Arianna & Finn (Royals of Valleria #3) (15 page)

“A little bit, but not that tired.”

She could tell he was smiling without even looking at him. He dropped a kiss to the top of her head and held her tighter against him. “Get some sleep, Princess. You’re too sore for anything else.”

“Do you promise not to leave without saying good-bye?”

“I promise, Arianna,” he said softly and tugged the covers over them.

Soft and warm against him, she fell into an easy sleep.

Finn woke up first. Truthfully, he had barely slept. He’d spent hours just watching her sleep, her slow, even breathing eventually lulling him into dreams. Sometimes those dreams were filled with Arianna and he woke suddenly, hard and wanting, only to find her cuddled next to him and blissfully unaware. She was apparently a very sound sleeper. For some reason, he liked knowing that about her.

It was still fairly dark outside, though he could see that light was beginning to break through. He would need to leave soon.

He didn’t want to leave her.

He’d never become this close with a woman before. Physically, yes, but emotionally, no. He’d told her things he’d never told anyone else, and he’d never really enjoyed cuddling before. With Arianna, he never wanted to stop.

He rubbed her back idly, while his other hand brushed back some hair that had fallen over her face. When she nuzzled against his chest, he paused, but then she sighed into sleep again.

He wondered how sore she was. He shouldn’t have taken her so hard last night. He’d never lost control like that before. He’d felt like a rutting animal as his need to claim her had consumed him. She deserved to be treated like a, well, like a princess.

Finn shifted on the bed, positioning her against the pillows underneath them, her hair fanned out beneath her soft, delectable body. She deserved a little soothing.

Finn slid quietly from the bed and into the bathroom, where he arranged a blisteringly hot bath. By the time he woke her up, it would be a little cooler and the perfect temperature for her.

Naked and aroused, he willed his cock to tamp down the orgasm brewing inside him, just at the thought of her naked and wet. He walked back to the bed and slid in again, dropping a soft kiss to her lips, like a prince in a fairy tale.

She sighed but didn’t wake, so he continued dropping kisses down her throat and between her breasts. He dropped a particularly wet kiss to each of her nipples and her torso shifted slightly. He smiled; she was still asleep. He would just have to work harder.

Finn slid down the bed until he met the juncture of her thighs. A few well-placed licks later, he finally sensed her waking up. With a moan, her eyes blinked open.

“Finn,” she said as her hands delved into his hair. The bite of pain from her fierce grip only spurred him faster.

“Please, Finn. Please don’t stop. Please.” Her body bowed on the bed while she pleaded with him.

When her body began to shift against his mouth more urgently, his thumb began to toy with her clit. It was only a few moments later when she cried out his name and gushed in orgasm.

He continued to suck and lick her until her body collapsed against the bed and her grip on his hair loosened. Then, he crawled up the bed and hovered over her so they were face-to-face.

“Morning, Princess,” he said and gave her a long, sweet kiss.

“Morning,” she said in a husky voice when he pulled back and situated himself on the bed beside her.

“How are you feeling?”

She turned towards him and her fingers began to play with the hair on his chest. “I’m feeling surprisingly relaxed at the moment.”

He chuckled. “I meant are you feeling sore? Did I hurt you last night?”

“No,” she said as her hand cupped his cheek. “I mean, I am a little sore but you didn’t hurt me. I loved it.”

“You’re surprised by that, aren’t you?”

She nodded. “I never thought I would. I mean, I know I’m not very experienced or anything but I didn’t know it could feel like this.”

“Baby, you don’t need experience,” he said as he brought her palm to his lips for a kiss, then linked it with his against his chest. “You’ve got more passion in one little finger than most people do in their whole body.”

“I guess you would know more about these types of things.”

“For the record, what I’ve felt with you, I’ve never felt with anyone else. Not physically or emotionally.”

She gasped. “Really?”

“Really.” He pulled her flush against him, his cock still aroused and hopeful. “God, what is it about your damn lips. I just can’t resist them.” He pulled her in for a demanding kiss. Their arms shifted to wrap around each other, while their legs and bodies tangled below. When she started to grind against him, he groaned and pulled back.

With his face buried in her neck, he whispered, “You’re sore, baby. Let’s go take a bath instead.”

“I’m all right.”

“And I know better.”

“So, you know my body better than me, do you?”

“Yes, I do,” he said in a low voice. When his cock twitched, he reluctantly pulled away from her and slid from the bed. He laughed when he saw the pout on the face. “Come on, Princess. Time to start the day.”

***

Arianna took Finn’s outstretched hand and got out of bed. They walked, both naked, to the bathroom where Arianna was surprised to see a tub of steaming, fragrant water waiting. “When did you do this?”

“Just before I woke you up,” he said as he tested the water temperature with his hand and nodded.

She smiled; it had been a very pleasant way to wake up. “You’ve had a busy morning, haven’t you?”

