It was a big problem.

Well, for me it was. I was pretty sure Andrian was trying to be considerate, but I was starting to get frustrated. He was treating me too carefully, like he thought I was broken.

What happened in Vrayna had been awful, yes, but I hadn’t walked away feeling like a victim. Of course, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have nightmares about it, but then again, I’d always had nightmares about Albrecht. He had haunted me long before I killed him. At least now, I knew he was just a ghost.

What I needed now was to feel normal again. I wasn’t fragile and I wasn’t broken. In fact, I felt stronger than I ever had before. I hated that Andrian thought he had to be careful with me.

Besides, I was tired of dealing with my needs on my own.

I wanted to be touched. I wanted to touch him, skin against skin, without any restraint. I wanted the taste of his skin on my tongue. I wanted to claim him, make him beg and whimper for me, and watch him come undone beneath me.

I longed for the sweet pleasure of Andrian’s tightness wrapped around me, the electrifying intensity filling him up. I also longed for him to fill me up, the way he had on our wedding night.

It was shameful to admit, but I was so addicted to the joys of the flesh that I felt like I was going through withdrawal. And after nearly a moon cycle of dropping hints, all of which he completely ignored, I knew I needed a new approach.

Well, to be honest, I had realized that much earlier. It just took me a while to convince myself to act on it.

Even though I understood the reasons behind Andrian’s behavior, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something more to it. That insecure voice in my mind, the one that always told me I wasn’t good enough, kept trying to convince me that Andrian didn’t want me anymore.

But when I thought about how careful he had to be with me before, I managed to reassure myself that he truly believed he was being considerate.

Eventually, I reached my breaking point.

I’d had a longer than usual day at the shop and had arrived home exhausted. We’d had an influx of orders due to the weather getting colder; elders were complaining endlessly about joint aches, people had perpetually red and runny noses, and there was a high demand for one of Adelia’s custom potions that warmed you from the inside out.

Despite the village boasting a far warmer climate than most of Vrayna, after spending so many years in the southern duchy, I was noticing the change as much as the locals. The chill that set in after sunset left me shivering each night, making me long for the warmth of Andrian’s arms even more.

That night, I went home to cook us dinner, which we ate together after Andrian returned from the school, long after the sun had set. When we finished, we washed the dishes side by side, savoring the quiet peace of the evening.

As Andrian reached up to put the last pot away, I wrapped my arms around him from behind without thinking.

“Aaandriii,” I called to him in a teasing voice, pressing my chest flush against his back, “I’m cold.”

“I’ve got the perfect solution for that,” he informed me, scooping me up in his arms.

I thought that perhaps I had achieved an easy victory, only to discover how wrong I was when Andrian deposited me on the couch by the fire and wrapped me in a blanket. He kissed my forehead and immediately backed away.

“That should keep you warm for now,” he said, adding another log to the already roaring fire. He smiled gently at me and added, “I’m going to wash up before bed, then we can snuggle until you’re warm enough to sleep.”

“Alright…” I replied, making no effort to hide my disappointment.

“I promise I’ll be quick,” he assured me before pressing a kiss to the top of my head and heading toward the bathing room.

I sat obediently on the couch while Andrian ran his bath, until I realized I was wasting a perfect opportunity by staying there. Surely, it would be easier to coax him if he was already undressed.

Smiling to myself, I slipped out from under the unnecessary blanket and followed him into the bathing room.

From the other side of the door, I could hear the soft splashing as Andrian settled into the tub. My heart pounded as I prepared myself to go in. I wasn’t sure I could handle it if he rejected me.

Pushing my doubts aside, I opened the door and stepped into the steamy room. Andrian was lying in the tub with his back to the door, seemingly unaware of my presence.

“Andri?” I called, drawing his attention. “It’s lonely out there. Can I join you instead?”

“You want to join me?” he asked carefully.

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I slipped off my shirt and walked toward the tub, “Yeah, I do. I think a bath is exactly what I need to warm up. That’s okay, isn’t it?”

Without waiting for an answer, I took off my pants and placed them on the shower bench along with my shirt. I could feel Andrian’s eyes following my every move.

Standing naked before him, I was suddenly a lot less confident, but it was too late to turn back now.

Nervously, I asked, “So… can I join you?”

Andrian swallowed audibly before responding in a rough whisper, “Of course you can.”

As soon as the words had left his mouth, I was climbing into the tub. I sat facing him and sank into the warm water with a sigh. I wasn’t really cold, but the heat from the bath was still pleasant. I hadn’t realized how tense I was until my tightly wound muscles began to loosen.

The tub was more than large enough for both of us, but there wasn’t much room to spare. So when I stretched out my legs, Andrian tensed as they brushed against his.

