"I… I didn't know you've returned." I stuttered. "Everyone said that you were still around the northern border."
He looked even more handsome when his jet-black hair was wet and his naked body was adorned with water drops. I could only see above his chest since the water was, as always, kind of blurry but still, I could make out the muscles on his chest.
At that moment, I realised that I had never seen him in something other than his black kefta.
As he ran his hand through his wet hair to push it away from his face, he began to walk to the edge of the pool. "Perhaps word didn't spread fast this time." he spoke, his deep voice echoed inside the banya. "However, I wasn't expecting anyone to visit the banya tonight. Why aren't you with your friends?"
I rolled my eyes at his words, "Shura was the only available one and I'd rather not spend an entire Saturday night with her, thank you very much." I muttered and wrapped my arms around my body to make sure the towel would not fall.
The Darkling smirked at me. "You two don't get on well, eh?" he asked with a playful tone. "Shura normally has an enjoyable company, though."
"Of course you'd enjoy having her around," I muttered under my breath but apparently, my voice was loud enough for the Darkling to hear me. The pleasant expression on his face was making me want to punch him.
"Are you jealous of Shura?"
"She is jealous of me." I spoke with a confident tone as I raised a challenging eyebrow. However, I wasn't expecting him to get out of the pool in front of me. The moment I saw him climbing the stairs, my eyes widened and I immediately turned my back. I could feel the heat rushing to my face and it was not because of how hot the banya was. "Aleksander!"
His tone made me imagine him shrugging at my words. "Have you never seen a naked man before?"
I heard the sound of a towel unfolding, I tried hard not to think about how his pale skin shone under the faint light of the banya and how breath-taking he looked as water was dripping from his naked body.
"I have but that's not the point."
In fact, I didn't know why I reacted the way I did –I had visited the banya with the other Grisha many times. Back then, seeing the male Grisha naked didn't seem to bother me –or make me blush –at all, among which Radoslaw and Leon stood as well. However, when it came to the Darkling, I started to act like a little girl.
I heard him clicking his tongue, my back was still facing him. "In that case, it is me who makes you anxious," he said, I could easily imagine a small smirk on his lips. He enjoyed this so much and giving him that satisfaction annoyed me.
I knew he was walking towards me for I could hear the sound his bare feet created as he stepped on the wet floor. He probably had a towel wrapped around his lower half now but I wanted to stay still and see what he had in mind.
When he was close enough, I felt the familiar heat radiating off his body. With slow movements, he gathered my raven hair on my left shoulder –his hands were still damp. As he began to caress my exposed neck with the side of his index finger, I took a deep breath. I had missed feeling his body so close to mine, I had missed his touch and I had missed his scent.
Water was dripping from his dark hair onto my head.
In mere seconds, he moved his hand to my waist and I felt him leaning into me. I was breathing heavily, my heart was beating like crazy and I was sure my knuckles were white since I held the small bag too tight. The moment I felt his lips touching the skin right under my ear, I automatically closed my eyes and let my back press against his bare chest.
The Darkling's soft lips moved down on my neck as he left small kisses. "Did you miss me, Valkyrja?" he whispered against my skin and his lips moved down again. "Tell me you missed me."
I let my head fall back so that more of my neck was exposed. "I missed you, Aleksander." I breathed out the words, my voice was lower than a whisper. Every little kiss he planted on my neck was causing me to lose that little bit of self-control I had over myself and in the end, when his soft lips met my collarbone, there was nothing else I wanted but him.
I wanted him to pin me against the wall and kiss me until I couldn't even remember my own name anymore.
I wanted to feel his naked skin on mine.
I wanted him.
When he pulled his lips away from my neck, I almost whined but at the last moment, I got a hold of myself and pressed my lips to each other so that no sound left my mouth. With a swift movement, the Darkling turned me inside his arms so that I was facing him. His grey eyes were darkened with lust and it made me feel better seeing that I wasn't the only one who was burning with desire.
"I have to attend a short meeting with the King," he spoke with a low voice, though he was not whispering anymore. He was running his free hand through my raven hair and the other one was still around my waist. "After that, can I come to you?"
My heart skipped a beat. I knew very well what he meant by that –he wanted to come to my bedroom. Where no one could see and disturb us, where it would be just him and I.
If I hadn't been under the effect of feeling his lips on my neck, I'd probably have given more thought to this but at that moment I wasn't able to think straight. Our bodies were pressed to each other, his hand was in my hair and his warm breath was licking my forehead –which made it impossible for me to focus on anything but the desire I felt for him.
As I nodded, I saw a faint glint inside his slate-grey eyes and he pressed his lips against mine. However, this time he didn't let the kiss get deeper and quickly stepped back. Winking at me, the Darkling turned back and headed towards the changing rooms, leaving me alone in the banya as I finally let my small bag slip through my fingers and fall onto the wet floor.
[Time Skip]
I didn't spend as much time in banya as I initially intended to.
All I could think about was his naked body adorned with water drops, his lips touching my neck and the fact that he was going to come to me later that night. Even though I had been together with Evan many times –we had dated for three years, more or less –thinking about the Darkling instead of him made me both absolutely excited and anxious at the same time.
It felt just like the night when I had my first time with Evan when I was nineteen.
