Darkness Embraced Page 8

  “Didn’t you?” Ivy cried defensively. “You tried to mount me the first night I laid eyes on you, even after I had been tied to a tree and stalked by another Ajax. And you gave me no say in the matter of whether I would come with you or not. Does a free woman need her hands bound?”

  Dredd scowled at the condemnation her words made him feel. She was an innocent who knew nothing of Ajax customs, nothing of being a Vessel. And he had given her no options. She had not asked to be tied to that tree. He had spent so long bent on a revenge mission that suddenly seemed ludicrous. But he wasn’t ready to surrender it just yet. And her reference to their encounter that first night made his pulse race.

  “I kept you safe. I fed you and sheltered you and protected you. That is what I know as an Ajax. That is what a male does for his female.”

  “A gap we can’t bridge,” Ivy whispered sadly. “I want a say in what happens to me, control over my own destiny. I felt safe with you. But I didn’t feel free.”

  “So you chose to betray me, drug me, and possibly kill me?”

  Ivy blanched.

  The barb hit its mark.

  “I would never deliberately hurt you, Dredd. Surely you must know that. I meant only to put you to sleep. I told you, I had to be free.”

  “You didn’t seem to care so much about freedom tonight when I was over you with your nipple in my mouth.”

  Ivy blushed at his words, annoying him. “I found you tonight in a whorehouse. And now you are going to act shy?” Dredd spat.

  Ivy shot out of the chair like a cannon to stand in front him, her breasts brushing his stomach on her way up. “Oh, believe what you like! I have let no man but you touch me. Though why is a mystery. What know you of a woman’s desire? You only know of plundering, taking, demanding! A woman requires more care! You never even bothered to kiss me!”

  Her eyes widened when the muscles in his jaw clenched. She knew she had gone too far.

  His arm shot out, grasping the back of her head. He hissed, “A simple kiss would have made you mine?” And then his lips were on hers, hot and forceful and demanding.

  Ivy forgot everything, their past, their surroundings, everything but her and Dredd and this thing between them that wouldn’t leave her alone. Their lips melded, his tongue laving her mouth with a hunger that threatened to consume her. Ivy kissed him back with abandon, her arms encircling his neck, hoping her inexperience didn’t ruin the moment. She wanted so badly to please him. To show Dredd what words could never convey, that despite it all, from the moment they met she had been his.

  Tongues and lips danced as their bodies pressed closer and closer together. The air was thick with unquenched need, and Ivy thought she might go up in flames. She broke the kiss with a gasp, needing a moment to gather her bearings. After taking in several gulps of air, she responded to his question. It was the quietest whisper.

  “Yes.”

  Dredd cursed his disapproval and reached for her again. But before he could touch her lips with his, Ivy cupped his cheek and held him. “Dredd, I want to break the walls between us. I want—”

  A knock on Dredd’s chamber door interrupted her. Dredd snarled with irritation. “Bugger off!” He called in the direction of the door, his tone threatening.

  “We have the water for the bath you requested earlier,” came the frightened reply of one of the barracks’ many servants.

  Dredd shook his head as if to clear it, obviously having forgotten the order. “Enter.”

  The four male servants entered, laboring with a large vat of hot water. They filled the large copper bathing tub in the corner of the room, and quickly fled.

  Ivy eyed the tub nervously. “I am not bathing in front of you.”

  “Suit yourself. But I am bathing as I usually do after a workout. And you will assist me.”

  Ivy didn’t know what shocked her more, that he bathed so regularly now or that he actually expected her to help him. She was about to tell him off. But he wasn’t as angry now as earlier. She didn’t wish to ruin the moment if progress could be made. Maybe she should simply comply and see where things went. And she couldn’t deny the thought of seeing him undress made her heart race.

  “Very well, Dredd,” she replied, relishing the look of surprise on his face before he masked it.

  She followed him over to the bathing tub. Dredd turned to her. “My arms are tired from my workout. Remove my tunic.”

  “Please,” Ivy corrected him even as she complied and reached for the ties of his tunic. “Remove my tunic, please.”

