Chapter 4 #3
I sat in the corner of the room, watching as the other Cress—Vesper-Cress—angled her body toward Varro.
There was only the crackling fire of the torch and the hushed movements of their repositioning.
He leaned into her slowly, and she reciprocated.
Varro raised his arm, gently cupping her chin, then ran that same hand down alongside her cheek to the curve of her neck, allowing him to pull her closer.
He placed a small kiss on her forehead, holding himself there for a moment longer than expected.
I was frozen to my chair watching this sweet, intimate act unfold, and yet my heart was beginning to race. In my thoughts, I found myself urging his actions on.
After removing his lips from her, they both tilted their faces downward to rest their foreheads against one another.
Both closed their eyes, and my mind grappled between feeling guilty for watching their intimacy and fascination at observing my own body engaged in such acts.
I could feel the electricity surge between them, and I wanted to see more.
I watched as Vesper-Cress closed in and hovered just in front of his face, waiting for him to make the move, offering him the first kiss rather than taking greedily. What felt like an eternity later, their lips came together, and he parted hers delicately with his tongue.
I realized I had been holding my breath, the tight feeling in my chest constricting more with each passing second.
She tilted her head back slightly, and he sucked on her lower lip, biting it teasingly.
The Vesper grasped both sides of his face to pull him deeper into the kiss, and I could feel my core warm with desire, along with a tinge of jealousy.
Their kissing became more fervent with each swipe of their tongues, and I saw their hands twitching, anxious to roam freely.
I squeezed my thighs together tightly, noting my own building arousal.
This charade was as unbelievable as it was alluring.
All of a sudden, Vesper-Cress sat up, hoisted her leg over Varro’s lap and straddled him, her back to me.
I let out a gasp and watched as Varro froze.
“I’m sorry, I’ve gone too—”
“No, don’t stop,” I interjected breathily, practically begging him to not end this.
Without a word, Varro continued to show me a raw display of his affections.
Using one hand, he gripped Vesper-Cress’s rear, pulling her further into him, her hips to his.
With the other, he gathered a handful of her long tresses, bunching them together and tugging them back gently, exposing her neck to him.
He began to place deep kisses all along it, nipping every so often.
I grit my teeth and clutched the sides of my thighs, watching his every move.
As his lips continued to roam all along her neck, he looked up at me from over her shoulder, locking our gazes.
Though his hands and mouth roamed the Vesper, in that moment, it was only us.
I stood abruptly, lunging in his direction.
The Vesper disappeared back into a glowing orb, quickly returning to its position in the corner.
Varro stood quickly to catch me and I crashed into him with a feverish hunger.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and he pulled me up into an embrace, holding me to him as my legs tightly encircled his waist. He moved me to the wall, bracing my back firmly against it as the feeling of our breaths danced over our lips.
“Moirai,” he whispered breathlessly, and without a second of hesitation, I crushed my mouth to his, desperate to taste him.
To feel everything the Vesper had. To satisfy everything he had provoked in me.
No more showing me what I could have—I wanted it now.
I wanted him, and I let myself fall into the arms of my fated one with reckless abandon.
When our lips touched, it felt like the Gods bowed before us, etching this moment into destiny.
With each desperate kiss, I felt the thrumming of the bond pound through my veins, as if it wanted to crawl out of my skin and into the body of my mate.
It ached pleasurably, and I leaned into the feeling as I drowned in its frenzy.
Did Varro’s bond feel the same? Could he feel our souls clawing to reach one another and be joined forever?
I had never imagined this was part of the bond or having a mate.
I should have exercised more caution prior to this escalation, but there was no turning back now.
My body against his felt like home; I was drunk on it. In between our frenetic kisses, he whispered huskily, “I have wanted this for so long.”
I intertwined my fingers through the curls of his hair, tugging and tilting his mouth to my every whim, realizing we were each taking breathless gasps in between kisses.
I unraveled my legs and slid them down to the floor, keeping my chest firmly pressed against his.
I felt lightheaded, and yet, I couldn’t stop myself.
He leaned in, placing his mouth at the tip of my earlobe, and whispered, “Moirai,” sending tickles down my neck.
All semblance of my control was quickly vanishing, and I needed one of us to show restraint. This was foolish and crazy and right in every way imaginable. Varro cupped both sides of my face and pressed a long, firm kiss to it before pulling away, trying to compose himself.
In the dim light, I could make out a smile. Not his normal cocky or humorous expression, but instead one filled with warmth, vulnerability and admiration. He was looking at me like he was astonished I had reciprocated.
“What’s wrong?” I asked breathless, still locked in a haze of my own.
“Patience,” he replied, as if trying to convince himself of the same. “We should be patient. If I don’t stop now, I won’t. I want you to be certain.”
I understood what he was doing and why. He couldn’t understand how much I appreciated it. Thank the Gods one of us had the mind to stop because my body was telling me to keep going.
“You’re right, we shouldn’t take this lightly.
” I tried to steady my uneven breaths and come down from the lust-induced fog.
It wasn’t just lust, though. Yes, it felt uncontrollable in the way lust often does, but there was something primal that had awoken within me—something that would be impossible to ignore.