The Ruins (An Avernus Island Tale) (9 page)

She flooded his mouth and his fingers, and he lapped it up. He licked, stroked, and suckled her through her orgasm, refusing to stop until she lay spent and motionless.

Only then did he release her, easing his fingers from her body and crawling forward to claim a kiss.

The taste of herself on Asterion’s mouth brought Julia to a level of awareness that had nothing to do with conscious thought. Hands braced on either side of her head; he hovered above her.
 

She could languish in his kiss. The pleasure of the past few minutes weighing down her limbs until she was too weak to lift her head, but she wanted more of them, of him.

Asterion felt Julia’s hand land on his chest, the pressure increasing until he lifted his head. The flavor of her was still in his mouth, and he found he wanted another taste.

Julia stopped Asterion, a gentle shake of her head. “On your back.”

Thinking she meant to ride him, Asterion laid back and reached of her. Again, she surprised him, stretching out on top of him and taking his face in her hands.

She was close enough that he could feel her breath on his face, see the dark flecks of green in her eyes that changed their color from blue to hazel. They darkened when she was pleasured, as they did now.

Julia ignored the thick erection trapped between them and focused on Asterion’s face. Sex wasn’t the only touch he would have been without. Slowly, she traced the dark slash of his brow with her thumb, was aware he was watching her as she ran her fingertip down the bridge of his nose. Her exploration led her to his mouth, the bottom lip slightly fuller than its mate, and finally to his classically Greek chin.
 

His hands on her hips tightened, but he didn’t try to stop her as she pressed an almost chaste kiss to his jaw, traced the line to his throat with her lips.

His skin was soft and slightly salty as she nipped at his throat and skimmed his chest. She flicked out her tongue and touched his male nipple. Asterion shuddered beneath her, so she did it again.
 

Asterion told himself to let go, to release his grip on Julia before he left bruises, but her mouth was wet and growing wilder by the moment, and he couldn’t get his hands to cooperate.
 

Eyes closed, afraid that if he watched what she was doing he would spend himself despite his earlier release; he followed her path south in his mind’s eye.

Julia purred at discovering a thin line of dark hair. She traced it with her lips from Asterion’s diaphragm to where it circled his navel. A quick dip with her tongue and he sucked in a breath above her.
 

The trail disappeared into the thick curls that covered his groin. Julia made sure to follow it to its end.
 

No longer having her to hold on to, Asterion dug his fingers into the blanked beneath his hips and waited. Cracking one eye open, he glanced down in time to see Julia reach for him. He slammed his eyes shut, but couldn’t stop the deep shudder that rocked him as she wrapped her fingers around his cock.
 

Asterion was so hard he hurt.
 

Thank gods, Julia’s grip was strong, her first strokes sure as she tested the length and feel of him.
 

“Velvet over steel,” Julia whispered and Asterion pulsed in her hand. He was big, thick, and wide. She remembered the sensation of having all that male moving in and out of her body and her pussy clenched. She was eager to have him again, a slow ride this time, and the chance to experience all the differences their bodies had to offer.
 

But first–

Julia lowered her head and took Asterion into her mouth. She didn’t tease, just opened wide and took him to the back of her throat.

Asterion roared. The blanket beneath him gave an ominous
rrriiippp
that he ignored, and his hips lifted. The involuntary movement thrust him deeper into Julia’s mouth but instead of backing off, she swallowed and the strong muscles of her throat squeezed the sensitive head of his cock.
 

The way out of Julia’s mouth was no less pleasurable. She sucked at him, lips and tongue a steady pressure as she eased back toward the tip of his dick. More suction, her tongue dipping into his small slit, and Asterion had to claw at the bed and grind his teeth against the need to come.

Julia dipped back into Asterion’s slit and gathered up more of that delicious fluid for herself. Rich and thick with a citric undertone that reminded her they were in the tropics; she lapped it up. Wanting to taste more of him–all of him–she set to work in earnest.
 

Hands joined lips and tongue as she worked Asterion in and out of her mouth. He was big and her jaw quickly grew tired, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t get all of him in her mouth. Shifting onto her knees, Asterion’s thighs trapped between her spread legs, she changed the angle of her descent and gained another inch.
 

Opening his eyes, Asterion gave into the desire to watch Julia and saw another inch of his cock disappear into the wet heat of her mouth. But it wasn’t the only place she touched him. Her hands were all over him, sliding over the tops of his thighs to grip his shaft. From there, she dipped between his legs and cupped him, gently rolling his sac in her palm.

“Julia,
kardia mou
, you must stop,” Asterion panted, his orgasm gathering. Another touch like that and he wouldn’t be able to stop.
 

Julia lifted her head long enough to say, “I want to taste you.”

Asterion groaned and managed to hold out for another few seconds of blissful torture and then his release was rushing up his shaft and into Julia’s mouth.
 

Julia felt Asterion’s cock swell a second before he shouted her name. His body snapped taut, muscles quivering as he emptied himself into her mouth. Sensing he was trying to take care with her, she licked and sucked and stroked him through his orgasm, swallowing great jets of his seed until he finally started to soften.

