Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

T he process of waking up, eating, and bathing was a slow one, both for Lucia and for Alaric. Late at night, she had managed to fall asleep as well and it wasn’t until the inn keeper came up to their door, banging his fist on the wood and demanding more coin if they were going to stay that they woke. Now that Lucia had thrown some coins to his face and he had left them alone, she and Alaric were laying side by side on the bed, close but not quite touching.

It was how they had spent most of their nights while with the Ravencloaks and though nothing seemed out of the ordinary, the air around Lucia felt charged with something she couldn’t name. Never before had her heart beat so fast, so out of rhythm, and she was so aware of it that she could hardly focus on what Alaric was saying.

“Did ye hear me?”

Lucia hummed, turning her head to look at him. She had not, in fact, heard him at all, lost as she had been in her thoughts.

“Where did ye go?” Alaric asked, smiling softly, almost conspiratorially at her as he reached out and tapped his finger against her forehead. Lucia batted his hand away half-heartedly, frowning.

“Naewhere,” she said. “I was only thinkin’.”

“About?”

Lucia hesitated for a moment. She took a deep breath and decided to settle on something that was only a half-lie.

“Me braither.”

Ronan was always on her mind, after all. No matter what else occupied her thoughts, Ronan was always there, in the crevices of her mind, never too far from the forefront.

With a sigh, Alaric rolled onto his side to gaze at her, a small frown stitching his brows together. “We’ll find a way tae stop Callum,” he said. “An’ we will bring him tae justice, the right way. Yer braither will be avenged.”

Lucia nodded slowly, though she wasn’t so certain anymore. She didn’t want Callum to have the chance to escape punishment nor did she want to see him hang. She wanted to kill him with her own two hands, to watch as the life drained out of him and have him know why he was dying.

“Me braither, he… ye may nae believe it, but he was good,” Lucia said. “He was good.”

“I never said he wasnae.”

“But ye’re thinkin’ it,” Lucia said. “I ken ye are. Ye think that because he was one o’ them, he was a bad man.”

Alaric didn’t speak for a long time. He stared blankly at the wall over Lucia’s shoulder, and for the longest time, Lucia thought that was the end of the conversation. It wasn’t surprising, she thought. Everyone thought her brother was a bad man.

It was only when Alaric took a deep breath that she looked back up at him and found him troubled. “People can be good tae some an’ bad tae others,” he said. “I dinnae think yer braither was a good man, but I believe that he was good tae ye. An’ that matters.”

Lucia’s eyes began to sting with unshed tears and she quickly and furiously rubbed her eyes to stop them from ever falling. Much to her relief, Alaric said nothing about it. He only placed a comforting hand on her shoulder until she was calm enough to look at him again, swallowing around the knot in her throat.

“Nay one kens all the good he did in his life,” she said and a new wave of tears choked her for a moment before she managed to get herself under control. “Nae one kens that he saved me life. Nae one kens I was abducted an’ tortured an’ he was the one who saved me, all by himself. He was a good man. He was . An’ he didnae deserve tae die.”

It was then that Lucia couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. She let them spill silently, gritting her teeth so she would make no sound, but couldn’t help the shuddering breath she took when Alaric wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head.

“I understand,” he whispered softly, the words muffled by the strands of her hair. “I dae. I ken ye miss him.”

For a while, they stayed like that, with Alaric comforting her until she was composed once more. It didn’t take long; it never took Lucia long to get herself back under control, because she could never afford to appear weak. It was only in front of Alaric that she felt safe enough to do such a thing, to allow this vulnerable side of her to show, and now that she had, it was as though something had shifted inside her, as unexpected as it was powerful.

This time, she knew she was the one to initiate the kiss, crashing her lips into Alaric’s. At first, he froze as if in surprise, but then his arm tightened around her and Lucia melted into the kiss as Alaric deepened it, taking the reins. His hand trailed up her back, fingers threading into her hair to grip the dark strands and keep her in place as he devoured her mouth, and Lucia, with surprise, found herself not only melting into the kiss, but surrendering to him completely.

It was something she had never done before. She had never allowed any man to take over, always needing to be in control in every aspect of her life. But now, with Alaric there, she didn’t feel the need to do so. She could simply relinquish that control and allow him to take over, to be in charge.

The kiss only became more passionate as they writhed against each other, their bodies seeking all the pleasure they could get. Letting go of her mouth, Alaric kissed his way down her jaw to her neck, nibbling softly at the sensitive skin there and drawing a gasp out of Lucia. She couldn’t help but arch against him, her own hands roaming down his back with care, making sure she wouldn’t brush her fingers over his wound, and Alaric hummed softly, pressing into her gentle touch.

“I want ye,” he whispered in her ear as he drew the earlobe between his teeth. Lucia nodded fervently, her own need overpowering as she rolled onto her back on the mattress and pulled Alaric on top of her, more eager than she had ever been.

“Please,” she said as she tilted her head back, baring her neck. “Ye can have me. Ye can have all o’ me.”

