Chapter 107

Staring at the closed bathroom door, Elain chewed on her lower lip. It was taking a considerable amount of her self-restraint to keep herself sitting on the bed when all that she really wanted to do was walk across the room and open that door. She wanted to be able to see Lucien. Having only just gotten him back after being so scared that she was going to lose him, she did not enjoy being separated from him if only by a single door.

"Just wait." She murmured to herself, turning and looking for her nightdress. He was just cleaning up, and then he would be out again and she would be able to touch him once more. "Wait…" Elain got to her feet and began undoing her dress and stripping it off. She slipped the nightdress over her head and smoothed it down over herself.

Trying to keep herself busy, Elain moved around the room, picking up things and moving them for no real reason under the pretence of tidying up. She rearranged her things by her pack, and then moved back to sit on the bed and face the fact that she just had to wait.

Thankfully, it was only a few moments later when the bathroom door opened and Lucien emerged. Elain was on her feet in and instant and striding toward him. His eyes, both russet and gold, met hers just as she reached him and he gave a small smile. "Were you waiting, Petal?"

"I was." She looked him over, hesitant to touch him, knowing that he had been hurt. "Did you heal?" she asked and Lucien tilted his head.

"Ah…" he lifted a hand to take hold of the end of her braid, his gaze sliding down to look at it. "I healed my face…"

"Oh?" she asked, lifting one of her own hands to his cheek so she could inspect him. She remembered seeing Connal kick him in the face, and all evidence of that had indeed disappeared. "A little vain, are we?" she smiled, her eyes moving across his handsome face, her fingers tracing his scar to his jaw.

"Not particularly." He replied, one of his arms sliding around her as he carefully drew her nearer. Elain just looked up at him as she watched his own gaze move over her face, "But I wanted to be able to kiss you…"

"Mmm, well, I was hoping that you'd do more than that." She murmured a moment before his lips met hers. Lucien's arm tightened around her waist and he lifted her, just a little, and Elain let her own hand slide from his jaw around to the back of his neck. She felt his wince a moment before he slowly released her, lowering her back to her feet and standing straight again. "You really didn't heal the rest of you?" her hand brushed lightly against his ribs and he shook his head.

"It will take a while. I still don't have my full strength back."

"Oh…" she looked toward the door to their room. "Well, I am certain that someone else could do it…"

"It's okay." He told her, "I will be fine by morning…"

Elain watched his face carefully, not liking the fact that he was still in pain. "If you are certain…?"

"I…" he murmured, his hand moving down her braid again, "just want to be with you." She smiled at him as he began backing her toward the bed, a smile on his own face. "Now that you have me returned to you, what would you have of me?"

Elain rather thought that he was probably currently incapable of what she had been imagining. "Well," she breathed, her fingers tracing lightly across the material of his shirt. "you're in pain…"

Lucien gave her a lazy smirk an instant before the back of her legs hit the bed. His hand pressed against her shoulder until she sat back onto the mattress and then he lifted that hand to her cheek, as he stood over her. She watched as he sank to his knees before her, his thumb tracing her cheekbone as he did so.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her breath catching in her throat as something tightened inside of her. Lucien's free hand slid from her ankle up her calf to her knee. He gave her another lazy smirk, and Elain couldn't help spreading her legs a little wider as his other hand dropped to her thigh. "You're hurt…"

"I can still do this…"

Her breath was coming in quick gasps and Elain just watched as he bent to press a soft kiss to her inner thigh as his hands slid up, taking the hem of her nightdress with them. "O-okay…" She nodded, giving in. Lucien gave a low chuckle and then licked at the skin he had just kissed. "ah…" Elain didn't know what to do with her hands. She went to reach out to him, but thought better of it, not wanting to touch him anywhere he hadn't healed, so she grasped handfuls of the bedspread instead, still unable to take her eyes off of him as he slowly licked and kissed his way up her inner thigh.

