Phoenix Rising

Chapter Nine

The rest of the walk back to the bedroom I had originally woken up in was silent. I wasn't sure what to say and frankly, I was trying to map out the corridors and rooms we passed so maybe I wouldn't feel so lost wondering around next time.

Once we were inside he shut the door and proceed to stumble to the bed landing on it with a loud thump due to his rather sturdy build. I had stood awkwardly by the door for a few moments unsure of what to do until I realized he was snoring. This strange man had passed out face down with his lower half still dangling off the side of the bed.

I also realized he still wore his boots.

He had bathed me and dressed me earlier, so I felt some strange obligation to do the same for him.

Not the bathing part, of course, because there was no way I could carry a man with well over Two-hundred pounds of muscle on his body to the bathroom. I could, however, at least take his shoes and his shirt off so maybe he would sleep more comfortably. Once I crept over to the bed I carefully sat on the edge next to him. The boots were by far the easiest to get off of the sleeping giant. His shirt, well that was another story. I had managed to flip him over so he was faced up as I found myself straddling this man that I barely even knew for the second time in two days.

After approximately five minutes of tugging his shirt up, I finally managed to get it over his head. I had to lean up and wrestle it off of each arm practically putting my chest right in his face. Then- suddenly his face was pressed right in between my breast as I heard a loud sniffing sound followed by a low growl. Before I had time to react my vision blurred as my body flipped over and my back hit the soft mattress. The feeling of his nose dragging from my cleavage, all the way up my neck, and to the base of my ear as he pinned me beneath him sent a foreign wave of heat pulsing through my body.

A whimper escaped me as I felt him pressing right up against my core causing an odd heat to pool between my legs. His nose continued as it drug across my cheek before his forehead came to rest against mine with his eyes clenched shut in an almost painful manner.

He spoke in a voice so low it almost frightened me as I gazed up at his knitted eyebrows. "I can smell you."

Did I smell bad?

I wanted to tilt my head to the side to check under my arms since he had them pinned above my head anyway, but before I could move even a fraction of an inch, his lips pressed against mine. All thoughts of smell flew out the window due to the haziness that suddenly clouded my mind.

All I could think of was how soft his lips felt which was a huge contradiction to the way his hips felt pressing against mine. What the two did have in common was the warmth radiating from them. I wasn't sure if I was kissing him right because obviously I'd never been kissed before, but his tongue slipped into my mouth causing the split-second worry to fly out of the window next to the bed we were entangled on.

As soon as our tongues met a moan gurgled in the back of my throat, and my hips seemed to instinctively buck against him. That earned me a grunt from him as his hands tightened slightly around my wrists still pinned above my head.

"Ajei," he warned as he pulled away slightly to finally open his eyes and look down at me. " We are treading dangerous waters, and I am about to do something that will make it much worse. You must tell me when to stop."

I had time to knit my own eyebrows as I tried to comprehend the warning he was giving me before his mouth roughly latched back onto mine. This time he gave me a chaste kiss on my lips before proceeding to kiss all the way down my neck and stopping to suck on the mark he had given me.

My toes curled and my hips bucked once again as I let out another whimper from the sudden euphoric feeling that rippled through my entire body. He let out a low growl in response before he started kissing down my chest which was exposed due to the v- cut and the large size of his shirt I was wearing.

A few moments later he abruptly let my hands go and sat up straight between my legs. I must have looked confused as he tugged the pants I had been wearing off swiftly and once again voiced his warning.

"Now is the time to tell me to stop if it is too much for you Ajei."

Did I want him to stop?

I was quite enjoying the feeling he was giving me. I enjoyed the warmth and the comfort this strange man gave me.

However, the thought of him being drunk and regretting this in the morning crossed my mind.

"Wait," I mumbled out between heavy breaths. "Your drunk. Maybe you should stop."

Immediately his hands that had been working their way up my thighs halted and he looked at me with a hint of humor in his eyes.

"I was drunk. Our heated exchange has sobered me up quite quickly. If that is the only reason you wish to stop then I'll continue."

After we gazed at one another for a few moments I finally bit down on my lip and gave him a subtle nod to continue.

