Chapter 26
Casimir
As Ivy tugs my shirt up over my head, my first instinct is to protest. Pampering is my job—it’s sometimes been the only significant contribution I can offer.
I’m the one who stayed back here at the temple while she risked her life today.
But when I see the bright smile that’s crossed her lips as she gazes at me, my resistance melts.
The idea of offering her love this way makes her happy. How can I deny her that joy?
That doesn’t mean I’m going to be totally passive in this encounter, though.
I reach for her shirt in turn, the fitted tunic she wore rather than her usual dresses for the mission we knew might require a lot of physical maneuvering. “I still want you in that bath with me.”
Ivy’s laugh is as bright as her smile. “I’m not going to deprive myself just because I’m taking care of you.”
With rustles of cloth, fleeting caresses, and a few stolen kisses, we shed all our clothes. My cock stirs just at the sight of Ivy’s slim but wiry body, that beautiful combination of delicacy and strength.
Before I can do more than stroke my fingers along the side of one of her pert breasts, she pulls me over to the bathtub. “I do want to get washed first. And I’m going to wash you too.”
I force myself to remain where she positions me at the side of the large tub rather than aligning myself with her in the water. Ivy lathers a bar of soap between her hands and rubs her fingers over my shoulders, then down my arms and chest in a gentle massage.
I’m getting harder by the second, but her touch generates more than lustful heat. A soothing warmth spreads from beneath her hands as well, releasing tensions I hadn’t known I held in my muscles.
Her expression has become intent, but her eyes still shine with affection every time our gazes meet. There’s a warmth in that too—in the devotion she’s offering with every swivel of her fingers.
I could be molded like clay in this woman’s hands.
It’s not a feeling I’ve truly gotten to experience before, somehow. In our training for the companionship division, we sometimes worked our arts on each other for practice, but I never completely gave myself over to any of those experiences. I was always thinking like a courtesan still, noting the techniques used and the reactions they provoked in me for any aspects I might want to incorporate with my future clients.
And I didn’t care about any of those partners beyond friendly acquaintances or casual friends, nor they about me. The pampering that Ivy’s offering me right now really is an act of love.
She’s not afraid to bring a little more heat into the mix. As her hands drift down to my hips, she slides her fingers around my rigid cock for a few quick pumps.
The rush of more intense pleasure propels a groan out of me.
I’m rewarded with a sly smile that only makes Ivy more gorgeous. She works her way down my legs with the same care she brought to my upper body and then motions for me to dunk my head. “Let’s wash that lovely hair of yours too.”
I drop my head back into the water obligingly and then lean forward so Ivy can reach the drenched waves more easily. She drizzles the liquid soap over my hair and then works it in with teasing circles of her fingertips.
An appreciative hum resonates from my chest. “You’re very good at this. Maybe we should add courtesan to your list of titles.”
Ivy lets out another laugh and deepens her massage of my scalp. “Only when I’m properly inspired, and I’m very happy limiting myself to four lovers who spark that inspiration.”
She has me sink down so she can rinse the suds from my hair. Fully refreshed, I reach for her. “I think it’s my turn.”
Ivy’s sly smile grows. She looks at me through her eyelashes with a coquettishness I’m not used to from her. “I think it could be more fun if you simply relax and watch.”
Before I have to wonder what she means, she rises up on her knees so her breasts are on full display. She strokes her lathered hands over her own body with the same sensuality she brought to mine.
I can’t help imagining my hands following those same paths. My cock is outright throbbing now, but it’s a delicious sort of teasing.
And my heart swells at the same time, full of my love for her.
Ivy’s gained so much confidence since the first bath I arranged for her, when she was nervous to even take off her dress. The trials we’ve faced have wounded and shaken her, but she’s also come out of them even stronger than before.
Once she’s finished washing her torso, she stands right up so I get a clear view of her sex and ass as she tends to them too. Desire thrums through my veins.
I manage to hold myself back until she lowers herself back into the water for a rinse, and then I surge forward.
I pull her to me and bury my face against her damp hair by her ear. My voice comes out in a ragged murmur. “I don’t think I can stand one more second without being inside you.”
Ivy shivers eagerly against me and adjusts her position to straddle my thighs. “I certainly didn’t start this interlude to leave you wanting.”
As she takes me into her slick heat, our mouths collide. A blissful flush spreads across every inch of my body.
I cup her cheek with one hand and grip her hip with the other, thrusting into her at the angle I know will spark just as much pleasure in her.
