Chapter Nine – Lily

The cold fled from her skin as Eyrl's hands coasted over her. His fingers moved to the ties on her cloak. The heavy material dropped to the floor, revealing her in the soft blue fabric of her robe. Lily wrapped her arms around his waist, closing her eyes as she pressed to her tiptoes, reaching for his mouth. Eyrl sighed, his breath warm, and moved to her neck. Tingles and tightening made her gasp.

"How far do you want to go?" he asked between soft kisses.

Lily wrapped her fingers in his hair, loving the silky texture. He always kept himself so well-groomed. The only times she'd seen him tousled were when they made out and after they had flown together.

Something tightened inside of her as she remembered it. The wind pulling its fingers through her hair, the rush of excitement, the butterflies in her stomach. It was like she was flying herself. She had clung to Eyrl's neck so tightly that her hands had gone numb. She had been tempted to throw herself on him the moment they landed. If they hadn't been out in the open and she hadn’t been so cold, she would have.

And now?

There was nothing to hold her back.

Eyrl moved away from her, looking in her eyes. "Lily? How far do you want to go?"

"All the way." She undid her robe and allowed the fabric to slip from her body.

The prince stepped back to cast her gaze down her body. His eyes heated as they moved over her breasts and stomach. He traced the tattooed ballerina on her left thigh, moving to her hip. His thumb hooked around her underwear and slowly pulled downwards.

"What do you like?" he asked, his voice sounding strangled. "A gentle touch? A little rougher? Do you like oral? Your breasts being stimulated?"

He knelt and moved her underwear to the floor, then ran his hands up her legs again, cupping her behind. Her heart hammered as she watched him, loving the way his touch was so gentle, his gaze so intense. Her throat felt dry, but whatever nervousness she had faded away as the heat of his touch increased. She sat on the edge of the bed and lifted her knees over his shoulders.

"I like oral. Gentle. Do you?"

"I like giving it." He shifted closer. His hands were everywhere, guiding her back as his tongue flicked over her thigh.

Lily moaned as he worked his way to her target. "You like giving it. But not receiving it?"

"No. Not really. I don't like teeth."

"I'd never bite you."

Eyrl didn't reply to that. He buried his face into her, his tongue flicking over her. Jolts of pleasure rose up her legs and Lily let her head fall back. Her eyes drifted closed as she moaned, rolling her hips gently with his rhythm. He kept at it, his pressure gentle, then firm, then ravenous, and back to gentle. Her fingers clawed at the blankets, her breath quickly coming in sharp pants. The tightness increased, fire flooding to the ends of her limbs.

Her prince made a moaning noise, the vibrations adding interesting sensations. She wove her fingers into his hair again, loving the way it felt against her skin. Her mouth fell open slightly as she panted, her heart beating a fast tempo.

"Eyrl," she gasped. "Eyrl, I need you now."

He looked up, eyes widening. "Already?"

A blush rose in her cheeks but she still smiled. "I want to come for you for the first time while you're inside of me. I want to be looking in your eyes with your warmth against me."

He slowly stood, discarding the rest of his clothing as he did. Lily opened her legs wider as he draped himself over her. He was already hard. He looked into her eyes as he entered slowly. The stretching feeling had her gasping again. There was a slight stinging sensation, but that went away soon enough as he reached between their bodies and ran his thumb in circles over her.

Eyrl started to move, slowly at first, but soon with increasing speed. Lily caught one of his hands, then twined her free hand into his hair. She moved her hips to match his as fire burned through her body. Her back was already arching and it was a struggle to keep her eyes on his. Determination shone from the warm red depths of his eyes. Trails of smoke seeped through his teeth.

She loved this. The way he looked at her. The way his hand gently cupped her face, the way he didn't break from looking into her eyes. Everything tightened to a point that was almost painful, shivers running down her legs. She jerked with every movement. It was getting to be too much. Any minute . . . 

Her back arched. Her head flung back and she let out a scream as wave after wave of pleasure blinded her. She was aware that her grip was tightening, but she couldn't make herself stop. Heat filled her like fire, hotter and hotter with every thrust. She welcomed it, loved it. When Eyrl stopped moving and collapsed over her, panting, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him even closer. Her eyes drifted shut.

"Thank you." For some reason, tears started to fill her eyes. She had read somewhere that crying after sex was normal, but it still embarrassed her. She brushed them away as Eyrl lifted himself up and looked down at her. She giggled and shook her head. "Don't look so concerned. That was beautiful. So wonderful. I don't think I've had anybody ask me what I like before."

"Nobody?" Eyrl brushed the hair from her face. "You must have had selfish lovers, then."

She sniffed. "I'm selfish. I came out here to get my ankle fixed so I could dance. You chose me because you want to help others. You're so full of compassion and I'm . . . I'm just not."

A perplexed expression crossed his face. He withdrew slowly, then moved to her side, though he kept his arms wrapped around her. "Shhhh. Don't cry. I didn't mean for you to feel bad."

"I don't. Not really. I don't know. I just think it's so wonderful. So much compassion."

"Compassion. That's a very female trait. It's one of the reasons why they make better leaders than males. I'm glad you see me as compassionate."

Lily snorted. Not because of what he said, but because of the whole mindset that came with it. They had so much science, and yet they didn't bother checking the validity of their own thoughts? "Females aren't more compassionate than males. A woman or dragoness can be just as cruel. More cruel, even. Look at your mother. How can someone so utterly cold have compassion? Dragons are too emotional and yet have no compassion? That makes no sense. There have been studies on Earth. The "men are violent" claims fall apart when you look at many different cultures. Nature versus nurture. But the Stlozyn have a homogenous culture, don't they?"

"I . . . " Eyrl shook his head. "I never considered that. You are right, though. Humans have thousands on thousands of distinct cultures. We don't. The colonies are distinctive in some respects, but . . . " A smile quirked his lips. "Hmm. It's something else to look into. I think I'll create a grant for a team of researchers to actually look into that."

Lily nodded. "Good. Because you can't just change the symptoms. You have to change things at the core and science is the only way to do that."

They lapsed into silence. Eyrl's fingers drifted over her skin and she was tempted to let herself drift off as her muscles became more and more relaxed. But she couldn’t. Her mind raced every which way, from what she had learned about Bronæl to their current planet and everything else. It wasn't her place to judge other cultures, she knew that, but when she had been brought to them by their prince with the hope that with her he could change things . . . 

"I'm going to do it."

"Hmm?" Eyrl sounded sleepy.

"I'm going to help you." She rolled over and pressed a hand to his chest for a moment before she jumped out of bed. She took a step to her desk, but her legs wobbled and she had to grab the edge of the bed to right herself. "My program for kids. I should teach them more than just ballet. There should be all kinds of dance, including the kinds where you just have to feel the beat of the music. And I'll look at the human women who have come from Earth to see if they will be interested in teaching classes."

Eyrl wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back. He chuckled as he nuzzled into the back of her neck. "It can wait."

Lily shook her head impatiently. "No, it can't. None of it can wait. Because I am going to do everything I can to make sure your goals are fulfilled. I'm going to be the best dang queen consort this world has ever seen and I'm—"

"Come back to bed." Eyrl continued to chuckle. "I admire your passion. But I want to hold you right now. Plans can wait. Let me just bask in you for a few minutes."

Lily relaxed against him and let him pull her back into bed. With a romantic turn of phrase like that, how could she refuse?