“That was a beautiful ceremony, Ty,” she said softly, looking up at him. “Thank you for letting me wash you so…so thoroughly.”
“Of course, Your Highness,” Ty responded, attempting to get back to formality—at least some anyway.
Now that he had come, his head had cleared a bit and he wondered at his utter willingness to submit. He had fallen into a kind of lustful daze, he told himself. That was why he’d given himself so freely—so openly. It didn’t have anything to do with his altered DNA.
Did it?
If he was being perfectly honest with himself, Ty just didn’t know.
And he was also beginning to wonder if he cared.
Chapter Eighteen
Ellina felt a bit dazed as they wrapped themselves in drying sheets and made their way back to her apartments.
Had she really just done that? Had she really just invaded and stroked her bodyguard and watched as he spent his seed on the floor at her feet?
Apparently she had.
What has gotten into me? she wondered. Why did I do that?
For she had performed the Ritual of Humility much more thoroughly than was actually required.
Maybe I shouldn’t have done it, she thought, stealing a glance at Ty. Maybe he’s upset, even though he’s not saying so.
It was impossible to tell. The big warrior’s face was completely impassive, his eyes alert as they walked through the private tunnel that led back to her chambers.
By the time they got back into her living area and the door was locked securely behind them, Ellina was no closer to figuring out why she had done what she did…or why she had enjoyed doing it.
Or how Ty felt about it either, for that matter.
I don’t know about him, but it made me tingle, she admitted to herself. To touch him that way—to make him come. He’s so big and strong he could break me in half with one hand. Yet he gave himself to me. I wonder why?
And why had she enjoyed it so much? Why had it made the tips of her breasts and the spot between her legs throb and ache so? It didn’t make sense. It couldn’t be her Heat Cycle starting, since there was no pain involved. No feeling of need so dire she would do anything to quench it. Instead it was…pleasurable. It made her feel warm and flushed all over—even now she was sensitive in the spots where the tingling had been.
Ellina frowned. This was strange. It didn’t make sense for her to have any pleasure at all since, as Hennessy had so bluntly pointed out earlier, she had no pleasure parts—no third breast or second sacred mouth which were exclusively for sexual desire and fulfillment.
“What’s wrong, my Lady? You look pensive.”
Ty’s deep voice interrupted her puzzled thoughts and Ellina realized she’d been standing there in front of the couch, still wrapped in her drying sheet, and staring into the crackling flames in the fireplace as though mesmerized.
“Oh, do I?” She looked up at him. “Forgive me. I was just…thinking.”
“About what? It looked serious.” Ty sat on the couch and patted the seat beside him. “Care to talk about it?”
Ellina opened her mouth to say no, she didn’t—it was her habit to keep her secret thoughts private. But that was in the past—because she had no one she could trust to tell them to, she thought. Maybe with Ty’s help, she could figure out what was happening to her…and what had happened between them during the Ritual of Humility.
“Well…” She settled beside him, trying to think how to begin. “I guess…I guess I’m thinking about what…what we just did,” she confessed. “What I did to you. And wondering…why I did it.”
He arched an eyebrow.
“I thought you were performing a ritual.”
“I was, but…” Ellina bit her lip, hoping he wouldn’t be angry with her. “But, well…I sort of…took the ritual further than was absolutely necessary,” she admitted at last. She looked up at him quickly. “Does that upset you?”
To her relief, Ty only shrugged.
“You took it as far as you wanted to—as far as you needed to, my Lady,” he rumbled. “I was glad to be of service to you in any way you needed me.”
“So you’re not upset with me?” she pressed, wanting to hear him say it.
Ty frowned.
“I should be, I guess,” he admitted at last. “I have been worried that our…relationship might move towards the physical at some point.”
“Worried?” Ellina frowned. “Why would that worry you?”
“Because…” He sighed and ran a hand through his still-damp hair. “I have a history of…” His forehead wrinkled, as though he was trying to think how to phrase it. “Of wanting to please and serve females—especially females in power. You might say I was born and raised to do so.”
“You were?” Ellina was fascinated. “Is that how all Kindred are raised?”
“To a certain extent.” He frowned. “We all have the inborn desire to pleasure and protect females. It’s just that my own instincts have been…specially honed in that area.” He cleared his throat. “Let’s just say that my desire to serve and submit to you is probably more intense than it should be, especially considering our respective positions.”
Ellina wanted to ask him more, but before she could, he went on.
“But I asked to talk about what was on your mind, little one,” he reminded her. “Not what was on mine. So go on—what has you staring into the fire with that puzzled look on your face?”
“Well…” Ellina sighed and dragged her eyes from the flames, where they had returned momentarily. “I was just wondering why I did…what I did,” she admitted at last. “And why…why I enjoyed it,” she ended, almost in a whisper.
He raised an eyebrow at her.
“So you enjoyed making me come, did