  Her hands shook as she undid each tie revealing more and more of his chiseled torso to her gaze. He was just as glorious as she remembered, and she fought the urge to lean in and kiss the hard planes of his stomach.

  She finished untying it and pushed the tunic from his shoulders. Dredd leaned down to remove his boots. Then he said, “Now, my breeches. Please.”

  Ivy’s tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth as she reached for the tie at the waist of his breeches. She fumbled with it and her knuckles accidentally brushed the hard ridge of his erection beneath the fabric.

  Dredd hissed.

  “I’m sorry,” Ivy managed to say. “I do not have experience with the workings of men’s clothing.”

  “That pleases me.” Dredd’s voice rumbled as she went back to work on the tie of his breeches.

  ****

  Ivy succeeded in untying them but then lost her nerve. She couldn’t seem to brush the now unfastened breeches down his hips. Dredd saw her hesitation and didn’t push. With a quick movement he removed them.

  Ivy squeezed her eyes shut but not before she glimpsed the male of her dreams in all of his naked glory. His manhood was long and thick and fully erect, seeming to pulse. Ivy was at once aroused and frightened at the thought of it entering her, filling her, breeching her maidenhead as Dredd buried himself to the hilt inside her.

  “Open your eyes,” Dredd commanded.

  Ivy finally did as he asked, her breath coming in quick gasps. She looked her fill at him, knowing she had never seen anything more beautiful than Dredd naked before her. Dredd stood still for a moment, letting her gaze at him, and then turned to enter the tub. “Are you sure you don’t wish to push me in?” he asked.

  Ivy couldn’t believe that Dredd was actually making a joke, it was so unlike him. And the reminder of that day at the creek, the day that haunted her dreams for so long, almost made her moan with need. Her nipples hardened to points beneath her gown and she wondered if Dredd noticed.

  He sank into the warm water of the tub until he was sitting and the water lapped at his chest. He rested his arms on either side of the tub and leaned forward. “Wash my back, please.”

  The heat from the water and the heat between them made Ivy feel lightheaded. It never entered her mind to refuse him and she moved as if in a trance. Picking up the soap from a small stand near the tub, Ivy began to lather his back. She loved the feel of his skin under her hands, and took extra care to caress the scars that criss-crossed his tanned flesh. He smelled heavenly, just as she remembered. That perfect combination of the outdoors and man.

  “Do you like fighting in the arena?” she asked him as she continued to soap him though his skin was now shiny clean.

  “I find no joy in it. But it serves a purpose for me. And I am good at it.”

  Ivy moved to soap his arms and shoulders, still feeling like she wasn’t in control of her own movements. The wine from earlier must have gone to her head.

  “Now you will wash my front,” Dredd ordered huskily. “Making sure everything is clean.”

  That command snapped Ivy from her trance-like state. She was behaving like a slave! What the hell was she thinking? Yes, this was Dredd, the male she wanted like no other, but that didn’t mean she was going to become his mindless sexual servant. “Wash it yourself, Ajax.” She dropped the soap in the tub and stood.

  “Ivy,” Dredd warned.

  “I am not your slave,” she said and moved to sit on the be
d. There was a privacy screen that partially hid the tub and from where she sat she could not longer see him, which was exactly what she needed.

  “I’m going to be in that bed in a few moments,” Dredd called to her ominously.

  Ivy ignored him and laid back. Her head spun. The wine, the tension, and the heat in the room was all beginning to catch up with her. She just needed a second to rest so she would be able to deal with the situation.

  She needed her wits about her, in a locked chamber with a fully aroused Ajax carrying a grudge. An Ajax who made her forget. She closed her eyes for just a moment...

  Chapter 8

  Ivy roused, confused for a moment until she remembered her surroundings. She rose up from the bed, his bed, and looked around. She must have fallen asleep while waiting for him to finish bathing. No more wine tonight.

