She giggles. “Not that kind. A breather can also mean a break. A minute to breathe.”
I definitely don’t need that. “You can breathe while I practice Lesson Two. I want to make you come on my hand again. Is that something you can give?”
“Fuck. Okay. Yes.”
This time I tug off her trousers so I can see what I’m doing. She lifts her hips to help, and then she’s bare to me, limbs all smooth, brown contentment. I comb my claws through the wiry curls that peek out from under the edge of her tunic, and she shivers.
“Cold?” I ask, already pulling furs over her legs.
“I’m good,” she says, sounding breathless.
I cover her anyway. R’Hiza take me, her feet are so small. I rub each of them between my hands to warm them before I tuck them under the fluffy pelts.
She makes a tiny, choked sound. When I look back at her face, her eyes are wide and wet, lashes clumped together as she blinks back tears. “Are you hurt? Did I catch you with a claw?”
She shakes her head, brushing away a tear that has drawn a wet track down her cheek with the back of her hand. “The scholar is always learning,” she says with a shaky exhale. “This lesson is for me, too. I need to get better at asking for what I want. I don’t always let people take care of me, even when I need it.”
My skin aches with unfulfilled pigment. I should have claimed her from the beginning. I could not protect her when she was in another star system, but she has been in this one for weeks. I could have been tending to her all this time. “I want to take care of you. That is all I want.”
“Okay,” she whispers. “Thank you.”
Satisfied she is not injured or unhappy, I nudge her thighs apart and lie beside her. Careful to retract my claws fully, I trace over the plump folds between her legs. They’re parted slightly,offering a glimpse of deep pink. The color of desire, how perfect. And she’s slick with need, her perfume everywhere.
I dip my fingers into her wetness and taste it. She’s sweet and tart and salty, spiced with her unique scent, the one that calls to me. Now that I’ve claimed her, it affects me differently. The obsession is there, but it’s deeper, below the surface of my skin. It’s part of me instead of pressing on me.
“What do you think?” she asks.
“Of your taste?” I collect more and lick it off my fingers, savoring its complex notes. “I can’t think of anything better.”
She bites her lip. “You know...you can kiss me there.”
“Is this Lesson Three, then?” I growl, eyeing the tempting moisture welling there. Her flesh tenses, squeezing together briefly, and her eyes squeeze shut, too.
“Still Lesson Two,” she says, giggling. “Ask for—"
I cut her off. “I want to. Can I?”
She nods and parts her legs wider with an appealing wriggle of her hips. I roll to my belly, settling in the sacred space between her thighs. This close, she’s even more beautiful, moisture beading like gems on the curls that frame her cunt.
Inside the first set of dark folds, she’s astonishingly soft and delicate, made of wavy petals that pulse every time I look at her. An engorged button of flesh marks the apex. That’s the place where she instructed me to press my palm, I remember, so it must be a pleasure spot.
“If you’re going to stare at a woman’s parts, you better compliment them,” Delphie jokes, shifting self-consciously.
I pin her thighs to the furs, unable to take my eyes off the tempting flesh between them. “You’re so beautiful, it steals my words.”
“Okay, that works,” she stutters out. Her shy opening flutters. It’s hard to believe something so small and delicate willbe able to accommodate me, but the goddess would not have given me an Alara who was anything but my perfect match.
“Where should I kiss you first?”
She hums, thinking. “Well, there’s no wrong place to start. It all feels good, and it all helps get me...ready, you know?”
“I do not know. That is why I am an apprentice.” I’m not the kind of apprentice who believes he’s already a warrior. I know I’m not. Maybe Delphie was right, and I should have practiced with other females before I found my queen so I’d have more proficiency. I don’t enjoy that my Alara is burdened with this work, teaching me how to give her pleasure. But the thought of pleasing anyone else holds no interest for me.
“Nik. Look at me.” With great effort, I drag my eyes up to meet hers, and she reaches down to stroke my cheek. I tilt my face toward her hand like new grass seeking the starlight. “You’re amazing. I’m so honored that you trust me to guide you through this. I think you should just...explore. All the touching and kissing will build my desire. And then when I really need it, I’ll show you how to make me come.”
“I think I know,” I say quickly, eager to prove I’ve been paying attention to her instruction. I trace my finger over her pleasure spot, circling around it, and she quakes until I pause to ask, “Here, yes?”
“Y-yep. That’s it.” She beams at me. “You’re a quick learner. So just...do your amazing kissing thing, and then I’ll let you know when you should focus your attention there.”
