Chapter 172

Somehow, Lucien and Elain had managed to keep their hands off of one another long enough to make dinner. After they had come inside from under the tree, they had spent some of the afternoon dozing and reading, before Lucien had insisted that they have something substantial to eat. Elain, knowing that they did need something nourishing in order to make up for the energy they were using, had agreed.

They had worked well together, cutting and getting everything prepared to go into the oven, and Elain had been a little surprised by how well Lucien was holding himself together. When his hand grazed her lower back, she grinned and turned to look at him. "I knew you couldn't do it." She said, a laugh in her voice.

"Couldn't do what?" he asked, raiding an eyebrow at her.

"Couldn't not touch me."

"Oh, Petal." He winked, "I think it's more that I don't want to not touch you."

"Ah…" She tipped the chopped vegetables into the tray and reached for the herbs he had been cutting up.

"Unless…" he breathed, and she felt him step up behind her, his lips ghosting over her ear, "you want me to not touch you."

"Well, you know that's not true." Elain scoffed, sprinkling the herbs across the vegetables in the baking tray. She smiled when Lucien's lips dipped to her throat, and she leaned back into him for a moment. The feel of Lucien at her back had always been particularly pleasant.

"Are you done with this?" he reached past her to the baking tray, and Elain nodded her head. Lucien picked the tray up and moved away from her. Elain turned to watch him approach the oven and she tilted her head in appreciation as he bent and slid the tray onto one of the racks.

"You didn't really think that, right?"

"That you don't want me touching you?" he gave her a twisted smile before shaking his head. "Of course not. I can feel you…"

Elain lifted herself up onto the kitchen bench, her eyes still on Lucien. "You do keep yourself in check very well…"

"I've had a lot of practice." He stood straight, wiping his hands on his pants as he looked at her.

Elain held a hand out to him, waiting as he hesitated before moving closer and taking it in one of his own, "You don't have to anymore." She told him, "Lucien… you can let it go." She could feel his wariness, mixed with some light disbelief. "Lucien… I am your mate."

"Yes…"

"You don't have to keep anything restrained. I know you hold yourself on some kind of leash…"

"That… is…" he didn't seem to be able to look at her, and Elain frowned, squeezing his hand.

"Lucien?" She pulled him closer to the bench. "Do you think you'll hurt me?"

"I…" she watched him lift a hand to the back of his neck, and she could feel his uncertainty, "I don't want it to be like the Rite… with Ianthe."

"What?" Elain just about recoiled. Was he comparing her to that Priestess?

"Uncontrolled." He said, "The magic I took into myself for the Right made me … well… you saw how I was." His eyes finally met hers again, and Elain couldn't look away. "If I was like that with you…"

"You think the bond would make you like that?"

"What if it does?" he asked.

"I know you wouldn't hurt me."

"I… don't know…"

"Why would it make you someone else?" She asked.

"What if that is me?"

"No…" Elain brought her free hand up to his shoulder, "I know who you are. I can feel who you are within me. We are connected. I know you would never hurt me." Still able to feel his doubt, Elain lifted her other hand to his cheek, drawing him closer. "Lucien. I know it." She reached for the bond between them, trying to push her confidence in who he was toward him, watching his face and waiting to see when he felt it.

"If…" he drew a shaky breath, and paused for a few moments, "If you're certain…" his voice was soft, "and it's something you really want me to try…"

"I don't want you leashing any of yourself from me." He nodded then, and Elain smiled, leaning forward to kiss him. "You are my mate." She breathed, "That means I get all of you." She felt relief from him down the bond then, and she smiled, pressing her lips to his.

"Alright, Petal." He said, wrapping an arm around her waist, and lifting her from the kitchen bench. "What do you say we try out this enormous bath while our dinner cooks?"

"I think that's a fine idea." She replied. Elain had been eager to get into that tub since Ashk had first shown it to her. The thing was practically a pool, and she wanted to know just how deep they could fill it.

As Lucien set about getting the water going, Elain began stripping her clothes off. She tossed them into a corner before swinging her legs around over the edge of the tub, and grinning at Lucien when he eyed her. Until that moment, Elain had not noticed the different levels within the tub. There were several steps down into it, and around the edge was some sort of seat, presumably to rest upon when one grew tired of standing in hot water.

When Lucien joined her in the tub, Elain wasted no time in wrapping herself around him, enjoying his heat as much as the hot water. She had discovered that when she stood in the middle of the tub, the water came up to her chest, and she figured it would take her maybe four or five strokes to swim across it. A pool was exactly how she would describe this bathtub. It was completely elaborate, and it was very Helion, she decided. Although, when she took in just how much joy Lucien was getting from it, perhaps it was a father and son thing after all.

"You like this." She said, and Lucien grinned at her.

"I do." His hands moved down her back to squeeze at her arse, and he grinned at her. "Don't you?"

"I suppose it is very luxurious." She admitted, her eyes not leaving his face as he carried her to the ledge at the side and sat her on it. Elain leaned back against the wall as Lucien's hands slid down to her thighs, parting them as he pressed closer. She watched as he evidently thought about something before his grin grew wider and his eyes flicked up to her face for a moment. "What are you thinking of doing?" she asked, her voice low to her own ears. Her heart quickened as he sank lower in the water, and he winked at her with his good eye. "What…" When he went beneath the water, his hands sliding beneath her thighs, she understood. "Lucien…" Elain gasped when he pulled her to the edge of the seat and she felt his mouth on her, "Oh…" Both of her hands flung out to the side and she gripped the edge of the tub to keep herself from melting and sinking into the water, especially as Lucien was pulling her toward himself, as if he might devour her entirely. She let out a cry when she felt his tongue push into her, and she gripped the edge of the tub more tightly. Not having any idea how Lucien was able to hold his breath for so long, Elain just allowed herself to enjoy what he was doing for her.

His hands moved down her legs, caressing and massaging as he worked, and Elain's eyes closed. She could hear his heart thundering in her head, and she knew that hers was racing to match. She didn't know what was going to happen first, if she was going to go tumbling over her edge with a scream, or if her arms were going to give way from trying to hold herself out of the water, and she was going to go crashing down beneath the water, probably also with a scream. Lucien's hands were firm on her as he moved back up her legs, but then he reappeared, dripping but looking pleased with himself and, it was with relief that Elain released the edge of the tub to wrap her shaking arms around his neck. He held her with one arm, and she felt his other hand slip between her thighs a moment later as he set about finishing with his fingers what he had begun with his mouth.