Page 239 of Once Upon a Fable

I pushed up, hovering over her on my elbow. My body cast a shadow on her, puckering her nipples as the shade made her skin react to the temperature difference.

I could fix thisandtake the contact I needed.

I’d strangled her by accident. I’d tell that to her face the moment she woke up, but for now...I had another way to apologize. The only way I knew how, really. The only talent I’d been taught.

I’d been a slave to pleasure. Most of the time, that pleasure had been taken against my will, but occasionally, I’d be forced to grant it as if I willingly lusted for the guests who hurt me.

I knew what turned women on; men as well, unfortunately. I knew how a tongue could be used to tease and torment. I knew how to bring someone to an orgasm, with or without their permission.

It was the only true skill I had. And I could use it to show just how sorry I was—to somehow erase the distance that’d been growing between us. I could give her the release that I desperately wanted.

Wasn’t that fair? Wasn’t that thekindthing to do? Denial of my owndesires in order to take care of hers?

Sex had once been my master and my nightmare, but thanks to her, it’d become my choice again. My decision to touch another, tocraveanother.

And fuck, I craved her.

Rolling closer, I ran my fingertip around her pebbled nipple.

She flinched in her sleep but stayed in whatever dream she enjoyed. That was good. I could gift her pleasure, even if she never knew it was me.

Cupping her breast, I massaged her gently, lowering my mouth to her sun-salty skin and licking her areola.

She sucked in a breath, her head falling to one side.

My heart bucked in my chest as I inched down her body, pressing light kisses along her ribs, running my tongue around her taut belly. With my decision made, I didn’t stop or second-guess. I worked my way down and down, settling between her legs as her mouth parted and she moaned in her sleep.

Looking up the expanse of her stunning body, I almost gave in to the dark urges inside me. The hisses to take her like others had taken me. Not to care about her wants or needs because no one had taken care of mine.

I wanted her so. Fucking. Bad.

I needed to be inside her, not wedging my cock into the dirt.

But I gritted my teeth and ignored it. I wanted to make this right between us more than I wanted to take her. If she accepted my apology, then she’d have no choice but to let me fuck her again. We would no longer be enemies.

“Forgive me for hurting you.” My mouth settled over her pussy. I swiped with my tongue, finding her entrance and working my way back to her clit.

Her legs trembled around my ears.

Her hands tightened to fists in the grass.

I licked her again, dipping inside her and tasting everything I’d been denied.

“Let me apologize,” I murmured into her wetness. “Let me show you what I’ve learned from being a slave.”

She moaned again as I plunged my tongue inside her, no longer soft or sedate. Her legs tried to snap together, catching me around the ears and adding a ringing to my already throbbing head.

With my vision spinning, I closed my eyes and nipped at her clit. She was my anchor in the chaos inside my mind. She was the only thing I needed to get well again.

“Gemma...” I licked her. I clutched her hips with my hands, splaying her wider. Her inner muscles clenched around my tongue.

She was reactive. Pliable. I could make her come in a few seconds if I chose.

Burying my nose against her clit, I prepared to shove her into an explosive release. But...I stopped.

My tongue slipped from her body.

I had the unbearable need to kiss her mouth instead.