Page 223 of Eldritch
“How?”
“My blood. Her blood. She mixed into some sort of elixir. According to her, Aleysia died for a minute, or so. When she woke, the infection was gone.”
Hooking his finger beneath the hem of his tattered tunic, he peeled it off, and I ran my palm over the hard planes of his chest.
“Zevander…it’s possible that you might be infected, too. The scar on your face. It resembles Aleysia’s.”
“Is this your way of telling me you want to kill me?”
“No.” My smile faded. “Erithanya said that Morsana chose to return Aleysia. I’m not certain that she would return you, and the thought of that terrifies me. But if you changed into one of those things …” The rims of my eyes tingled with the threat of tears, perhaps a result of all the pent-up emotions from what happened back at the church and thinking Aleysia had died. I hadn’t had a moment to process, or absorb everything that’d happened, and throwing the possibility that he was infected on top of it all felt too heavy. Too much at once. I turned toward the basin beside us so he wouldn’t see the emotion that consumed me right then.
A finger hooked my chin, guiding my attention back to him. “I’ve had this scar for centuries. I don’t see why I’d turn into one of them now.”
“I hope not.” I quickly blinked away the mist of tears in my eyes. “It’d be strange kissing a spider.”
He chuckled and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Are you telling me you’d stay with me, even if I became one of those grotesque things?”
“I’d have to. We’re mated, aren’t we?” The humor in my voice died. “I couldn’t bring myself to kill you, knowing you were still there somewhere inside.”
“You remember what I told you? Don’t think. Act on your instincts. That includes me.”
“Let’s not talk about this right now,” I said, pushing away those somber thoughts. “There’s still plenty of vyrmish bits to clean.” I lifted a clay pitcher from beside the basin, poured fresh, warm water over the washcloth, and dragged it across his chest. The scent of lavender calmed my rattled nerves, and I paused to kiss where I cleaned.
Hands fumbled around at my back, and seconds later, the neckline of my dress slipped down, held only by my arms still caught in its sleeves. I slipped them out and let it fall to the floor, standing bare in front of him.
He rinsed the cloth in fresh water, as I had moments ago, and ran it over my shoulders and down across my breasts, where he paused to massage them through the heated cloth.
Eyes shuttered, I tipped my head back, and he bowed forward, taking one of my nipples into his mouth. He growled against my flesh, the vibrations tugging an ache between my thighs. Switching to the other breast, he gave one, long, painfully delicious suck, and I gripped his biceps, arching into him.
A soft moan escaped me as he flicked his tongue and ran his teeth over it.
Strong arms cradled my neck and back as he lavished both breasts with equal attention.
He dipped the cloth into the water once again, and eyes on me, he slowly lowered to his knees before me, his head conveniently level with my chest. The cloth glided down over my stomach, and he kissed my navel, before sweeping it over my hips to my thighs, where he pressed a kiss to the inner, fleshy part of my leg. After tossing the cloth aside, he lifted another from the clean stack and wet it from the pitcher. Eyes on mine, he hiked my leg over his shoulder and gently dragged the fresh cloth over my throbbing flesh in slow, lazy strokes. Rinsing it in the water again brought fresh heat, and I clutched the edge of the table to steady myself as a wave of dizziness swept over me. He lowered his face and dragged his tongue up that wet slit with the greed of a man who’d stolen the world’s last ripened fruit.
I fisted his hair and let out a moan, my toes curled into his back as he held my leg over his shoulder.
Hands gripped my bottom, the cloth pressing against my cheek as he urged me to his face, devouring me like a man who hadn’t eaten a proper meal in days.
I mindlessly circled my hips against his face, while he sucked and licked my flesh. Two fingers pushed up inside of me, the slickness of my arousal making for a wet glide. My thighs trembled as I fought to keep them from buckling beneath me. Moans slipped out of me, and I bit my bottom lip, a knot of tension winding tight inside of me.
Tighter. So tight, my whole body shook, muscles rigid.
One long drag of his tongue across that bud of nerves, and I tipped my head back, my body unraveling, splitting open with a burst of pleasure. A sound of ecstasy and agony ripped from my throat, as Zevander masterfully flicked his tongue, pressing me hard against his face as he sucked the juices he’d roused.
Ragged breaths sawed in and out of me, my flesh pulsing and throbbing as it fought to settle.
A knock at the door sent a jolt of panic to my muscles, and my breath hitched.
“Maeve!” Aleysia called from the other side of it. “Are you in there?”
“I’m…washing! Please don’t come in!”
“I just wanted to show you this dress! I look like you!” She chuckled, and I slapped a hand over my eyes, still trying to calm my shaken nerves.
Zevander dragged his tongue up my flesh again, and my hips bucked forward as I let out a grunt.
“I’ll be out soon!” My voice cracked, and I lowered my leg from his shoulder. “Let me …. Let me finish washing!”
