Kett, incapable of words, just moaned as he filled her.
“I wanted to lick you all over,” Bael said in her ear, his body hot and hard against her back, the rough hairs on his chest tickling the skin between her scars. “Not just where you’re hurt. I wanted to make you better so I could fuck you ragged.”
“Yes,” Kett gasped as he withdrew and thrust deep.
“I wanted to stick my head between your legs and lick you until you screamed,” he said. “I wanted to make you come over and over, so hard you blacked out. And then I wanted to put your legs over my shoulders and ram myself so deep into you that my balls were coated in your sweet, hot pussy juices from the very first stroke.”
Kett could only moan. Bael grasped her hips and pulled her to her knees, yanking her back against his groin and shoving inside her as deep as he could possibly go. His balls slapped against her clit and she shuddered, on the brink of orgasm again.
“And I wanted to fuck you from behind,” Bael went on, his voice ragged, “like I’m doing now. You are so hot and tight, Kett, I love fucking you like this.”
Kett buried her face in the sheets, panting, so nearly there she could hardly breathe.
“And I was thinking about doing you here,” he said, running a hand that was coated with her juices down the crease of her ass to the sensitive, puckered hole there. “Slipping my cock into your tight little hole. What do you think, Kett?”
Kett orgasmed, her whole body flying into spasms, her teeth closing on a fold of the bed sheets, stifling the screams she couldn’t hold back. Bael continued to thrust into her and before her climax had even subsided, she felt him coming inside her, roaring out his pleasure as his come spurted into her, his fingers digging into her hips.
It didn’t hurt. He was gripping flesh that had previously been too sore to touch, but now it didn’t hurt at all.
Breathing hard, Bael withdrew and collapsed on his side next to her. He pulled her into his arms, holding her against his chest, slick with sweat and heaving with uneven breaths.
“Gods, I’ve missed you,” he said, and Kett let out a shaky laugh.
“Likewise,” she said, and they shared a smile.
Chapter Twenty-One
Bael looked at the woman sleeping in his arms, his chest tight with an unfamiliar emotion. He thought it might be love, but he wasn’t entirely sure. He’d never been in love with anyone before.
Well, he’d thought he might be once or twice, with girls who’d been particularly amazing in bed, but out of bed he’d realized he wasn’t really interested in them. But with Kett, he cared about everything she did. The way she walked, the throaty tone of her voice, the flashing silver of her eyes all turned him on, but it was more than that.
He loved her defiance, her courage, her stubbornness. He loved the way she behaved like a wild animal but thought like an intelligent human. He loved how she cared for people she pretended she had no time for, respected and trusted them.
He loved her resilience, her complete refusal to back down or give in. How she’d fought her way into the world, a frightened, backward child with no friends or family, and clawed herself a place. How fearless she was when faced with pain and misery that would overwhelm anyone else.
She was scarred, bitter and more than a little insane, and Bael loved her.
After an hour or two of lying there watching her sleep, he felt her stir and idly stroked her shoulder, which was now as healed as if the injury had occurred months ago. As Bael was wondering whether this newfound healing power might erase some of the scars on her back or ease the mangled muscles of her leg, Kett opened her eyes and silver flashed at him.
Bael’s heart swelled in his chest and he felt himself smiling without even intending to. Kett smiled back, her face sleepy, and she rolled her shoulders, frowning a little in confusion.
“Better?” Bael asked as she shoved aside the covers to check the wounds on her stomach and hip. They too were healed.
“Much.” She looked up at him. “Did you know this was going to happen?”
“It’s not a Nasc Mage power?”
“Kett, I don’t know what Nasc Mage powers are. I only know what my parents didn’t bother to hide from me, which wasn’t much. No one ever taught me how to use what I’ve got. I never thought I had any power, except Var changing his shape.”
Kett ran her fingers over the scars on her hip. “Somehow I don’t think this was Chance’s ointment.” She suddenly rolled to her feet. “Wait.”
She left the room, totally naked, and Bael watched her go. He doubted Kett had forgotten to get dressed. It was more like she didn’t care.
A moment later she was back, closing the door and leaning against it. Her brow was creased.
“What?”
“Jarven’s not healed. I mean, he’s getting better, but it’s not like this.” She gestured to her body.
A flash of jealousy stabbed Bael. “You went to see Jarven completely naked?”
“He was asleep,” Kett said dismissively, walking over to the bathroom.
“What if he wasn’t?”
“Bael, he’s seen me naked before.”
That had him on his feet and in the bathroom before he knew what he was doing. “Naked?” he repeated.
Kett gave a slow sort of smile, which had his cock stirring, as she leaned over to turn the shower on. Had he not been naked with the woman of his dreams, Bael might have taken a moment to appreciate the beauty and modernity of the bathrooms in Nuala’s house, but right now he had more pressing things on his mind.
“Jealous?” she asked.
“No,” Bael said sulkily, and Kett rolled her eyes. “Let me rephrase that.” He grabbed her waist. “Yes.”
“You are?
“Hell yes. How come he’s seen you naked? He said he’d never slept with you.”
“No, but he has seen me change shape and he’s cared for me when I’ve been injured…and Bael? You can’t possibly pretend that’s your sword pressing against my hip.”
He grinned. “I could, but I didn’t think you’d appreciate the pun.”
She slid her fingers into his hair and kissed him, long and slow, a soft morning kiss despite that it was the middle of the day.
“I need to take a shower,” she said, “because I’m still covered in that ointment, among other things.”
Bael grinned, because he’d been responsible for those other things. “I’ll help.”
“I’m a big girl. I can wash myself.”
“Yeah, but I want to. Besides, I’m dirty too. I need to wash.”
It didn’t take much to convince her. Stepping under the warm water, he beckoned her into the tub and picked up a bar of soap. It smelled warm and woodsy, not what he’d usually call a feminine scent, but it suited Kett perfectly.
Kissing her again, he ran the soap over her back, her shoulder, taking care on the newly healed skin.
“Does it hurt at all?” he asked.
“Hardly. Feels like it’s been healing weeks. Months.”
He kissed the pink skin then moved down to kiss her breast as he ran the soap over her hip.
“See, I knew you didn’t really want to get me clean,” Kett said, but he heard the smile in her voice.
“I do,” he protested, “but then I want to get you dirty again.”
He washed the remains of the ointment from her skin then kissed the scars it had healed. Well, maybe they were scars
Kett shifted, restless, and Bael breathed in the scent of her arousal. Smiling, he slipped the soap between her