Groaning at her words, Alaric began to tug at Lucia’s tunic, but the gesture made her freeze. It was only a momentary hesitation, but Alaric caught it and he looked up at her with a small, confused frown.

“What is it?” he asked. “Should I stop?”

Lucia shook her head. She didn’t want him to stop, but she also didn’t want to tell him what it was that had given her pause. Knowing Alaric, though, she knew he wouldn’t let it go so easily, and she was proven right when he spoke again.

“But ye dinnae seem certain,” he said, the concern in his voice palpable.

Lucia sighed, a hand coming up to scratch the top of her head. This wasn’t a conversation she could easily avoid and so instead she steeled herself to have it.

“Me back,” she said. “Me scars…”

Understanding seemed to dawn on Alaric, his eyes widening. He had already seen some of it, she knew. He had already caught a glimpse of her back, but now he would be seeing the entire expanse of it and there was no hiding any of it.

“Every inch o’ ye is bonnie,” Alaric assured her. “All o’ ye. I dinnae care about yer scars. They cannae change how I see ye.”

Lucia didn’t know what to say to that. She had been rendered speechless, her heart beating erratically and making her ribs rattle. She could only hope Alaric couldn’t hear any of it. She could only hope he couldn’t read her emotions on her face, that she could control them now as well as she usually did, letting nothing come out.

Hesitantly, Alaric grasped Lucia’s tunic once more, though he did nothing more than hold onto the hem until she nodded, giving him the permission to remove it. It was only then that he took it off, stripping her slowly layer by layer while making sure to kiss each part of skin that he revealed—her arms, her collarbone, her torso, her thighs, each kiss only amplifying her need. Soon, she was nude before him, stretched out on the mattress, and whatever self-consciousness lingered until that moment was finally gone. With the way Alaric was looking at her, she could only believe he craved her as much as she craved him.

Reverent fingers brushed over her skin, mapping her body from her shoulders down to her hips, brushing over the swells of her breasts and pausing for a moment to roll her nipples, drawing a surprised gasp out of her. Lucia looked up at Alaric as he knelt between her legs, at the easy, confident way in which he carried himself, at the small smirk that peeked through his beard as he gazed at her. She felt as though her body was already on fire and they had barely even started, but there was nothing she could do to keep those flames that lapped at her core in check.

When Alaric’s lips followed the same path, brushing so delicately over her skin, Lucia shivered from head to toe, each small touch igniting another fire within her. She watched as Alaric dragged the flat of his tongue over one of her nipples before taking it into his mouth and sucking, the sensation so sudden and pleasurable that Lucia couldn’t help but arch into his mouth, seeking more. Alaric was happy to provide, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her torso off the mattress as he sucked harder, tearing a broken moan from Lucia’s lips.

Then, he kept moving lower, kissing a path down her stomach until he was hovering over her mound. Lucia watched him through lidded eyes, legs falling open a little wider in a silent plea for him to give her what they both wanted.

Alaric wasted no time before he dipped his head between Lucia’s legs, tasting her with a broad, flat stroke of his tongue. That first touch had Lucia melting into the mattress, the wet heat of Alaric’s tongue overshadowing every other sensation. There was nothing else in her mind but that small point of contact between them and the toe-curling pleasure it was giving her, every concern, every other thought flowing away.

After that first teasing touch, Alaric continued his ministrations, licking into her and flicking his tongue over her most sensitive spot. His beard scratched against her thighs, adding a delicious friction with just a hint of a burn that drove her mad with lust. Lucia surrendered to his attentions, trying to keep herself quiet as he pleasured her, one hand clamping over her mouth as the other rested on the back on Alaric’s head, holding him in place. His tongue, sometimes soft and pliant and others hard and insistent, licked over her folds again and again, lapping up the moisture there and teasing her continuously. His fingers dug into her thighs so insistently that she knew she would be bruised later.

She looked forward to it. She wanted to see the marks Alaric would leave on her skin, a lasting reminder of the moments they were sharing.

With the enthusiastic, almost ravenous way Alaric was licking into her, it didn’t take long for Lucia’s pleasure to crest over her, her climax catching her by surprise. She shook with the force of it, and Alaric pushed her through it, still pleasuring her until the last of the aftershocks had subsided.

It was only then that he pulled back, coming up to kiss her, and Lucia impatiently tugged at his clothes as she tasted herself on his tongue. She needed to feel him everywhere. She needed to feel his body against hers, under her hands, against her skin.

Alaric wasted no time before he undressed, carelessly tossing the garments to the floor. Once he was naked, he returned to Lucia, but she held him back with a hand on his chest, taking a moment to admire his body—the sculpted muscles, the thin sheen of sweat, his skin glistening with it, the smattering of hair over his torso that led between his legs, to his manhood. Lucia’s gaze was drawn there and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, biting down on it at the sight of his length, hard and flushed and straining.

