Rivers of blood and sand
Chapter 22

Even though I was exhausted, my body heated at his words and my core clenched. Some of the heat warming my blood died down when I thought about the last two times we had sex and the pattern that was beginning to emerge. Every time we had sex, he never allowed me to face him, and I didn’t know if it was me or if it was something he always did.

“Please don’t flip me over,” I whispered when he grabbed my hips. My words were so soft, I wasn’t sure he heard me at first. Not until his hand stilled on my hips, his fingers flexing, but I didn’t look away from the ceiling to see what facial expression he wore.

“Why?” His voice was as quiet as mine.

I wanted to tell him how it made me feel insecure—not the position itself, both times we had sex was incredible and the positions allowed him a deep angle that had him hitting all the right spots. No, what made me feel insecure was the possibility that he flipped me around so he wouldn’t have to see my face. I wanted to tell him how I wanted to see his face this time. To watch his expression as he came, and see it wreathed in pleasure as he lost control. To be able to stare into his intense and stunning eyes, getting fully lost in their depths.

I said neither of these things. They were too vulnerable, and I wasn’t ready to put myself in that type of position. “The wood is too rough,” I whispered instead, cupping my sensitive breasts for emphasis, still not looking at him.

Silence stretched out between us, and the urge to peer at his face grew. I eventually gave in to the urge, pushing myself into a sitting position—wincing slightly as my hair snagged in the wood. My face was closer to his level than it usually was, giving my neck a much-needed break. His brows were pulled together, forming a crease between them. The full weight of his stare was on me as he rubbed his chin in contemplation.

“You have to do exactly as I say when I say it,” he finally said, and I immediately nodded, so eager that I’d say yes to just about anything right now. “I mean it, you can’t break a single one of my rules, Starling.”

A thrill ran through me at hearing him speak my name. “What are they?” I asked, figuring it was best that we get them out of the way now, that way I wouldn’t be surprised later. I’d rather not get spanked again. Okay, that was a lie.

Ander gathered my hands, gently cupping them between his as he continued holding my gaze. “You’ll need to keep these to yourself.” His eyes searched mine, making sure I understood what he was saying.

“Yeah, that’s probably for the best,” I muttered, looking down at where my hands were held between his. The last time I lost control of my fire, I’d been a preteen and was pissed because of something stupid.

I still couldn’t believe I lost control like that. Especially during sex. My dragon was typically dormant during sex unless the guy did something she didn’t like, but that hadn’t been the case this time around.

“I’m guessing that’s never happened before,” Ander said, sounding amused by this. I shook my head, still feeling embarrassed. Shock stole my breath when Ander raised my hands and placed a kiss on each palm. After how I lost control earlier, it was a bold move, one that spoke of trust. “I’ll never forget that I was the one to make you lose control.”

My chest and stomach clenched at the way his words suggested that one day soon, everything between us would be distant memories. I knew all along it would be that way, but I’d been avoiding it, shoving it aside.

I cleared my throat, once again shoving those kinds of thoughts aside. “What else?”

I couldn’t read anything from Ander’s expression as he watched me for several seconds. “You’ll need to lie back down and stay there. No sitting up,” he finally said, giving my hands a firm squeeze for emphasis.

Did he not like eye contact during sex? Was it too intimate for him? I didn’t ask either of these questions. Chances were, I was reading too much into this. Maybe he only had these rules in place because he was afraid I’d get too attached.

“Okay, I can do that,” I said, and to prove my words, I lay back on the uncomfortable counter. It dug into my back, and my ass, making me wonder how I was able to come earlier. “But you better make it worth my while.”

A soft chuckle left his lips and had my stomach clenching as heat pooled in my core. He grabbed my legs, throwing them over his shoulders, wringing a gasp from me as he slid into me a moment later. The slight burn was there, but pleasure quickly took the place of the pain as he moved in and out of me.

As promised, I kept my hands to myself, grabbing the edge of the counter again since I knew I wouldn’t do any damage. My other hand was over my head, clenching it into a fist to avoid temptation. Unlike before, I was vaguely aware of the counter digging into my back as his thrusts shifted my body.

Even with the discomfort at my back, it was easy to get lost in the all-encompassing sensations. The way he filled me up so completely, the sounds of his breaths and groans. The dueling sensations somehow heightened the experience.

Almost on instinct, I held back my orgasm as it approached much too quickly. It was always too quick when Ander was involved. I whimpered when Ander brushed my clit, making it that much harder to hold back the rushing tide.

