Page 125 of A Reign of Embers

As I slide deeper into the soothing heat, the bubbles tickle my nose. Enchanted currents ripple against my skin, whisking the dirt and sweat down a pipe.

Aurelia grabs more of the soap.

“I can—” I begin.

She stops me with a firm look. “Let me.”

The trace of a plea in her tone halts my voice. I tip my head back while she lathers my hair and then rinses it. The strokes of her fingers over my scalp send a different sort of heat coursing over my skin.

By the time she’s continued her ministrations down my chest, my cock is standing at attention. Desire smolders low in my belly. I consider her nightgown—simple by imperial standards, and no doubt she has plenty of the things—and grasp her by the waist.

“What—?” she manages to gasp before I’m lifting her over the edge of the tub. She isn’t the tiniest of women, but she’s no challenge for my strength.

I settle her on top of me, her legs splayed around my waist, and we both groan as my cock rubs against her sex.

Aurelia glowers at me even as pleasure warms her expression. “You were supposed to be?—”

“I let you take care of me. I’ve spent too many days away from you, Shepherdess. I’ll be damned if I’m not going to have you as close as I can get now.”

I roll my hips beneath hers, and her breath breaks.

She bows her head, her mouth crashing into mine. I swivel one palm against her breast through the wet silk while grasping her thigh with the other.

I know this woman’s body so well it only takes a moment to line her up perfectly. Then I’m plunging into the most giddying place I’ve ever known.

Aurelia’s slick channel squeezes my cock, and I almost explode just like that. Holding back the surge of my impending release, I rock up into her.

I’d heighten her pleasure with my gift, but I’m afraid reaching for the shadows again after the recent strain will throw off my regular aptitude for this act. I want to savor every moment of our reunion fully.

She wants an attentive lover, not one half unconscious with pain.

The water sloshes around us as we buck together. Every inch of her dampened skin glides so perfectly against mine. Bliss flares with each desperate caress, each urgent kiss.

She must have needed this too. I’ve only had to test my restraint for a short span of delicious torment before one flick of my thumb over her clit has her arching over me, shuddering with her release.

The sensation flings me over the edge with her. I come hard, burrowing my face against the crook of her neck with a scrape of my teeth.

Aurelia relaxes over me and touches my jaw to guide me into a gentler kiss. She stays there with her head tipped close as her breaths even out.

“Welcome home,” she murmurs.

A smile stretches my lips. I pull her even closer, reveling in the understanding that no matter whether my family gets off their asses, no matter what treacherous soldiers threaten this palace, that’s exactly where I am.

And where I’m going to stay, even if it kills me.

Chapter Forty-Five

Aurelia

The joy of Raul’s return buoys me through my maids’ fussing over my hair and dress. When I reach the dining room for breakfast, the sight of Axius brings all my other concerns rushing to the front of my mind.

I murmur a quick word to a page to ensure the high commander is sitting next to me at the main table. The grizzled man moves to join me with an evaluating gaze. He must be able to guess I made the request because I need to talk to him.

I wait until the servers have laid out our first course of delicate pastries topped with frothed eggs. “That specially trained squad we discussed sending on a mission. Did you end up dispatching them without us discussing it?”

An expression even more somber than usual shadows Axius’s face. “No. The last couple of them I was able to reach arrived just as the pox struck. Several of them fell ill… The woman who acted as captain of the squad in the past was hit particularly hard and passed away before you’d created your cure. The others will still be willing to serve—I should have raised the matter sooner.”

“We’ve all had a lot on our minds in the past few days.” My stomach knots at the thought of one more skilled ally cut down in Sabrelle’s campaign, simply because she was willing to help me.

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