The woman had no idea how hard-fought these battles were. That my resolve to take her out today was already abouttwo whole secondsaway from breaking, or that saliva was pooling in my mouth, forcing me to swallow hard. My tongue ached to return to that sweet cunt of hers, still very much exposed.
She needs fresh air, jackass.
Biting the inside of my cheek, I flashed her a winning smile to conceal my darkening desires. “Another adventure, of course.”
With warm croissants and enchanted paper cups of tea in hand, Arken and I made our way toward Elder Guard headquarters—or more specifically, the stables.
“We’re taking horses?” Arken inquired, a tiny valley of confusion forming between her brows.
“Ahorse,” I corrected. “Singular. You’ll be riding with me.”
“And why is that, Captain?” she teased. “Is it because you can’t go all of twenty minutes without your cock pressed against my ass?”
“Because I onlyownone horse, you devious creature,” I replied, swallowing the retort I’dwantedto say. It was something along the lines of informing herexactlywhat I intended to do with that ass of hers one of these days, but I digress. “And yes, because I would strongly prefer not to go all of twenty minutes without your entire body pressed up against me, thank you very much.”
Arken smirked with self-satisfaction, which only served to feed the ravening thing inside me that remained eternally starved for her. It drove me fuckinginsane,how much pleasure this woman seemed to derive just from turning me on. I had never met anyone, man nor woman, so casually confident in their own sexuality—but Arken approached sex as if she knew damn well that she was the Source’s gift to humankind, and that energy alone would have brought me to my knees.
That such a little goddess would then ever willingly offermeany form of worship in return…That she might treatmewith any form of reverence was the headiest notion in the world. It was surreal. And I knew, deep within my bones, that I would be chasing this high for the rest of my godsdamn life.
“What are you thinking about?” Arken asked as we continued down the cobblestone path.
“Would you like the honest answer, or the flippant one?”
“Both.”
“I’m thinking about how godsdamn good you are at giving head.”
Arken cackled, nearly doubling over in the streets before giving me a sidelong glance. “And the honest one, Captain?”
“How do you know that wasn’t the honest one?” I challenged.
Arken didn’t take the bait, rolling her eyes before staring me down, waiting for my answer. I held her golden gaze in silence for just a moment longer than was probably necessary. Letting her wait.
“I’m thinking…I just might be the luckiest motherfucker in the world,” I finally confessed.
My pulse fluttered as the expectant smirk slid from her face, replaced by a shy little smile and a glow of pink warmth coloring the apples of her freckle-flecked cheeks.
“Why, what areyouthinking about?” I prompted.
“Nothing in particular,” Arken said quickly but quietly.
There was something in the vulnerability of her tone that made me choose not to press her on the matter. My briefly uninhibited honesty, while admittedly rare, had been freely offered—I did not require hers in exchange. She was welcome to share her thoughts with me on her own time, at her own discretion, and she knew that.
“How’s your tea?” I asked casually.
She made a face of exaggerated discontent. “It’s…alright,I suppose. A bit weak, isn’t it? I think you may have left me spoiled. I much prefer the way you brew it.”
I laughed. “If anything, I think I over-steep my tea. I like it much stronger than most.”
“So do I, apparently.”
“We’ll bring some from home next time,” I promised. And then my throat promptly tightened after the words left my mouth.
From home.
It was a slip of the tongue, of course, but fucking Hel. Those words felt too good in my mouth, too right.
If Arken caught my slip, she didn’t show it. Her golden gaze simply continued to wander, ever-observant, always so fascinated by the world around her. Within just a few more minutes of comfortably shared silence, we had reached the stables.