Once I figured out that staying in the banya didn't help me even one bit, I quickly dried my body and wore my clothes. After taking the dampness of my hair with the second towel I had brought, I went straight to the Little Palace with quick steps so that I'd not catch a cold –my hair was still not dry, after all.
On my way to my chambers, I bumped into Anita. From the pinkness of her cheeks, I could already tell that she was drunk. When her brown eyes found my jade-green ones, a wide smile appeared on her lips and she literally threw herself on me.
"Val, it's so good to see you!" Anita shouted even though we were hugging each other, which made me flinch. Upon feeling the dampness of my hair, Anita stepped back with a confused expression on her face. "Why is your hair wet?" she asked, then she placed her hand on her mouth, which was wide open with shock. "Oh, did you go swimming in the lake?"
I couldn't hold the laughter that left my lips. "No, Anita, of course not! Do you have any idea how cold the lake might be?" I said and I softened my tone as I asked. "Do you want me to walk you to your room?"
Anita raised an eyebrow at me, "Why would I need that?"
"Anita, you're clearly drunk."
"Of course not," she said and tried to walk in a straight line but she tripped on her own foot. If I hadn't caught her in time, she would have fallen down on her head. "See, I'm perfectly fine!"
This time I rolled my eyes, "Just hold my arm, will you?"
It was around half past ten when I returned to my bedroom after making sure Anita reached her bed safely. First, I placed the shampoo and the towels in their places in the bathroom. Then, I took off my kefta and my clothes to wear my usual nightwear –a silver-grey nightgown and a black, silk robe. The feeling of silk against my skin made me heave a delighted sigh.
Sitting on the chair in front of my dresser, I took the comb and began to comb my hair as I watched my reflection in the mirror. Insecurity loomed around me, I was insecure about my body. After all, Shura was the Darkling most recent partner and she was gorgeous –she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life and this was causing distressing thoughts to run wild in my mind.
What if he didn't like what he saw underneath my clothes? If his attraction towards me was purely sexual, this could very well be the scenario and it really scared me –I didn't want that thing between us to fade away, nor I wanted to lose him. Even though it seemed like I was totally under his spell, he was not free from my clutches, too.
And there was another thing, which really disturbed me: I felt like my stupid heart had grown rather fond of him.
As my jade-green eyes wandered on the reflection of my face, I straightened my back. No, I was not going to let my insecurities get the better of me. The thing bringing the Darkling close to me had never been my looks –it was me, my powers and my connection with him. Like called to like and he had been drawn to me ever since we had met right there, in this very room.
Just as I pushed away the insecure and disturbing thoughts, someone knocked on the door. Immediately, my heart started to beat faster.
"Come in," I called from where I sat and the white doors opened, only to show the Darkling in his black kefta with his dark hair dry. "I thought the meeting would take longer."
"It was definitely going to take longer," the Darkling said as he closed the door behind him. "But I couldn't bear sitting there, listening to the nonsense of a child while moya lyubova awaited me."
I didn't even realise that he had called the King a child, I melted the moment he called me moya lyubova. I loved the way he spoke my name but when he said the Ravkan words for my love, it was something absolutely different.
He walked towards the dresser and stood behind the chair, on which I was seated. I watched his movements from his reflection on the mirror as he slowly took the comb from my hand and began to comb my hair himself. Upon seeing the enchanted look I was giving him, a soft giggle left the Darkling's lips.
"If you keep looking at me like that, I might throw away the comb and start kissing you right away, Valkyrja."
"Maybe that is exactly what I want you to do," I found myself saying in a seductive tone, which made me admire my own confidence. However, it was for a fact that I had grown bolder ever since I had finally reached my power.
Taking a deep breath, the Darkling stopped combing my hair and under my questioning looks he walked towards the dresser. He leant the dresser as he placed the comb in front of the mirror. "Do you know what the problem with wanting is?" he asked me and I shook my head while I stood up with slow movements. "It makes us weak."
"I don't understand." I said as I stood in front of him. His long fingers began to trace the collar of my black, silk robe but his slate-grey eyes were set on mine.
"I lied to the King and his generals, I told them that I haven't slept for two days straight so that the meeting could end early and I could have you inside my arms as soon as possible." the Darkling spoke with a silk-like voice, his intense look made me turn my eyes away. "I let the wanting cloud my judgement –I continue letting it cloud my judgement, whereas I should never let my desires come between me and my duties." His hand straying on the collar of my robe moved to my chin and he gently tilted my head so that I looked into his eyes again. "Do you understand what I mean?"
I nodded, "I do," my voice was low when I spoke. "In that case… Am I your weakness?"
"Yes," he muttered as his hand holding my chin moved to the back of my neck. The moment I felt his free hand on the small of my back, I felt him drawing me closer and in the blink of an eye, our bodies were pressed against each other. "Yes, you are." He leant into me and his lips met the sensitive skin of my neck once again that night. I took a deep breath. "You, Valkyrja Nørgaard," he whispered against my neck as his lips moved down slowly. He was taking his time while he left kisses, sometimes I could feel his tongue on my skin. I let my head fall back, my hands were resting on his chest. "You are my one and only weakness."
Ehehehehe -it's getting hot in here.
I'll be changing the rating of the story to mature with the upcoming chapter -you know what's coming :3
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