Page 179 of Unbound

Just my name, but the way he says it—like a prayer, like salvation—makes me braver. I remove the rest of my clothing until I stand before him completely bare, the rain drenching me as a slight drift of steam rises from the water around me. Water droplets catch on my eyelashes, slide down my collarbone, trail between my breasts.

His gaze scorches me, traveling from my face to my breasts, down to the curve of my hips, the juncture of my thighs. He swallows hard, adam's apple bobbing.

"Your turn," I whisper.

He doesn't hesitate. His uniform joins mine on the stone floor, revealing a body sculpted by training and battle, touched with dozens of hidden scars I want to trace with my fingers and ask about in some future, sleepy morning where death isn’t breathing down our necks.

I don’t breathe as I drink in the sight of him. Ican’tbreathe.

Broad shoulders tapering to narrow hips, strong thighs dusted with dark hair, and thick muscle layered beneath tanned skin.

His arousal is evident, thick and hard, and I allow myself to stare, to want without shame. Through the tether, I feel his mix of desire and barely checked restraint—a heady combination that makes my knees weak.

The water is pleasantly warm, growing hotter around him until it's almost like a bath. Rain continues to fall from the enchanted clouds, catching in his dark hair, sliding down his face, trailing over the defined muscles of his chest.

The edges of the bathing pools are shallow enough that the water only reaches waist-height. In the center, it's deep enough to fully submerge yourself.

"Come here," he says, pulling me through the water until our bodies meet, skin against slick skin.

I gasp at the contact, at the hardness of him pressing against my bare skin. His hands settle on my waist, his grip firm and wonderfully possessive. He touches me like a present he can barely wait to unwrap and enjoy, andgods…I just want to fall apart in his hands, to ride the wave of his kisses to the perfect bliss I know lays at the end of that path.

"I've thought about this," he confesses, his lips trailing along my jaw, down my neck. "About you. Like this. Wet. Wanting me." His teeth graze my pulse point, drawing a shiver from me. "Have you thought about it too?"

"Yes," I admit, my head falling back as his mouth works its way lower. "More than I should."

"Tell me," he urges, his hands sliding up my sides to cup my breasts. His thumbs brush over my nipples, making me gasp. "What did you imagine?"

Heat blooms in my cheeks that has nothing to do with his fire magic. "Your hands," I whisper. "Your mouth. The way they'd feel on me."

"Like this?" He bends to take one peaked nipple between his lips, the wet heat of his mouth drawing a moan from deep in my throat. His tongue circles, teases, while his thumb mimics the motion on my other breast.

"Yes," I breathe, my hands finding his shoulders, nails digging into hard muscle. "Just like that."

He takes his time, lavishing attention on my breasts until I'm squirming against him, desperate for more. The water swirls around us, heated by his power until it nearly bubbles, steam rising to mingle with the falling rain.

His mouth travels lower, marking a path of kisses down my stomach. The position forces him to kneel in the pool, water lapping at his chest. He looks up at me, his eyes molten gold in the dim light.

"I want to taste you," he says, hands sliding to the backs of my thighs.

The request makes my pulse skyrocket. I nod, unable to form words past the desire clogging my throat.

He guides one of my legs over his shoulder, then lifts the other, easily holding me as he guides my back to rest carefully on the edge of the pool.

"You're even more perfect than I'd imagined," he says, hot breath tickling my inner thighs as he kisses his way up a devastating path toward my waiting heat.

The warm rain trickles down intimately against my most sensitive flesh, but it's nothing compared to the first touch of his tongue. I cry out, hands flying to his hair to anchor myself as pleasure bolts through me.

"Raith," I gasp, my head falling back and my body digging against the rounded edge of the bathing pool.

He groans as if he's enjoying this more than I am, and the vibration of his voice only adds to the sensation. His hands grip my hips, keeping me steady as he explores with lips and tongue, learning what makes me moan, what makes me tremble. Through our tether, I feel his own arousal building with every sound I make, every shudder he draws from me.

The echo of his emotions is... interesting.

I feel hints of what he's feeling. I sense just how deeply he's enjoying this and how much I turn him on. I've never felt so fucking wanted.

The rain falls harder in response to my rising emotions, droplets sluicing down my heated skin. When he finds that perfect spot, circling it with relentless precision, my knees buckle. If he wasn't holding me so tightly, I would sink down and melt beneath the waters.

"I'm close," I warn, my voice breaking. "Too close. I want?—"

---