The room was quiet, filled only with the sound of their ragged breathing and the soft crackle of the dying fire. Ines lay back on the pillows, her hair fanned out around her like a halo on the white linen.
Carcel teased her opening, his fingers gentle but firm, before he plunged two fingers into her wet depth.
Ines arched her back, a sharp gasp escaping her lips. The sensation was immediate and electric, radiating from her core outward.
Carcel watched her face, his eyes dark with intensity. He increased the tempo a bit, his movements steady and rhythmic.
"Your body," he said, his voice hoarse and low, "has gotten used to this a lot."
Ines’s mind was on fire. She couldn’t form a coherent thought. "My whole body is tingling," she realized, her hands gripping the sheets. " From inside to outside. It’s like... it’s like fire."
She looked up at him through hazy eyes. "I wish he could just devour me already. Why does he wait? Why does he tease?
He stopped.
The absence of his touch was a shock. Ines blinked at him in the dim light, her senses coming back to her, the fog clearing just enough for confusion to set in.
Is it over? she thought, confused. Did I do something wrong?
She looked at him, her eyes wide and questioning.
Carcel smiled, a slow, wicked curve of his lips. "My hand would suffice," he said softly. "But doing the same thing every time gets boring, don’t you think?"
He moved then. He shifted his weight, sliding down the bed until he was kneeling between her legs. He placed his hands on her thighs, gently pushing them further apart, anchoring her in place.
Then, he lowered his head.
His mouth found its way to her center.
Ines cried out as his tongue touched her, hot and wet and incredibly precise. He wasn’t just licking her; he was sucking, pulling at her, drinking every last drop of her wetness.
Ines felt like she was floating. She felt like she was in heaven. Or perhaps hell. It was too intense to tell the difference.
"Ca... Carcel..." she stammered, her voice trembling, her hands clutching the sheets. "There... oh..."
Carcel lifted his head for a brief moment, licking his lips. His eyes were shining with a dark, predatory light.
"You need to learn these things," he said, his voice a low rumble, "if you want to write about them in your novel, don’t you?"
He leaned down and licked the inside of her thigh, a long, slow stroke that sent shivers racing through her body.
"No novel has ever covered *this* before," he whispered against her skin. "You can be the first to write about it. And to do that Ines... you must experience it."
He went back to sucking her. Harder this time. Deeper.
Ines’s legs were shaking uncontrollably. Her mind was wandering, untethered from reality.
What kind of feeling is this?she wondered, staring up at the canopy of the bed. It was sharper than his fingers. Deeper. Sweeter.
She managed to lift her head slightly, looking down the length of her body. She saw Carcel there, his head bent between her thighs, diligently and loyally giving her pleasure.
A sudden, horrifying thought struck her.
I took a bath right after the ball,she thought frantically. *But... but the fluids... from earlier... and now...
Panic flared in her chest.
Won’t there be a strange smell? Could it be horrible? Does it actually taste as nice as he seems to be drinking?
She felt a wave of embarrassment so strong it almost eclipsed the pleasure.
As if Carcel could read her thoughts—and sometimes she truly believed he could—he raised his head again. He rested his chin on her thigh, looking up at her. His lips were wet, his eyes amused.
"It’s alright, Ines," he said, a small smile playing on his lips. "You definitely taste good."
Ines blushed furiously. "That’s not what I was worried abou—"
Carcel didn’t let her finish. He went intense.
He dove back in, but this time, he didn’t just use his mouth. He used his fingers, too. His fingers slid inside her, pumping in a relentless rhythm, while his mouth and tongue worked on her sensitive nub.
The combination was overwhelming. It was too much. It was everything.
Ines threw her head back, a cry tearing from her throat. It almost made her run crazy. She was thrashing on the bed, her hips bucking, trying to get closer, trying to get away, she didn’t know which.
After a while—it could have been minutes, it could have been hours, she couldn’t tell the time—he stopped.
He lifted his head, licking his lips again, savoring the taste of her.
Ines stared at him, her chest heaving. She felt exposed. Raw.
"You..." she panted, trying to scold him, trying to regain some semblance of control. "You are crazy. Licking there... it’s dirty."
Carcel, still positioned between her legs, chuckled. It was a low, rich sound.
"It is also my first time tasting this part of a woman with my lips," he said, his voice serious now. "I swear, Ines."
He reached out and spread her legs even wider, exposing her completely to his gaze.
"There is no place as beautiful as this part of you," he whispered, his eyes tracing the lines of her body. "It is delicious. And it has this... intoxicating smell. Like you. Only more."
He leaned in close, his breath hot on her skin.
"I could explore only this place for a lifetime," he vowed, "and it wouldn’t be enough."
He went down again. And he sucked. Hard.
"Don’t forget this feeling," his voice came, muffled against her flesh.
Ines’s legs vibrated violently. Carcel held them firmly in place, anchoring her as he continued his assault. He could feel her tension rising. He could feel her muscles clenching. He knew she was reaching her breaking point.
Ines’s hands flew to his head. She tugged at his hair, her fingers tangling in the dark strands. She wasn’t pushing him away. She was pulling him closer. Pulling him deeper.
"Carcel..." she sobbed, her voice breaking. "I’m... I’m..."
The spring was cut.
The release hit her. Her body convulsed, a powerful, rhythmic contraction that started at her core and radiated outward to her fingertips and toes. She cried out his name, a long, high sound of pure release.
Her legs and hands dropped limply onto the bed. She was spent. Empty.
Carcel didn’t stop immediately. He stayed there, drinking her in, taking in every last drop of her pleasure, until her shudders finally subsided into stillness.