Page 71 of Journey to the Elderoak
“Picturing you naked.” She giggled. “You know, you’re a giant. Like a giant tree that I could climb. Can I climb you? Fuck…I didn’t mean…Did I say that out loud?”
“Yes, you did. And you can climb me another time,” he said, a smirk on his face. “But now it’s time for bed.” He lifted her and walked to the bedroom.
“You know, you carry me a lot…like my own personal chauffeur…” she mumbled.
He gave her a confused look as he laid her on the bed. “Chauffeur?”
“Never mind…human thing…”
“Alright then. Do you need help changing?”
“Yes…no…I don’t know,” she said, head swimming. “What was the question?” He grabbed her calf and removed her boot. She tensed. “What are you doing?”
A corner of his mouth lifted. “Do you want to sleep in your boots?”
“Doyouwant to sleep in my boots?” She couldn’t control the giggles again.
Casimir shook his head in exasperation as he released her leg and grabbed the other, pulling off her remaining shoe. He rose and walked to her wardrobe, removing a white linen night dress and laid it on the bed.
He reached out a hand. “Can you sit up?”
She grasped it and let him pull, vision fuzzy as she tried to keep herself upright. He reached behind her andunclasped the back of her dress, fingers brushing her bare skin.
“Are you trying to seduce me, general?” she crooned, though it didn’t sound as sexy as it did in her head.
He paused and leaned over her, forehead almost touching hers, hands braced on the bed. “If I were trying to seduce you”—his eyes gleamed—“you’d know it.” He backed away. “Hold out your arms.”
She did as he asked and huffed in frustration. “Why not?”
He raised an eyebrow as he pulled her sleeves, removing the top of her dress, revealing her torso. Her breasts were bound in stretchy fabric, but he didn’t touch her, staying respectful of her bare skin.
“Because you are very drunk.”
“So?”
With her dress pulled down to her waist, he eased the night dress over her head as she slipped her arms through the sleeves. “I don’t take advantage of drunk women,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “Now, stand.”
She stood and he let her dress fall as he pulled the nightgown on with care. “That’s what men in the human world do,” she mumbled.
He grabbed her chin, tilting her to look at him. “Well, I am not like human men,” he growled. “Besides,” he said as he stepped closer and leaned in, lips barely brushing hers. “I want your head clear, so you’ll remember every moment when I finally spend all night worshiping your body.”
She shivered. “All night?”
“All…fucking…night,” he said hoarsely.
“So, if I wasn’t drunk…What exactly would you be doing?”
“I guess you’ll have to find out another time,” he leaned in to whisper in her ear, and she whimpered. “But it involves figuring out how to get you to make that sound again. And again. And again.”
She closed her eyes and sucked in a breath as she ached with desire, his thumb brushing her bottom lip. When she opened them, he was watching her greedily, but backed away and pulled back her covers.
“Time to sleep,” he ordered.
She huffed as she stumbled the two feet of distance to the bed. “You’re no fun.”
He tucked the blankets around her and brushed her hair out of her face with care. “Sleep, princess.”
“Bossy general,” she mumbled.
