Wild Desire Ch. 10

"Can I ask you something since you're all softened up right now?"

Malachite rolled his eyes. "Yes, I suppose," he said suspiciously.

"Okay," she drew a breath, formulating how to ask what she needed to know. "You told me once that you're too dark for other faeries, and I got the sense you meant you're too much of a sadist. How far do you go?"

"Would you like me to show you?" he said, his voice pitched low and seductive. Heat flushed through Daniella's body at the promise that voice held. She knew she had already wracked up a few things he'd like to punish her for.

"I'd like that," she whispered before she could stop herself. He placed a hand on her throat softly and leaned in to kiss her. Daniella opened to him hungrily. His kiss was searing and possessive. He licked and swallowed her moans, driving her wild. Every time she leaned into the kiss his hand exerted gentle pressure on her throat, reminding her who was in control.

With conscious effort Daniella pulled herself out of the kiss. She placed a hand on his chest to steady herself and get a few inches of distance. She needed to focus, she scolded herself silently.

"Hold on a sec. What I meant was — " she hesitated. She didn't know how he'd take the question. "Was this a one-time thing, or is it something you're into?" She fingered the faint scar along her collarbone where he'd cut her during sex once.

He flinched and drew back. Daniella's heart clenched as Malachite pulled away from her and wrapped his arms protectively around himself.

"Hey," she whispered, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It's a question, not an accusation. You know I love the way we play." He nodded, but still looked nervous and uncertain.

Daniella rolled onto her back. "Come here," she said, pulling him into her arms. He resisted the role reversal for a few seconds, and then snuggled his head onto her shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her waist and intertwined his legs with hers, squirming around until he was comfortable. Daniella rubbed his back and waited for his breathing to drop into rhythm with hers. It felt so good just to lie there with him and let him take comfort in her arms.

Daniella was starting to get sleepy when Malachite began speaking. "It is not easy for me to speak about."

"I know," she said. She rubbed his back in long soothing motions until she felt him soften.

"When I was young, a lover of mine granted me a boon. She was from the East and she taught me a well-guarded secret of her people. They have a ritual for sharing a person's essence through their blood. Amongst her people it is a sacred act, and one that she likely should not have shared with an outsider like myself. Be that as it may, we were young and in love and she wanted to share her deepest self with me."

Daniella felt him take a long breath. He buried his face against her neck. She squeezed his shoulder and waited. When he started speaking again his voice was so quiet and muffled she almost couldn't hear him.

"I met Hemlock and Oleander years later. In human terms I was old enough to know better, but for a faery I was still in the height of my rash and arrogant youth. I shared what I knew with them. I did not know their true nature at that time. I never imagined they would twist it into something so ugly. It never dawned on me that if one could take a single drop of someone's essence through their blood, one could just as easily drain them of their life force completely. Hemlock and Oleander spent years hunting and experimenting on humans to perfect their technique for doing just that."

Daniella was glad Malachite's face was still buried in the crook of her neck. She wasn't sure she would have been able to hide her horror as she imagined the untold number of lives Hemlock and Oleander had taken when they discovered they could gain power by killing. She was quiet for a long time, letting her feelings sort themselves out. It wasn't Malachite's fault that they had corrupted something he had seen so innocently.

"You must know that I hadn't bled anyone for years, not since I realized what Hemlock and Oleander were doing," Malachite said. "I am terrified of becoming like them. I am terrified that I already am."

"Hush, Mal. You are nothing like them." Daniella shrugged her shoulder to force Malachite to meet her eyes.

He nodded. "I know that, yet with my history I have trouble believing it. After their visit I struggled even more with fear that I was in danger of losing control or harming you. The night I cut you I was worried that you would not tell me if you were in pain. So, I succumbed to the temptation to drink of your essence. I took only the barest amount, so that I could feel what you felt. I wanted you to feel nothing but pleasure, though I know I should have asked you first."

Daniella digested his story for several minutes, gently running a hand through his hair and down his back to reassure both of them. "So, you can feel what I'm feeling?"

"No, only at the time. If we exchanged blood and essence for a long time perhaps I would have a more lasting connection to your feelings, but I have never even neared that level of closeness with anyone."

"Do you plan to cut me again?"

Malachite smiled tenderly. "Until it is something you understand and want, I will not. To drink of someone in this way marks them as yours. I would be honored if it was something you wanted with me, but until then, no." He looked at her from behind his thick eyelashes darkly, a mix of sheepish joy and vulnerability written plainly across his features.

Daniella smiled at him. He was right. They still had some road to travel, but she could picture it. She could see making a real commitment to him in the future. "I have to admit it's a bit... freaky. But if it marks me as yours, I'm not opposed to it someday." She rubbed the scar again as warm emotions suffused her body. "I trust you, Mal. Just because Hemlock and Oleander corrupted what you taught them doesn't mean you're anything like them. When you dominate and punish me, it comes from a place of love. Never doubt that, and never doubt that I know it, too."

Malachite beamed. Daniella smiled back in recognition. For the first time they both felt totally free, together. Malachite rolled on top of her, bracing with his elbows on either side of her head. He peppered her face with soft, deliberate kisses. Daniella pulled him gently to her lips and kissed him slowly, letting them both settle into the reassurance that all their hurts had been put to rest.

Their bodies moved in perfect synchronicity. Malachite trailed unhurried hands down Daniella's body, commanding her silently with a tug on her shirt. She stripped it off, just as eager to feel his skin against hers. He sucked in a breath and sat back on his heels to admire her. His eyes roved over her breasts with almost physical weight. He gingerly moved to take off his own shirt, his hands still clumsy. Daniella sat up and kissed him before moving his hands to his sides so she could help strip him.

They explored every inch of each other's bodies, slaking the thirst they'd built up for months. They took their time defamiliarizing themselves with each other, indulgent in the knowledge that they had plenty of time.

Malachite looked deep into Daniella's eyes when he slid into her, wanting to feel their connection fully. The love and acceptance he saw there had him on the edge with just a few long, lingering thrusts. Daniella rolled her body with his, letting him set the languorous pace. She tried to keep her eyes on his as he moved faster and faster against her, loving the possessiveness and love she saw there.

"Mal," she whispered in a choked voice, embarrassed at how quickly she felt herself on the verge of coming. He shuddered at the sound of his name on her lips and they came together, moaning out each other's names. For long moments they stared at each other as their bodies shook with aftershocks.

Malachite rolled off of Daniella and pulled her to him weakly. Daniella let him move her and smiled at the look of utter exhaustion on his face. "Sleep, Mal. You need it. I'll be here when you wake up," she whispered into his ear, smiling at the way he shivered from the stimulation. "We'll have more fun then, I promise."

He let his eyes fall closed. "I sleep, you stay," he mumbled.

She smiled. "That's right, love. We have a bargain."

With that, he smiled as his body sank into sweet, peaceful sleep with her cradled against his side.