Pushing herself up to sit on the bed, Lucia took Alaric in her hand, stroking him slowly, her thumb gathering the moisture that beaded at the tip to spread it down the shaft. Above her, Alaric groaned, his hips bucking once, but he mostly stayed still as Lucia explored his body, one hand on his length as the other traced the contours of his chest and stomach. Under her fingers, she could feel him take shuddering breath after shuddering breath, but all the while, he let her set the pace, making no move.

Looking up at him through her lashes, Lucia leaned closer and flicked the tip of her tongue over the head. Alaric drew in a sharp breath, his chest expanding with it, and then held it as Lucia rolled her tongue over the shaft with a soft moan, looking at her with such intensity that it was enough to take her own breath away. Slowly, torturously so, she took him deeper and deeper in her mouth, her hand working to stroke the base of his shaft as she licked and sucked around the head, eyes falling shut at the taste and feel of him. Alaric was a heavy weight on her tongue, hard and solid and hot, and Lucia couldn’t get enough of him, but it wasn’t long before Alaric stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

“If ye keep doin’ this, I willnae last,” he said, gently removing himself from her mouth. He pushed her back onto the mattress and crawled on top of her, his lips pressing soft kisses all over her face. “I wish tae be in ye. I can think o’ naethin’ else.”

Lucia nodded fervently, wrapping her arms around Alaric’s neck and her legs around his waist. “Please,” she said. She, too, wanted it more than anything and she didn’t know what she would do if they spent even one more moment apart.

Thankfully, she didn’t need to find out. With a groan, Alaric took himself in his hand and guided himself in her opening, slowly pushing inside. Lucia was already so aroused, so wet, that the slide was easy, his girth slipping deeper and deeper inside her with every careful thrust of his hips. Even as she moaned for him, moving against him to try and take him even deeper, Alaric was slow and considerate, taking his time as he pushed all the way to the hilt, finally stopping to allow her to adjust.

Lucia felt so full, her inner walls stretching around Alaric’s manhood and clenching around him with every minuscule movement. She was gasping for air, the feel of him inside her so pleasurable and so unlike anything and anyone else that she could hardly breathe, overwhelmed not only by the sensation, but also by the emotions. Somewhere along the way, Lucia had begun to fall for him and this made all the difference. Every other night, every other tryst felt insignificant compared to the enormity of this joining, and she could hardly stand the intensity of it all.

“Ye feel perfect,” Alaric whispered into her ear as he finally began to move, pushing into her with measured thrusts. “Ye’re perfect. Just perfect.”

Lucia couldn’t help but moan his name, the drag of his manhood inside her and the praise he was giving her both driving her wild. She clung onto Alaric, fingers digging into his shoulders and nails biting into his skin, but he didn’t seem to mind. If anything, it only spurred him on, each sound, each movement she made forcing him to quicken his thrusts until the entire bed was shaking with their coupling.

There was no silencing Lucia’s moans anymore. The only thing she could do was to bite into her own palm to silence herself, but when Alaric saw her, he pulled her hand away gently and replaced it with his mouth, the sound of their combined moans loud in the small room.

“I always kent ye would feel so sweet,” Alaric mumbled against her lips, each thrust of his hips now driving his manhood as deep into her as it would go, filling her to the brim. “Tell me how it feels.”

“Good,” Lucia managed to choke out between gulping breaths, her legs falling open as Alaric increased his speed. “So good, please, dinnae stop.”

Good didn’t quite begin to describe how Lucia felt. Nothing could compare to the feeling of being so full, so entirely claimed by Alaric. Her entire life, she had thought she never wanted or needed anyone. She had thought it would always just be her, on her own, that she would always have her freedom and belong to herself. But now, with Alaric inside her, above her, all around her, it was difficult to convince herself she didn’t want to be his and his only. She wanted to be claimed and to claim him in return, to become one with him in every way she could.

Groaning in pleasure, Alaric reached between them to stroke that sensitive spot on her mound that had stars bursting behind her eyelids and Lucia could only surrender to the continuous pleasure, letting herself be led to her climax for a second time. It didn’t take long for her to reach another peak, crying out as her back arched and her vision went white at the edges, her core pulsing pleasurably around Alaric’s length.

Warmth spread all through her body, like a wave that pulled her under. For a few moments, nothing but her pleasure existed, nothing but her and Alaric and that feeling of completeness. When she came back to herself, Alaric gave one more thrust before pulling out and gripping himself in his hand, giving himself a few furious strokes before he reached his own zenith across Lucia’s thighs.

Time seemed to stand still as Alaric hovered over her, panting wildly as he tried to catch his breath. Then, he collapsed onto his side on the bed and immediately pulled Lucia close, burying his face into her hair.

Lucia melted into the embrace, her limbs going lax as she burrowed deep into Alaric’s arms, all but hiding herself entirely in them. For once, the world felt peaceful. They didn’t need to exchange any words. They didn’t need to even look at each other to know how the other was feeling in that moment and that pleased her as much as it terrified her.

Despite her best efforts, she had gotten too close and now there was no turning back.