuggled closer, dark hair fanning over his shoulder. A languid weight settled over her body from head to toe like a lead blanket. His chuckle stirred her from the threshold of semi-consciousness.
“What’s funny?” She liked the sound of his laugh, realizing how warm and genuine it sounded.
“I forgot to feed you. Think you’re ready for that supper now?”
“Only if we can dine in bed together.”
Xavier brushed his lips against her temple. “Then your wish is my command.”
18
Trust Earned
Rosalia crawled from bed around noon despite her protesting, aching body. At least it was a delicious, worthwhile kind of ache, not the unrelenting throb that came from receiving a thorough ass-beating.
Chilled, she slipped into the warm robe draped over a nearby chair and stepped into the slippers waiting at the bedside. Neither had been there the night before.
The trays from their late dinner were also gone. Just before she’d gone semi-comatose on Xavier, she vaguely recalled him setting aside an empty wine bottle too. All traces of stuffing her face had been removed.
Leaving the bedchamber, she passed through the treasure room and searched the rest of the lair until she met her dragon in the place she least expected to find him.
Xavier stood at the alchemy table, back to her and sleeves rolled to his elbows while he diced a heart-shaped pink root vegetable with a silver knife.
“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be upstairs?”
“I closed for lunch.”
She crinkled her nose at the sweet-smelling vegetable. “That doesn’t look like lunch.”
“This isn’t lunch. Lunch is waiting for you in the sit
ting room.” He scraped the pile of pink slivers into an open kettle then placed it on the burner. A snap of his fingers produced a spark, and then brilliant violet flame flared beneath the kettle. Xavier made arcane gestures as it boiled, then drizzled some other magical reagent over the open vessel.
Puffs of gold and scarlet smoke rose into the air. Fascinated, she watched.
“What is it?”
Xavier glanced over his shoulder at her. “Silphium.”
Her brows shot up. “But that’s—”
“I keep it on hand for other remedies that require it, but I thought it would ease your mind if I prepared a contraceptive draught.”
She blinked up at him. “It would. Thank you.”
“Go eat. I’ll have this out to you in a moment.”
Rosalia did exactly that and shuffled into the sitting room. A table laden with smoked fish, buttery pastries from Madame Maxmila’s Bakery, and creamed cheese blended with herbs awaited her along with a tea service for two. She poured both cups and mixed Xavier’s tea to his preferences. She’d noticed how he took it during the days of their cohabitation, with a splash of cream and two sugars.
He entered moments later carrying a vial filled with glowing, pink potion.
“Thank you.” She tilted it to her lips and drank the sweet, floral-scented concoction. It went down smoothly.
He took the seat opposite her at the small table. “No need to thank me for doing what’s right, Rosalia. As I said, tricking you was never part of my plan. Earning your affection, perhaps, but never trickery. How am I any different from any other man who knows he desires children in the future?”
Her throat tightened. “Not so different I suppose. But you knew what I am. You knew I existed.”
He shrugged. “Knowing you exist and recognizing you for what you are doesn’t guarantee we’d be a match. I only knew you were out there somewhere, and that hopefully something would come of it.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s all. Is it so awful of me to seek a mate compatible with me in every way?” He leaned forward, watching her, a gaze so intense she felt shivers down to her toes. A flush arose in her cheeks. “Because my own mother wasn’t strong enough to bear me, I watched her health decline throughout my childhood. I watched my father suffer, knowing he could have spared her that if she’d never birthed his son. Does it make me a monster that I hoped to fall in love with a woman who will remain in this realm for me and our future children?”
“No.” His shoulders loosened. “I…I suppose I can’t fault you for waiting to tell me. It would be an unusual first date conversation topic after all, and the circumstances didn’t grant us a chance for another.”
“They didn’t. Is it behind us then?”
“It’s behind us.”
The only topic she couldn’t bear to settle was where to take their relationship next.
While his lover showered, Xavier returned to the storefront and removed the Out to Lunch sign pinned to the door. As much as it tempted him to join her, the most important thing he could do was uphold appearances of being a normal—and very harmless—clockwork mechanic instead of an Ilyrian weredragon spy.
The usual afternoon rush began soon after, old customers and new spilling into the store to peruse his wares or to request time in the appointment book for household repairs of larger machines.
An older woman set her clockwork mouser on the counter. “I bought this device from the Mecha Bandit last year to hunt rats in my bakery, but something is wrong with it and Anjero says he can’t repair it.”
Xavier sighed. Anjero Bonaclava was as much a con artist as he was a mechanic. “You don’t want to know how often I hear that about him.”
There were two kinds of people in Enimura—folk who genuinely enjoyed the company of actual felines, and people who wouldn’t pay money for an animal that shit in a box and demanded they treat it like a god.
For the latter, there were clockwork devices that behaved like a living cat without any of the day-to-day requirements. It didn’t require litter, didn’t steal food, and didn’t knock fine china from counters while staring its owner in the face. Xavier preferred them.
“Oh dear. My granddaughter told me I choose poorly when I patronized his shop.”