  She didn’t know how long she had been asleep, but it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. Dredd stood in front of the window, illuminated amongst the shadows by the waxing moons. His right arm was raised, forearm braced against the wall above the window as he gazed out. Dredd’s hair was still damp, his chest glistening, and he wore nothing but a towel around his waist. Ivy shivered at the sight of him. Clean or dirty, rich or poor, in a plush bedchamber or deep in the forest, he was breathtaking. Ivy despaired at the rift between them even as she fought his dominance of her.

  Ivy stood, pushing the tight-fitting gown back down her body, as she did so. Wondering how long Dredd had been standing here while she was sleeping, possibly watching her, made her feel vulnerable. She walked toward him, her footsteps silent against the luxurious rug. When she reached Dredd he stiffened but didn’t move. She pivoted, putting herself between him and the window, her back against the cool pane as she rested against the padded sill. Ivy met his penetrating gaze, for long moments content to let their eyes speak what they could not. It too often seemed that words between them ended in anger and misunderstanding. Dredd seemed content as well to keep silent, to let the peaceful moment linger, and Ivy took it like a truce.

  Her breath quickened, aroused simply from looking up into his eyes and having him look back. It was as if nothing else in the world mattered except for the two of them. Everything around them could fall away and here they would be, immersed in each other.

  Letting instinct take over Ivy broke eye contact, reached out a hand, and touched him. Ever so lightly she traced her fingers along his abdomen, along the intricate tattoos that wrapped his sides and back. His breath shook ever so slightly at the initial contact but after that he remained perfectly still, allowing her discovery, instinctively knowing what she needed. She grew bolder, using both hands to trace and then caress him, up to feel the sprinkling of hair across his chest and down low on his belly where the hair swirled and dipped beneath the towel. Ivy’s hands remained there, resting low on his abdomen, hovering just above the towel. The sexual attraction between them was tangible and she reveled in it, loving that he was unmoving, letting her explore her fill, so different from before. It stoked the fire within her to a fever pitch, and she bit her lip as she considered replacing her hands with her mouth, of kissing her way down the trail of hair that disappeared beneath the towel.

  Just let instinct guide you...

  Ivy leaned forward; her hands braced on his sides, and kissed him, just below his navel where the hair swirled softly. She felt a faint quiver beneath her lips, the only reaction from him, Dredd remained frozen in the position she had found him in.

  She let her tongue move just past her parted lips to graze against his skin as she kissed him, her mouth gliding across his skin. She ached to remove the towel, to expose his large manhood and place her hands and lips there, heady with power. Would it please him, she wondered, if she gave in to her desire and kissed her way down his shaft, and then took it into her mouth as she had seen Vette do last night?

  Ivy’s lips and tongue hovered around his navel, kissing and licking and caressing until she could wait no more. But before she removed the towel, she leaned her head back to gaze up at him, needing to meet his eyes once more, to glean the approval she sought for her sensual intentions.

  What she saw took her breath away.

  Dredd’s eyes shone with emotion, and she swore she saw unshed tears glittering in their depths. Ivy immediately felt answering tears prick her own eyes. Her big strong Ajax, the fiercest warrior on the Dark Isle, was moved by her unschooled kisses and caresses. So many questions she long held about him were answered in that moment. He had never known such touches from anyone, had never felt accepted, loved, desired.

  Ivy would show him all three. She kept her eyes on his as her hands moved to the towel and pulled. In an instant Dredd was again bared before her, his hard length springing forward, demanding attention. He moaned low in his throat but remained still, Ivy wondered if he knew she needed it this way. Her hands traveled lower, one cupping his sac as the other gripped his pulsing erection. Heat pooled between Ivy’s legs as she marveled in his masculine beauty, in his obvious desire of her. And she was glad that her desire of him would be obvious too, knowing he could scent it. Her eyes still on his, Ivy leaned forward again, this time, taking the dark crown into her mouth.

  Dredd groaned, his eyes squeezing shut in ecstasy. Ivy closed her own eyes, and abandoned herself to the moment. Her virgin mouth continued moving slow and steady, sucking as she caressed his shaft with a firm grip of her right hand. She hoped she was doing it right, that her inexperience didn’t ruin it.

