Page 22 of Boundless
"Too right, then," Daega agreed. "I'd rather talk about how Len's friend Sevren was asking about whether any of my sisters would fancy him."
Tesse's head snapped over to her, interest bright in her obsidian eyes. "Which one is he?" she asked eagerly, scanning the elves.
"The one standing behind Len's chair. With the auburn hair."
Tesse hummed appreciatively, her full lips parting in a grin. "Aye, I'd give him a tumble," she purred. "Is he coming with to the camps?"
Daega nodded. "Should be. He’s Len’s personal assistant, but Len wants him with us regardless. You'll have plenty of chance to woo him."
As if sensing that they were talking about him, Sevren looked over at their table. Tesse winked at him, making color spring to his pale cheeks.
"Ooh, Iratherlike the look ofhim," Tesse crowed, wriggling with delight in her seat.
Daega opted to spend the rest of the dinner at her family's table, shooting Len subtle winks and smiles so he wouldn't think she'd forgotten him. She wished she could pluck him from the high table, where anyone with eyes could see he was miserable, to sit by her side where he belonged. His demeanor here was so starkly different from how he'd been on their picnic lunch that it broke her heart. Her protective instincts were going into overdrive with her little husband, and everything in her was roaring with the desire to rescue and soothe.
She'd just have to do her best to make him feel so good after this that he was forced to forget all about this miserable meal.
Heat flared low in her belly as she began to consider what she might do. She'd start with something tender, she thought; maybe a massage where she kneaded away the knots he was collecting with the stiff set of his shoulders. She'd work him loose and languid, turn him into a sweet puddle under her hands. She could imagine the soft sighs and moans she'd coax from him, how pure and lovely he'd be laid out on their bed, his pale skin pink and all those worrisome furrows fallen from his face.
And then...then she'd work him right back up again, pleasure twisting his pretty face instead of discomfort.
As if her wanton thoughts had roused him, Len stood and strode over to her, Sevren a step or two behind. He grabbed her upper arm roughly when he reached her, the tips of his fingers digging into the muscle, but not quite enough to hurt.
"I need you t-to look as if I'm r-reprimanding you," he murmured, leaning close.
Daega let her expression go a bit stiff and nervous, subtly leaning away even though every nerve in her body wanted to lean in and nibble his lips. "I've missed you, husband," she returned, keeping her expression uncomfortable.
"And I y-you. Father made a c-comment about your staying over here. I had to come over. Are you having f-fun?"
Daega stood in a rush, yanking her arm free and sweeping it over the table. "Certainly," she hissed, pointing up at the high table and then back at her family's table. "Though I think I've had my fill of dinner."
Len snatched the arm she was using to point and leaned in closer, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look at him. Since his back was now to the high table, he allowed a small smile to curl his lips, his eyes full of softness and heat. "My thoughts exactly, b-beautiful wife. Let's m-make our exit." He released her chin and pushed her towards the door. Daega made a bit of a show of it, adding weight and roughness to his push so that it looked more like a shove.
"They're suspiciously good at that," Daega heard Tesse whisper in Draka, and then they were out of the dining room and into the hall. They kept up their ruse, Len marching her along with a firm grip on her arm until they were safe behind their locked bedroom doors.
"You two could be masters of spycraft," Sevren laughed, slipping past them to light the lanterns and help prepare their room for the night. "If I wouldn't have been able to hear what you were saying I'd've believed that performance entirely."
Daega captured Len's chin, angling his face up for a taste of his sweet lips. "Aye, you did beautifully, Len," she said against his lips, nuzzling his face and delighting in the faint shiver she felt along his body.
He smiled at her, still looking a little tense, but with the heavy cloud from dinner gone, at least. "Y-you make it difficult to stay stern, l-lady-wife. I thought for sure I'd hurt you for real at s-several points."
She smiled, giving him one last kiss before turning to go change and clean up from dinner. "Not to worry, dearest. As I said, you were perfect." She shot him a look over her shoulder and was very pleased to see his emerald eyes glued to her ass. She may have let her hips and tail rockjusta little more, afterward.
"Oh, Sev, before you go—" Daega called from the bathroom, oiling her scalp and horns carefully. "You should know you've caught my sister Tesse's eye. So you'll never again know peace."
He ducked his head in, cheeks pink and his gray eyes full of interest. "Was she the one in the crimson dress?" he asked.
Daega thought back, struggling to recall what her sisters had been wearing. "I don't know," she admitted. "Oh! But she likes to wear bronze charms in her hair. And she has large brass earrings that weigh her earlobes down."
Sevren beamed, flushing deeper. "Then she can bother me all she wants," he sighed, pulling himself together just enough to wish them goodnight and see himself out.
Daega finished her nighttime routine, bringing the bottle of oil with her after a moment of consideration; it would help make the massage she had planned even better for her poor dear husband.
He was lounging back against the headboard, a book open in his lap. He was thoroughly lost in the words, only tearing his eyes away from the page when she kissed his neck.
"Good book?" she asked huskily, trailing her lips down his throat. He sucked in a breath, moaning as she nibbled him gently.
"It was," he breathed, the book fluttering closed in his lap. His hand came up, grasping her horn at the base and holding her where he wanted her.
