Chapter twenty seven

Carefully balancing the two trays, Avery stopped in front of Tristan's room. She set one of the trays on the floor in front of his door and then carried the other to Victoria's door. She knocked lightly. When there was no reply, she opened the door and stepped into the room.

It was early evening. The Lycans had returned from hunting early this morning and had immediately gone to bed. Mrs. Lanning had sent her with trays of food and drink for when they woke.

"Make sure you build their fires up." She glared at Avery. "They'll have let them burn down while they slept, and we don't want lord Tristan's houseguests uncomfortable."

She poked Avery in the back. "And if lady Victoria wakes and wants anything – a bath drawn, more food – make sure you get it for her. I don't want to hear any complaints about you."

Now, Avery set the tray down on the small table in the room and quickly built up the fire. Mrs. Lanning had been right – the fire was only a few embers. Victoria was a quiet, sleeping lump under the blankets on her bed and Avery left quickly before the woman could wake.

She entered Tristan's room without knocking. He was lying on his back in the bed, the covers around his waist despite the cold room. She smiled a little. She had lain next to him and knew how warm he was, but she built up the fire anyway, not wanting him to catch a chill.

She stared at him from across the room. He was sleeping deeply, his broad chest rising and falling in an even rhythm and she waited for a few moments, hoping he would wake. He had saved her life last night and she had not even said thank you.

When he didn't wake, she sighed and moved to the door. She reached out for the handle and stopped, staring at the door for almost a minute. With a trembling hand, she reached out and turned the lock on the door before walking toward Tristan's bed.

She would just cover him up. Pull the blankets up and make sure he didn't get cold while he slept. It was the least she could do for him. She stared down at his sleeping form. He was so beautiful, she thought wistfully.

She reached for the bedcovers but instead, found herself stroking his lean abdomen. Her thoughts turned back to the night before – to the moment he had pushed her up against the tree and entered her - and she gave a low shuddering sigh of need. She had spent most of the day in a state of arousal so deep it nearly hurt. She had tried to ignore it, tried to pretend she wasn't aching to finish what they had started in the woods, but deep down she knew that she had been waiting all day for this very moment. She took another deep breath and let her long pale fingers smooth over his chest and back down to his abdomen.

He had saved her life. She would say thank you in the way she knew he would like best and then she would not touch him again. She was hurting no one but herself by doing this, and she decided she could live with the hurt.

Quickly, before she could change her mind, she stripped off her clothing and eased into the bed beside him. He didn't move and she slid her hand under the covers and stroked his lower abdomen. He sighed in his sleep, and she smiled and placed a soft kiss just above his navel.

She pulled the covers down to his thighs and pressed small light kisses across his abdomen and around his hips. He groaned as she took his hardening cock in her hand and stroked lightly. She watched his face as she caressed and touched him and when his eyelids started to flutter open, she bent her head and took him into her mouth. He cried out, waking fully at the feel of her warm, wet mouth and started to sit up.

"Avery?" he whispered hoarsely.

She pushed him back down on the bed and increased the rhythm of her mouth. He shuddered under her helplessly and a feeling of exhilarating power rushed through her.

"What are you doing, girl?" he half-moaned and half-sighed. She licked the head of his cock, rubbing her tongue in small circles across the top, as his hands clenched into the bed sheets and he stared down at her.

She kissed the head of his cock. "Saying thank you."

She slid her mouth down over his cock, gripping the base of him in her hand and twisting her wrist back and forth in a gentle motion as she sucked hard on the shaft.

"Oh gods, girl...please," he moaned again.

She licked his cock with warm, long strokes of her tongue as his hands threaded through her hair. He held her head and she smiled a little when he pushed gently on it, urging her to take his cock into her mouth again. She obliged willingly enough, opening her mouth wide and sliding her lips down his cock until she could feel the head of it against the back of her throat.

Tristan continued to groan as Avery licked and sucked and squeezed his rock-hard cock. His cries were growing louder and his body tensing under hers, when he suddenly sat up and grabbed her shoulders. She squeaked in surprise when he pulled her from his cock and pushed her onto her back on the bed.

"Enough, girl. I want to be in you."