Asterion felt himself slip from Julia’s mouth and reached for her. The heat of her scalded him as he pulled her up to his chest, her knees on either side of his hips. “I did not intend for you to pleasure me that way,” he said.

“I wanted to,” Julia said. Chin resting on his chest, she stared up at Asterion. She couldn’t quite stop the small yawn that had her covering her mouth.

Asterion caught it and rolled them onto their sides and managed to get a light blanket up over them. “You’ve had a long day,” he said. “Sleep.”

“But—”Julia hesitated. She didn’t want to sound like a harlot, but she wasn’t ready for the night to end.
 

“There are plenty of hours left,” Asterion assured her. “I will wake you shortly.”

There was a hard line to Asterion’s face, and Julia suspected he wouldn’t be moved. Admittedly, she was tired but she didn’t think she could sleep.
 

I’ll just rest my eyes.

Nodding, she scooted closer, tucking her head beneath Asterion’s chin and resting her hand against his chest. A thin three-inch scar marred the skin over his heart. Pale with age, she thought to ask him about it, but the beat of his heart was steady and the sound quickly lulled her to sleep.

Asterion lay silent in the growing dark listening to Julia sleep. She had curled into him, and her hand still rested over his heart.
 

What have I done?

He couldn’t keep her here, should never have asked her to stay, but seeing her poised on the path to freedom, a path he could never take; he wasn’t able to let her go.
 

It was selfish of him. No mortal was to be able to find their way into the labyrinth, and he had no way of knowing what would happen to her when she left. The gods were powerful, spiteful creatures, and he could well imagine their wrath at finding Julia here.
 

The thought chilled his bones. Fear, something he hadn’t felt in centuries, raised the hair on the back of his arms.
 

Julia had given herself to him in a way that went beyond what he had bartered for. She was an open spirit, holding nothing back in their love making.
 

A bed partner comfortable in herself was a gift even in his day. For her to be that way with him now was immeasurable in its generosity.

Feeling the object of his thoughts–his desires–start to stir, Asterion quietly slipped from the bed. He watched, smiling, as she rooted around for him before settling deeper under the covers.

He would protect her from the gods, should they make an appearance, and in the morning–

In the morning, Asterion would let her go.

Julia woke alone.

This is getting to be a bad habit
; she thought. Kicking back the covers, she thought to go in search of her wayward host.

But first, the bathroom.

A light breeze, ventilation made possible by the porticos, brushed her naked skin as she crossed the bedroom floor and stepped into another world.

“Oh. Wow.” Julia recognized the traditional octagon shape of the
balaneion
. The thermal bath was sunk into the floor and filled with steaming water from hidden grates. The entire thing was tiled in an underwater mosaic of marina animals and seaweed.
 

The rest of the bathroom was just as impressive. Everything, from the floor to the ceiling, including the four columns in between, was done in tiger marble and glittered with gold accents.
 

The scent of rosemary perfumed the steam in the air, and Julia saw a bundle of fresh herbs floating in the water.

“I was coming to wake you,” Asterion said, entering through another door.
 

Buck-ass naked and suddenly very aware of it, Julia fought off a blush as she tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.
 

Asterion watched Julia, saw the nervous gesture. Setting aside the wine he’d gone to fetch, he circled the tub and drew her into his arms.
 

The kiss he offered was soft and sweet, a greeting meant to put her at ease rather than stir her passions.

There would be time enough for that later.

“Come,” he said and led her to the stairs. She followed him into the bath, groaning as the water reached her thighs in a way that had him kissing her again.
 

And he kept on kissing her until she clung to him.

Reluctantly lifting his head, Asterion stared down into the face that was quickly becoming familiar. “Are you hungry?”

“Ravished,” Julia said and smiled.
 

Asterion chuckled and guided her to the underwater bench that circled the tub. They sat, talking quietly and sharing a plate of food. There were sweet dates, creamy cheeses, and salty olives, all with crusty bread and rich wine. Julia wondered what made this possible–the food, the wine, all of it–but decided not to ask. In the end, she didn’t want to risk breaking whatever spell had been cast.
 

Julia told him about her work and her father. Asterion understood the curse that was a disease that would rob a scholar of his mind. He talked of his mother, of the years spent trying to make up for the accident of his birth, and of the final curse that brought him to the labyrinth.
 

By silent agreement, they avoided any mention of the coming morning.

Asterion watched Julia sip her wine, catching her hand to stop her from wiping her mouth and replacing it with his lips. She immediately opened for him, and he tasted the food they had shared. His response was visceral, a tightening of his gut that had him moving between her legs and pressing closer.

She stripped his control from him when she reached for him, tore at his good intentions. He felt a hard slap of lust when she lifted her legs, squeezed his hips with her knees. He wasn’t surprised to realize he wanted her again, his cock seeking out and finding the entrance to her body.
 

The shock came when he realized that her pleasure was more important to him than his own.
 

He dragged his mouth away from her lips to trace the edge of her jaw. Her head fell back and he took advantage, sucking the skin over her pulse between his teeth and biting. She hissed, arched, and her fingers dug into his arms where she grasped him.