He turned on his side to face her, pulling her close. “Not that I’ve seen much, mind, except when you were—” he stopped himself.
“When I was vomiting,” Warna said ruefully.
“Well, yes,” Verice said, his tone dry and serious. “But even that you did in your own special way.”
Warna couldn’t help laughing.
Verice reached up, and ran his fingers through her hair, tracing over the tops of her ears.
“Would you like to know what I have learned over all the years? That what really matters isn’t the physical attributes or the skills of a lover. The size, the shape, the appearance...that’s secondary. It’s important to find your lover pleasing, but what really matters is the person you are with, and the depth of the feeling you have for them.”
She reached then, to smooth back his hair, and trace the tips of his pointed ears. “Do I please you?”
“Oh yes,” Verice whispered. “And I believe it’s my turn.”
He threw back the blanket, so gloriously naked underneath, and reached for her.
She couldn’t have said where her clothing went. But once it was gone, she reveled in the touch of skin on skin from her head to his toes. Her body couldn’t contain all of these sensations another moment. She reached for him, looking for an anchor in the wildness. Her hands wandered over him, stroking and gliding over every lovely inch.
And his hands, his wonderful hands, caressed every curve of her breasts, her hips, her thighs, lingering between her folds until she writhed beneath him, begging with soundless pleas for so much more.
He held her close, his hand relentless within her depths, and put his lips to her ear. “It’s all right, Warna. Let go. Explore your pleasure for me.”
Her entire body seized, every muscle tight with the pleasure of it all. She cried out, and for long, lovely moments, was lost in white heat and light.
Half-asleep, she felthim move, felt him cleaning her with a soft cloth. She murmured in pleasure as he pulled the blankets over their rapidly cooling bodies.
He settled into her arms, pulling her close, entwining their arms and legs deep in the comfort of the bed. “There’s more?” she whispered, almost half-afraid of the possibility.
“There is,” he chuckled into her hair. “But the delay of pleasure is a pleasure in and of itself.”
“Any more, and I’ll die,” Warna whispered back.
If Verice said anything more, it was lost as she drifted off to sleep.
Verice awoke first, to the hints of dawn coming through the windows, and Warna in his arms.
She radiated warmth, her head on his shoulder and her blonde hair spilling over the pillow. Verice reached and tucked the hair behind her ear, his fingers lingering against the soft skin of her neck. Her pulse was warm and steady under his fingers.
She was beyond anything he’d experienced before. He’d though he was gifting her a boon, but in truth she’d given him far, far more.
Amazing in her passion, in her willingness to let him lead, and then in her eagerness to show what she had learned. There was a playfulness to her loving that he’d never encountered before. Maybe it was the fact that she was human.
Or maybe it was just because she wasWarna.
He’d not taken her, and he wasn’t going to until he was certain that she was ready. This he could gift to her, and he was determined that they’d take their time.
He pulled himself out of her embrace, and left the warmth of their bed. Warna made a small sound of protest, but didn’t awaken.
Pulling on trous, he went to the outer chamber. The dogs were all sprawled on the hearth rugs. Brindle sat up from the midst of the pack, yawning and blinking at him.
A servant appeared almost immediately. Verice sent a message to Narthing cancelling his normal routine for the morning. It could wait for a while. He also gave instructions not to be disturbed. They couldn’t shut out the world forever; there was too much work to be done. But they could steal a few hours.
As he headed back into the bedchamber, Brindle curled back down with a sigh.
Verice closed the door, and padded back to bed, discarding his trous along the way. He crawled into the warmth of the covers.
Warna was blinking at him sleepily. “All’s well?”
