Had he any plans to hide his desire from her, his aroused state would give him away the moment he pulled off his clothes. Luckily, he had no interest in hiding how much he lusted for her and hoped such obvious proof might convince her he was sincere in his passion.
He didn't miss the admiring glint lightening her eyes when he waded into the water. She didn't look away or keep distance between them as he swam toward her, the water sliding around him like warm silk.
“How many bruises did you count as I walked into the water?” he asked.
To his delight, she floated toward him, only halting when her body bumped against his and her arms slid around his waist. “What bruises?” she said, a hint of her teeth flashing white behind her partial smile. Her laughter, low and sultry, seduced him almost as much as the feel of her pressed against him. He returned her embrace, drawing her close so that no empty space existed between them.
Sleek and muscled, she was the epitome of the Kai warrior humans feared and respected, physically powerful, very aware of her many strengths and how to use them. Serovek savored those aspects of her, indulged in the way his blood pumped hot through his veins at the way she fit to his body, how her buttocks curved taut in his hands and the muscles in her long back flexed under his caress. She was slim hipped with legs that went for leagues and could break him in half if she wrapped them around his middle and squeezed. The forbidden and the dangerous had always been the lodestones of humanity, and he was no exception. And while Anhuset was still dangerous, the language of her silent affection told him that she was no longer forbidden to him.
They held each other in the water, doing nothing more for the moment than learning each other's shape and texture in the quiet of the pool, without the threat of death hanging over them or the sense that one kiss might be a first and also a last exchanged. It was a moment to prolong.
“Are you going to kiss me again, margrave?” she said. “Or have you lost your courage and fear for your tongue?” She didn't challenge him by baring her teeth, but he sensed a subtle shift in her body, a fine tensing of muscle as if she expected him to refuse her invitation.
He cupped her face, beautiful even with its purplish marks, and tilted her chin up with his thumb. “I finally have a naked sha-Anhuset in my arms. I fear nothing.”
Her sigh became a moan when he captured her lips with his and explored their contours anew, relearning the giving terrain, the way she tasted, how she slanted her mouth under his and caught his lower lip between both of hers to suck and nibble. Her memory of that first exploration while they stood beaten and bloodied on the island hillside was as clear as his, for she slowed the kiss and opened her mouth wider to invite him inside. He didn't hesitate, swooping in to caress her mouth with his tongue and expertly avoid the sharp points of her teeth. She returned the caress with the same fervor and less caution, her tongue tangling with his before swiping along the top and sides of his mouth.
They broke apart to breathe. Serovek pressed his forehead to Anhuset's only to retreat when she jerked away with an “ouch!” She touched her brow and he remembered the contusion she'd gained, courtesy of a nasty head-butting that left her with a painful lump and her adversary with a shattered nose and missing teeth.
“Forgive me,” he said. “I'd forgotten about that spot.”
She waved away his apology. “You can make it up to me,” she said with a sly grin, no longer worried that her toothy amusement might scare him off.
Those flashes of vulnerability reminded him that for all her physical prowess and ferocity, there were still aspects of Anhuset that were unsure, self-doubting, even fearful. They were as much a part of her character as all the rest, just buried deeper and only revealed to those she trusted most. She trusted him.
The realization of such a gift bestowed upon him spiked his passion for her even higher though he hadn't thought such a thing possible. He cradled her hips, lifting her a tiny bit. The water's buoyancy made it effortless, and she wrapped her legs around him, anchoring herself in place, thighs wide. Inviting. Tempting. Teasing. Her eyelids dropped to half mast, lending a sleepy come-hither expression to her features. Her back arched, legs tightening on his torso.
He bent his head to nuzzle her throat, then nibble the elegant cords of her neck, and move on to her shoulder where he bit down gently and was rewarded with a gasp and the sting of her claws raking lightly across his shoulder blades.
He lifted her higher, arched her back a little more and took one firm breast in his mouth. Her nipple, a lavender-gray, surrounded by an areola of similar shade, hardened in his mouth, and he suckled it to an even stiffer peak. Anhuset's panting moans echoed in the chamber and likely down the narrow corridors where others could hear. Serovek didn't care and doubted she did either.
His plan to lavish the same attention her other breast was curtailed when Anhuset's legs flexed so tight around him, it was his turn to gasp. “Anhuset,” he rasped. Her eyes, a burnished gold glittering with sparks, stared at him for moment before widening when he gasped again. “Release.” She loosened her grip, and he inhaled a grateful breath.
While she might have relaxed her hold, she didn't let go entirely. Thigh muscles contracted as did her calves, forcing him forward with a hard push. Her pelvis tilted and in one quick motion he slid partially inside her. “Gods,” he groaned as she squeezed his shaft, her inner muscles flexing to grip the head of his cock and tug.
“Enough teasing, margrave,” she said in a guttural voice. “Show me what it is to be pleasured by the Beladine Stallion.”
Her words set him afire. If he were younger and less experienced, he would have come inside her right then, still only halfway embedded in her. He remedied that with a full thrust forward, burying his entire length in her, shuddering at the shockwave of sensation that followed.
Her eyes rounded for a moment, and her mouth opened but no sound escaped. Afraid he'd hurt her, he tried to withdraw only to have her increase the vise-like grip of her legs on him to hold him in place. “Gods be damned,” she blasphemed in a thin voice. “The rumors are true. You're a fucking horse.”
“Am I hurting you?” he said, ready to withdraw if needed, though he was nearly delirious from the pleasure of being inside her.
She shook her head. “No.” She lunged forward to steal a hard kiss. The tip of one tooth raked his bottom lip. He felt the sting and tasted the tang of copper. “Again,” she said, her own lip dotted with his blood.
He obliged, pumping hard into her as the water in the pool purled back and forth in waves. It was a mating, fierce and hungry, with the rake of claws, the thrust of hips, the bite on a shoulder or neck, a sweet nipple in his mouth, his cock deep inside her body. His name on her lips in a chant that was part command, part begging, part gasping, and all praise as she fucked him into oblivion and drained his bollocks dry.
He suckled one breast, teasing the other with his fingers as he continued thrusting into her. Anhuset's claw tips pressed into his back, almost breaking skin as she climaxed in his arms and nearly cracked his newly healed ribs under the grip of her legs. His heartbeat thundered in his ears and pounded against his breastbone. Sweat trickled down the sides of his face, beading on his skin along with the water
Anhuset inhaled great gulps of air and slowly peeled her fingers off his back. Serovek was certain if he were to look in a mirror now, he'd see divots in his skin. She stared at him, her features slack with a wonder that made him want to preen and also sent a rush of relief through him. He hadn't disappointed her.