Holy cow, he was in pain all over.

Eyes wide open, with Flavia in his arms, Lev had no idea how long he had slept. In any case, the medicine Eleazar had concocted was no longer working. Or maybe it had eased the worst of it and only huge aches remained. That was probably it.

In any case, he was in pain. And he didn't dare move.

He had no desire to wake his wife.

Perfectly alert, he took advantage of this moment of calm to reflect on his situation. As a result, he smiled like a big fool.

Never, ever, would he have thought to see Flavia at the wedding.

So, when he had recognized her by lifting her veil, he couldn't help but embrace her. The heart swelled with joy. Then he had realized a detail. Theoretically, they only knew each other by sight. He had met him only once, at Vera's house, where he had come to complain for he didn't know what reason. He had then crossed his younger sister. He would have wanted to speak to her, this day. To tell her that he knew.

But Vera had thrown him out for daring to come to her house to break her feet.

Well... We were going to say that this was the official meeting. The truth is...

-Mmh... Lev?

To hear her pronounce his name made him smile again like a big fool. The head against his chest, Flavia emerged slowly.

-What time is it? she stammered.

-Time for a bath. I stink, my sweet.

This remark, quite unexpected for her, made her laugh. He liked that laugh. Gentle, delicate. Sincere.

-I must admit that the scent of the battle was not only on the armor. Your shirt stinks.

-Hey ho!

-What? Wasn't I supposed to say that?

- No, I was saying "hey ho", for polite conversation.

-Oh. I told you it was a reflex.

-But it's sad that you were so formal with me in bed, he complained, holding her close.

-Lev...

-Yes?

-Shall we take a bath?

Ah... His shirt must have smelled really bad.

-You've never tested the Clypeus hot springs, have you?

Rhetorical question. He would have known immediately if Flavia had set a toe here.

-No. But I hear they are famous.

-So come and discover one of your new treasures, my Duchess.

When he took possession of the northern fortress, Lev had some things moved in. His grandfather was a nice man, but he had Spartan tastes! Still, it was no luxury for a Shield to have a huge bathtub fed with water from the hot springs beneath the residence. A whim? No.

It was a real necessity for his battle-scarred body. To be able to relax his muscles, his wounds and his scars was a real need for him. So, of course, it was expensive. But damn, he had the fortress, the sources, he did not see why he would deprive himself of it!

-It is beautiful...

Flavia's remark pulled him out of his thoughts. She was marveling at what looked more like an infinity pool than a bathtub. A warm steam filled the room, cleaned every day by the employees of the house. A slope slid gently into the water on one side, and on the other side there were stairs to the pool as well. All in all, he had made sure that he could get in and out in whatever condition he might be in. The only other people to use this room, so far, were the Protectors. Especially El. The Mage had a strong tendency to get sick, so Lev preferred to spare him the common springs when he could.

The whole place was tiled, in part to avoid having a smooth surface. Sprawling on the floor on the way to a hot spring for the aches and pains wasn't ideal.

Anyway, all he had to do was go through a door and an airlock in the room to get to this pool. So he could even crawl in there. He had done it before, on a bad day.

-This is an important piece for me, he said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

-I never thought I'd see it in person, she admitted with a smile.

-Really? Did you know about this?

He saw her panic in her beautiful black eyes. Without a shadow of remorse, he relished it. Ah... So, we got lost in her words?

-Vera has already mentioned this.

Shit!

It was impossible to know if it was true or not.

Giving up for this round, Lev nodded as he approached the water. His hands were already on the bottom of his shirt, when he suspended his gesture. Ah... Maybe he should let Flavia take her bath first.

When his wife stood right in front of him, a smile a little too big to be sincere on her lips, he did not see the knife she had in her hand. He only saw it when she took hold of his shirt, to slice it with a gesture so lively and assured that he let out an expletive.

-That's for my veil, she declared with a snide look.

-You scared the hell out of me, he said, putting a hand to his heart.

She raised an eyebrow, obviously satisfied with her effect. Lev smiled despite himself. Did she realize that her attitude, for a woman who was supposed to know him only since the day before, was simply impossible? Nevertheless, he did not complain about it. Far from it. This small mutinous air...

With his hand over his heart, he realized that his chest was exposed.

Observing Flavia's face, he took off his clothes. How long had it been? Ten years? Fifteen years? It had been years since anyone had seen him shirtless. He had always made sure to keep at least his shirt on. In fact, no one had ever discovered that while his face made him the most handsome man in the kingdom, his body made him the most injured man in Gentem.

If one could see the pattern of his musculature, the canvas of scars that ran across his skin was far less pleasing to the eye. Her rough, uneven skin bore the marks of all her past battles, of her function as a Shield. A function that would have killed her long ago if Eleazar hadn't made sure to patch it up after or during each battle.

- I understand better why you tolerate me, murmured Flavia while passing her palm on her heart, at the place of one of her first wounds, remained forever blistered.

-That's not tolerance, he said indignantly. I like your face.

She smiles, sadly.

- I'd like to believe you.