He cupped her cheek. “I almost didn’t want to wake you. You looked like my own private angel sleeping beside me.”

“Why did you wake me then?”

“I promised I would before I left. I keep my promises, Arianna.” He placed a sweet kiss on her lips and then lifted her into his arms.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping you into the bathtub,” he said as he carefully stepped in himself and eased down.

“I could have gotten in myself.”

“But then I wouldn’t have had the pleasure of your naked body in my arms, would I?”

When they settled in, her back against his strong chest, she asked, “How much longer can you stay?”

“Not much longer,” he said as he pushed back her hair and used his nimble fingers to twist it into a messy bun to keep it from getting wet.

“I guess reality couldn’t stay away forever.”

“Neither can I, it seems.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is probably the wrong time to bring it up.”

“You can tell me anything, as long as it’s the truth.”

He waited a few long moments before responding. “Arianna, are you still be considering Henry’s proposal?”

Reality crashed like a wave of cold water over her and she shivered. Finn rubbed his hands down her arms, which did nothing but remind her of the choice she faced. “I don’t know,” she said.

“I know you have a lot to consider, with your family and your country, but will you give me some time to find the information your brother needs? Just a little time before you make a choice you may come to regret?”

In the breaking dawn of day, she had to admit that Henry’s proposal didn’t appeal to her. If she were honest with herself, it had never really appealed to her, except as a way to prove herself to her family and country. It would also have been a very good way to hide her true self even longer, something that seemed impossible after what she and Finn had shared last night.

If only marrying Finn were an option, she realized, she may not have had so many qualms about it.

“I’ll give you time, Finn,” she said, and felt him release a breath on her neck. She turned, some of the water sloshing over the side, and situated herself against him. “I have to admit that Henry’s proposal doesn’t look that great to me this morning.”

Finn’s brows furrowed in concern, and he cupped her face. “I didn’t sleep with you to change your mind, or seduce you into something you don’t want to do.”

“First of all, I believe we slept with each other.” When his lips quirked she continued. “Second, I know you didn’t. I don’t believe you’re that kind of person.” Her fingers toyed with his glistening chest hair for a moment before she said, “It’s hard for me to trust people after what happened to me.”

“I know. I understand that.”

“It’s going to take me some time, but I know you mean well. If Alex trusted you enough to tell you what was going on, that’s good enough for me. Right now, anyway.”

He gave her a soft kiss on the lips and brought her head down to rest in the curve of his neck. She couldn’t help but notice another part of him twitching underneath her and she wiggled against him.

He growled in a low voice. “Don’t move around so much.”

“I’d like you to move around a lot more.” She leaned up and whispered in his ear. “Especially inside me.”

“You’re dangerous.”

“Only with you,” she admitted and slid her wet body against his. Finn’s eyes closed as his head tilted back. She used the opportunity to taste the cleft in his chin and his long, lean neck. The stubble on his face would surely leave a mark - on her face as well as down below where he pleasured her earlier - but she couldn’t bring herself to mind.

“Stop, baby.”

“No,” she said simply and gripped his cock under the water.

With a gasping breath, he said, “Princess.”

“I want you, Finn,” she said as she guided him to her entrance and then pushed down over him. The both gasped.

“You feel so good inside me,” Arianna whispered, a little bewildered. She may have only been with one other person before Finn, but she never expected sex to feel like this.

“Fuck, baby. You feel goddamn amazing around me.” With heavy lidded eyes, he watched her rise and fall against him. His arms were draped along the rim of the tub, while her hands used his chest for support.

“Touch yourself,” he rasped and she blinked. “Show me how you touch yourself.”

“I don’t,” she said unconvincingly.

He huffed a laugh. “All that heat inside you needs a release. I think it’s sexy, baby. Show me how you do it.”

As a blush swept over her cheeks, she swallowed. With wide eyes, a little unsure, she shifted her hands from his chest to her own, filling them with her full breasts.

She closed her eyes as she continued to ride him, kneading her breasts and toying with her nipples at the same time.

“I want to see your eyes,” he whispered through the steamy air, his hips shifting slightly as his cock grew even larger inside her.

She opened her eyes and, keeping one hand on her breast, she lowered the other one below the water line. She touched where their bodies met before shifting to find her clit.

She bit her lip to keep from crying out as she toyed with her nub. Usually, it took several minutes of concentrated effort with a vibrator to orgasm, but not with Finn.

Her muscles clenched inside her, close but not quite there. She gasped and pleaded with herself, begging herself to come as she often did while alone. She drew out the torment as long as she could until she could see Finn’s jaw fraught with tension and his hands fiercely gripping the edge of the tub.

She gave him a pleading look and he said, “Now, baby. Now.”

With a few shuddering gasps, she exploded. Her body clenched around his, over and over and over again, and her hands went to his chest once more for support. His hips pumped into her in earnest, hard but not rough. She collapsed against him as soon as he finished.