He pushed her thighs open, and she hooked them around his hips as he knelt between her legs and pushed his cock into her. They both cried out, but Avery was surprised when instead of starting the quick, rough rhythm she was expecting, Tristan propped himself up on his elbows above her and laid perfectly still.

"Tristan," she sighed and wiggled her pelvis against him, but he didn't respond to her movements. He surprised her again by kissing her tenderly.

"I've missed you."

She smiled at him, blinking back the sudden tears. "I've missed you too."

"Last night..."

His eyes were troubled, and she shook her head and silenced him with a kiss.

"Make love to me, Tristan. Please." She kissed him again, probing at his lips with her

tongue, and he groaned into her mouth and moved within her.

"Oh," she sighed. "Like that...it feels so good, Tristan."

"You're so warm, my love." He held her hands, linking their fingers together and staring at

her as they rocked against each other in a slow, natural rhythm.

Avery could hardly breathe. The way Tristan was looking at her, the way he was moving so

gently inside of her as if she was made of some exotic glass, was making her throat ache. Tears slipped down her cheeks and he frowned and stopped.

"Am I hurting you?"

She shook her head and smiled. "No, don't stop."

He kissed her tears away, each kiss soft and tender, and she suddenly wrapped her arms

around him and crushed her body against his. He buried his face in her throat, and she gasped with pleasure when he quickened his pace within her.

Little bursts of ecstasy were radiating through her pelvis and down her legs. She urged him on with small bird-like cries of need, and she squeezed him tightly with her limbs and mouthed the words 'I love you' into his neck as she climaxed.

His face still buried in the warm curve of her neck, he kissed her soft skin, his body trembling and twitching against her as warmth flooded her insides. He relaxed against her for a moment, his warm breath blowing on her throat, before he sighed and lifted himself away.

He tucked them both under the covers and lay on his back. He put his arm around her as she curled up against him, wrapping her arm around his trim waist and resting her head on his chest.

They were silent for a few moments, and then he squeezed her hip with his warm hand. "What did you mean by thank you?"

She kissed his chest. "You saved my life last night."

His hand moved to her throat, his fingers stroking her skin and feeling for any trace of the leech's bite. "Last night I," he said hesitantly, "I could have seriously hurt you, Avery."

"You didn't," she replied.

"But I could have," he said.

"But you didn't," she repeated.

"Why did you ask me to bite you?"

When she didn't reply, he tugged gently on her long hair until she looked up at him. "Why?" She wanted to tell him the truth. She wanted to tell him that a part of her - a surprisingly

large part of her - had hoped that his bite would turn her. That if she became a Lycan, perhaps she could stay with him forever.

But there was such a look of pain and misery on his face that she couldn't bring herself to say the words, and so she only shook her head and gave him a small and melancholy smile. "I do not know."

"Never ask me that again." He gripped her chin and gave her a heartbreaking look of desperation. "Promise me, Avery."

She nodded, knowing it was an easy promise to keep – she would be at the Bartons by the next full moon. "I promise, Tristan."

He searched her eyes until, satisfied with what he saw in them, he nodded and gave her a brief, hard kiss.

He relaxed against the pillow, his hand stroking her long hair, and then spoke again. "Why were you in the woods last night?"

"Mrs. Lanning had heard that Victoria was craving some berries. She sent me out to pick them for her."

He cursed loudly. "I'm dropping that crazy old bat at the outskirts."

She gave him a look of horror. "You cannot do that. She's been in your household for years."

"I don't care. She almost got you killed last night."

"Please, Tristan. I'm begging you not to send her to the outskirts."

She rubbed his chest anxiously and he shook his head. "She's been after you since the

moment she met you. I cannot let it go on any longer without some type of punishment." "The outskirts are a death sentence," she said.

"She has been nothing but horrible to you. Why do you fight so hard for her life?" "She cannot help who she is. Please, Tristan."

He kissed her forehead. "I will do as you ask, but she will be punished." He stared at the ceiling, his hand rubbing her arm. "I will assign Marian as the head housekeeper. Mrs. Lanning can take orders for once."

"She will not like that," she said.

He laughed and kissed her forehead again. "I do not care."

They laid in companionable silence for a while until the silence was broken by Tristan's

stomach growling.

Avery sat up, the sheet falling to her waist. "You're hungry."

