Sometimes a day was long and painful for no particular reason. Violet hadn't slept wrong or fought anyone or even had to carry a particularly heavy book. She was just sore in the way that told her that she needed to take it easy to avoid a major flare, and she didn't have time for a major flare, so she'd skipped sparring and flight practice.
Xaden had been meeting with Ulices and Brennan most of the evening after some messenger from Poromiel had arrived, and she'd been left to her own devices. That had meant a herb and salt bath in Xaden's frankly ridiculous bathtub and far too much time to stew in her thoughts.
At first her thoughts had been the usual: thinking about the runework she was studying, a bit of a check in from Tairn to make sure she was taking care of herself- he was pleased that she was relaxing- and anxiety about the wardstone. Somehow that had wandered into thinking about Cat, and while she firmly believed Xaden now that he had no interest in the flier, she kept thinking about some of the things Cat had said to her at one point or another.
Things about Xaden's preferences or skills in bed, primarily.
Some of the things she'd said, like the finger trick Xaden had enthusiastically demonstrated for her, were definitely true. Some, Violet would only know the answer to by asking. The fun ones were easy, because she could ask him when they were in bed. It had turned into a kind of foreplay for them, talking about things they'd done with their exes, things they'd heard about or, mostly in Violet's case, read about during a very specific phase when she was sixteen and spending far too much time unsupervised in the archives.
They'd been through everything Cat had brought up doing in bed with Xaden, a few things he'd enjoyed doing with the other partners she'd preferred stayed nameless, most of the things Violet her pleasant memories of trying with Halden, Jesinia, or any of her other partners, a few near-mythical 'dual wielding' techniques she'd found in a book stashed in the back of the Riorson House library, and everything she could remember thinking about the shadow-wielding fae lord in the bardic tales doing when she was sixteen.
But that was all fun and sexy and... not procedural. Not awkward. Some of the things Cat had brought up were awkward, and might not be true, or might not be true anymore. And as she'd laid there in the bathtub she'd thought about a very specific one, and now it was going to bother her.
Xaden had said, explicitly, that he'd never gone down on Cat, so it didn't even make sense that Violet was bothered about it. It was probably something she'd just decided about him, or maybe heard as a rumor when they were betrothed. It was ridiculous that it was still living rent-free in her head.
Violet heard the door to their shared bedroom open and she sat up in the water. She wanted to let the thought go, because Xaden was going to be tired and annoyed and not in the mood to have an awkward conversation, most likely.
On the other hand, maybe it would be a nice distraction. She certainly hoped that it was a complete change of subject from what he'd been discussing with Brennan.
She stood and climbed out of the tub, wrapping a towel around her before walking out to join Xaden.
"Can I ask you... it's a strange question, I guess." She sat down next to him on the bed where he was still taking off his boots. "Not a bad one, just awkward." she added when she saw him tense.
Xaden leaned toward her, apparently instinctively, as he finished pulling the second boot off. "You can ask me anything you like when you're just wearing a towel."
"Maybe I should ask more of my questions when I'm naked." She smiled at him and shifted her arms so that the towel slipped down an inch or so.
"Try me, but there may be some danger that I'll get distracted before I can answer you." He leaned in and pressed his lips to her collarbone, kissing and gently sucking his way toward her neck.
She laughed. "At this rate I'll get distracted before I can ask you."
"So ask me," he prompted, refusing to stop trailing kisses up the side of her neck.
"Would you prefer if I shaved?"
Xaden pulled back, blinking, and Violet couldn't help laughing again. He looked younger and less overwhelmed when he was confused; she resolved to confuse him more often.
"I'm not refusing to answer," he said carefully, "but I would like the question clarified. Shaving what, when, who..."
"Who? Do you think I'm Ridoc?" she flopped dramatically onto her side on the bed. "I don't make it a habit to shave anyone other than myself."
"That's one of the reasons I'm asking for clarification. As far as I know, you already take care of whatever shaving you prefer. This could be a discussion about the fact that I don't bother shaving while I'm out on patrol for a few days, for example, and you want to shave my face before I get any scruff close to your soft thighs."
Violet looked up at him. "You're actually very close, but no, I'm not interested in shaving you. I was wondering... look, it's ridiculous, but Cat said she'd heard you prefer a woman shaved when you go down on her, and I know perfectly well it's a rumor that can't be based in experience, but I did find myself wondering if you had a preference. That's all."
Xaden was laughing before she'd even finished the monologue and kept laughing for another minute or two, the most she'd heard from him in ages, and maybe that made the embarrassment worth it. Then he knelt down at the edge of the bed, opening her towel as he gently slid her onto her back, his hands drawing slow, lazy circles on her thighs, up to her hips.
"My preference is that you are comfortable," he said, tangling his fingers gently in the soft, brown curls. "Do you want to shave?"
"So you've never gotten a hair in your throat, or..."
"Violence, I am trying to seduce you right now."
"Yes, but you seduce me all the time, and right now I'm thinking."
He kissed her knees and leaned forward, parting them slowly. "I may have gotten a hair in my throat or something ridiculous at some point, but I can promise you it's never bothered me enough to remember it." Xaden slipped in between her legs, raising them up on his shoulders.
He nipped at the spot he seemed to favor on her left thigh and Violet moaned. "Any other grooming concerns, Violence?"
"No concerns."
"Good." He turned, letting his tongue reach for her so he could flick it against her clit. She set a pace of tiny, needy gasps as he did, and he slid one finger and then two inside of her, curling the index finger just so as another reminder, making her buck her hips.
Electricity pulsed between them and he felt his hair start to stand on end. Xaden reached onto the nightstand with his other hand, then passed the conduit into one of her fists. She let go of the sheet to take it, and with it safely in her hand he redoubled his efforts, sucking on her as he moved his fingers faster, until she came a second time.
"I do have another question," she said slowly, distractedly, as Xaden stood up, hurrying to get out of the rest of his clothing.
"What's that?"
"What do I taste like?"
He grinned and all but pounced on top of her, pressing his still-wet lips to hers so she could taste herself. When he finally pulled away, Violet licked her lips consideringly and nodded to herself.
"I am pretty damned delicious."
"Yes, you are." Xaden kissed her again.