The Ruins (An Avernus Island Tale) (8 page)

Julia nodded and followed Asterion. He reached her pack first, picking it up and holding it for her while she tied up the laces on her boots. Her knee was still sore and the bruise ugly, but she could walk.

“This way,” he said and led her toward a different path than the one she had walked in on. “You must have fallen through one of the false paths.”

“I thought a labyrinth didn’t have false paths,” Julia said, accepting her pack.

“This one does.” Asterion watched her settle the pack on her shoulders. Giving in to temptation, he brushed a speck of dirt from her cheek, using it as the excuse he needed to touch her.
 

Julia was surprised by the gentle touch, giving him a small smile to let him know it was OK. She hated to think about how long it must have been since he’d felt the touch of another. Guilt at leaving him rose up. “Are you sure you can’t come with me?”

“I am sure,” Asterion said. “Go, Julia Davenport, and know that I will be fine.” He had survived for thousands of years, what was a few more? Of course, now that he had seen and talked to another person, those years suddenly stretched out ahead of him, much longer and harder to bear.

Julia turned and took the first step on the path home.
 

“Stay.” The word was out and on the wind, hovering in the air between them before he could call it back.

Julia jerked to a halt but didn’t immediately turn around.

“Spend the night with me,” Asterion said softly. He stared at the back of her head and silently begged her to turn around, to look at him. To be seen by someone, to know that he existed in someone else’s eyes. “One night, and anything I have is yours.”
 

He’d seen the way she looked at his home, understood that there was value in his belongings. There were riches here, pieces meant to offer him comfort that would have grown in worth over the years.

Julia turned around slowly. He was offering to buy a night with her, with her body, but seeing his need, she didn’t have it in her to be angry.

“I—” Julia hesitated, fear and anticipation doing a dance in her belly. Asterion watched her with hungry eyes and she was reminded of the form he was said to take. Half man, half bull. She’d seen nothing but the human in him, a human cursed by the gods.
 

Caution warned that he wasn’t a man she should be getting involved with. But what was one night of sex? Of sleeping with a stranger she was guaranteed never to see again?

“I—” Julia’s voice broke. She stopped, licked her suddenly dry lips, and tried again. “I’ll stay.”

KARDIA MOU

Asterion moved with impressive speed. Cradling Julia’s face in his hands, he captured her mouth in a kiss that was hot, hungry, and blatantly sexual.
 

Her heart jumped into her throat, the wildness of his kiss sweeping her up in a rush of lips and tongue. He was gorgeous and real, the taste of him a solid thing that told her this wasn’t a dream. He licked at the seal of her mouth, stroked her along side her tongue when she opened up for him, and nipped playfully at her lower lip.
 

Tentative at first, Julia touched her tongue to his and Asterion growled his approval. Sucking her into his mouth, he let her know how much he enjoyed the taste, the feel of her, and her next touch was less hesitant, her strokes growing bolder.

Still, it wasn’t enough. Centuries of nothing but his own hand for company had Asterion burying his hands in her hair, forcing her head back and plunging deep into her mouth.

Julia groaned, felt the world tip and reached for Asterion.

Her hands on his hips fired Asterion’s blood. He wanted her naked, needed to feel her pressed against him, know that she was real. Lifting his head, he started to strip her of her pack only to stop.

They were standing at the entrance to the labyrinth, the area bare. He would not take her on the sand, rutting like the beast he was accused of being.

“Asterion?”

Asterion glanced down. Julia was staring up at him, her mouth already wet and swollen from his kisses and a question in her eyes. “Not here.”
 

Taking her hand, Asterion led Julia back inside. He thought of the multitude of rooms at his disposal and vowed he would have her in every one of them before the night was through.
 

In his bedroom, Asterion stripped Julia of her pack, but he didn’t stop there. Reaching for her, he pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it aside. Her skirt quickly followed until she was left in nothing but her undergarments.

He wanted to savor the sight of her but the need to touch and taste drove him to reclaim her mouth, cup her breasts. He felt them swell, her nipples hard points of desire against his palms that he promised himself he would taste.

It took him a moment to figure out the clasp on her bra and then that too was gone. She didn’t wait for him but pushed her panties off her hips, and then she was reaching for him. He beat her to the pin holding his chiton in place, ripping it free and tossing it aside.

Without breaking the kiss, he lifted her, spun her around and sat her on the edge of his bed. Stepping between her legs, the head of his cock brushed the heat of her entrance, and he nearly came.
 

She was wet and ready for him. Asterion thought to thank the gods and then remembered they were the reason he was still here.

Taking his cock in hand, he lifted his head as he rubbed himself up and down her slit. “The first one is for me,” he said, staring down into her face. “After that, will be for you.”

Julia shuddered at the raw need she heard in his voice, saw reflected in his face. Nodding, eyes going wide as he started to press inside, she hooked her ankles around the backs of Asterion’s thighs and let her knees fall open.

Asterion groaned at her surrender and thrust, burying himself balls deep in one, hard stroke. Julia gasped and grabbed for him. Wrapping one arm around her waist, he braced his other hand on the bed beside her hip. “Hold on.”

Julia barely had time to wind her arms around his neck before Asterion started to move. Hard. Fast. He pounded his way into her body, each thrust taking him deep, touching her womb. Any retreat was quick, his hips snapping back between her thighs.
 

He held her, his arm locking her tight so that her breasts bounced against his chest, her nipples scraping across his skin. She groaned at the exquisite sensation, felt her body start to tighten. Surprised at the speed of her release, she slid her feet up to the backs of his thighs, pulled him in harder.

