Chapter 19
The inn is quiet. For the first time since we arrived in Gathe, there’s no noise. No carts clamoring across cobblestones. No patrons singing or guests shouting. No intimate noises or thunderous rain storms. Nothing but the quiet, steady breathing of the man beside me.
The inky blue sky outside is starting to show hints of pinks and oranges.
Dawn, and whatever the forgotten Goddess of Light brings with her, is not far away.
In a few moments, we’ll have to leave the sanctuary of this bed and face the consequences of what we’ve said and done.
We’ll have to discuss our magic and our nightmares—and how the latter seems to disappear when we sleep beside each other.
Delicate kisses trail across the back of my shoulders as Cal pulls me tighter against his bare chest.
“Don’t get up yet,” he pleads against my skin.
“I would stay, but there’s this infuriating captain who commands that we leave at dawn every day.”
“Oh him?” Cal’s lips trail up my neck. “He’d love nothing more than to spend all day in this bed following your commands.”
“All day?” I tease, guiding his hand lower down my body. “Surely we could think of more locations than just this bed if we’re going to be here all day.”
We both know we have to leave. Departure for Amale is as inevitable as the sunrise. But we can spare at least another hour in this rapidly fleeting haven.
A loud bang echoes through the quiet room, freezing us both in place. Seconds pass like hours until another, more forceful knock rattles the door again.
“Stay here,” Cal commands against the back of my neck.
I pull the covers higher over my naked body to ward off the chill that hits me when he vacates our bed. Cal grabs a towel from the stack on the bedside table, tying it around his hips and slipping a dagger in the waistband as the mysterious stranger knocks a third time.
“What?!” he shouts, opening the door only a crack to shield me from prying eyes.
Even from this close, I can’t make out what the person says before Cal slams the door and turns to face me. An ivory envelope with a ruby red seal rests in his hands. I know exactly who it’s from, and it can’t be good.
I spring from the bed and rush to grab the envelope from his hand, ripping through the flourishing gold script that adorns the front.
“What does he want?” Cal asks, anger lacing his words as I read.
“He’s summoned us to his manor.” I read on, shaking my head furiously when I come across bring your bags and guest of honor. “Do you think the soldiers notified him of our arrival?”
“No, those were Marks’ men. They were just passing through. I doubt they’re in Rollins’ pocket too.”
Cal holds out his hand and I place the Ruby governor’s missive in his waiting palm.
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” I disagree. “Rollins only cares about power and the vote is stacked in Marks’ favor at the moment. He’ll be leaving for Amale any day now so this has to be a last ditch effort to make sure I don’t arrive.”
I pace the room, analyzing everything I know about the governor that could be useful today.
“I don’t trust him, Cal. Hide blades wherever you can. His guards will strip you of your sword as soon as we arrive and we may have to fight our way out of there.”
Cal drags a hand across his stubbled chin, the muscles in his arms tensing. “You need to get dressed right now.”
If the governor thinks he can summon me and I’ll come running like one of his subjects, he is sorely mistaken. “The Governor already thinks I’m an impertinent bitch. He can wait.”
“How long can he wait, Ivy?” Cal asks, his voice deep and assertive. “Because right now, you are standing there completely naked talking about strategy and hidden blades … and all I can think about is bending you over that desk and fucking you until you scream my name.”
Oh. Well that certainly sounds more fun than whatever Rollins has planned.
“This desk?” I ask coyly, looking over my shoulder as I prowl toward it.
My fingers trail across the writing surface and I give it a little shake to see if the furnishing is as flimsy as it appears. Unconvinced the wobbly legs will survive this, I lean over the desk and beckon him to come closer with a crook of a single finger.
A primal sound reverberates through the room. Cal is behind me in an instant, gripping my hair and pulling my head backwards towards his ear.
“You know damn well I mean this fucking desk, you wicked woman.”
His free hand kneads my breast in rough, sinful circles. The thin towel around his waist does little to cover the hardness that presses against my ass.
“Do you still want me to get dressed?” I ask breathlessly. “Or should we try that other thing you had in mind?”
His grip on my hair tightens, arching my back nearly to its limit.
“I have many … many things in mind for you, princess. Sweet things. Rough things. Things that would make the god of pleasure blush. Do you want to find out what they are?”
“See for yourself,” I breathe out, guiding Cal’s hand from my chest down to my slick thighs. He nearly purrs when his fingers slide between them and find me ready to take him.
“So needy.” He flicks his finger, taunting me. I squirm, searching for the friction he’s denying but met only with a villainous laugh instead. “Not yet, princess.”
A second finger joins in, the two working in tandem to strum my most sensitive area. “You get more when I think you’re ready for more.”
Gods, I don’t think I can be any more ready for him than I am right now. What else could he possibly… oh. A single finger slides into me and I moan loudly at the intrusion.
“Here’s the thing …” Cal’s thick finger moves in and out in slow, steady strokes. Giving me only a little and nowhere near enough. “I’ve only just started worshipping you, but something tells me that you’d love being treated like a sinner.”