Even through her gasps, Ivy doesn’t give herself completely over to me. She tangles her fingers in my hair with the most delightful tug and strokes her other hand over my chest, pausing to pinch one of my nipples.
Still determined to offer me every bit as much attention as I’m giving her.
There’s a deeper sort of joy to this exchange, isn’t there? To be receiving adoration as well as offering it?
It’s not something we learned at the royal college, but as courtesans, we weren’t meant to seek out partners who wanted more than a temporary liaison. I have to think Ardone must value this balanced love just as much as that offered totally selflessly.
It feels like a kind of magic.
It’s my honor to be a part of it.
Our mouths crash together again and again. The water sloshes around us just as wildly.
My release builds at the base of my cock, but I need Ivy to come with me. Plunging into her at a faster rhythm, I slip my hand between us to strum that sensitive spot just above her opening.
Ivy moans and bucks faster with me. Her fingernails dig into my back with a sting I find more thrilling than painful.
I will back my climax, but in the same moment a tremor ripples through Ivy’s frame. She clamps around me with a stuttered sigh, and I give myself over to the blaze of pleasure now that I know she’s satisfied too.
Ivy relaxes into my arms and snuggles against me for a minute, not making any move to untangle herself from me. I nuzzle the side of her head and allow myself to revel in every bit of the pampering she’s offered.
It’s not long before her practical side kicks in, though. She peeks over the edge of the tub and winces at the puddles left behind by our fun. “We’re going to need more towels.”
I chuckle and give her one more kiss before getting out of the tub with her. We dry ourselves off and mop up the watery mess until there’s no evidence of our intimate adventures except the sodden towels.
I help Ivy back into her clothes and don my own. “How would you feel about a little stargazing?”
She beams back at me. “That sounds wonderful. The rest of our expedition should be back by now, but there won’t be much planning to do until the sentries report on how Lothar’s responded to our attack. I think we’ve all earned a night off.”
We’re just coming around the bend into the temple’s main hall when Filip bursts out of one of the other hallways. The Order defector halts in his tracks at the sight of us, his expression twitching with a flurry of emotions that makes me uneasy.
I step toward him, gentling my tone to avoid putting him on the defensive. “Are you all right, Filip?”
He stares at me for a second and then glances at Ivy. Her brow has knit with worry. He seems to waver before dragging in a sharp breath and hurrying closer.
“Ivy,” he says with a respectful dip of his head. “If anyone will be able to stop them, it’s you. I’m so sorry. I should have said something earlier. I never should have gone along with it at all.”
As my heart lurches, Ivy’s posture stiffens. “Gone along with what? Stop who?”
The Order of the Wild defector shoves his hand back through his tawny hair. “When I joined you—it was supposed to be a trick. I didn’t want to lie to anyone. I haven’t felt right about what’s being done under the banner of the Order of the Wild for months. But I was afraid of what they’d do to me if I didn’t go along with the plan…”
With every word that falls from his mouth, it’s obvious how anguished he feels about his decision. Anger flares in my chest at the thought of the danger he’s put us in, but my fury is tempered by a corresponding rush of compassion.
I don’t know what this man has been through—what the scourge sorcerers put him through before he got to this point.
He’s confessing to us now. That counts for something.
Ivy’s hands have clenched at her sides. I jump in before she can speak. “It’s understandable that you’d have been afraid, and it does you credit that you’re owning up to your missteps. We can deal with the past later, on our own time. What is it you’re worried about now?”
His expression turns even more miserable. “The last thing I did for them—I managed to pass on a message a few days ago, not long after we got to the temple, to let them know where Princess Petra had gone. They signaled me just now, through a charm they gave me—they’re on their way. I’m supposed to distract you so you don’t realize they’re coming, but I don’t want to. I want you to get out of here before they can do whatever they’re planning. I—I want to come with you.”
He drops to his knees in appeal, his hands clasped in front of him, his gaze fixing completely on Ivy. “You know what it’s like to hurt people and regret it. To want them to see you as something better. I know I can do so much better too. Please, give me the chance.”
As she stares at him, I reach for my gift with a tingling through my teeth and focus on the man in front of me. In the rush of sensations that flow through my mind, my certainty locks into place.
It’s a much more specific impression than what I first got from him, when he needed us to welcome him to carry out his trick. What I could do that would make this man happiest is to help him escape the horrors he’s already seen from his former colleagues.
“He means it,” I say.
Ivy’s gaze turns fierce. She motions Filip back to his feet. “How far out are they?”