  Dredd’s breathing grew labored, his hips gentle thrusting encouraging her in a steady rhythm. She opened her mouth wide, really getting into the moment, taking him deep until she could take no more, sucking with excitement.

  That seemed to shatter him. Dredd pulled her up, and pinned her against the window. They were both breathing hard, their eyes meeting. Ivy could sense he was on the brink of losing control.

  “I didn’t want to stop,” she whispered, as Dredd leaned in, pressing against her, the cool glass along her heated skin arousing her even further.

  “I did not want you to,” he responded, his accent becoming more noticeable in his aroused state. “But I don’t intend for this to be over too quickly. And I want inside you more than I want my next breath.”

  Ivy grew even wetter at his words, her nipples hardened against the silk of her gown. “Come inside me, Dredd.” She gasped and shifted her hips wider so he could shove himself more firmly between them. “Please. I’ve needed you inside me for so long.”

  Dredd captured her mouth with his, and she responded in kind, their lips locking and unlocking in wet, passionate kisses. Ivy was beyond all reason, wanting nothing but to be consumed by the fire that was her warrior.

  Dredd reached down and with one tug ripped her dress from top to bottom. Ivy reveled in it, writhing against him as he threw the forgotten pieces of fabric to the floor. All the while they continued kissing, Dredd seeming to find a new appreciation for the art. He lavished her mouth with licks and kisses, reaching a hand up to cup her cheek.

  With his other hand he teased her nipple, stroking and plucking until she moaned helplessly against his lips, waiting to be filled. She was more than ready to receive him.

  Seeming to hear her thoughts, Dredd leaned down and captured her nipple in his mouth. Ivy cried out, wantonly thrusting her now bare core against Dredd. She was swollen and aching, her sex throbbing.

  “I’ve imagined this a million times since that day at the creek,” Dredd growled between licks, “Of you naked and begging me for more while I taste you. While I thrust inside you until you can take no more.”

  Reaching down between her legs, Dredd traced her slick folds with his finger. Ivy whimpered in response, opening her legs wider in surrender. Using two fingers, Dredd thrust inside her, as he rubbed her sensitive nub with the heel of his hand.

  The feeling of his fingers inside her was like nothing she had ever experienced, and Ivy rotated her hips in abandon, even while wondering what
it would feel like when he did the same thing with his shaft.

  “Gods, you feel so good. So hot...” Dredd groaned as he continued to thrust his fingers inside her. Again, he captured her nipple with his mouth, and the exquisite feeling of it coupled with his questing fingers, made Ivy cry out.

  Suddenly Dredd pulled his fingers from her and braced her bottom with his arm. Ivy made a sound of protest until Dredd lifted her and breached her entrance with the head of his shaft. He was trembling now with the force of his need, her desire bringing him to the brink.

  “Ask me, Ivy.”

  “Please, Dredd, I need you inside me. Take me, please!”

  Dredd moaned aloud. Sweat beaded their bodies as he continued to breach her, as slowly as his body allowed. Ivy continued to writhe, wanting nothing more than to impale herself on his length. The possible pain of losing her maidenhead seemed to pale in comparison to this.

  Dredd pinned his forehead against hers, still determined to go slow. “Look at me, naya rhum.”

  Ivy’s eyes opened, meeting his with a heavy-lidded glaze.

  “I want you to see me.”

  “I see you, Dredd, I see you.” Ivy chanted.

  And then he thrust forward, her maidenhead giving way in a sharp sting. Ivy gasped at the intrusion but the pain was dull in comparison to her compulsion to thrust her hips, to meet Dredd’s in a mating as old as time.

  Dredd stopped. “Did I hurt you?” His voice sounded pained, and Ivy knew it took everything he had to not take her in a frenzy, but rather remain still, allowing her to get used to his considerable size.

  “No, no,” Ivy comforted him, demanding with her body that he give her all. “You feel so good, so deep...”

  That was all the reassurance he needed. Dredd started a slow rhythm, building up to a faster pace as Ivy pushed him on. Her back still against the now steamed glass of the window, she wound her arms around Dredd’s neck and held tight against him, savoring the feel of him over her, all around her.