Chapter 22 #2
“Perhaps Cyra can come help me get some more food,” Miranda said. “We want to be good hosts, but I’m afraid I don’t have much here in the house at the moment.” She turned to Cyra. “Would you mind coming to help me get some things from the storehouses?”
I didn’t hide my look of alarm well because Miranda added quickly, “She’ll be perfectly safe. I promise she’ll come to no harm.”
I looked at Cyra.
She speaks the truth, she said into my mind.
Alright. Go, I said. But keep your mind fully open to me at all times. I want to be able to see what you’re seeing, and if anything seems off, don’t hesitate to attack.
I don’t think that will be necessary, she said as she stood, but fine.
“I’m happy to help,” Cyra said to Miranda.
“Wonderful,” Miranda said. “Perhaps the rest of you can fill Ariel in on what we’ve missed on the continent for the last few years or so.”
I cocked a brow at her. “The last few years, decades…or centuries?”
Miranda smiled resignedly and nodded. “Very well, Lord Bressen. I suppose there’s no hiding that Ariel and I are perimortal, and yes, it’s been a few centuries since we’ve been on the continent.
And perhaps we should get it out in the open now that, as long as you have no intention of harming us, we have no intention of harming you. ”
Truth, Cyra confirmed.
I nodded. “Then let me assure you we have no ill intentions toward you. We’ll accept your hospitality a little longer, then we’ll be on our way, and – if you’re serious about remaining here – we’ll leave you be.”
The tension in the woman’s shoulders eased.
“That sounds perfect,” she said. She turned to Cyra. “Shall we?”
“Lead the way,” Cyra said.
Keep your mind open, I reminded her. I don’t care how much she assures me she means us no harm, I want to be able to see you.
Cyra didn’t answer, but I sensed her mind widen to me fully, and I let my consciousness drift along with her, almost as if I was on her shoulder.
“I imagine much as happened back on the continent,” Ariel ventured when Cyra and Miranda were gone.
“I’ll defer to Axenus on that,” I told her. “He’s the resident historian of the group.”
Axenus looked surprised to have all the attention suddenly on him, but I sent a message into his mind asking him to carry the conversation so I could focus on Cyra, and he gave a small nod of understanding.
Axenus began speaking, and I tuned my mind back into Cyra’s. Miranda had led her out to a series of storehouses and was explaining the climate on the island and the crops they grew.
“Do you have plant or elemental powers?” Cyra asked her. “I realize you’ve been here a long time, but what you’ve been able to do is still impressive.”
Good girl, I thought. See what information you can get out of her.
“I’ve always had a bit of a green thumb,” Miranda said, which didn’t answer the question either way. “Come look at this.”
Cyra followed her to a greenhouse next to the storehouses.
They went inside, and I was surprised to realize I could smell the place through Cyra.
The humid, earthy air mixed with heady floral aromas and stuffed itself up my nostrils as if I was there with them.
Bright green plants and vines covered the place, and rows of planting boxes were laid out in grids in the center.
I recognized several kinds of fruits, vegetables, and herbs.
I felt Cyra’s awe at the place mingle with my own. It really was incredible what Miranda and Ariel had built here.
A bright white flower that looked a bit like a rose caught Cyra’s eye, and she went over to look at it. She leaned down to smell it, and the sweet scent reached me back at the house.
I felt, or rather, Cyra felt Miranda’s hand on her arm.
“Beautiful, isn’t it,” Miranda said. “It’s a gardenia.”
Miranda reached down and picked one of the white flowers off the bush.
She pushed Cyra’s dark hair behind her ear and stuck the flower into the strands.
She let her fingers trail gently down Cyra’s face, and I realized I’d let my brows shoot up at the gesture.
I quickly schooled my features before Ariel noticed.
Back in the greenhouse, Miranda’s hand lingered on Cyra’s shoulder as her fingers caressed the strands of her hair.
