Rivers of blood and sand
Chapter 9

Tension simmered between us as we sat in silence. With there being only three rooms for us to use—I wasn’t counting the bedroom, since I refused to be one of those assholes who snooped through someone’s bedroom—it made it difficult to ignore each other. I mean, I guess I could hide out in the bathroom, but that just seemed immature.

Just when I shifted on the couch, ready to stand and head into the kitchen, Ander’s hand landed on my thigh. All of my focus shifted to where he made contact, still marveling at the novelty of being touched by him, even if there was a barrier between us. I couldn’t speak, not when it felt like all the moisture in my mouth evaporated.

Ander appeared to be at a loss for words for once. It almost made him seem normal and less of a cold warrior.

“What happened between us last night—”

I didn’t let him finish the statement, knowing where he was going with it. I shoved his hand off my leg, ignoring the burning in my chest as I stood up and walked toward the kitchen. “Will never happen again, I know.”

The stone countertop in the kitchen was cool under my hands as I fought to shove aside my disappointment. It wasn’t like I hadn’t known he’d regret it and would want to pretend it never happened. I wasn’t stupid or delusional, but the thought of it still fucking hurt.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts and shoving down my emotions that I hadn’t noticed Ander entering the kitchen until he was right behind me. As I started to turn around, he captured my hips and pulled me back against him. His hard dick pressed against my lower back, earning a gasp from me.

One of his hands moved up to my neck, his hold was firm, but not painful. He used his hand on my neck to tip my head back so my gaze met his, where an icy fire burned within his eyes. “I decide when we’re done, not you.”

His words shocked me, being the exact opposite of what I thought he’d say. The sheer dominance of his words and the way he held me, both pissed me off and ignited my body. I opened my mouth to tell him I didn’t want him to touch me—a blatant lie since my body was lighting up under his touch—but he wasn’t having any of that and kissed me.

The angle was far from comfortable, but I wasn’t complaining, not when I was kissing him again. He devoured my mouth as his other hand slid up my shirt and kneaded my breasts, switching back and forth between them.

He broke off the kiss and earned a whine from me at the loss of contact, grinning as he yanked off my shirt and bra, before he continued massaging my breasts. This time, he used both hands and pinched my nipples, wringing gasps from me at the bite of pain. He continued doing this until I was so wet, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to wear my panties anymore while I moaned his name.

Ander jolted, and before I could question him or figure out what happened, he pushed down on my upper back until my chest was firmly pressed against the cool stone of the counter. My core tightened at the strange sensation of having my bare breasts pressed against a cold surface. My cheek was pressed against the counter and from my vantage, I was unable to see his expression, not that it would help me even if I could.

Using quick and efficient movements, he had the rest of my clothes removed. My body was thrumming with anticipation as my pussy throbbed. He hadn’t touched me in nearly a minute, making me nervous. I went to push my chest off the counter when he stopped me. “You’ll move when I say you can. Understand?”

Once again he had me gaping at him as I felt conflicting emotions raging through me.

He must not have liked how I didn’t immediately respond, because a few moments later he slapped my clit. I hadn’t been expecting the action and jolted at the slight sting that was immediately followed by a bolt of pleasure. I was pretty sure my arousal was now running down my thighs.

What the fuck was happening to me?

“Understand?” Ander asked again when I still hadn’t responded past a gasp of surprise.

“I understand,” I rasped, my throat suddenly dry.

“Good,” he murmured, the deep rumble of his voice heightened my desire as I awaited what he’d do next.

I was in a vulnerable position, naked and bent over the counter. Had I been with anyone else, I think I would’ve been uncomfortable or nervous. If I was in the right frame of mind to think about this, I would’ve thought it was weird how I was willing to be vulnerable in front of Ander when it came to sex, but not in any other regard in my life. Hell, before yesterday, our trust in each other was tenuous at best. I hadn’t even been willing to let him cast on me, but here I was now, willing to do whatever he told me to do.

