Flames of Auriel (A Caeles Adventure Book 1) (21 page)

“You need to leave.”

Asher frowned, baffled at her sudden change, “What? Why?”

Zoe moved to get out from underneath him, “You know why. It’s your law.”

Asher laughed as her line of thought finally dawned on him. “You are worried about remaining pure.” He grabbed her about the waist and maneuvered her back down onto the bed. “You don’t need to worry about that.”

Too tired to fight him, Zoe let him press her back into the stiff mattress. “What do you mean? It’s your law that says if we are to be married I have to remain a virgin until the wedding night.” Zoe’s eyes soon filled with dismay, “Do you not want to marry me?”

Asher watched her astonished that she could think such a thing, “Of course I want to marry you, Zoe. That’s not what I meant at all.” He brushed some of the loose hairs away from her face and gave her a guilty smile. “I admit I might not have told you the complete truth about the marriage laws.”

Zoe narrowed her eyes at him, “Like what?”

Asher scratched the back of his head. A slight chuckle escaped his lips. “Well, you see...while the law still technically exists...we don’t actually….well, uh….check for it anymore.” Asher kept his eyes on Zoe’s face as he gauged her reaction.

She was thunderstruck. She was not sure what to think. She was relieved to know that they no longer practiced the archaic tradition, but at the same time, she was furious that he had lied to her. Something on her face must have shown through because Asher started to lean away from her.

Zoe grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled his face close to hers. “You’re telling me that all this time I had been worried for nothing?” Asher gulped at the violence in her eyes and nodded down at her. Zoe shoved the prince away standing up to pace the room.

“Not only did you lie to me but you made me feel like crap when you thought I had slept with Garrett!” She stopped in front of him her hands on her hips. “What’s wrong with you? Do you get some kind of sick pleasure out of making my life miserable? To think I was saving myself for such a manipulative, ungrateful cad when I could have...” She trailed off her back to him.

Asher narrowed his eyes at her back as his own anger flared at her words. He got off the bed and grabbed her shoulders. He yanked her around to face him as his eyes darkened for a completely different reason now.

“You wanted to give yourself to someone else? Is that it? Maybe that bodyguard of yours?” The words felt foul as they left his mouth.

Zoe’s eyes hardened at the disgusted way Asher referred to her friend. “What if it is? Why should you care? You’ve already been with plenty of women. Why can’t I be with one man who actually cares about me?”

Asher tightened his grip on her arms, which caused her to wince. “Is that what you think? He’s not the only one who cares about you!” He brought his face nose to nose with hers and snarled. “You’re mine!”

Zoe started when Asher slammed his mouth onto hers and their teeth knocked together at the force. Zoe could not believe the nerve of him. She was not a piece of property that he could just throw around as he pleased. She pulled on his lips with her teeth, fighting to get the upper hand, until he placed a hand on her jaw to control the kiss better.

After a moment, when she seemed more complacent to let him lead, Asher let go of her jaw and moved his hand down to her bottom. He pushed her up against him to grind his still hardened length against her. Zoe gasped as he brushed against her own heat and groaned as he took the opportunity to enter into her mouth. Their mouths clashed together in a battle of tongues and teeth. When he let go of her arm to wrap a hand around the back of her neck, Zoe used it to her advantage.

Asher felt her shift her stance, but he was not about to be caught off guard this time. He was ready for her when Zoe tried to use her leg to knock him off balance. He grabbed the back of her leg, using her movement to hoist it over his hip, and then shoved himself up against her heat.

When she gasped at the contact, Asher drew back from the kiss to catch his breath. His chest heaved as he wrapped her braid around his hand and moved her head back to give him access to her neck. He smirked against her neck at the sounds coming from her throat.

“Why do you affect me so?”

Zoe could not help the feelings he produced in her. She was still angry at him, but her mind was too jumbled to think of any good reason to make him stop. Her eyes clenched shut and she dug her nails into his arms and moaned. Her eyes snapped open at the feel of his laugh against her throat.

“You’re such an ass.”

Asher ignored her attempt to start another round of banter and instead ushered them back to the bed. He kept his eyes on hers as he lowered them to the bed. The prince leaned upward slightly to remove his tunic and his eye took in the sight she made.

Her eyes were watching him through half-closed lids and her lips were swollen from his attention. His eyes settled on her chest as it moved up and down as she tried to draw in a breath. His mouth went dry at the hardened tips that pressed against her shirt. He grasped the bottom of her tunic and jerked it over her head; a delicious squeak came out of her at the movement.

The intense of Asher’s eyes on her exposed skin made Zoe itch to cover herself with her arms. She saw the challenge there in his eyes, like he knew what she was thinking. She did not want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he made her shy and chose to pull his mouth back down to hers instead.

She groaned at the feel of their skin pressed together. The heat that emanated between them was something she had never felt with Garrett. Zoe pushed the thoughts of her friend from her mind by wrapping her legs around Asher’s waist and pressing them closer together. This is what she wanted.

Asher grunted at the feel of her pressed against him. His hand cupped one of Zoe’s breasts as he leaned down to take it into his mouth. He loved how she squirmed beneath him and arched her back to press her chest further into his mouth. He moved his hands down her sides. He pulled on the ties of her breeches as his mouth switched to her other breast. As he shimmied the breeches down her hips, he let go of her breast with a scrap of his teeth on the tip; the feeling caused her to grip the blanket beneath them.

Zoe dug her heels into the mattress and pushed her hips up as he tugged her clothing off her legs. She let Asher claim her mouth once again, but threw her head back when his fingers traced her entrance. She let out a shaky breath as he built her up to the edge, only to whimper when he backed off. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, Zoe found the ties of Asher’s pants. She jerked at them, her movements frantic.