I felt Cyra’s confusion. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could make a sound, Miranda took her face gently in her hands and brought her lips close to Cyra’s.
She hovered above them for a second as if to give Cyra a chance to object, and Cyra and I both realized at the same time what she intended.
We both also realized that, whatever Miranda’s power or powers were, Cyra had likely just syphoned them.
Unless what I strongly suspected about Miranda was true, and she was actually…a syphon? Could syphons take the powers of other syphons?
Miranda’s lips closed over Cyra’s, and an odd sensation fluttered through Cyra’s body. One of Miranda’s hands dropped to Cyra’s waist, and Miranda’s tongue slipped inside her mouth to tease Cyra’s own.
Back in the house, I swore inwardly as my cock started to harden.
Cyra’s mind hazed over as her focus narrowed to the feel of Miranda’s lips on hers, and I felt my own mind blur for a moment as well.
Cyra didn’t move as Miranda kissed her for several seconds before pulling back. She ran her thumb over Cyra’s bottom lip and then stepped back, taking her hands off my wife’s face and waist.
“My lord? Are you alright?”
Ariel’s question jolted me out of my daze, and I realized my mouth had been hanging open.
I clamped it shut. “I’m fine,” I said too quickly. “I just…It’s been a long few days, and I’m afraid I let my mind wander. My apologies.”
I shook myself mentally. Something felt off all of a sudden, but I couldn’t put my finger on what. I checked my mental shield, but it seemed intact except for the part that was open to Cyra.
I slipped back into Cyra’s mind just as Miranda spoke.
“I’m sorry. Please excuse me for being so forward,” Miranda said. “Your lips just looked so inviting all of a sudden. As you can imagine, it’s been a while since we’ve seen anyone else on this island, let alone a woman as beautiful as you. I’m afraid I forgot myself.”
Cyra’s mouth opened and closed a few times, but words eluded her.
“I don’t suppose that lord of yours would let Ariel and I borrow you for the night?” Miranda asked wistfully.
Back in the house, I actually choked – on what, I had no idea – and Axenus broke off what he was saying as everyone turned to me.
“Bressen?” Axenus asked. “Are you alright?”
Ariel was in front of me the next moment, pouring me a glass of water from a pitcher.
“Something to drink, Lord Bressen?” she asked, holding out the glass. Maybe I was seeing things, but she seemed to be suppressing a smile.
I took the glass of water and gulped down half of it.
“Thank you,” I said. Gods above, it had been a long time since anything had thrown me this off-balance.
“Are you…are you inviting me to your bed?” Cyra asked Miranda as I once again tuned in to their conversation.
“I am,” the woman said.
“And you think Ariel would approve of that invitation?” Cyra asked.
Miranda’s expression seemed more certain all of a sudden, and I felt Cyra realize she was giving Miranda the impression she was considering her offer, when really she was just curious.
“Ariel and I used to invite others to join us occasionally when we lived on the continent,” Miranda said. “After a few hundred years of being here by ourselves, I think she’d jump at the chance to have you join us.”
Cyra smiled warmly at her. “I’m truly flattered by your invitation, and in truth, I’m sure Bressen would support me if I chose to join you-”
Only if I can watch, I said into her mind.
“…especially if he could watch,” Cyra added without missing a beat, “but I have to decline.”
Miranda sighed and nodded as if she’d expected as much. “You can’t blame a woman for trying, can you?” she said.
“Not at all,” Cyra said to soften the blow of her rejection. “To be honest, I’d consider it under different circumstances, but we’ve had a very trying few days, and I suspect I won’t want to do anything but sleep tonight. Kind as your offer is, it comes at a bad time.”
“I understand,” Miranda said. “Think nothing of it.” A pause. “We should finish getting some food and get back to the house before your lord comes looking for you. I get the feeling he doesn’t like to let you out of his sight for long.”
Miranda’s smile seemed shrewd. “After all,” she said, “I can tell you’re an exceptional woman.”