ELRETH

The kiss deepened and made promises, and Elreth assumed they would mate again there in the furs. Her entire belly tingled with anticipation as Aaryn stroked his hands up and down her back and sides.

But then he pulled back, smiling. "Why don't we go have a soak in the bathing pools?" he said, his voice honeyed gravel.

She was about to protest—she didn't want to stop! Then she saw the gleam in his eye and she smiled. "I'd love to."

He kissed her again briefly, then scrambled off the bed, beckoning her to come with him. She was only a little slower getting out of the bed, bracing for the moment she'd be naked and bare to the air and…

She took a deep breath and stood there, facing him, forcing her hands to stay at her sides and not cover herself.

From the other side of the bed, he scanned her from her toes to her face, then shook his head. "Look at this beautiful you," he whispered.

Elreth groaned. "I don't feel beautiful like this!" she sighed, exasperated. "I feel… I want to squirm."

Aaryn padded around the sleeping platform to her, raking her with his eyes. "Oh, I wish you could see yourself through my eyes, El," he whispered, taking her hand in his, then using his free hand to stroke first her cheek, then down her neck, down her breast to the peak that rose as the rest of her skin goose-bumped under his touch.

He circled her nipple, his breath getting louder, then he leaned down and laid his open mouth over it, laving it with his tongue and groaning when she arched into him and pulled him in tighter.

Goosebumps rose and prickled all the way down her back and thigh on that side and she shivered with the delicious sensation he pulled from her. Then he kissed his way back up to her mouth.

She was desperate for him already, aching inside. But he teased her, kissing, pulling her against him, cupping her ass with one hand and her neck with the other. But just as she gave over and was going to pull him back into the bed, he pulled away, smiling. "Come on," he said. "You need a soak."

He winked at her, took her hand, and led her from the bedchamber. And for the first few steps, she'd forgotten she was naked.

Then for the next few steps she battled with herself—there was no one else to see her, and she definitely wanted Aaryn to see her. He seemed to enjoy it a great deal. The lights in the bathing pool cavern were always low, she'd actually be less visible there than she was here in the bedchamber under the lanterns.

She tensed when she thought of the moment she'd accidentally walked in on her parents—what if someone did that to her and Aaryn? But then she remembered he'd barred the door. Plus, everyone knew this was their first night…

Oh… shit…

Everyone knew.

Her mouth had just dropped open in horror when Aaryn turned, slid his hands to her waist and whipped her around to put her against the side of the cave, and pressed in, his mouth open and hot, his tongue searching, his hands exploring every soft inch of her skin.

"Stop. Thinking."

Before she could respond, his tongue was in her mouth and he'd pressed a thigh between her knees, pulling her against him so the pressure of straddling him made her ache.

It was only seconds before she'd forgotten what she was worried about, and was instead wondering how to get him to a place where they could do this again, because she ached for him.

But Aaryn, his chest rising and falling quickly, leaned back to catch her eye, and smiled again. "That's better." Then he tugged her away from the wall and started walking her backwards towards the door to the bathing pools.

He was still smiling, staring down at her as they shuffled through the dining space and past the kitchen. He stroked a hand through her hair, then down her back and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

They stared at each other, drank each other in. But neither of them spoke.

He backed up her to the door to the bathing pools and leaned in to kiss her gently, softly, just teasing, while he turned the knob to get the door unlatched.

When it opened behind her, he pushed her through, taking her lips in small sips, whispering her name, still holding her against him so she could feel his desire for her.

Then their feet were on the slick stone of the bathing pools cavern. He shoved the door behind him so it would close and latch, and he kept his hands on her hips, walking her back as he spoke.

"First, the cold water, I think," he said.

Her eyes went wide. "But it will be freezing!"

"I love it when you shiver, and your skin prickles," he said, and his eyes went dark.

Elreth blinked. Males were so different in the way they looked at these things! But something about the fire in his eyes—the way his pupils got bigger—made her want to see what he would do when he saw her skin pebbled like that.

"Okay," she responded, breathless. "First the cold water. Then?"

"Then we'll soak in the hot pool and… just touch," he said, his voice becoming hoarse. "Then I'll bring you out where I can lay you down and…" he groaned and leaned in, taking her mouth in a deep and frantic kiss.

Elreth felt the sudden urgency too. All this talk, the images he put in her head, it just made her want him more!

He was still shuffling her backwards, though their steps had become somewhat erratic, when her heel landed in the cool water of the shallow entry to the cold pool.

She sucked in and Aaryn dropped his head to kiss her neck in a gentle suck that raised the goosebumps on her arm. And she wasn't even in the cold water yet?

Feeling suddenly bold, she pushed him back, barely applied pressure to his chest before he raised his head and gave her space, panting, but measuring her, his eyes concerned.

Elreth smiled and trailed a single finger down the center of his chest, down his abdomen, then stroked the soft-velvet skin of him.

His cock twitched at her touch and she laughed, delighted. "Stay here," she said, breathless. Aaryn raised an eyebrow, but she just leaned in to kiss him, then stepped out of his arms, warning him with a look when he took a step after her.