His hard, broad body a mere whisper from being pressed against her as they rode. With the storm looming behind them, they had no choice but to share a horse to get to the inn on time before it came down upon them. Elain had been trying her hardest not to lean against him, but her back was already aching from trying to keep their bodies as separated as possible, and a small, utterly wicked part of her, was urging her to just let go… use this moment as a test. Just to see how her body would react.
How his body would react.
Elain shoved that thought to the cold depths of her mind before the signs started showing on her and Lucien realized what effect he so often had on her. She would not give him that satisfaction.
They didn’t talk, the whole ride she looked ahead or stole glances to his big hands gripping the reins with might, his strong thighs pressed against hers when taking a curve. Elain was wondering how much longer she would have to endure, endure his body so close to hers, beckoning her to melt onto his hardness, his scent so intoxicating and wild, the soft loose strands of red hair sometimes flying through the wind and tickling her shoulder and cheek, the sound of his heartbeat steady, reverberating through her whole body.
“How long til we arrive?” She managed to rasp.
“About twenty minutes still” She felt his breath hit the back of her neck and her traitorous skin rose up in goosebumps, enthralled. She cursed at her own body and braced herself. She could resist twenty more minutes, she had endured worse than that.
She sighed, unable to hide from him the fact that she was not okay with their situation. She felt, more than saw, his eyes on her.
“Is there something bothering you, milady?” He asked with his usual snarky tone. Elain despised that tone, purposefully making her feel like a spoiled brat.
“Nothing at all. I’m more than comfortable” She let the sarcasm slip through her, maybe as a way to distract herself from the way his hands sometimes brushed her thighs when his arms grew tired and he rested them on his own legs.
Elain realized Lucien was trying to let it slide when she noticed his hands curl tighter around the reins at her words.
“Likewise” He said sharply, cutting himself from saying anything else. But Elain just rolled her eyes.
“I bet you are” She said under her breath.
“What?” Lucien bit back at her remark.
“Say it with your chest, Elain” He dared her and Elain pressed her lips together.
“I just find it hard to believe you’re having as much of a difficult time as me right now, that’s all” You’re probably even enjoying this. She didn’t have to say.
“Is that so?” His words slid like cold fire, even though she could feel the heat radiating wildly from him. “Has anyone ever told you arrogance is not a good look on you?”
She felt the anger roil up from within her stomach. Before she could say anything to burn him just as pitilessly as he had burned her, the horse stepped onto a small pit in the ground, making her lose her feeble balance and press her backside against his front. Elain froze, but Lucien didn’t say a word.
She tried to readjust herself, but it resulted in failure every time she moved her hips forward, accomplishing only more friction between their bodies, something that had Elain’s heart already speeding up in her chest. She stilled her movement and simply tried to ignore it, ignore the overwhelming feeling of comfort she felt with her body pressed against his.
The horse kept its rhythmic pace, and with each step, she could feel Lucien’s hips move with hers in flowing rolls, following the animal’s own movements. She could feel it, Lucien’s heartbeat increasing in rate too, the soft sound of his throat bobbing. She tried to ignore that as well.
But damn her, it felt good, in a wicked way, as she couldn’t stop her mind from flashing her the images of them keeping that same rhythm alone together, bare bodies covered in the sheen of sweat, Lucien gripping her hips with the same strength he was using for the reins, guiding her, burying himself deep inside of her, again and again.
She stopped her line of thought abruptly but she realized it was already too late. She could hear Lucien’s discreet sniff in her ear, she could even smell herself, her undeniable arousal already clouding the air around them. She felt suddenly hot all over, not really helping her situation.
Elain waited for him to say something, ease her suffering with a snarky remark, a tease or maybe even an insufferable mocking chuckle to indicate he knew he won. But the only reaction she gathered from him was the slightly rasping sound of Lucien clearing his throat.
Elain hated it even more. The fact that he didn’t say anything, didn’t acknowledge what was happening. The awkwardness was ripping into her, was so insanely embarrassing she needed to puncture it somehow. She searched the air for a whiff of his own arousal but found no trace of it. She hated that she was the only one affected by their sudden clashing, hated it even more than she hated giving into it.
A sudden insecurity flooded her gut, the thought of this being actually undesirable to him, even to her own mate, her being utterly undesirable now that he was beginning to know her more. Deep down she knew it was the thing she feared the most, she dreaded it so she had viciously avoided it.
But as if on cue, as if Lucien had realized what was plaguing her mind, she suddenly sensed it, his slightly muskier scent, denser smell of wood surrounding her, almost imperceptible. Lucien’s arousal.
She breathed, now even more insanely aware of every inch where their bodies were touching, moving together like lovers in a tryst.
They kept on moving together, and Elain’s belly kept getting tighter, her core slicker, her pulse demanding her attention to that place between her legs. Without much thinking, not even one rational thought, she let her backside press itself more intentionally against his hips, her movement following the horse’s rhythm but more exaggerated. Lucien responded with his hand tightening and loosening on the reins repeatedly, slowly as if trying to be discreet about it.
