Chapter 18

When Elain's arms wrapped around his neck, Lucien dipped his head to press his lips to hers. His blood began to pound in his ears when she pressed herself to his chest, tightening her hold on him as her lips parted to allow him to deepen the kiss. Surging forward, Lucien did so, lifting Elain from her feet and carrying her the three steps to the edge of his bed. He hadn't been sure what her reaction would be then, but he was still surprised when she lifted her feet to stand on the bed, making her taller than him and able to look down at him for once. She grinned, taking a step back, her eyes beckoning him forward.

"Where are you going, Petal?"

"Come and find out…"

He was on the bed in the blink of an eye, his hand catching her by the wrist and pulling her to himself again as he sank down to the mattress. Elain folded herself easily into his lap and he claimed her lips in a searing kiss once more. He liked the fact that she was panting within moments, her hands tugging at his shirt until she could pull it up and over his head and then his own hands were making quick work of the fastenings of her dress.

When the dress had joined his shirt on the floor, Lucien pressed Elain back against the mass of burnt orange and crimson cushions piled at the head of his bed. He had his pants off an instant later and then she had grabbed a handful of his hair, pulling him down on top of her. "Know what you want, love?" he murmured. Her response was to wrap her legs around his waist, loosening her hold on his hair.

"Eternally you…" she breathed, bringing her lips to his ear, "Mate."

That word in his ear obliterated any desire in Lucien to take this slowly and gently. He growled, licking his way up her throat as he hands slid down to her hips, yanking her into a better position beneath himself. Elain's fingernails raked down his back and he bared his teeth. Knowing that she liked to tease him in order to draw a response, he decided that he was going to give her exactly what she wanted. Slipping a hand down to catch behind one of her knees, Lucien pulled her leg up to hook over his elbow as he pushed himself deep inside of her with a single fluid thrust. He lifted his head to watch her face, wanting to see the blissful expression she always made when he first entered her every time.

Grinning in satisfaction, Lucien returned his lips to her throat, his teeth grazing her skin as he felt her hands clutch at his shoulders when he began to move. "This what you wanted?" his voice was guttural when he uttered the words against her ear and she nodded wordlessly, her nails pricking his skin. He hoisted her leg slightly higher, lengthening his thrusts in an attempt to draw the sounds he so dearly loved from her. Clutching more tightly at his shoulders, Elain whined softly.

"Tell me," he growled.

"I…" she groaned, her hand moving back into his hair, and Lucien lifted his head again to look at her, meeting her wide brown eyes as he moved over her. "Lucien…"

Reaching above her, Lucien took a firm hold of the twisted wood that served as a headboard, using it to add further drive to his thrusting as he brought his lips back to hers, deepening the kiss as soon as she allowed it, and he knew that he would never, in all of eternity, grow tired of this.

Elain lay on her back in the centre of her bed while the moonlight spilled into her room, more than one hundred percent sure that the dream she had just awoken from had not been her own. She was hot. So very hot. Throwing the covers back, she kicked them to the end of the bed in an attempt to cool down, tugging her nightdress up her legs as she did so, trying to get as much fresh air to her skin as she was able.

Was that what Lucien had just been dreaming about? It had been so strange, seeing that entire scene from his point of view. It wasn't hard, however, to flip it in her mind, to feel herself wanting him. Elain's eyes closed, all too easily able to imagine how it would feel to wrap herself around him. She bit her lip at the thought of holding his powerful body between her thighs, her hands combing through that vibrant red hair while his lips moved down her throat, her chest…

Trailing her hand up her own thigh, Elain thought about the way Lucien had kissed her that afternoon in the glade. That kiss had been gentle, yet heated. He hadn't demanded anything from her, yet everything in her had screamed at her to submit to the passion and burn that had emanated from him. The heat of him had sparked something inside of herself, and Elain suspected that if Lucien hadn't have been the one to pull away, she probably would not have. When her hand slipped between her legs, Elain gave a soft groan, finding herself already slick with desire. Opening her eyes then, to watch the moonlight dance across the pretty walls of her room, Elain threw one arm out to grasp at the sheet beneath her, while the other hand began to carefully rub herself in tiny circles.

"Ah…" Elain let her mind go over what had happened in the dream as her hand moved between her legs. It was especially satisfying, she thought, because it was already about her, not some random character in one of the novels she borrowed from Nesta. Also, she could enjoy the fantasy of it without having to be the architect. That was new, and she rather enjoyed it. Just the thought of the way Lucien had reached over her to get a good grip of the headboard as he had moved inside of her in the dream made Elain's pulse quicken.

Why was she thinking this way? Was it because of what had happened this afternoon? Was it the dream that had gotten her so worked up? A combination of both? Or, she wondered, was it simply the bond trying to make her get up and walk across the hall to Lucien's room? Realising that more than a small part of her wanted to do exactly that, Elain tried to distract herself. Moving her hand more quickly, she allowed her eyes to close.

In that dream she had called him her 'mate'. That word had seemed to be the catalyst for Lucien, sparking a more unrestrained desire than he had previously shown. Biting her lip, Elain wondered if that was how he would be in reality if she accepted the bond, accepted him as her mate. She had liked it, she had to admit it to herself. She had liked seeing him to confident and assertive and not bowing or acquiescing to anyone. The thought of his hands on her hips, yanking her down beneath himself, brought a soft groan from Elain as she carefully pushed a finger into herself. Her head tilted back as she began moving her hand more rhythmically.

Before long, Elain's ragged breathing was the only thing she could hear, with Lucien's heartbeat somewhere behind it slightly more elevated than usual. She figured he had awoken from the dream at the same time she had and was likely thinking along the same lines she was. Realising that she was moving her fingers inside of herself in sync with his heartbeat, Elain bit her lower lip, murmuring a prayer to the darkness that he wasn't able to somehow feel what she was doing.

Lifting one of her knees higher, Elain pointed her foot as she let out a small cry as Lucien's heartbeat grew quicker and quicker and she tried to keep up. She could feel her pleasure building and her breath caught in her throat as she tried to chase it. When a similar feeling slid toward her down the bond, she let out a small gasp, realising that Lucien's increased heartrate combined with that sensation coming her way likely meant that he was touching himself just like she was.

It was the thought of him lying in his bed like she was, with those gentle hands on himself that sent Elain over her edge. She clenched her teeth, forcing herself to bite back the loud cry she wanted to release, as she let that hot wave of pleasure wash through her, over her. She had just drawn breath as it subsided, pulling her fingers from herself, when another wave hit her, this one down the bond, and she couldn't bit back the cry that it produced. Instead, Elain clamped a hand over her mouth, hoping that nobody had heard her, and wondering if Lucien realised that he'd sent it to her at all.

Author's Note:

Hit me with your thoughts?