He licked up my pussy from behind, using his hands to spread my thighs further apart. My gasp turned into a moan as I gripped the edge of the counter at his repeated his actions. I really hoped Aidan’s counters were magic-infused, I’d hate to accidentally break off a chunk of it.

Ander lapped up my pooling moisture as I continued unraveling under his touch. Each stroke of his tongue was purposeful, meant to incite pleasure and wind me up. I jolted and whimpered when he slapped my clit again, this time a little harder than before, and then pinched it between his fingers.

Between his tongue and his fingers rubbing and slapping my clit, it didn’t take long for pressure to build in my core at a fast and steady rate. My fingers clawed at the counter, trying to find any traction as I shifted against his mouth. It wasn’t an easy thing to do since he had my thighs pinned against the counter.

“I’m close,” I whispered, my voice barely louder than a breath. Ander hummed as his tongue parted my folds and delved into my pussy, making me wonder if he even heard me speak.

“Not yet,” he finally said between licks, earning a growl from me. The rational part of me knew why he did this and knew how incredible it felt, remembering back to the one I had in the cabin. But that rational part wasn’t in control right now. It was buried under the lust-filled haze that descended upon me, and my desperate need for Ander. I was acting on pure instinct at the moment, and that part of me didn’t appreciate being denied.

Another hard slap to my clit nearly had me lose my grip on the coiling pleasure, which was the opposite of what he wanted. I managed to hold it back, my grip on the counter’s edge growing tighter, confirming that it was infused with magic. With how hard I’d been clenching it, the damn thing would’ve already snapped if it were normal.

A strangled cry left my lips when Ander pulled away, and I had a genuine moment of fear that he would leave me high and dry. While I didn’t think he was the type to ever leave a woman unsatisfied, it seemed like something he would do to me out of spite. When I started pushing my chest off the counter to see what he was doing, he spanked my ass, but not as hard as he did last night. “I didn’t tell you to move.” Behind me, I heard a zipper being pulled down and my stomach clenched in anticipation.

His hands caressed my stinging ass for a moment before grabbing a hold of my hips and slamming into me in one thrust. The stinging burn of my walls stretching to accommodate him and the sudden fullness pushed me over the edge, so that I came then and there. Ander tsked, but that was all he did as he let me ride out of my orgasm. The walls of my pussy were clenching down on him as he eased out of me until only the tip remained and then slammed back into me. He kept his pace slow and hard, his fingers flexed against my hips as he kept up his pace.

It was a little strange how silent my dragon was both times we’ve had sex so far. Not once had she pressed to the surface, pissed off at Ander for exerting his dominance over me. She’d done it in the past and all the guy was doing was telling me to take my clothes off. Another time, she reared her head when a guy tried pinning my wrists to the bed. To be fair, I hadn’t liked it either. Yet, here she was, silent when I was being ordered around and spanked. This shit made no sense, but was for the best. I’d be pissed if I missed out on the pleasure Ander could bring me because my dragon wanted to start a dominance contest.

Normally, the slow pace Ander was using would take forever to have my core clenching with the need for release, but not this time. I didn’t know if it was because of the delicious bite of pain that came with his hard thrusts, or if it was just because it was Ander, but here I was again, holding back an orgasm. When he reached around my hips and began rolling my clit between his fingers, my body was screaming, begging for release. I swore I almost blacked out when he finally relented, my body shaking as I rode out what felt like the longest orgasm I’d ever experienced. My throat ached from how loud I screamed, and for the life of me, I couldn’t remember if I said anything, or if it was just unintelligible screams.

Ander still held my hips as he kissed his way up my spine. He pressed a kiss against the crux of my neck before biting down hard enough to draw blood, and somehow had me moaning and rubbing against him. His lips brushed over my ear as he whispered, “We’re not done until I say so.”

He released his grip on me and left the kitchen. A few moments later, a door opened and then shut, leaving me alone in the heavy silence. I assumed he went into the bathroom since he didn’t seem like the type to snoop through someone else’s bedroom.

That “conversation” didn’t go at all how I expected. Nothing did when it came to Ander anymore.

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