Chapter 7

She couldn't even begin to imagine what he'd been going through, and not just since Adamant. This went deeper; at a guess she would say it went back to his time in Seheron. From the little he'd said about those days, it hadn't surprised her that he'd burnt out. Even the strongest man can break in the right situation with the right amount of pressure.

She almost cried anew as his arms came around her, holding her in a fierce hug, his face buried in her neck. Without a word, he rolled her under him, lifting his head. What she saw in his face sent an icy finger of fear down her spine. His eyes were wild, his teeth pulled back in a snarl, he looked one hundred percent the warrior that he was, and more. Hell, he could have made a dragon back off with that look.

Adaar pushed back the fear; she trusted this man implicitly, knew that he would never hurt her. He just needed to learn that lesson for himself. In one rough motion, he thrust himself deep inside her and without waiting for her to adjust to his thickness, pulled out then slammed back in. She didn't move as she kept her eyes locked with his.

He froze, his body hovering over her as a look of horror drowned out the wildness in his eyes. He started to pull out as words tumbled from his mouth. "I'm sorry, oh shit, I'm so sorry." She locked her legs around his, holding him in place while simultaneously wrapping her arms around his thick neck and drawing his face down to hers.

"I'm fine Bull." His eyes slid to the side, too ashamed to meet her gaze. She gripped his chin and forced him to look at her. "I'm fine."

He let out the pent up breath he'd been holding and rolled to his back, taking her with him. She moaned as he slipped out, only half hard now, understandable of course, given what had just occurred.

"You shouldn't have taken the chains off." His grip tightened around her waist, pulling her attention back to him. "Yeah, I should have. Your hands were turning blue, and I can't let anything happen to those clever fingers of yours."

"You took a hell of a risk Kadan, I could have seriously hurt you. I didn't know where I was or what I was doing." His lips were drawn into a thin, tight angry line.

"There was no risk. I know you and you do yourself a great injustice Bull. You have an innate sense of honour within you, one that would not allow you to hurt someone under your care. You lost an eye for Krem, a stranger at the time, because of your honour."

She stroked a hand along his temple, her fingers tracing the outline of one massive horn. "Nothing and no one can take that from you, love. It's as much a part of you as your strength, your honesty, your wit." He was silent for a moment, his brow dipped in thought. His next words shocked her. "Restrain me again, lets finish this." He stretched his arms out to the side in readiness.

Adaar watched him for a moment, her eyes assessing the situation. She nodded once, then leaned forward. "A kiss first." She teased his lips, her tongue tangling around his, tasting his masculinity. As she pulled away, she sucked on his bottom lip, licking it briefly before releasing him.

"Roll on to your stomach Bull." He raised an eyebrow, there were a tense few seconds where it was plain he had an inkling as to her next move, and was debating as to whether he could do it. Then, with slow and deliberate movements, he turned onto his front. The level of trust conveyed in that moment took her breath away and made her eyes itch with unshed tears.

She lengthened the chains, knowing that at this point, the manacles were more of a symbol than an actual means to hold him in place. When she'd finished restraining him, his arms lay loosely by his head, taking the unyielding pressure from his shoulders. For this next step, she wanted him as comfortable as possible.

Adaar moved around to the side of the bed and collected the last two items, before settling herself between Bull's parted legs. She placed the bottle of oil by her side, then turned her attention to the saartoh nehrappan.

The length of wrapped leather felt smooth and cool to the touch. She'd bought the double sided version, hoping that the feel of it moving inside of her would give a good indication of how it was feeling inside of Bull. She'd already tried it on, learning how to position it, how to tighten the straps so that there would be no stumbling over such things when the moment came.

For now, she put it to one side and picked up the fragrant oil, a light scent of sandalwood reached her nose as she removed the cap. She poured some into her hands and warmed it up before placing both hands on his lower back, just above the curve of his buttocks. She felt him jump at her touch and chuckled. "Sorry, should have warned you."

"Would have been nice," he mumbled, his voice slightly muffled by the pillow.

She dug in her fingers, kneading the tense muscles along his back and he let out a contented sigh, stretching his legs out like a cat who'd found a particularly good sun spot to lay in.

Later, she'd make sure to give him an all over massage, but right now she had one particular place on his body that she wanted relaxed.