Passing the back of his hand over her cheek, he did not say a word about the pain he could see in her dark eyes. How could he convince her of what he saw? He himself did not like his own body. However, when, embarrassed, she started to follow the network of scars of the end of the finger, he felt a shiver of excitation to cross him. It had also been a long time since he had been touched like that. The scar tissue had much less sensitivity than his normal skin, yet he found it pleasurable. Better to stop it before it went down to a budding erection.

Grasping her hand, he gave her a roguish smile.

-I'll keep persuading you, then.

-Sorry?

Kissing her, he savored the fact that she did not back down. On the contrary. The sensation of her dress against his chest was strange for him, but also frustrating. He wanted to have the contact of her breasts on him. Of her warm and soft skin against his, even if it was rough.

-Lev, she breathed, pushing him away slightly.

-Hm?

-The bath.

Oh yes. He didn't need to sniff his forearm to wince. The bath was necessary.

-Will you join me?

-Only if you turn around by the time I get in the water.

He didn't want to, but it suited him. The time that it removes its finery, it could a little to wash itself. Undressing himself in fourth speed, he did not see the glance of his wife put on him. Finally, on his buttocks. Nor even the redness in his cheeks while she followed him of the eyes, until he immersed himself completely in water. If indeed, very few parts of his body were spared by the scars, of wounds sometimes badly healed, Flavia did not see that. She saw it, him.

Busy lathering up vigorously, Lev had managed to stop smelling blood, sweat and demon before his wife joined him. Fortunately, there was an enchantment in the water that instantly cleansed her of anything that might be on her skin. The other Protectors had the same thing, to avoid any risk.

A "splash" made him turn his head immediately.

Immersed up to her neck, Flavia smiled blissfully in the warmth of the water. He joined her, his soap in hand.

-It's nice, isn't it?

-Oh, yes. I can see why it feels so good after the fighting. Can I take the soap from you?

He looked at the block in his hand, before giving her a naughty smile.

-I'll soap you up.

She blushed like a peony. Before giving him back his smile.

The soap never reached his skin.

Grabbing her by the waist, Lev pulled her to him, while having the surprise to feel her put her arms around his neck. Suspended in the water, she found herself pressed against the rough skin of his chest. If he was afraid that this embarrassed her, he forgot it quickly when she tied her legs around his hips.

As in the carriage, he had the sensation of losing control.

In a flash, he suddenly found himself on the edge of the pool, his wife lying on the semi-submerged beach. The basin plastered against his, he kissed it passionately. Undulating against him without shame, Flavia emitted a groan of frustration when he left her lips. Smiling, he attacked the point of a breast. Without the lace of her wedding bra, the sensations were tenfold for her.

-L... Lev!

Hearing her moan his name made him hard again. But his wife was a virgin, and he didn't know how much she knew about things. So he moved his pelvis back to spare her the sensation of his penis against her sex. Sliding his hand instead, he supported Flavia when she gasped at his touch. What he had not envisaged, it was that she enjoys at such a speed when he started to caress her intimacy. Hot and wet, she gave herself up between his arms, her hiccups of pleasure filling the swimming pool.

Gods, she was beautiful.

Half immersed in the hot water, arched against him, she was resplendent with femininity.

Nevertheless, her thighs had not loosened from around her hips.

Lev was wondering how he was going to negotiate with his erection, when Flavia pressed on his buttocks with her heels. Biting her lip, she looked at him with a torrid expression which did not calm in nothing his ardors.

-Lev...

He kissed her tenderly. Impossible to move his penis away from her, which was against her wet flesh. In spite of the water of the hot springs, he could feel her heat. He wanted to plunge into her, to abandon himself in her, to take her so wildly that the whole fortress would know. But...

-Lev...

The tone had changed. He raised an eyebrow.

-What if I want to lose my virginity, right here, right now?

He opened his mouth, closed it again with a shaky sigh.

-I will tell you that I have no idea if...

... It will be easier for you.

He could just think it, because she kissed him, putting her arms around his neck again. With his hands on either side of her hips, Lev tried to resist. He really did. But she began to undulate, sliding her sex along his.

His last shred of willpower fades away.

She was hot, slippery, ready to welcome him, she was thirsty to welcome him. Kissing her lips, he guided his penis in her, slowly, carefully. When he felt it stiffen, he stopped moving net, ready to withdraw. But she bit him the nape of the neck, while pressing against her buttocks. Inserted until the guard, he felt a surge of pleasure falling on him. Flavia let herself fall back, finding herself again semi-immersed on the beach of the swimming pool. He believed one moment that she wanted to stop all. But she tended the arms towards him, the red cheeks, the eyes veiled of pleasure.

-Lev!

On her request, it left with the attack of her body, gathering its languorous moans on its lips. The water lapped around them as their hips collided, gently at first, then faster and faster. Harder and harder.

Lev could no longer control anything, and his wife was carried away by the waves of pleasure. He took possession of her as much as she took possession of him. He wanted to make her cum. He wanted to hear her shout his name for him, because of him.

When she contracted around his sex, in powerful orgasmic spasms, he let himself be carried away with her.

Breathless, foggy, half in the water, his wife in his arms, Lev tried to take stock.

The only coherent thing that occurred to him was that they would sink if they stayed in the pool.