"Aye, I am." He grinned wickedly at her and cupped her bare breast.

She rolled her eyes and pushed his hand away. "I brought you some food." She started to climb out of the bed, and he put his hand on her wrist.

"Stay here. I'll get it."

He walked naked to where she had left the tray of food, his tanned skin glowing in the light from the fire, and brought it back to the bed. He set it down carefully and then lit the three candles clustered together on the small stand next to his bed.

She sat up, scooting back until she could lean against the headboard. Her lips twitched and she suppressed her smile when he frowned and pushed her forward so he could tuck a pillow behind her back.

"Better?"

She nodded. Aye. Thank you, Tristan."

He climbed into the bed, leaning against the headboard as well and dragged the tray towards

them. He tore the bread in half and held it out to her.

She shook her head. "No. The food is for you."

"Eat," he insisted.

Sighing, she took the bread from him and nibbled on it. He grunted with satisfaction before

handing her some cheese. She watched as he took a thick slice of the cold meatloaf Mrs. Lanning had placed on the tray and ate it in two large bites.

He quickly finished off most of the food on the tray and she grinned a little. "Hungry, my lord?"

"Aye. The shift burns up energy. I'm always hungry after." He set the tray on the floor beside the bed and rested his hand on her blanket-covered thigh.

"Do you not eat what you hunt?" she asked.

"Aye. But I was distracted last night and by the time I returned to the pack, they had finished the deer."

"I'm sorry."

He frowned and took her hand, stroking her wrist with his thumb. "You have nothing to be sorry about. Saving your life was more important."

He squeezed her hand and then climbed out of bed, disappearing into the bathroom. With a soft sigh, Avery began to dress. She had been in Tristan's room for nearly two hours and she was shocked that Mrs. Lanning hadn't sent someone to find her. She looked out the window. It was dark but she could see the trees at the edge of the forest swaying in the wind. It would be a cold wind and she shivered a little, knowing that as soon as she showed her face in the kitchen, Mrs. Lanning would send her outside for more wood for the cook stove.

She bent and picked up her dress from the floor before pulling it over her head and gathering her hair into a loose bun. She would definitely be taking a warming rock to bed tonight, maybe two. Even in Tristan's room, with a fire burning in the fireplace, it was chilly. Her room would be as cold as a crypt. She was just pulling on her boots when Tristan came out of the bathroom. He frowned. "Where are you going?"

She smiled and put her arms around his waist, squeezing affectionately. "I must go, my lord. I'm surprised Mrs. Lanning hasn't sent poor Laura to find me."

She planted a kiss on his bare chest. "Besides, I need to warm up some rocks for my bed." She winked at him, trying to make him smile, but he frowned again and put his arms around her waist.

"Stay with me tonight." He glanced out the window. "It's too cold to stay in your room." She grinned. "That's what the rocks are for remember? To keep me warm."

"I'll keep you warm," he whispered. He pulled her up against him, dipping his head to trail a meandering path of kisses down her throat.

"My lord, I -"

He held her upper arms and shook her lightly. "Why did you come to my bed tonight, girl?" "I told you – to say thank you for saving my life."

He was angry, she could see it in the set of his jaw and in the way he looked at her, and she

pulled free of his grip. "I'm sorry, my lord. I was trying to be nice."

"Nice?" He arched his eyebrow at her. "You thought it would be nice to deny me what I

want most for weeks, then out of the blue crawl into my bed, fuck me once and skip merrily back to your own bed?"

He cupped the back of her neck. "I don't like games, girl."

"I'm not playing games," she protested. "I wanted to show my appreciation and I thought this would be what you would want. I made a mistake. I'm sorry."

He leaned his forehead against hers. "Do not be sorry. It is what I want, and I should not be taking my frustration out on you."

He kissed her on the mouth. "I wish to ask a favour of you."

"What?" she whispered.

"You will be leaving me soon. Will you spend one last night in my bed? I promise after

tonight I will not touch you again."

She ignored the tingle of dismay that went through her at the thought of Tristan never

touching her again and nodded. "Aye."

He grinned delightedly and suddenly picked her up, making her squeal softly in surprise,

before carrying her toward the large, overstuffed chair beside the fireplace.