Chapter 78

Lucien awoke first. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, he smiled gently when he found Elain laying beside him, on her back, her hair splayed out across her pillow, and one of her hands stretched out to lay gently against his arm, wanting to touch him even in sleep. Carefully, Lucien lifted his own hand to gently take hers, lacing their fingers together, his eyes remaining on her face. He smiled more widely when she stirred and her eyes opened.

"Morning, my love."

Elain smiled sleepily, looking back at him, and Lucien lifted her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to her skin. "Good morning." She breathed, turning her hand from his kiss to cup his cheek. Lucien slid his fingers up her forearm then lifted it to brush a lock of hair back from her face. Elain shuffled closer as she met his eyes and he couldn't so much as look away from her. "What will we do this morning?" she asked, "Considering we don't have to be anywhere particular until after lunch…" her fingers trailed his jaw as she looked at him, and Lucien knew what he would like to do all morning…

"Well…" he murmured, his hand slipping around the back of her neck as she turned onto her side to face him better. Thinking about what he had done the night before in the bathroom, the way he had just picked her up and pushed her into that wall, yanking her dress out of the way without so much as a warning for what he had been about to do, Lucien paused. Just because they had now been intimate didn't mean he could have her whenever he liked.

"Yes…?" she asked, smiling at him, and Lucien's heartrate quickened when Elain hooked a foot around his leg, bending her knee as she slid it higher, "Did you have an idea…?"

"I might…" his breath caught when Elain's gentle fingers traced his scar from his brow to his jaw and she closed the small distance between them to touch a soft kiss to his lips.

"Might be the same idea I have." She whispered.

"You think so?" he asked, trying to sound casual. Mate. Touch her, smell her, taste her-

"I have that suspicion…"

Lucien slid his hand from the back of her neck, around and down over her shoulder, and then down to rest gently against her chest, feeling her heart beat beneath it. The rhythm was just about matched to his own and he smiled gently. "If you want to…"

Nodding, Elain kissed him again, and Lucien needed no further encouragement. He rolled atop her, enjoying the way she spread beneath him, her dark eyes holding his own as her hands slid to his shoulders. "I love you." He murmured, his lips ghosting across her cheekbone to her ear. He felt one of her hands slide into his hair and he heard her give a soft gasp when he began drawing her silken nightdress up her legs. When he had it pulled up to her waist, his hands went to the thin straps at her shoulders, pushing it down to meet the hem around her middle. Her arms snaked around his neck then, and he kicked his pants away as quickly as he could. "Tell me how this feels…" his words were soft, gentle, but the hand he slid between her thighs was sure and certain about what it was doing. He enjoyed the soft gasp Elain gave as her hips jerked beneath him and he used his other hand, pressed against the silken nightdress bunched around her, to hold her down flat on the mattress. As he withdrew the hand between her thighs, Lucien carefully pressed his weight down upon her, his lips claiming hers one again, his blood quickening in his veins when she parted her lips for him instantly.

Sliding a hand up her side, Lucien traced her soft skin slowly. He enjoyed the way she arched beneath him, reacting to his touch, her hands clutching at him when he cupped one of her breasts gently, his thumb flicking across her nipple. He grinned at her sharp intake of breath, lifting his head to be able to see her face once more.

"Now…" she murmured, one of her feet hooking behind his knee. "Lucien…"

"Okay…" Carefully, he pushed into her, stilling when her hands tightened on his shoulders.

"Ah-aah…" Her nails dug into him, and Lucien forced himself to remain still as she released a deep breath. When her grip on him softened, he pressed another kiss to her cheek, one hand caressing her and brushing her hair back from her face. "Mmm… alright…" she nodded a little and he smiled.

Reminding himself that they had only been together the day before he had come here, and she wasn't exactly used to this yet, Lucien considered. He hadn't been as gentle as he should have been that evening, allowing himself to get caught up in his fear and anxiety, but he wouldn't do that now. She had come for him, walking right into a situation she knew neither of them might walk away from, and he was going to return that love with everything she deserved.

"Tell me…" he breathed, rolling his hips slowly, and listening to the way she drew a gasping breath, "how this feels…"

Elain nodded, and Lucien felt her legs tighten around him. "Nnm… do that again…"

He rolled his hips again, the same way, watching her face as her eyes slid closed and she smiled. "Like that, Petal?"

"Yes…" her hand on his shoulder began tracing small, gentle, circles into his skin and Lucien shuddered.

He began to lose his focus, moving over her, inside of her. She was soft and warm, and every touch he made on her was rewarded with some soft sound of appreciation. Lucien panted, moving slowly, as she began to move with him. One of her hands slid down his back to his hip and he felt her trying to guide his movements. Lucien did what he thought she wanted, and was pleased to receive a soft moan from Elain in response. "That good?" he asked, his voice a little breathless.

She gasped her response. "Ye-yes…" her other hand tugged at his hair, her fingers sliding through it and then curling and holding tightly. "Ah… yeah…"

He began murmuring in her ear, telling her how good she felt, how perfect she was. He told her what else he would like to do to her, and he groaned when he felt her begin to tighten around him. His blood pounded in his ears when she moaned his name, her hips lifting to meet his. Lucien felt her hand on his cheek then and he blinked in surprise.

"Look at me…" she breathed, and he lifted his head to meet her eyes. Her lips were parted, and her cheeks were flushed, as she drew one gasping breath after another. Lucien placed careful fingers against her cheek, his gaze locked on hers as he continued to move slowly inside of her. "Lucien…" She whimpered his name, and Lucien pressed his lips gently to hers, rolling his hips again the way he had worked out she liked. When she gasped into his kiss, he gave a soft chuckle, and began to move more quickly. Elain whimpered again, and Lucien pressed his forehead to hers, his eyes still holding her piercing gaze as she moved with him.

Groaning with the effort to maintain his rhythm, Lucien clenched a handful of the sheet beneath them. He heard Elain's breathing change, felt her fingernails prick his skin, before she gave a small cry, her back arching beneath him. He kept pushing until she had shrieked his name, and then he had buried his face in her neck and hair, groaning his own release as her nails raked down his back.

Neither of them moved for several long moments, content to lay as they were, wrapped in one another, joined by sweat slicked skin and a tangle of hair and limbs. Eventually, Elain carefully removed her hand from where she had knotted it in Lucien's hair, and he felt her attempting to smooth it down. "I think we should clean up, Petal." He murmured, and felt her nod her agreement.

Wordlessly, Lucien scooped her up in his arms and shuffled to the edge of the bed, before carrying her into the bathroom. It was still morning, and they had several hours before they would need to be at Eris' meeting. There were things around the House that Lucien thought he might like to show Elain that he hadn't had the chance to show her last time. There appeared to be positives to coming here again after all.