“I’ll tell you what I tell everyone else, madame. I can repair your mouse-hunter, but—”
At that moment, the door slammed open, and a squad of city watchmen entered. The old woman hustled out of their way as they pushed toward the counter, jostling other customers in their path. All eyes turned to them as the one in the lead unrolled a scroll and glanced at it. “Xavier Bane?”
Xavier aimed an apologetic smile to the old woman cradling her mechanical cat against her chest. She knew the drill and quietly observed the proceedings with wide eyes. “Yes. That’s me. What may I do to help you, watch sergeant?”
“We’ve come to conduct a search of the premises. We have reason to believe you may be harboring a fugitive and a prohibited magical creature.”
Seven sets of eyes widened, and one of the customers gasped. Confusion, skepticism, and outright disdain flit among their expressions, though the latter appeared to be aimed at the watch—not at him.
Xavier kept his cool and put on a polite front, the very model of civility. “I can assure you, I’m in possession of neither illegal creature nor fugitive.”
“Just the same, we must search the property. Kindly provide any keys to…” The man glanced at the parchment. “Properties 7, 8, and 9 of Golden Dawn Avenue and vacate the premises while we conduct a thorough examination. At the completion of our inspection, you will be permitted to return.”
“Of course.” Xavier shaped his lips into a smile. Their arrogant faces and superior demeanors tempted him to hand over the keys without warning, knowing they’d receive the surprise of their lifetimes when his magical defenses hurled them into the streets again. “Unfortunately, I’m afraid that I must accompany you. Many of the original mundane locks have been replaced by magical devices requiring my presence to safely navigate the buildings where I store my goods.”
“Deactivate them.”
“I can’t.”
The watchman cocked a brow. “Nonsense. All magical devices can be disabled.”
“If you have a day or two to spare, certainly. It is a time-consuming process.”
“The hell is happening here?” a sharp voice demanded from the open doorway of the shop. A pair of deeply tanned females in naval uniforms strode inside, a lieutenant and an enlisted sailor from the looks of their medals and badges. The officer frowned at the watchmen.
“We are following the spymaster general’s recent directive. This man is to be detained.”
“No time for detaining him or searching his bloody property. We need him at the docks.”
“On whose authority?” the sergeant demanded.
The lieutenant rolled her shoulders and stood taller, initiating an inevitable dick-measuring contest despite lacking one of her own. The King’s Navy, city watch, and royal guard weren’t friends by any means, each branch of the kingdom’s law enforcement eager to use any opportunity to take the other down by a peg. “By the authority of Admiral Brigaria, we’re here to escort this mechanic to the Silver Dagger. He was the last to perform maintenance aboard our vessel prior to our ship setting sail. Now it’s sprung a dozen leaks and there are sparks everywhere. The engine is rumbling and belched a bloody gout of flame. I need not tell you the danger of fucking sparks and flames on a ship constructed from wood,” she spit toward them.
“It’s on the water, ain’t it?” one of the city watchmen asked. “Not like it’s in danger of setting fire to the rest of the city. Can’t it wait, lieutenant?”
The watch sergeant scratched his head. “It seems to me the man lacks competence. Why would you want to set him loose on the ship again if he’s already ruined it?”
“Because it wasn’t his work that ruined our ship. There’s a godsdamned creature on the
loose in the engine room and—” She made a disgusted sound, the noise rattling in her throat. “Why am I even explaining it to you? Come along, Bane. Captain Anamesco is waiting.”
The sergeant bristled and rose to his full height as well. “Now wait a minute. Spymaster Caius ordered—”
“I could give a damn what order your spymaster gave you,” the naval lieutenant spat. The longer they spoke the closer they moved to one another, chins jutting out and dark eyes narrowing in mutual disdain. “I received these instructions from the admiral, and last I checked, they are both considered equal in this kingdom. I will not be swayed by some common watch-thug—”
Before tempers could combust, Xavier cleared his throat. “Gentlemen. Er, and gentlelady. Please. Allow me to close up my shop and carry out my work at the docks. Once that is complete, the watch is welcome to examine both my shop and wares to your hearts’ content. Is this not a satisfactory compromise?”
“No,” the leading watchman seethed. “I demand—”
“Unfortunately,” Xavier interrupted, hefting his toolbox from behind the counter, “As much as I would like to provide immediate access to my property, watch sergeant, there appears to be a gremlin loose on the Silver Dagger. Trust me, neither of us wants to be responsible for that creature vacating its current home and roosting elsewhere.”
“That will be fine,” the sergeant gritted.
“Thank you. Madame, I apologize, but I must schedule an appointment with you on the morrow to repair your mouser.”
“That will be fine. Thank you, Master Bane.” The old woman glanced at the assembly of men waiting on Xavier, distrust radiating from her narrowed eyes. “We’ll replace it tomorrow.” Then she marched from the shop.
“To the rest of you, I apologize, but I must tend to this mess.”
His furry bundle of chaos must have whelped her babies in the engine. The sooner he tamed the gremlin and gathered her spawn, the sooner he could declare the Silver Dagger to be a wreck pending days if not weeks of mechanical repairs, also sparing Rosalia’s childhood friend from seeking war with Ilyria on the seas.
Fool's Gold: a Fantasy Romance (Daughter of Fortune Book 2) Page 15