His finger slides out of me again, leaving me breathless and wanting. I groan at his absence and he tightens his grip on my hair.
“Is that what you want, princess? To be fucked like it’s a punishment?”
Every dirty word from his mouth scorches my skin as he breathes them across me. Magic cascades through my body desperate for its own release.
“Yes,” I breathe out on a moan as two fingers thrust inside of me at once.
Cal’s tongue moves in a long, sensual stroke up my spine, his breath cooling the fire building under my skin.
“Does it turn you on to make powerful men wait while you take your pleasure?” A third finger slips inside me, joining the others to curl in a devilish stroke. “To know he’s clenching his hands while you come all over mine?”
His filthy words fling me to the edge of pleasure. Power bursts through every blood vessel, my veins constricting, my heart stuttering. I spasm around his hand, my lips opening ready to oblige his request as Cal’s free hand clamps over my mouth.
“Not yet, princess.”
When he’s squeezed the last bit of pleasure from me, he moves, one hand gripping my hip as the other wraps gently around my throat. Using his muscular thigh, Cal spreads mine further apart and thrusts into my wet heat. The base of him hitting my ass in a single thrust.
Oh fuck.
The rickety desk creaks with every relentless thrust. Our bodies smack together loudly with no thought other than hot, animalistic gratification.
My entire body alights with power as I near the edge.
The air in the room grows thick as Cal picks up the pace, dark spots dancing at the edge of my vision.
“My name will be the only name you call out when you come,” Cal groans. “Do you understand me?”
I nod breathlessly, my grip on the desk tightening. The wooden legs snap out from under me with a forceful pop.
A cool breeze ghosts over my skin as Cal spins us until I’m pressed against the wall. I don’t care about the noise or about the destruction that litters the floor. No, all I can focus on is the unfettered power that courses through my body.
I glance to my left, focusing my attention on the empty box that lines the outer window sill. I loosen the leash on my magic letting flowers and variegated ivy spring to life in the dead soil. The tension in my veins heightens, pulled taut between opposing forces.
One thought, one name, consumes me.
Just before I snap in two, the sweet release of pleasure washes over me in delicious waves as Cal’s name falls from my lips.
“That’s right, Ivy. Call out for me.”
I cry out his name again, feeling him pulse within me as I do. Delicate kisses make their way up my neck, sweetly soothing away any pain I felt in his grip.
“What are the odds no one heard us?” I joke through shallow breaths.
“I hope everyone in this godsforsaken region heard.” Cal pulls out, spinning me towards him.
His hands cup my face, leaning in until his forehead rests against mine, his bold declaration breathed directly into me.
“I hope every single god heard you calling out for me. I want them all to know that you are mine.”
Endorphins and magic commingle in a deliciously dangerous cocktail. His lips find mine, kissing me thoroughly. This kiss isn’t frantic or lustful, but it’s claiming just the same. He’s laying claim over our fate with every touch of his lips against mine.
The post-orgasm euphoria coloring my senses tries to subdue the conditioned response that builds on my tongue.
Magic tries to smother the itch of agitation that starts to rise within me.
But even the potency of our shared power can’t change who I am, the poisonous creature unable to accept that anything good or easy could come my way.
I step back from Cal, easily breaking his hold with my retreat.
“I do not belong to you.”
My words are angrier than they should be. Fire that isn’t my own flares to life in my veins.
“No, you do not,” Cal says as he steps slowly toward me. “But you belong with me, Ivy. Beside me.”
“And if I wish to lead you? A man like you would be okay with that?” I scoff.
“Oh, I very much enjoy being behind you. The view is incredible.” A devious smile pulls up the corner of his mouth as he moves to carefully take my hand in his.
“I’m serious, Cal. You are not entitled to me just because you are fucking me.”
His eyes darken with a sobering seriousness, quickly replacing the playful spark that colored them moments before.
“I have waited my entire life for you, Ivy. If fucking is all this is to you, then … then I’ll find a way to live with that.
Because I would rather have you for a moment than never have you at all.
But if you choose to have me, I will be beside you until every realm in existence turns to dust. You don’t have to be mine, but I am yours … and not even the gods can change that.”
Cold air douses the rising fire, sweeping my anger away with it. Something inside my chest squeezes at his words, something that I push down into the iron-clad box that contains everything I don’t wish to feel.
We are two twisted souls destined to march into death together. We have no choice in how we end. Cal couldn’t feel this way if he knew the depths of what fate has in store for us. He wouldn’t make outlandish statements about realms and existence if he did.
Or would he?
Cal’s never disclosed if his nickname was earned or only legend. But a man capable of single handedly taking down a legion of soldiers might just be cocky enough to defy fate itself. The hard granite gaze locked onto my every move tells me that he wouldn’t stop at fate.
No, Callan Murphy would defy the gods to their immortal faces. And the choice to follow him or not is wholly mine.