When Lucien wrapped his arms under her thighs and tightened his grip to hold her in place, Elain allowed her eyes to close as she drew a deep breath. She tried to shift, unable to sit still, with the growing need to feel him directly between her thighs. He gave another chuckle, which she felt as much as heard, an instant before she felt his tongue on her. "Oh…" Grasping the bedspread more tightly, Elain's back arched slightly as something that felt like lightening shot up her spine. Lucien licked her again as he dragged her a little closer and toward the edge of the bed, and Elain allowed herself to fall back against the covers as he lifted her legs and slung them carefully over his shoulders. "By the Cauldron…"

Trying to maintain her focus and pay attention to everything Lucien was doing, Elain couldn't help but think about how desperate she had been for him to come back to her, and how scared she had been that his brother was going to kill him. She had him now. He was here, and Elain knew that he was doing this to prove to her exactly that. As he pushed his tongue into her, Elain was unable to stop herself reaching down and sliding a hand into his hair as she gave a high-pitched cry. "Aiee…" He licked her again, then, slowly and completely and she clamped her other hand over her mouth to keep herself from shrieking.

Lucien knew exactly the right place to focus his attention, and he did so as Elain squirmed. After a few moments, when she could feel her blood pumping throughout her entire body, he released his hold on one of her thighs and then slid his hand up her body and to her elbow. Elain knew that he was seeking her hand and she brought it down to meet his. Lucien linked his fingers through hers and Elain held on to him as she let out another cry as he maintained his perfect routine between her thighs. "ah… ah… oh… my…" she gasped as her back arched of its own accord and Elain felt as if she had no control over any part of her own body. Lucien continued what he was doing with his tongue and Elain felt heat coiling low through her. "Ah…" she released his hair and flung her arm out to the side, grabbing a handful of the bedspread and clenching it tightly in her fist, "Oh my… oh… Yes… Lucien…" he gave her hand an encouraging squeeze by way of answer, and she clung to him as she lost the ability to form words, and all that spilt from her lips then was a wordless cry as he carried her over that edge, not stopping what he was doing until her voice had faded to a breathless shriek and she had relaxed, releasing the bedspread.

"Did you enjoy that, Petal?" His voice sounded pleased, and Elain just nodded. She felt his lips against the sensitive skin of her inner thigh before he sat back and Elain helped him shift her legs from over his shoulders so that he could get to his feet. She hadn't yet been able to open her eyes as she lay, trying to catch her breath, her blood pounding in her ears and around her body more than a little enthusiastically. When the bed dipped, Elain forced her eyes open to see Lucien kneeling on the edge. She was comfortable and feeling rather languid, yet she made herself move, shifting herself up, until she could lay against the pillows, having pushed the covers back so that they could get beneath them.

When Elain settled herself she smiled at Lucien as he moved slowly, stiffly, toward her. "Are you alright?" she asked, her eyes taking him in. She frowned at his slight wince as he lowered himself to lay beside her.

"I'm fine." He replied, smiling at her, "How do you feel?"

Elain lifted a hand to his cheek, sliding it straight back into his hair. "Like lightning struck me and now I am half melted into a puddle…"

"Oh…" his lips quirked and Elain tilted her head, looking at him.

"You are aware of how good you are at that, aren't you?"

"Yes." His smirk told her that he knew exactly how good at that he was, and she grinned as he shifted closer until he could rest his cheek against her chest, one of his arms sliding around her waist. Elain wrapped her own arms around him, holding him firmly as she felt him relax against her.

"You're exhausted…" she murmured, combing the fingers of one hand through his hair.

"Mhmmm."

"Rest…" she breathed, continuing to move her fingers through his hair. She had thought to read to him, but she didn't think she could make herself let him go, and she could feel how much he enjoyed having her arms around him, so she began to talk about one of the books she had been reading. She decided against the one she had borrowed from Nesta, but settled on explaining the plot of another mystery, trying not to give away any crucial clues in case he decided that wanted to read it later himself.

It wasn't long before she knew that Lucien had fallen asleep and, carefully, she pulled the bedspread over the both of them. Closing her eyes, she rested her head back against the pile of pillows, thankful beyond belief that she had been able to end this day with her mate wrapped around her, safe and whole.