The Nymph King

He hissed in a breath. 'I love when you move like that. Keep doing it and I will tell you all my deep, dark secrets.'

Up, down she moved.

His hands tightened on her waist. 'Close your eyes,' he commanded softly.

They'd made love only an hour ago, but it felt like an eternity. She needed him inside her again. Addicting... that's what he was.

'Shaye.' He tsked. 'Close. Your. Eyes.'

Her eyelids fluttered shut. Darkness blanketed her mind. His hands glided over her shoulders, caressed her neck, then dipped to her breasts, kneading.

'Picture what I'm doing to you.'

'I thought—'

'Do it.'

Picture it, he'd said, so she did. In her mind, she could see the thickness of his hands covering the pale mounds of her breasts. Her nipples, pink and pearled, peaked through the crevices of his fingers. Pleasure spiraled through her, hot and needy. Seemingly unquenchable.

Unbidden, her legs spread, silently begging for his attentions. A single touch, a pinch, something. Anything. She ached, oh, she ached.

One of Valerian's hands glided down her stomach. She felt it, yes, just the way she'd wanted it, but more than that she saw it in her mind. Another picture of them. Valerian behind her, this time with his hand between her legs, parting her wet folds. But he didn't touch her where she needed him most. Not yet. He stayed poised, inches above her entrance.

'What do you see?' His voice was strained, as if it required all of his strength to remain still.

'You. Me.'

'Do you see me licking you here or sliding my fingers into you?'

'F-fingers,' she managed.

'Are they moving slowly, savoring or pounding in and out?'

As he spoke, she again pictured it. Again saw it, unable to stop the flood of images. Yet he didn't do it, didn't do what she needed. Her hips moved forward, seeking. Back, seeking. Forward, back. Writhing and arching. 'Touch me, Valerian. Please.'

'Tell me. What do you see? Slow or fast?'

'Fast. Hard.' Water sloshed over the pool's rim. 'So hard.'

He pinched her nipple, and a lance of desire hit directly between her legs. She cried out at the amazing torment of it.

'Shaye. Moon. Your mind shows you the things your body needs before you actually know you need them.'

No more talking, she wanted to shout. Make love to me. 'I don't understand.'

'The most erotic place on a woman's body is her mind. By giving her the right images, a man can increase her pleasure a hundred times.' He bit her ear. 'Lean forward for me, moon.'

She did, and even that served as a stimulant. The water caressed her clitoris, making her shiver.

'Hold on to the ledge,' Valerian beseeched.

Angling forward a few more inches, she curled her hands on the ledge. Her breasts and hips were out of the water now and Valerian was granted a full view of her from behind.

A long while passed in silence. She stayed where she was, anticipating the first touch. Wet hair tumbled down her back and shoulders. Some of the ends treaded the water's surface. When would he touch her? She needed him to touch her. 'Valerian?'

'You are magnificent,' he said, his voice heavy with awe. He traced the tattoo on her lower back.

A shiver danced through her.

'I like this,' he said. 'A skull with a pretty bow on top. It is a mark that says you are both warrior and woman.' His lips brushed the tattoo; the hot wetness of his tongue traced it. He kissed his way up her spine and grazed the back of her neck, smoothing her hair aside to get to her.

'The first time I saw you,' she said, 'I thought you were a god, rising from the sea.'

'And I thought you were the thing I needed most in my life.'

His words acted with the heady intoxication of a caress. She licked her lips, then bit into them to tamp down a loud, long scream of pleasure when his cock pressed into her opening.

'So tight,' he praised.

'More.'

He gave her an inch. 'Is that all you want?'

'More.'

Another inch. Not enough. 'And now?'

'More, more, more.'

He pounded all the way in. She gasped. He groaned. But he didn't move, just left them both at the edge. 'Do you know the most erotic place on a man's body, moon?'

By this point, she was incapable of speech. She needed him too fiercely. The ache was all consuming. Burning. Yes, she burned fiery hot. Pulses of electricity sparked along her veins, demanding completion.

'His heart,' Valerian finally said. 'His heart.'

His heart... She climaxed, throbbing, throbbing. Screaming, sobbing. The force of it raked her, vibrated and hummed. Valerian slid out and pounded forward. Over and over, driving hard and deep.

'Shaye,' he roared, shuddering into her a final time. 'Love. You.' His hands dug into her hips. Gripping. Bruising deliciously. 'Love you,' he said again.

'I'M BEING RUDE to my guests,' Valerian said a long while later. He lay on the bed, and he held Shaye in his arms. He was loath to let her go. They were both naked, and he was tempted to remain that way for all of eternity.

He loved the way Shaye's curves fit against him. Like the last piece of a puzzle, perfectly matched.

She yawned. 'What guests?' she asked, her breath fanning his chest.

'Vampires. They helped us with the dragons and bought us a bit of a reprieve.'

'I should run screaming from this room, but I'm too tired to be scared of vampires. Even vampires that are in the same house as me.' She chuckled. 'Do you mind that you're ignoring them?' Her fingertip slid along the ridges of his stomach.

'It is my greatest pleasure to ignore them,' he said roughly, aroused by her touch and her words. She was adapting to life here. Maybe even coming to love it as he craved.

Her finger looped through his nipple ring, and she chuckled again.

He liked the sound of that laughter and realized he'd never really heard her amusement before. 'How old are you?' he asked, wanting to know everything about her.

'Twenty-five. How old are you?'

'A lot older,' he said dryly. 'Hundreds of years older.'

Her mouth fell open. 'No way.'

'It's true.'

'So you're going to, what? Live forever? Never age?'

'I age, just slower than humans.'

Her entire body tensed. 'What you're telling me is that if I stay here, I'll grow old while you continue to look like that?'

'You are in Atlantis now, love. Your aging process will slow, as well.'

'Oh.' Little by little, she relaxed. 'That's okay, then.'

'Do you miss your surface life as you did before?' he found himself asking.

An intense stillness came over her. 'That's a hard question to answer.'

'Yes or no is all that is required.' He didn't want her to miss her old life. He wanted her happy, completely, with him. If she did miss it... What would he do? His two greatest desires would be at war with one another—the