“Aye, they seem to be.” I put more weight on my leg, and crushing pain flares through me. I force myself to continue to press my foot to the ground, testing how long I can put any weight on it.
“How did that happen anyhow?” Vali asks. “Was it a trap of some kind? A shark?”
“Big shark,” I agree, since it sounds less fearsome than a sea dragon. “I wandered too close into his territory.”
“Lord Vor is sending you a message,” my wife tells me. “He wants you to keep close to me, obviously, since he’s the one that brought us together.”
I eye her. Is she teasing or does she truly think that? “I doubt the gods care that much.”
“Yes, well, you can think that all you like. All I know is that I promised Lord Vor a fish and I haven’t given it to him yet. I don’t want to face his wrath for not fulfilling my side of the bargain.”
She does have a point. “Lord Vor will understand that you haven’t had a chance to honor his wishes yet.”
“You hope.”
“Aye, I hope,” I chuckle. “But the good news is that I can stand upon my leg.”
“Now who’s the liar?” Vali asks, voice tart. She takes a step back from me and I wobble. “A stiff breeze could knock you over, husband.”
She’s not wrong, yet I’m still encouraged. “It will get stronger every day,” I reassure her. “I simply need to exercise it.”
Vali looks unconvinced. She drops to her knees in front of me, pulling aside the bandages so she can inspect the stitches. “Everything still looks pretty bad. I worry I’ve stitched it wrong. Or what if there aren’t enough stitches to keep everything together?” Her fingers move lightly over my flesh and I hiss in pain. She draws back and eyes me, clearly worried. “Perhaps I should find the nearest town and pay the healer to come out here.”
“There are no towns near here. That’s the point.” The thought of Vali venturing off into the human lands alone terrifies me. I remember how those men on the shore treated her. “And I don’t want a human healer. I have you.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You know what I meant.” I reach down and lightly touch her ear. “You have saved me. You know I am thankful.”
She gazes up at me, smiling, and her mouth is so inviting and pretty that I graze my thumb over it. My cocks respond when she blushes, but another jolt of pain shoots up my leg and puts an end to any amorous thoughts.
“Let me try to walk around the grotto,” I tell her as she continues to kneel in front of me. “See how far I can move.”
“Please, please be careful,” Vali breathes as I move out of her grasp.
I take one wobbling step, hissing with pain when I have to put my bad leg down. A second step proves to be too much and I nearly topple. Vali is right there as I do, putting her arms around me to steady me. I lean on her heavily…and then we both spill to the ground, legs flying into the air.
“Gods!” she cries, even as I snort with laughter. Her gaze searches my face as she struggles to sit up. “Are you all right, Ranan?”
“Nothing hurt but my pride,” I tell her. “But I am encouraged. It is painful, but I can use my leg.”
“Well, I don’t want you doing it! You’re just going to make things worse!” She fusses over me, her hands moving over my bare chest as she frets. “You just need to sit down and relax and—”
“No,” I say, capturing her hand in one of mine. “I have sat about enough. We will pack tonight, and tomorrow we will head out to the flotilla upon Akara’s back.”
“I still don’t know how to swim,” she reminds me, her expression doubtful. “Are we sure that’s wise?”
“I will not be doing much swimming, either. It is simply a change in plans.”
She tries to pull her hand free from mine and get up, but she looks so worried that I refuse to let her go. Her gaze locks onto mine and a small smile tugs at her mouth. She pulls at her hand again, and I drag her toward me. Her soft mouth looks lush and appealing, and I want to kiss away her concerns. Vali leans forward over me, her other hand splaying across my chest. “What are you doing, Ranan?”
I love how breathless she sounds.
“I’m going to kiss my wife.” I slide a hand along her side, caressing her through the fabric. “But only if she wants it.”
Her gaze flicks over my body. “But your leg—”
“Not using it at the moment.” I’m on my back, half on the bedding. Vali is practically sprawled over me, and she’s being careful to avoid my injury. “Does this mean you don’t want to kiss me?”
“I’ll kiss you,” Vali blurts. “I just…I worry. I don’t want to hurt you. I know you’re in pain. Your leg—”
“Is nowhere near my mouth,” I remind her, tugging her close once more.
Her lips quirk, and she leans in, meeting me halfway. Her kiss is tentative at first, but I’m reminded of how much I enjoy the feel of her. The soft, delicate sweetness of her mouth, mixed with the warmth of her body. Her lips give under mine, parting, and when I stroke my tongue against hers, she makes a sound of pure delight.
I pull her closer, leaning into the kiss. I’ve forgotten just how enjoyable it is to meld my lips to another’s. To lose myself in the joining of our mouths, to feel a body yielding against mine. Kissing Vali feels…different than what I recall when I kissed women of my people. She’s made the same as them, but she’s Vali, and somehow that makes it different.
Makes it better. She’s warm and loving and gorgeous and her pink tongue feels like a dream against my own. My cocks stir, and I’m reminded of our conversation from yesterday.
She takes nothing for herself in bed. No male has ever given her his mouth between her thighs.
I suddenly want this more than anything. “Let me taste you, Vali.”
My wife pulls back from me, her dazed expression glorious. Her gaze darts to my lips and then she licks hers, as if wanting to make my taste linger. “I thought that’s what we were doing.”
“I want to taste you between your thighs,” I point out. “Like we talked about.”
She grows flustered, her teeth sinking into her lower lip. “Your injury—”
“Need not affect us when I have four strong arms.” I lift one to graze her thigh, play with her hair with another, and pat the blanket with a third hand even as the fourth strokes her cheek. I am tiring, it’s true. The wound has sapped my strength, yet this is something that I want desperately. “I can hold you and taste you, or you can come and sit upon my face and let me lick you to my leisure.”
“Oh.” Her flustered gaze darts over my face. “You…you truly want that?”
I groan at the hint of excitement in her voice. Just the thought of Vali straddling my face, her warm cunt pressing against my mouth, makes me crazy with need. “I want it very badly.”
She hesitates.
She’s going to decline. I recognize the stubborn look on her face, and my disappointment is immeasurable. But then she shakes her head. “I’ll only do it if we put your bad leg on the pillow again.”
Is that her only request? “Done.”
Vali detangles from my embrace, her cheeks flushed dark with color as she adjusts the bedding. I’m forced to lie back and watch, hiding my fatigue, as she straightens the blankets and then fluffs my leg pillow. When I’m settled down to her satisfaction, I gesture that she should come toward me. “You look at me as if you are afraid.”
“I’m not afraid.”
“Good, because I don’t bite. You think I won’t be gentle?”
“I’m sure you will be.”
“Then be brave and claim your pleasure, wife.”
She wrings her hands. “What if I don’t enjoy it? I’ve never done this before.”