I swallow, then say, “Yes.”
“You are my strong warrior.”
He dips his head down and brushes his lips over each mark, and I swallow back unexpected emotion.
Then he wets a rag and removes the ties that keep the bloody padding in place. He sets the rags in the washing bucket and begins to clean me.
Once finished, he looks at my sex. I feel exposed in a way that makes me want to curl up.
"What're you doing?" I gasp when his finger traces me.
“Is this not all right?” his eyes meet mine, panicked.
“It is. I just… most men are disgusted by this.”
His eyes return to me. “I am not.”
I ease against my forearms. He touches the bundle of nerves that no man has ever attempted to touch. In my sensitive state, I arch off the bed.
“Are you in pain?”
I shake my head. “This is good. Do it again.”
He does, watching me with burning eyes. And... he moves toward my aching entrance.
“Ra’Sa,” I beg when his thumb reaches for that spot again.
His hand moves against me with extra pressure.
“Say that again.”
I glare at him.
“Be quiet,” I hiss.
One of his fingers slips into my entrance, and I choke.
I’m ready, but that doesn't lessen the torture.
“Ra’Sa,” I say anyway, and he groans. “Enough. I want you inside of me. Now.”
I watch him wipe his hands clean, and then I grasp onto him, pulling him over me until his length is lined up with my entrance.
I blink at the ease of it all, confused.
My mouth parts as he moves.
A slow smile spreads over his face. "That's right. As if we were made for each other."
Every part of my body thrums with pleasure. I lean into the stretch as he fills me so beautifully, mesmerized by the feel of something I've craved for so long.
It isn’t the same as my dream. No, when he fills me, he reaches places deeper inside of me that sing. And his hips don’t merely graze the sweet spot between my thighs, they stroke it, as sure as his hand.
The pain mingles with the sweetest ecstasy, blooming through my mind. All the aches that come with bleeding ebb away.
I let out a quiet moan of relief.
He tenses at the sound and moves faster.