He splays his hands helplessly as he scrambles up. “I don’t know. I assume they’d give me a decent amount of warning, but it could be less than an hour.”
Ivy’s stance is still rigid, but my calm approach appears to have tempered her anger as well. She turns to me. “Come on. We need to get everyone out of the temple.”
Her head jerks back toward the defector. “And you’d better stick with us. You’re going to need to prove that we can trust you now when we shouldn’t have before.”
He hangs his head. “I know. I thought… I thought I’d already been dragged into so many messed up things that there wasn’t any hope for me. I haven’t really felt like myself in years… until the past week with all of you. This is where I want to be, and I’ll do whatever it takes to prove it.”
Ivy gives him a sharp nod and jogs down the hall. She raises her voice so it carries through the building. “Delfis? Tinom? Petra? We have a problem!”
In a matter of minutes, the temple is consumed with activity. Delfis directs most of his devouts to help us in our frantic packing of supplies while several others usher the rescued sacrificial accomplices into a hidden entrance that leads to a secret basement chamber.
“A security measure I wish we could offer all of you,” he says. “But if the Order is suspicious of us, they’ll watch the temple closely for weeks. I don’t think you’d be able to leave to carry out the rest of your mission unless you do it now.”
Petra bobs her head to him with a tap of her fingers down her chest, acknowledging both him and the godlen he serves. “I understand. We’re grateful for the hospitality you’ve already offered.”
I hurry out to the stable to gather all the horses we brought and a few extra steeds the cleric says he can spare. When I lead the last couple out to meet the emerging crowd, Petra is deep in debate with our allies from Pima.
“I don’t know how far we’re going to have to flee to be safe,” she’s saying to Emor. “And Nikodi was right at the heart of the uprising. We can’t go there. But I can’t ask your people to travel so much farther from home either.”
He waves off her concern. “I’ll return to pass on word of what went on here. But what matters the most to us has always been seeing the scourge sorcerers taken down.”
He glances around at his followers. “Is there anyone who’d rather go back to Pima with me than continue helping our future queen secure her throne?”
At the chorus of refusals that rises up in response, Petra looks both awed and nervous. Her mouth sets in a firm line. “I’ll do my best to keep you all safe.”
Ivy secures a bag to Toast’s saddle and swings onto his back. She scans the yard as if seeing beyond the temple walls. “I can’t sense any magic extending this far yet… but that doesn’t mean they aren’t close.”
Petra hefts her younger brother onto her horse in front of her and checks on her sister, who’s sharing a horse with Rheave. Once we’re all mounted, Tinom extends his arm, sweeping his hand through the air.
“I’ll do my best to deflect their attention from us in the darkness. Let us go quickly and quietly. If anyone gets separated, make for Tupno, and we’ll regroup outside the city. I think we’re best off heading south. There are a few noble families on the far side of Florian I’d expect to take the Melchiorek side. It’s about time we called on them.”
We set off through the gate at a brisk trot.
The night drapes around us, the temple’s lanterns quickly dwindling behind us. All my companions are reduced to faint shades of gray in the dim starlight.
Stavros, Ivy, and the soldiers form a circle around the royal children. I hang a little farther back in the procession to watch both my companions and our surroundings.
Filip sticks near me, his shoulders hunched and his expression pained.
I don’t see any sign that my gift’s judgment was wrong. He didn’t see a way out before—now he believes there is one. And that’s made all the difference.
Ahead of me, Ivy’s head snaps around. She nudges Toast faster to pull ahead, as if tracking something. “I felt a twinge… some magic I don’t think is ours?—”
The last word has barely left her lips when a flash of searing energy shoots through the night toward Petra. Ivy yanks her stallion around; one of the soldiers jostles the future queen’s horse to the side.
And Prince Jacos yelps in pain.
“Ride!” Petra shouts. “Ride, as fast as you can, before they can keep attacking.”
She hugs her brother to her. I catch a glimpse of a slash cut through his cloak, blood welling on his arm, before she bundles the fabric to stop the bleeding and kicks their horse to a canter.
“They aren’t close,” Ivy calls out in a low voice as she follows suit. “They might not even know the blow hit. We can still outrun them.”
As our procession surges forward, Tinom aims a glower at her that raises my hackles.
He’s looking at Ivy as if he thinks it’s her fault the prince was hurt. As if she should have sounded a better warning when it’s his concealing magic that failed us most.
Is he always going to see her as a villain?
Gritting my teeth, I tap my horse’s sides and race after the others.