I can’t get enough of him.
“We can stop if you wish.” He breathes the words into the side of my neck.
“I’d rather finish, more satisfying that way. But only if you’re up to it,” I tease.
“I’ll find the energy somehow.”
Njål sweeps me into his arms and carries me into my little room. The fire is already lit here, making it the natural place for us to continue. I pull off my own clothes, and he removes his, each of us making a silent statement about our choices. Before coming to Bitterburn, I rarely thought of my own body, but I hope he finds me pleasing.
“Just look at you,” he says.
I’m too busy looking at him to feel shy. At his cock in particular, immense and stiff already as he prowls toward me, covered only by the bandages here and there. It’s a bit difficult for me to believe that’s been stuffed inside me or that I rubbed him in the kitchen until he spilled in my hands. Right now, Njål seems more like a force of nature than a flesh and blood being.
“Is it always hard?” I ask.
He follows my gaze downward. “I collect you mean this . . .” He gestures at his shaft. “And not life in general.”
“Yes.”
“No, not always, beauty. It hadn’t been for ages, and it took some time for me to remember what desire was, even after you arrived.”
“When did you first want me?”
He pauses. “When you said you like it here. I didn’t understand, because there was nothing anyone would want, and you said—”
“You’re here,” I finish.
“Those words awakened me, reminded me how yearning felt. I started craving you then, and it soon became a physical need.”
“I can see that. Come, let’s assuage the ache.”
Njål groans, closing the distance between us in three strides. We tumble to the narrow bed together and he pulls me onto his broad chest, careless with his own wounds. I try to ease back.
“You’ll hurt yourself!”
“It’s a pain I’ll bear gladly. I’d happily die with you on top of me.”
Despite myself I laugh. “Just imagine how regrettable it would be for me, though.”
“True. Kiss me like you love me, Amarrah.” A soft entreaty, one I’m helpless to resist.
Maybe I ought to say the words instead of speaking with my lips. I cup his face in my hands, stroking his cheeks as I touch our mouths together, light and teasing. I deepen the kiss with exquisite care, never rushing, never demanding, until he’s breathing fast, and I drink down those gasps, soft strokes with my tongue. We kiss for ages, until my mouth is swollen and I feel his cock pulsing under me. He rolls his hips until I settle exactly where I ought to be, giving us both incredible pleasure with each thrust and slide.
Njål cups my breasts, watching my face intently, and he reads my expressions like one of his treasured books, adjusting pressure according to my response. My nipples are tight, and I want him so much that I can’t think of anything else. Soon, I’m moaning, squirming around on him, and I’m so slick that it’s a little embarrassing.
“Put it in me,” I whisper.
“Say it specifically. Ask for what you want.”
I know the words; they were written as captions in the naughty book Owen and I got from the peddler. It gives me a thrill to utter them for Njål’s pleasure. “Your cock. Please fuck me now.”
A shudder shakes through him and then he lifts me. I help him, holding his shaft with one hand, and he teases us both by sliding around, rubbing himself against my most sensitive spot, until I could finish just from that. I can’t keep quiet, making helpless sounds that mingle with my panting breaths. Gods, this feels good.
Slowly, with exquisite patience, he works his cock into me and I bear down. My whole body feels flushed, practically glowing with pleasure. Njål grips my hips, lightly pricking with his claws, but even that feels exciting, a hint of danger to augment the shockingly delicious sensations. I feel him throbbing inside me though he hasn’t moved. There’s no sting this time, just heat and fullness.
“How is it?” he asks through clenched teeth.
“Beautiful.”
That word acts as a lever; he lunges upward with his whole body, until he’s holding me in his arms, enveloping me completely. He’s still inside me, but from this angle, I can wrap my legs around behind him and now we’re completely entwined. It means I can’t ride him precisely, but we move together, push and pull, and it’s a slow, sweet fucking as we hold each other.
“Does it feel good this way?”
I can’t speak anymore. There’s too much brightness in my body, so I nod and gaze into his eyes, falling into him deeper, until I lose all sense of separation. When I close my eyes, I sense his mounting pleasure, waves of it, and his movements become quick and jerky. He kisses me as I lose control, taking all my gasps and groans. With my core still pulsing around him, he finally lets go, filling me with heat.
Afterward, I kiss his chin, still completely entwined. “You seem pleased.”
Tremors still wrack him as he settles us both under the covers. I’m too relaxed to care about washing up just now. I’ll do that in a bit.
“I’m sleepy,” he admits. “The damnable calling is painful, and I don’t get much rest without you.”
I wish I understood what he’s talking about. “It’s easier to ignore when I’m here?”
“Most definitely. It was much better when you laid the wards, but after you left . . .”
“Perhaps my proximity strengthens them?” I suggest.
“Possibly. I know little of such matters, other than what’s been done to me.”
Though I don’t say so, I haven’t given up on the idea of saving him. There must be a way; I’m just too green to untangle the complex skein of ancient magic. But if the curse was