Asterion responded by fisting her hair, pulling her head back and staring down into her face. Eyes locked, she felt his cock thicken even as the walls of her pussy started to spasm.

“Come with me,” she whispered.

Asterion felt the first tremor of Julia’s climax ripple along the length of his cock. Her words were a whispered caress, husky and dark, and the orgasm that had been gathering in his balls shot up his shaft. Unable to hold her gaze; he tossed his head back and roared.

Julia watched the muscles straining in Asterion’s neck, felt the flood of his orgasm hit her womb, and came.
 

Their bodies locked together where they joined, Julia shuddered through her release as Asterion continued to pump hot seed deep inside of her. His orgasm seemed to go on and on, his cock twitching deliciously and drawing out her own orgasm.
 

When it was over, he laid her back on the bed and slowly slid from her body. Julia couldn’t help the small moan of protest as his shaft skimmed over her sensitive flesh. A hot flood of fluid followed his exit, and she quickly closed her legs, trapping his seed inside.

Unconcerned with his nakedness–
and why should he be?
Julia thought, watching his spectacular ass–Asterion disappeared into what turned out to be a bathroom, returning a moment later with a damp cloth.
 

She watched his face as he cleaned them both, unable to read his expression. He didn’t say anything as he laid down beside her and pulled her against his side.
 

Asterion stared up at the ceiling. Despite his every intention, he was little better than a rutting beast, taking Julia hard and fast. He’d shown her no finesse, using her body to satiate his desire without any thought to her own.

The fact that she’d climaxed was the only thing keeping him from setting her on the path home.

Julia decided to give Asterion another five minutes, and then she was going to ask those four little words no man likes to hear after sex.
 

“What are you thinking?”

OK, so that was considerably less than five minutes but the silence was starting to unnerve her. They’d come together quickly, the rush of her orgasm a surprise. She never came that fast with a partner. On her own, sure, she knew just where to touch herself and always had a fantasy primed and ready to go.
 

But what if Asterion thought she was that way with every man? Not that there had been that many. Julia didn’t have time for much when it came to relationships. Between work and her father–

Nope, not going there
, Julia decided.
Not here, not now.

“Asterion?”

“I was thinking that after over four thousand years, I should have more patience.”

Julia let out a little squeak as Asterion reared up and rolled on top of her. He settled between her thighs, his hands going to her breasts.

“I was thinking I mean to take more time with these,” he said and lowered his head to her nipple.
 

Julia moaned. Back arching, her fingers slid into Asterion’s hair, the strands like thick silk, as her nipple disappeared into the wet heat of his mouth.
 

He was thorough, making up for his earlier rush, though she certainly had no complaints, exploring her nipple with deep pulls and little flicks until she was moving restless beneath him.

Asterion suckled Julia and her nipple swelled against his tongue, a ripe berry full of flavor. Her fingernails scraped his scalp as she fisted his hair, holding him to her breast.
 

He’d pinned her lower body beneath his, careful to keep his cock a safe distance from her pussy. He could smell her desire, the heady musk drifting up to tickle his nose and lure him south. He ignored the calling, turning his attention to her other breast and paying it equal homage.
 

Julia twisted and moaned. A light tug on Asterion’s hair went unanswered, the man keeping his promise and doing an excellent job of tending to her breasts. “Asterion.”

Not wanting to abandon her nipple completely, he replaced his mouth with his fingers, plucking at the distended nub while he suckled the other. Julia managed to lift her hips and rubbed herself against him. There was something to be said for patience, he decided, feeling her wet flesh brush against his abs.
 

“Asterion. Please.” Julia gave a not-so-gentle tug of his hair. She wanted another taste of his mouth, wanted to get her hands on more of him than just his shoulders.

Asterion lifted his head but instead of giving her the kiss she desired, he moved further down her body. Shouldering her thighs apart, he drew one of her legs over his shoulder while pressing the other to the bed.

“Beautiful,” he whispered. Prepared to worship, he dipped his head, brushed his nose over her neatly trimmed curls. “Gods, you smell good.”

Julia whimpered at the hotly whispered words. Her thighs trembled at the urge to close her legs, to shield herself from the heat of his gaze.
 

No man ever looked at her with such undisguised hunger. Part of her knew it was time that rode him, time and countless years of denial, but that knowledge wasn’t enough to erase the potent power behind his words.

“Asterion—”

“Patience,” Asterion said. Using his fingers, he gently spread her pussy lips revealing her clit. Red and swollen, the little nub of pleasure was fully extended from its protective hood and throbbing to the beat of her heart.

Wanting to watch her come, he brushed her clit with his thumb. His touch was gentle, but he steadily increased the pressure and built a momentum that had her hips rocking up off the bed.

Seeing her approaching the edge of her orgasm, Asterion slowed his touch. Julia muttered a curse he’d never heard before, and then he was replacing his fingers with his mouth, sucking her clit into her mouth.

“Oh, God,” Julia groaned; the sound ripped from her chest as her world shattered.
 

Asterion sucked harder, let her feel the edge of his teeth, and slipped two fingers into her body. She immediately clamped down around him, her pussy gripping him like a greedy fist. Ripples started, strong contractions that squeezed his fingers and made it hard to move.

Hard but not impossible.

Asterion curled his fingers and found the little bundle of nerves that hadn’t changed in four millennia, and stroked. Julia came apart beneath him, his hold on her lower body the only thing that kept her from bucking him off as she came.