Back in the dining room, they sat in front of a roaring fire Aidan had started in the living room's stone fireplace and drank more wine. The fire felt good even though they were in the desert. Perhaps that had something to do with the grove. Maybe the weather ran different right along with the plants and trees.
A deep relaxation made Marion’s arms and legs heavy. She sank into the robe he'd given her, soaking up the warmth and utterly content. Her eyelids felt like they wouldn’t stay open without some outside assistance, but the wine revived her. So much so that she had a second and then a third glass.
“That was amazing,” she said between sips of wine. “I’ll never think of baths the same way again.”
“Me either.” His robe gaped, showing off his amazing chest. She thought about going to sit in his lap and running her hands across it again, but decided to finish her current glass of wine first.
“But haven’t you done this before?”
“Oh many times, but it was never so intense before.”
“So, what’s next?”
“You’ll see.”
“Tell me.” She licked her lips and smiled.
“It’s against the rules.”
She pouted. “Rules? There are rules?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t what we’re doing just...sex?” Marion knew about sex magic, but it went beyond what they’d done. There were invocations and incense and all sorts of details to make the act a divine one.
Aidan shook his head. “No. Absolutely not. In Fairy, sex is sacred.”
“How so?”
“Sex is a type of magic. A sacred magic that always creates, never destroys.”
“You mean people can get pregnant.”
“Correct.”
“But we used condoms.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s still sacred.”
“So we’re having ritualistic elf sex?” She giggled at the question.
Aidan smiled and shifted, giving his expanding cock room to grow. “In a way.” He leaned over and gave her a hard kiss, tongue pushing between her lips, forcing her to open for him. She yielded, matching his intensity. Desire swirled through her again, making her breasts throb and her core tingle. Would she ever be satisfied? The electric sensation that shot through her as Aidan parted her cotton robe and caressed her nipples made her think they had a long way to go before she would be.
Aidan gently pinched the peaks of her breasts, tugging until she arched her back to release some of the tension.
“Part of tonight is about letting go of the past.” he said, his voice solemn.
She nodded.
“Do you trust me?” he asked as he pulled a length of black silk from his robe's pocket.
Marion raised an eyebrow. “What’s that for?”
“I want you to give yourself to me without question.” He moved behind her and lowered the silk over her eyes. “Can you do that?”
“I think so.”
“The second you have doubts, tell me.” He guided her from the living room to the bedroom where he set her on the bed. Moving quickly, he secured her hands over her head and tied her legs apart.
And then he left her alone for several long minutes. Time in which the absence of his touch became painful. The lack of sensory input was a desert and Marion was parched. She moaned.
“Are you okay?”
“Touch me,” she whispered. “Make it okay.”
He did, but not with his hands, with something else. Something soft and thin, possibly a feather. Whatever it was, he used it to trace her body, raising goose bumps and making her shudder with need.
“Did Eric ever make you feel like this?” Aidan asked, his voice harsh.
“No.” Marion shook her head back and forth.
Aidan lay a gentle hand on her thigh, stroking from the inside of her knee to the cleft of her liquid heat and back down the other leg. He repeated this path several times and Marion tried to move her core in line with his hand, but he danced around her.
Then he started kissing his way up her leg with soft lips. Before she knew it, and before she was ready, he was teasing her with his tongue. Just as her hips lifted up off the bed to give the orgasm space to ride through her, he would back off. Then start again, making her burn, letting her cool. In the end, her body took control. The next time he stroked the sensitive nub between her legs, she bucked wildly, panting her release in hoarse moans.
She hung, arms and legs limp in their bonds, enjoying the post-orgasmic glow, but Aidan didn’t give her too long to recover. She heard the rustle of a condom wrapper and then Aidan was thrusting between her legs. Marion didn’t think another orgasm was possible, but he settled into a steady rhythm, hitting a sensitive spot inside of her over and over again. Tension rose and peaked in a crush of pleasure. Aidan grew even harder inside her and then, he too, came, nuzzling her neck, his hard shaft throbbing inside her.
He collapsed on top of her and rested for a moment before moving to untie her arms and legs. He unwound her blindfold and kissed her sweetly on the lips.
“I never thought sex could be so...so...good.”
“Eric was your first, right?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“And he strikes me as the type who didn’t care about anybody but himself.”
“Exactly.” She stretched and yawned. “And to think I fought so hard against getting to know you.”
“Aye. To think I thought myself cursed when I met you.”
She went still, eyes going wide. “What do you mean by that?”
***
Aidan froze, his heart giving a hard thump of panic. He hadn’t meant to say that, and even though it was a compliment, he doubted Marion would see it that way. Bollocks. Things had been going so well.
Marion propped herself up on her elbow. “Aidan?”
He shook his head and thought fast, fighting the unexpected urge to tell the truth. “I just meant that I didn’t think I would meet anyone.”
She relaxed against him, resting her head on his chest. “And I didn’t think I’d ever meet anyone after Eric. It was too risky.”
“Why did you take the chance on me then?”
She flushed. “Well, for one, Raven doesn’t take no for an answer. Two, I thought dating you might help with my love potion, and three, you were cute.”
“You thought I could fix your love potions?”
“Well, not directly. I guess I’d shut down so much after Eric that I didn’t have any power to influence love no matter how good the recipe or the potion pot.”
“You think that’s why your potions kept exploding?”
“Yeah. Too much negative energy or something.”
“And now?” He kissed her on the top of her head, inhaling the lavender scent of her shampoo.
“Too soon to tell, but the sex is amazing.” She pressed her lips against his chest in a soft kiss.
“Would you have dated me if you hadn’t had problems with your potions?” Aidan asked.
“I would have wished that I had,” she said slowly. “In a way, I’m glad my bad potions brought us together.”
“Me too.” He gave her another kiss and squeezed her to him. And then, before he could stop it, the truth spilled out. “I would never have gotten rid of this curse without you.”
She looked up at him, a frown creasing her forehead. “What curse?”
He couldn’t stop it. Couldn’t not say the words. It was a compulsion beyond his control. Apparently the 'and let her see you true' part of the curse meant he had to tell Marion all about it. Well, trolls balls. With a sinking feeling in his gut, he said, “The Queen cursed me to please a lady less-than-perfect, and well, you were less-than-perfect.”
“Less-than-perfect?” Marion repeated, a hard edge to her voice.
“Were,” he said, trying to salvage what he could. “Now you’re more than perfect.” He gave a weak smile as he said it, but it was too late. Gods, his mouth was going to get him into trouble yet again.
“A curse?” She sat up and scooted away from him, drawing the sheet around her body. “You dated me because of a curse?” Tears glimmered in her eyes as she picked up her pillow and smashed it into his face with a growling scream.
He pulled the pillow off his face and sat up, but she was already gone. The door to her bedroom slammed shut and the lock slid home behind her.