Page 43 of The Marriage Bargain

CAIDE

Damn. Her mouth was sweet from the wine. Her lips were soft and pliable. I couldn’t stop myself. I had to taste her further. My tongue darted out, sliding across the line of her sealed lips, then flicking around the entire shape of her mouth, begging for entrance. She didn’t resist. Her breathing was rough and unsteady in my ears. As rough and unsteady as my own. She moaned my name, “Caide,” even as her mouth opened. I slid my tongue inside, seeking entrance. Without me consciously telling it to, acting sheerly from instinct and the painful longing that had been building for so long, it darted around hers, caressing and teasing. She responded as I’d hoped she would, pressing her face harder into mine. Her tongue glided around mine, quick, then slow, teasing and inviting, then harder and faster.

Her body pressed harder into mine. My loins burned like they were on fire. Groaning, I grabbed her hips, cupping her backside with both of my palms. It was both soft and firm at the same time, and so large my hands couldn’t contain it. That drove me even wilder. I pulled her hips sharply into mine, while at the same time turning and shoving her up against the wall. At first, I worried I might have frightened her, might have been too rough, might have used too much strength.

No, she seemed to like it. Instead of recoiling or attempting to pull away, she responded by grabbing my buttocks, pulling me closer, drawing my hips directly into hers. She couldn’t be unaware of the physical changes going through me when she did that. But she didn’t falter. And not only that, she ground her hips into mine, rubbing herself against me, breathing heavier. Kissing me harder and with growing hunger.

“Caide,” she panted. “Caide…”

I didn’t know what she wanted to say. What needed to be said? My hands left her ass to fumble for the button of her pants, even as her fingers started working the buttons on the front of my shirt. I slid my mouth away from hers to nip at her perfect little human ears, then kiss the hollow behind them, then move to her neck. Even as I undid the button on her jeans and wrenched them apart, I placed my mouth on her neck, kissing, sucking, biting.

The conclusion to all this seemed inevitable. Gloriously, passionately, inevitable.

However, inevitable was becoming an unfamiliar word.

Delle’s phone rang.

“Ignore it,” she panted. Her arms were around my neck now, drawing me closer to her. She nipped at my earlobe. In response, I thrust my hips sharply into hers.

The ringing stopped, the kissing continued. My hands were on her ribcage now, and seeking to go higher. She wasn’t preventing me. I was prepared to allow them to wander wherever they wanted, when the phone rang again. This time, so did mine.

“Damn it,” Delle swore, drawing away from me, sagging against the wall. Her arms slipped from my neck. “I guess someone really wants to get ahold of us.”

“Please let me ignore it,” I begged. I stood over her, both arms braced against the wall, trying desperately to catch my breath and ignore my aching body. “Please, Delle.”

My phone buzzed even louder, meaning whoever was attempting to reach me had pressed a button that indicated insistence, importance.

“I think—I think we should probably check, don’t you? In case something’s seriously wrong?”

Her glasses were askew, half hanging off her face. I didn’t remember knocking them askew, but I wasn’t surprised. I was surprised they were still on at all. Her pants were unbuttoned, her shirt pulled up almost to her breasts—the breasts I hadn’t gotten to touch. My shirt was half pulled off. There was nothing in me right now that wanted to stop what we were doing and answer our damn phones.

But she had a point.

“What if it’s something terrible? Or really important? I think we’d better make sure. We can come back to this.”

Could we, though? Would we?

I groaned in frustration as she ducked under my arm and hurried away, into the kitchen to answer her phone, which hadn’t stopped ringing. Her hands were already straightening her clothes. I stared at her backside as she left, muttering every swear word I knew, both human and Asterion. To think I’d been this close—this close—to unburdening the load of desire I’d been carrying ever since I met her.

“This close…” I ground out, reaching for my phone. I pressed the key to answer it, while reluctantly straightening my own clothing.

“Hello?”

“Overlord Caide?”

It was Zyn, Delle’s brother-in-law. Now my brother-in-law, I supposed.

“It’s me,” he said.

I had to prevent myself from barking a very frustrated, “What do you want?” After all, he was unaware that I’d been about to consummate my brand-new marriage.

“The baby’s coming. It’s too early,” he explained in a rush. I’ve got to get Tarra to the hospital right away. Delle isn’t answering her phone. Is she still with you?”

“She is here,” I assured him, even as I heard Delle exclaim from the other room, “We’ll be there right away!”

“We’ll come at once,” I assured my worker, now my brother-in-law. It struck me that, for the first time in my life, I was part of a family. An actual family. Being married to Delle meant her family was now my family—at least, so long as we remained married. I had never had a family. It felt strange and yet good, somehow, to accept the burden of helping out these people, even if they were humans and on a lower social stratum than myself and even Delle, now that she was officially joined to me.

I barely heard the hurried, “Thanks,” as Zyn signed off and Delle rushed back into the room.

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