Page 75 of The Infirmary for Dragon Burns and Midair Mishaps

I sat up, pressing a kiss to her shoulder.

She pulled off the prosthetic limb and laid it on the floor with a thunk. “I’d hate to accidentally knock you with it in bed.” Her expression shifted suddenly, eyebrows knitting together. “It doesn’t bother you, does it?”

“No,” I assured her, touching her face with my fingertips, kissing her cheek. “Of course not. I just want you, exactly as you are.” I slipped my hand past the neckline of her tunic, laying my hand on the bare skin of her chest, feeling her heartbeat flutter against my palm. “This is the part I’m most concerned with.”

I wanted her heart. Every bit of it.

She fell into me then, capturing my lips with another kiss, and we tumbled down together, wrapped in such a tight embrace I didn’t know if I was holding her or she was holding me. All I knew was that I burned. Not with fire.

With something stronger.

Something that spilled from my chest, shooting down every limb, filling me to the brim until each touch left me yearning to be undone. We moved together, shifting out of our clothing in a messy dance of tangled bodies and giggles.

“How does this bloody skirt work, woman?” she complained.

“There’s, uh, a button,” I murmured as she nosed at my throat, leaving soft kisses against my neck. I fumbled between us, finding the button, then Vaela helped me shrug the material down my legs.

Her hand moved back up my bare thighs, and I sucked in a sharp, needy breath.

“Can I touch you?” she whispered in my ear. She already was, voice caressing me, leaving goosebumps along my skin, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted more.

“Yes,” I panted, forcing myself to look at her, to find those dazzling gray eyes. And then, with more desperation, “Please.”

She cupped my face, kissing me harder, her tongue tracing the path of my lips. I opened my mouth to her, and she licked into the next kiss. I giggled and gasped at once as her hand trailed over my thigh, tracing light patterns.

“Is this okay?” she whispered.

I nodded against her mouth, slamming my eyes closed as her fingers slid against slick skin. She pulled back slightly, and I whined.

Vaela chuckled, pressing her lips against the curve of my breast before licking my nipple. I felt it pebble, exposed to the air, then she sucked it between her lips.

“Stars,” I murmured as my thoughts scattered and sensations overwhelmed me.

Suddenly Vaela’s hand was moving again, and she found that aching bundle of nerves between my legs. I almost lurched off the bed at her first touch.

“Shh,” she whispered against my temple, leaving a kiss there. “You’re okay.”

I was most definitely not okay. Something was building inside me. Something with the ability to make me explode. I could feel the tension twisting as Vaela stroked me, teasing those nerves with tiny circles, locking onto a rhythm that had me bucking against her hand.

I moaned in delight, already dreading the moment this all ended. My earlier fears bled from me, nothing but desire left in its wake as my existence narrowed to this one moment in time, to the sensations Vaela was stirring inside me. Suddenly her fingers curved, hooking just right. The pressure just right.

Next thing I knew, the world spun away from me. I moaned as stars erupted behind my eyelids and a delicious sense of relief rushed through me. It was a gentle wave and an uncontrollable torrent all at once. I didn’t know whether I wanted to move or hold incredibly still, but Vaela made the choice for me, gathering me to her chest as she kissed me fiercely through the bliss.

When the feelings subsided, my muscles relaxed and I eased into the safety of her arms, knowing there was nowhere I’d rather be in all of Cai’amar.

After some time, I surfaced from my daze, my senses clearing. I found Vaela leaving tiny kisses along my hairline as she caressed my arm, my breast. I smiled into her, tilting my head to nibble at the underside of her jaw.

“Hello, you,” she whispered.

“Hi.” I curled my hand over her hip, squeezing. Then I propped myself up on my elbow, tugging her tunic aside to press a kiss to her shoulder, then her collarbone. I popped one button open, exposing more skin, leaving another gentle kiss.

She threaded her hand into my hair. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Shhh,” I whispered, giving her a coy grin as I turned my head to leave a kiss against her hand. “It’s my turn to take care of you now.”

I moved down her body, making note of all the things I wanted to learn. The list was long. I wanted to know each line on her palm. Each callus. The arch of her fingers at rest. The curve of her eyelashes. Where the scar below her ear came from. I wanted to know the feel of the spaces between her ribs and memorize the softness of her breasts. In contrast, I wanted to know the sharpness of her hipbone.

It felt like there were so many things to know and not nearly enough time.