He chuckled at her desperation and moved her hands away from his pants and held them above her head. He groaned as she wiggled against the strained front of his breeches, but he kept her hands in one of his as the other went back to teasing her.

Zoe jerked at her restricted hands and glared at him. “Asher!”

“Yes?”

She growled at the innocent look he was trying to fool her with. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was driving her mad and she could not take it anymore. She closed her eyes and bit her lip to keep from calling out. But another swipe of his fingers caused her hips to press up against him as she let out a small whimper.

“Please.”

Asher swallowed hard at the sound of her begging him for release, but he was not about to give in so easily. He moved off to the side of her so he could press his lips to her hip bone. He slid his tongue across the ridge there and savored the taste of her. He smirked against her skin at the moan that came from the back of her throat.

“Please what?”

Zoe struggled against the desperate feelings in her to have him touch her. She knew what he wanted. He was enjoying hearing her beg him for his touch. She drew her nails across the hands holding her down and smirked when he hissed.

“Fuck you!” Her insult ended in a screech at the feel of his tongue as it stroked across the heat of her center.

“Such language from a princess.” He chuckled against her skin. “Did your gypsy friends teach you that?”

Not waiting for her answer, Asher released her hands and moved himself back between her legs. She shoved her fingers through his hair and gripped him to her. All thoughts of regaining her dignity were lost as she opened her legs wider for him, his mouth as demanding as he had been when he had been kissing her lips.

Asher gripped her thighs in his hands, the taste of her sweat and everything that was completely Zoe filled his mouth. The sweet pleading sounds she made as he lavished her were driving him to his own breaking point. He used one hand to pull at the ties of his pants and shoved them down his legs, as Zoe’s legs began to quake beneath him.

Just when she thought she could not take any more something in her broke. Her hands clenched the blanket beneath her as her toes curled under her delectably. Her body shivered at the cool air when Asher moved away from her, but sucked in a sharp breath when he slid into her. When he broke through her innocence, the pain she had expected to feel was dulled by the release still racing in her blood. She latched her legs around his and dragged him deeper into her.

Asher gritted his teeth at the feeling of her being gripped so tightly by her. He braced himself above her as he rocked slowly against her. When she did not show any signs of pain he pulled out of her almost completely and slammed back into her.

When he hit the end of her, Zoe gasped at the combination of pain and pleasure. Her eyes clenched close as she felt every inch of him sliding inside of her. She moved hips in time with his as she felt herself coming close to the edge once more.

The feel of her hips thrusting up to meet his urged him to go faster. He memorized every moan and hitch in her breathing as he moved above her. He wanted to give her as much pleasure as he could for her first time. The sounds of her increased cries encouraged him to push into her harder. He pressed his mouth to her just as his own release snuck up on him at the tightening of her insides.

Asher released her mouth and leaned his forehead against hers to catch his breath. He could not believe it had taken them that long to do this. He let out a small chuckle.

“What?” Zoe peeked up at him, sleep pressing down on her.

She cried out her disappointment when Asher finally moved off of her to lie next to her on the bed. Cold from the loss of his heat, she moved to grab her clothes only to be pulled back down onto the bed. She laughed when Asher snaked his arms around her and moved them to the head of the bed. He maneuvered the blanket out from under them and wrapped it around them. He cupped his hand around her breast and gave it a squeeze as she nestled into his embrace. He could get used to this.

He brushed her hair over her shoulder and placed his mouth there. He would never get tired of kissing her. “I was just thinking what it would have been like if we’d just given each other a chance.”

Zoe hummed in agreement and enjoyed the loose feeling in her limbs. She had known what to expect. She was not completely unexperienced. Though the things she had done with Garrett did not come close to the way Asher made her feel. It was not just more, it was the intimate sensations she got from her and Asher’s lovemaking.

“Zoe?” She tilted her head to let him know she was listening. “I’m sorry about your father and Alice.”

The princess swallowed the hard lump in her throat that had risen up at the mention of the departed. She had shed enough tears for them. They would not want her to dwell on her loss.

“I won’t let anything happen to you. You know that, right?” Asher turned her face to his, searching her face for something.

But this time instead of arguing that she could take care of herself she leaned up and brushed her lips across his. “I know.” She turned back over, staring at nothing. “Go to sleep. We can talk about it in the morning.”

***

Zoe jerked awake a few hours later, her knife drawn from under her pillow to face the darkened room. When she was satisfied that they were indeed alone, she lowered her weapon and turned over to look at Asher’s sleeping form. He was still sound asleep on the other side of the bed. She rolled her eyes at Asher’s ability to sleep through an earthquake and stood up.

She grabbed her tunic from the floor and carefully made her way over to the window to look out. Based on the pitch black sky, Zoe figured she had a few hours before sunrise. The gypsies would be packing up to leave soon. She nibbled on her thumb and glanced back to her sleeping prince.

She really should wake him before she left, but what do you say to the man you just gave your virtue to? Should she assume they were still engaged and treat him like a lover? Or should she just play nonchalant and pretend like it did not happen? She still did not know his feelings for her, though Asher had implied he cared for her last night.

Her decision made, she slid her breeches up, quickly tying them off, before searching for her boots and corset in the dark. She debated on how to get her knives from the table without making any noise when Asher’s sleeping form snored. She decided to chance it. She would rather take the chance at being caught sneaking out than face the inevitable awkward encounter they were sure to have.

She gently picked up each knife and slid them into their holster on the corset. She was not going to take the time to put it back on her chest, and her boots could wait until she got out of the room. Zoe paused by the bed on her way to the door and her eyes squinted in an effort to memorize his slumbering figure. She sighed, clutched her belongings to her chest with one hand and turned the door knob with the other. She felt like such a harlot, sneaking out, but it had to be done.