“Ander,” I breathed out in a whine that sounded unfamiliar to my own ears.

Ander jolted, his hands flexing against my shaking legs, which were still over his shoulders. When Ander told me to come, I could’ve cried in relief had I not been screaming his name as I rode out another intense orgasm.

A quick slap to my breast, creating a sharp sting of pain mixed with pleasure, had my eyes snapping open. I couldn’t remember when I closed them, too lost in the sensations he created. My gaze immediately found his, where he’d been watching me intently, his thrusts now shallow and slow.

“Keep your eyes open, I want to be able to see them.” His voice was gruff and strained. My gaze drifted back to the ceiling, figuring he wouldn't appreciate me maintaining eye contact as his pace picked up. His thrusts became harder and had me clawing at the countertop. When he started playing with my clit while maintaining his intense pace, I ended up attempting to close my legs as it all became too much.

I’d never felt anything like this before. Too much pleasure? I would’ve scoffed at this ridiculous notion months ago, saying there was no such thing. I should’ve known Ander would defy all my expectations. Of course, this man would know how to leave a woman feeling wrecked, but completely satisfied.

I whimpered when he slapped my other breast, and nearly came right on the spot from the dueling sensations. My eyes fluttered open, having drifted shut. I hadn’t done it on purpose or even realized I’d done so until he spanked my breast.

This time when he told me to come, we both came together, unraveling at the same time, our groans filling the air.

After helping clean up the mess we made and redressing me, Ander muttered something about checking the warding and then left the room. Another pattern he seemed to follow, leaving me right after we had sex. At least he helped me dress this time and gave a reason as to why he was leaving.

Progress.

With the amount we had sex these past two days, it was a good thing I could only get pregnant once a year. There were a few bizarre exceptions where someone had their feritility period twice in one year, but that was rare.

Once a year for almost two months, we were able to get pregnant. The months never followed a schedule year after year. Last year, my fertility period came at the beginning of the year. The year before that, was at the end. This year was four months ago. We knew as soon as it began, but there was never any warning it was coming.

If we wanted to have sex during those months, we needed to take a potion that was essentially birth control for us. We had to be careful and remember when we took it because there had been accidental pregnancies known to happen. The potions lasted twelve hours and some weren’t careful with remembering when they took it and had sex around the twelve-hour mark.

I remained sitting on the counter, unsure my legs would even support me if I tried to stand. Out of nowhere, the inside of my left wrist started burning, feeling twice as painful as silver touching my skin. The pure agony I experienced was hard to describe, it was like the skin of my wrist was both on fire and being electrocuted. I was surprised I didn’t hear sizzling skin. A screech managed to slip free before I clamped my mouth shut.

My wrist wasn’t blackened or looked like it was burning, but it looked far from normal. A slight glow lit up my wrist and grew in brightness until it was nearly blinding. The glow formed a symbol; a circle with five intersecting lines and loops.

At some point, Ander had returned, but I hadn’t noticed since all my focus was on trying not to scream or pass out from the pain. “What’s wrong, are you hurt?” Ander asked in a rush, pulling my arm away from where I had it clutched to my chest.

I couldn’t respond, not without screaming. Instead, I lifted my right hand away from where it was clamped over my glowing wrist as if the pressure could stop the burning. Spoiler alert, it hadn’t helped.

Ander’s eyes went wide as his jaw went slack. “What the fuck?”

His touch was light as he grazed the skin around the circle, making sure not to come into contact with it. Ander drew blood from his forearm, quickly drawing sigils around the light. Because of how painful the burning electricity was, I didn’t even notice when he drew blood from my forearm, adding more sigils with my blood.

I barely noticed the tingling energy as the sigils sank into my skin. They had no effect on the glow or pure white-hot agony. If anything, it made it worse, something I hadn’t thought possible.

My vision turned black for a moment, and at first, I thought I was passing out from the pain.

When the blackness dissipated, I realized I was no longer sitting on the uncomfortable counter, or in the house. In front of me was a lake that was over a mile wide with deep purple waters that sparkled in the sunlight. Over the center of the lake, taking up nearly two-thirds of it, was a circlular structure made up of black stone hovering a couple of hundred feet above the surface. Multiple bridges connected the structure to the building towering over me, surrounding the lake. The walls were several hundred feet away from the lake and had a smooth glass-like finish.

The swirling pink and purple sky was lit up by three white suns, each of them about a third of the size of the sun in our realm. Under my feet was grass so vividly green it was almost hard to look at it without squinting.

It took me a few minutes of taking in the sights to realize I wasn’t alone.