Suddenly she could tell with an overwhelming sense of panic and shy excitement that he had become… harder, bigger. Her soft backside pressed against the undeniable sign of his arousal in a way that made Elain lose any sense of self.
She realized she needed to know how far he would go without acknowledging what was happening, without putting a name to it, without calling her out on it. She also needed to know what other signs of his arousal she could summon from him with an act as innocent as riding in the same horse.
She placed all of her hair to the side so that he could peek at her neck, the column of her spine, down her chest to the valley between her breasts. She moved her hips against his again, the movement granting her an estranged noise from the back of his throat, which finally undid her. She needed something else, the pressure between her legs sending her mind into an entangled mess.
She pressed her hand on one of his forearms and Lucien stiffened once more, but he was suddenly obliging her guidance, one hand letting go of the reins to slowly rest it on her knee. She sighed through her nose.
Elain moved her hips in a particularly rough thrust and she took a sharp intake of air when she felt Lucien’s fingers flex on her leg, bunching up her dress. She pressed on his hand once more, reluctantly guiding it to the hem of her skirt.
Lucien quietly obliged but then, “Elain” He croaked. She guided his hand beneath the layers of skirt, feeling his calloused hand glide over her soft skin. “What are you doing, Elain” He rasped his chant but didn’t stop what he was doing.
Elain didn’t answer. She could feel his hot breath hitting the side of her face and neck, goosebumps raising on her chest. She kept moving his hand to touch her leg, she wanted him to touch her so badly, so wildly she forgot about anything else, nothing else mattered. His hand massaged her creamy thigh and she let out a soft sigh.
“You wicked thing” He let the words slip from his lips and something about them ignited something primal inside of her.
“This is all your fault” She countered, eyes fluttering as Lucien’s fingers inched closer and closer to where she needed him most.
“Is it now?” He murmured and she realized she had melted completely against him, his face now almost pressed to her head as he spoke onto her ear. “You love a challenge don’t you, lady?”
Elain didn’t respond, she simply breathed, her chest rising and falling quickly, his own mirroring hers.
“What do you want from me Elain” His hand inched closer to the seam of her undergarments and she paused, her whole body paying attention to what he was going to do next.
“I want you to stop talking” She said.
“No you don’t” He said. “You love when I talk, your smell betrays you, dove” Elain almost trembled at the pet name he used on her. It enraged her and undid her. “I thought you weren’t enjoying this ride”
“And I thought you weren’t either” She said and right then, as if to silence her, he slipped his rough fingers beneath her undergarments and they both cursed through their breaths.
“Gods, Elain” He grumbled as he touched her and she bit down on her lip to stop herself from moaning. He found the spot where all her pleasure lived and demanded and began circling it to the rhythm of the ride. She couldn’t contain it then, the soft demanding moans that exited her mouth. She tried to swallow them, clamp her lips shut.
“Don’t hold back, dove” He breathed on her neck as he applied more pressure with his deft fingers. Elain whimpered.
“Lucien” She didn’t even think before calling his name. She could feel his hardness twitching on her backside. She shuddered as his fingers found a particular pattern that had her gasping for air.
She threw one hand to clasp his forearm, feeling how the muscles on it flexed and twisted with each movement of his fingers on her, her other hand clinging to his neck for dear life. She looked up at his face when she felt the pressure deep beneath her tummy begin to build up, her moans becoming louder as his movements turned relentless. His eyes were searching her face, studying her, drinking her in, seeing her in a way that undid her, terrified her, destroyed her.
“Don’t hold back, Elain” He rasped again, and the sound of her name on his full lips was enough to make her crash, body spasming, Lucien’s arms the only thing keeping her on the horse as she came down.
When she opened her eyes again, body exhausted and barely sated with her release, Lucien removed his fingers from inside her underwear and gently readjusted her skirt over her leg. Elain brought down her hand from the death grip she had on his neck and realized with no small amount of shock what had just happened.
“We’re here” Lucien said simply when they could finally spot the end of the forest into the nearing village. The both of them remained silent for the remainder of the way to the inn, the storm looming closer now. Elain opened and closed her mouth as if to say something but nothing came out.
When they finally arrived to the inn, Lucien was already crawling down the horse and placing his hands on her waist to help her down. She stilled him.
“Lucien” She said, their eyes met but she couldn’t read his expression. “I’m sorry” She said, because she didn’t really know what else to say.
At that Lucien simply arched a strong brow, the scarred one. “Are you really?”
Elain’s nostrils flared when she noticed the slight smirk creeping at the corner of his mouth.
She couldn’t lie. “No, I’m not”
“Good. Neither am I” He said. “We should share a horse more often milady” At that he pulled her down, Elain tried to hide the wild flush on her cheeks and neck and chest. Lucien looked down at her when she was on her feet, knees trembling slightly. His eyes roamed over her and she found herself doing the same.
“Yes, we should” She said.
