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“Do you think we should go back?” I touch his chest above a deeper gash.
“Shhh…” He holds a finger to my lips, tracing over them like a cool whisper. He reaches down and lifts my dress over my head. Other than my undergarments, I’m standing bare before him.
I clutch my arms beneath my chest, exposed to both the cold and embarrassment.
He holds my head in his hands, touching his forehead to mine. Heat radiates from his skin, warming me slightly. “Don’t hide yourself from me. You are the most gorgeous person I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
My heart beats wildly, unable to contain the conflicting emotions I have inside. “But you are not my husband. Only a spouse can see another undressed.”
“In Avren,” he says, running a hand down my arm and weaving his fingers through mine. “Do you think I don’t take this seriously? With you? My commitment to you is stronger than that of any man you might sign a piece of paper and have test tube babies with. Out here, we rely on each other. There’s no one I trust more.”
“After such a short time?” I understand where he’s coming from. After our battle in the armory, the feelings have been magnified tenfold. I can trust this man with my life. And from what he’s saying, he feels the same way about me.
He cups my cheek with his free hand, applying slow caresses over my skin with his thumb. “I’m fiercely protective of you. Even if it’s over my dead body, you will come out of this alive. You’ve given my life purpose, and I didn’t know a prophecy I’d heard on repeat throughout my life could do that.” Releasing my hand, he unbuckles his pants and lets them slide to the ground in a puddle.
I don’t look down out of fear he’s not wearing any undergarments.
“Are you afraid of me, Mari?”
No… yes… I’m not afraid of him, only of my inadequacies.
He picks up our clothes in one arm and takes my hand again, leading me to the pond. I glimpse his bare bottom as he walks in front of me, and I swallow back my fear. This man wants me, and there’s nothing Lady Raven can do about it out here in the wilderness.
Bastian lays our clothes on a rock and leads me until the water is up to my chest. The water is warmer than the air within the shallow pool. The moon and fireflies create a romantic ambience.
He lowers his head until his lips are even with the surface and blows a stream of tiny waves in my direction. Being here is so natural to him, like eating and breathing. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to.” He lifts a wet strand of hair away from my forehead. “You told me how you felt last time in the cabin.”
As an eighteen-year-old in Avren, this is about the time the Council would pick a partner for me. Until they deemed me an Undesirable, I had every hope it would be Flynn Baxter, the boy who made me feel things I’d never dreamt possible. That is until I met Bastian. With him standing before me in a pond in the middle of the wilderness, I know without a doubt there’s no one else for me.
“Please show me how to do this, Commander Hale.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Bastian takes a step closer to me, and I hold my breath. The croaking frogs, wind in the leaves high above, and the endless chirp of crickets serenade us. He’s so close, the heat of his skin threatens to sear me. His enormous hands circle my arms, drawing me near, where he leans in to kiss me. I explore his lips with my tongue, taking the time to map them in my memory as his hands run along my back, lifting me by my ass so I’m straddling him.
His tongue dives into my mouth. I wrap my legs around his back, feeling him hard beneath me.
Oh, gods.
If I’m defying Lady Raven’s orders simply by kissing this man, I might as well make the most of it. My hand dives beneath the surface of the water and lands between his legs. He moans into my mouth as I grip and tug, thankful it brings him pleasure and not pain. It’s not like anyone in Avren gave me lessons on how to do this.
“Mari…” Bastian breaks our kiss and squeezes his eyes shut as I continue to stroke him. He lets out a stifled laugh before turning his eyes on me. “I thought you wanted me to teach you.”
“You teach me by going about everyday life.” I move my hand to his chest. “When you remove your shirt, your muscles flex, and you show me how to seduce you with the removal of my clothes.” I reach behind me and unsnap my bra, letting it drift beside us on top of the water.
Bastian reaches up to touch me, but I block him with my hand.
“You teach me the art of seduction with your words.” I press into him with my hips to show him I know how to tease. “Like when you call me ‘Windsong’ or ‘princess’. At first, they infuriated me, but now they’re like a verbal aphrodisiac.”
“Don’t talk dirty to me, princess.” He snatches my hand, apparently tired of waiting. “I won’t even tell you all the ways you’ve had my heart racing since we met. The way you walk through the woods in Evie’s tight leather fighting gear, or the way you hold the bow like a novice just to get me close to you.”
“I’ve been naughty, haven’t I?” I flutter my eyelashes, wondering if I left the old Mari behind in the village. “But I don’t want to be good anymore if it means being good without you.”
His heart hammers against his chest as he sucks on my lower lip, making me arch my back. The exhilarating feelings ripping through my body make me wish we could stay here in Tenny Rocks and forget about my role as the savior. He lifts me slightly, dips his head, and takes my nipple into his mouth, rolling his tongue over the hard pebble and making the growing ache in the pit of my stomach intensify. I didn’t know this is what the Council took away from us—this hunger for one another.
He moves to my other breast, teasing me with his nips and tugs, and arousing something deep inside of me. I want this man more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life—more than marrying Flynn, more than becoming a dressmaker, more than becoming a Citizen of Avren.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asks, lifting me out of the water, my arms and legs around him like a mythical monkey I’ve seen in fairytales. “We can wait as long as you need.” His words say one thing, but his body and eyes say the complete opposite. He wants me—bad.