He pulled back, shifting like he was about to stand.

“Maybe I should let you have the bath to yourself,” he murmured, his voice uncertain.

“No!” I almost shouted, seeing he was about to leave. His eyes widened and I amended, “You should stay. I came to join you, not to make you leave.”

For a moment, he hesitated, then he cautiously eased back into his previous position.

“I’m sorry,” he sighed, running a hand through his hair, “I just don’t know what’s okay right now. I don’t want to do anything that might upset you.”

“Have you considered asking me?” I inquired, trying not to sound exasperated, “It’s not like before when I couldn’t speak. You don’t have to guess or shy away from me. I can just tell you what I’m okay with.”

Andrian exhaled, shaking his head, “I guess I should have done that a while ago, huh?”

A small burst of bitter laughter escaped me, “You think? It’s been pretty obvious that you’re avoiding the subject. I wish you’d just talk to me.”

“You’re right,” he replied, “I should have just asked. So, what are you okay with? You’re clearly okay with being naked together.”

“Everything,” I informed him with a mischievous smile. To drive the point home, I teased the inside of his thigh with my toe.

“Everything,” he repeated, “Now, when you say everything…”

“I mean everything,” I said firmly, “I’m very okay with it. I’m so okay with everything that I might not survive another night without it.”

Andrian laughed, then grabbed my arms, pulling me over to his side of the tub. Before I knew it, I was on top of him, our naked bodies pressed together. My breath caught in my throat at the sensation of his bare skin against mine after so long without it.

“Well, I can’t have you dying of neglect, now can I?” he teased, “What must I do to ensure my mate lives another day?”

I ground my hips against him and he wrapped his legs around my hips. Our faces were so close that it would only take the slightest movement for our lips to meet.

“I can think of a few things,” I whispered, reaching around to squeeze the firm cheeks of his backside.

Andrian let out a shaky breath, “Shit, Falyn, I’ve missed this.”

“Me too,” I said, slipping a hand between his cheeks and tracing my finger over the bud of wrinkled skin at the center, “I thought I was going crazy from how badly I wanted you.”

Andrian groaned and closed the distance between our lips, pressing them together roughly. I’d barely touched him, yet I could feel him pressing into my stomach, already fully erect. He placed his feet on either side of the tub, shamelessly giving me full access.

As his tongue invaded my mouth, I began pressing a finger into his taut opening, too eager to properly take my time with him. He was tight, so tight that it felt like our first time all over again.

There were no oils in the bathwater, so it wasn’t as slick as I would have liked, but I continued pushing, slowly and carefully, making sure he showed no signs of discomfort. Once I was knuckle deep, I began moving my finger inside him, and he moaned into our kiss, encouraging my movements.

One finger quickly became two, then two became three. Andrian rocked his hips with my movements, rubbing our hardened lengths together.

“Falyn, please,” he gasped, finally breaking away from my lips, “I’m ready. I can’t wait any longer.”

He wrapped his hand around my length and began guiding it lower. I was aching to bury myself inside of him, but I gently pushed his hand away.

“Not in here,” I said, pulling my fingers out of him, “You’ll be uncomfortable later.”

Andrian didn’t respond. Instead, he stood abruptly, water trailing down his body as he swept me into his arms. Droplets scattered onto the floor as he carried me out of the tub, the air cool against my damp skin.

He set me down just long enough to wrap a towel around me, then I was back in his arms, and we were heading straight for the bedroom.

Still wet, he tossed me on the bed and climbed on after me. His hair was dripping water all over our pillows, but the look in his eyes told me he didn’t care about that at all. He pressed our lips together as I stretched my arm out for the bottle of oil on the bedside table.

As soon as my fingers closed around it, my world spun as Andrian rolled us over so that I was on top of him. I had already waited too long, so I wasted no time in pulling the cork out of the oil, pouring it over my hands. I immediately pushed my fingers back into him. There was no resistance as my slicked fingers moved to spread the oil inside his depths.

Andrian moaned as I plunged them into him again and again. I savored every sound as I continued to stretch and spread him.

“Enough,” Andrian gasped, “it’s enough.”

“What’s enough?” I asked teasingly, watching him writhe as I pressed relentlessly against that spot inside him.

“Ughhh, fingers, enough. I-I’m gonna– ah!”

Andrian shuddered and his inner muscles clenched around me. His entire body tensed and a burst of liquid escaped from his tip. I watched him wide-eyed, as he gasped and shook, overwhelmed by pleasure. I hadn’t known it was possible to climax from only being touched back there. I shiver ran down my spine as I imagined it happening with me inside him.

I withdrew my fingers and coated my length with the oil. As soon as I was done, Andrian wrapped his hand around my shaft again, pulling me toward his waiting hole.