I had thought he would follow suit and remove his trousers as he had mine and we would complete our bond tonight. However, I realized once his mouth touched my core that was not what was happening. I wasn't really sure what was happening actually, but I damn sure knew that my body reacted positively towards it. I had no idea what to do with my hands as I felt his tongue sliding against the bundle of nerves between my legs. For a moment they fisted the sheets up as my hips tried to arch up from the bed. His arms hooked around my thighs and pinned my lower half down in return. That damned tongue started vigilantly lapping at my core causing me to let out a series of grunts, moans, and groans that I had never heard myself make before.

My mind and body both felt like they were about to combust as his low growl vibrated against me. I had never really been one to use vulgar language often, but whatever this man was doing to me definitely brought out the sailor's side of my mouth.

"F**k," I cried out as I tried to wiggle my hips underneath his iron grip around my legs. "F**k, Blade- Blade. I can't. It's too much- I- I- oh f**k."

Suddenly my eyes rolled back and my body hit a high I never knew was possible. I could feel my stomach contracting as I choked out something between a quiet scream and a high-pitched moan.

My whole body seemed to shake as I came down from the clouds I was riding on. My legs seemed to shake the most and truthfully I wasn't sure I could move for a moment. Thankfully, I didn't have to as Blade began trailing kisses up my stomach making his way back up to my lips.

Once he effectively kissed all of the air out of my lungs he pulled away to rub his hand across my forehead and brush away the hair that had come loose from my braid.

"Nizhóní." He whispered as those honey-colored eyes bore down into mine.

I wanted to ask him what in the bloody hell that meant. Now he had thrown two foreign words at me that I had no idea what language they belonged to. I was sure it was from the old world before the war. Quite frankly it dawned on me he was old enough that he would have been in his late teenage years during the start of the war which meant it was possible the English spoke throughout the lands now wasn't his native tongue.

I felt a little ignorant that I had no idea what language was even spoken before the war. Maybe here there was a library with books I could use to educate myself.

Would he allow that?

Would I be allowed to learn here?

Alpha Jack would never have allowed such a thing.

To be frank I also could only read at a basic level so even if I found books with history in them, would I even be able to read and comprehend the whole thing?

Blade must have noticed my sullen expression at the thought. At some point during my spaced-out gaze, he had shifted us up to lay facing one another on the pillows by the wooden headboard.

"What are you thinking about? I can see the distant look in your eyes."

I blinked once and zoned back in on his face. This close I could see each individual eyelash on his heavy-lidded eyes. For some reason, the proximity of us made me more compelled to tell him the truth. I bit down on my lip to debate it for a moment, and once again he reminded me patience was not a virtue he possessed.

"Tell me. I want to know what goes on in this head of yours."

For some reason, his words sent a warm, fuzzy feeling through me and my resolve caved.

" I can't read that well, but I would like to learn. Can you read?"

His eyebrows furrowed together, " you cannot read?"

" I can read basic words. After my parents passed when I was about seven I was pulled from school to train as a warrior."

His face seemed almost strained as a frown tugged the corners of his mouth down. I could feel the embarrassment tinging my cheeks as I realized I shouldn't have said anything.

I thought I wanted to run away mere hours ago. Now all I wanted was to stay and figure out this strange man. I also felt a sort of odd obligation to prove that I could be a worthy mate. Blade did not strike me as the type of man to take other women shifters into bed once he had found his Soulmate- once he found me.

That was one thing I was thankful for.

Now I had just admitted that I was stupid by not being able to read the way any adult shifter across the lands could. I had to divert my eyes down from his disappointed gaze because I hated the inferior feeling it gave me. However, his serious tone and the rough hand he used to tilt my head back up toward him made my eyes re-align with his.

"Do not be ashamed. I will have Radic teach you while I am gone. He is a royal pain in my ass, but he is also quite brilliant."

My curiosity peaked at his words, "you're leaving?"

"In two months' time, I will have to take a journey to the Outerlands to meet with an informant of mine. I will be gone for a week. While I am gone Radic will be who looks after you, and I will have him begin teaching you literacies until I return."

His hand reached up to caress my cheek before brushing my hair back away from my forehead before he continued, "Until then I wish to know you. We will have a ceremony four weeks from today to officially name you as my mine and give you the title of Queen Luna. I told you earlier that we would wait until it was what you wanted, but I must rephrase that my love. I cannot leave you until the bond is complete. If you wish for it to be your choice then you must choose so before then. Otherwise, the beast within me will take you by force, and I don't know if the man within me would be able to live with myself."