“God, this is…well, Everest said you need cum, and I have plenty of it. So, how does it work? You just, you know, suck?”
Shock races through me. Even at my highest station, I was not permitted cum from the source. In fact, I have only tasted it twice. The Outerlanders are denied such luxuries.
And now that I am banished? Such a thing would never be allowed. Not ever.
I quickly turn my face away, but he touches me again. “You need to heal, Cielo. Please. Please let me help you.”
‘Can’t,’ I sign, my hands trembling. It aches to lift them, but still I add, ‘Not allowed.’
He rubs a hand down his face and sighs loudly. “Like…at all? Or from my dick? Because I know there are factories, so…”
I close my eyes. The herbs are working, and the fatigue hitting me is so powerful, it’s almost worse than the medicine. My breathing evens out, and somewhere off in the distance, I hear Dante give up.
As he should.
It’s for the best.
I do not know how much time passes, but I wake suddenly to a scent that sends a craving ripping through me. My eye flutters open, and I sit up, gasping in pain as I look around. The pain is bone deep, an ache that feels as though it will never be fully satisfied.
As my eye takes in the room, I see Dante there. The light has shifted toward evening, and he’s staring at me warily, holding something in his hands. My attention settles on it.
It’s a glass bottle filled with something pale and opaque.
Clearing his throat, he takes a step forward. “Look, I don’t know what happened to you. Not entirely. I don’t know why you have to refuse me, but I promised Everest I would make you better. So…so I got this for you.”
He closes the distance between himself and the sofa, then drops to his knees beside me and pushes the bottle into my hands. It’s oddly warm, and the scent is unmistakable. I’m too afraid to ask what this is. I’m terrified of the answer, andterrified that I might find the courage to refuse what my body so desperately needs.
“Please,” he whispers. “I know this will help.”
I should not look, and yet I cannot help but stare at it. The liquid inside is glistening, tempting. My mouth begins to water, and I know then that I’m not strong enough to say no, even when I should. Opening the top, I’m overwhelmed by the scent, and my tongue flicks out, dipping through the hole of the bottle as I taste it.
It is Elythuun—the blessed sky beyond this life.
I groan and thrymm at the same time and lose my ability to stop myself as I hold the bottle and lap it up. Big, lush, rich tonguefuls of cum pour into my mouth, and when the bottle is empty, I lie back and lick the inside until every drop is gone.
Relief hits me in ways I have never known. I feel my skin begin to knit together, the swelling in my eye reducing, the pain in my broken ribs easing into a fading ache. The scars will last, but eventually what I endured will become nothing more than a dwindling nightmare.
My gaze finds Dante still sitting beside me, watching with an expression I cannot read. I feel something like embarrassment mingling with gratitude pulse through me, and I set the bottle aside before tipping my fingers from my chin again.
‘Thank you.’
“You’re welcome.”
I would like to converse more, but I feel too tired to try. My body has much healing to do, and I slump over, shooting Dante an apologetic look.
“No, don’t,” he murmurs. “It’s okay.”
His hand passes over my forehead, and it may be the best thing I have ever felt. It is laced with kindness and care. I do not know if I have ever felt such a thing from another.
“Rest, okay? I’m going to prepare some of those other herbs, alright?”
I nod.
He stands, then turns back to face me. “Cielo,” he says.
I very much like the way he says my name. I give him a soft hum.
“I know I haven’t said it, but just know that I’m glad you’re here. And I’m glad you’re alive. I’m going to takesuchgood care of you.”
