“You okay, Mae?” he murmured, caressing his hand up and down her back in a soothing motion.
She smiled without opening her eyes. “Great,” she answered fuzzily. “Perfect.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Sore?”
“Don’t know. No feeling yet,” she muttered.
He grinned and pulled her fully on top of him, her legs against his in such a way that he could feel the wet heat still pulsing between her thighs. He went rock hard all over again, and she gasped.
“So soon?”
“It’s you,” he said softly. “You make me . . . hungry,” he ended on a growl, before he got control of himself and remembered who she was. “But I don’t want to hurt you. And it will hurt,” he added, when she would have protested. “We’ve got that big tub in the bathroom there. Maybe we’ll take a soak together.”
“You’d do that?”
“Oh, yeah,” he croaked. “As long as you’re in there with me.” His cock jerked as the image of her lying naked between his legs, her ass against his groin and all that soothing, hot water swirling around them. He closed his eyes, trying to think of something, anything, to ease the tight fist of desire threatening to overtake his reason.
“I wouldn’t mind doing it again,” she murmured. “I’m not that—”
“We’ll see how you feel in a bit,” he said quickly, before she could erase his good intentions. He wrapped his arms around her and rolled off the bed, taking her with him. A man could only resist so much temptation. Especially when he’d gone centuries without a woman. “Let’s get you into that bath before I forget myself and fuck you dry.”
She should have been shocked. He was shocked that he’d said it. But instead she responded in all seriousness, and speaking in a small voice she said, “I don’t feel dry.”
He groaned. “The fates hate me.”
The bath was as hot and soothing as he’d hoped, but it didn’t last long. Maeve was asleep in his arms almost before they settled into the water, her breasts soft mounds against his chest as she turned to her side and wrapped an arm around his ribs. He remained in the water past the time her breathing took on the slow rhythm of sleep, enjoying the peace and affection of the moment.
Too soon, however, the water began to cool, and rather than disturbing her to run fresh water and reheat it, he slid his arms under her and stood. Water splashed over the sides, adding more to the puddle when he stepped carefully out of the tub with her in his arms. She murmured wordlessly, wrapped one arm over his shoulder, and settled back to sleep. His arms tightened as he shifted her higher on his chest, needing to hold her closer, to keep her safe. And when he dipped his chin to inhale the fresh scent of her hair, his heart clenched painfully. He’d never loved anyone the way he did her. She’d somehow slipped beneath his guard and shone a sweet, warm light on his black soul, bathing the shriveled thing in life.
“I’ll keep you safe, Mae,” he whispered against her sleeping cheek.
“Mmm-kay,” she surprised him by whispering back, though her eyes never opened. “And I’ll keep you safe, too.”
Chapter Eleven
THEY SLEPT LATE the next morning, Maeve wrapped in Dragan’s arms, feeling utterly warm and content, despite the lone sheet being their only bed covering. He tightened his embrace when she stroked her hand over his forearm, and bent his head to rub his cheek over her hair. She smiled. She felt different this morning. Not because she’d had sex. . . . Well, not only because of that. Although the experience had been far more enjoyable than her wildest imaginings. She still ached between her thighs, though it was a good kind of ache, the kind that made her feel . . . like a woman. She’d never say that out loud. Even in her thoughts, it sounded like something they’d say on one of those romance movie channels. But it was true. Her pussy was tender and so overstimulated that she was sure even the lightest brush of a finger would send fresh shock waves rolling through her body. And now that she’d experienced a real orgasm . . . well, hell, she didn’t know how anyone could just go about their lives after something like that. For the first time, she understood how a person could get addicted to sex.
“What are you thinking?” Dragan’s deep voice interrupted her internal monologue.
“Oh, you know, just . . .” She cleared her throat self-consciously, and he chuckled as one big hand smoothed down to cup her possessively between the thighs. Maeve squirmed slightly.
“Are you sore?” His breath was a brush of warmth against her ear.
“A little,” she admitted. “Mostly inside.” An embarrassed blush heated her cheeks. “Sorry,” she whispered so softly, she wasn’t sure he’d hear.
“I’m the one who should apologize. I was too rough for an innocent.”
“I’m not innocent,” she protested immediately. “I gave full consent and participated in every minute of it. And you weren’t too rough, either.” Was he trying to denigrate the best night of her life? No way! “I loved it,” she said, on the verge of being angry.
He made a wordless hissing noise and hugged her tighter. “Don’t get your temper up, sweet Mae.” He slid a wet fingertip between the tender lips of her pussy and began teasing her clitoris, oh so gently. “Does that hurt?” he whispered.
A shiver rippled over her abdomen and up to her breasts, making her nipples stiffen against the arm he had around her chest. She shook her head. “No,” she breathed, adding a soft moan of pleasure when he added a second fingertip and pinched her clit between them. “Are you . . . that is, are we . . .”
“Would you like to? You’re sore and—”
“Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“Yes, I want to do whatever it is you’re doing. It—” She swallowed, feeling too bold, too blatantly hungry. But he’d asked. “It feels good,” she whispered.
“Sweet Mae. You’re delicious, do you know that?” He licked her cheek with a slow stroke.
That felt good, too. Everything he did felt good. Was she becoming his sex slave? Good God, Mae, she scolded herself. Sex slave? Get a fucking grip.
“Thank you?” she said in a small voice, not at all sure of the appropriate response.
He licked her again, but this time he turned her head slightly and ended up kissing her mouth. And all the while his calloused fingers continued their delicate caress of her increasingly aroused clit. She could feel wetness growing between her thighs as pleasure spread from her clit downward, making her want to spread her legs to give him greater access.