Chapter 42
Mist clung to the air, drifting across the mountain range in the distance. The sun was only just beginning to peak over the horizon, and there wasn’t a soul in sight.
“Okay, I think I’m ready. Let’s go another round.”
I turned my attention to Fia.
A shock of white curls had escaped their tie and loosely framed her face, drifting effortlessly in the wind. Her skin was glistening with perspiration and flushed from exertion.
My eyes shamelessly wandered over her heaving chest and up to her mouth. She took a swig from her canteen, and I followed the trail of water that escaped her lips, dripping down her throat and disappearing into the collar of her uniform.
I was suddenly feeling very parched, myself.
Rolling my shoulders, I jogged to the center of the field, not far from the campsite. I extended the blindfold to Fia. She walked over, reaching for the cloth, but I retracted my hand, shaking my head.
Her eyes sparked, quick to take up the challenge.
“I’ll be the one to tie it. You know the rules,” I reminded her, holding back the urge to rile her more.
I couldn’t help but smile at her flushed, defiant face before she conceded and turned her back to me.
I adjusted the dark fabric over her eyes, my fingers brushing against the nape of her neck as I secured the knot. I watched her shiver at the slight contact, and a jolt of need raged through me unabashedly. I swallowed the desire to pull her against my chest and took a step back.
I was more than impressed with the development of her focus. Her ability to track a mind in total darkness would be invaluable.
She was invaluable.
My need for her had been present from the very beginning, despite my attempts to ignore it. It had burned through me from the moment I’d seen her at the Grove surrounded by bodies, energy still radiating off her like water on hot pavement.
I moved on silent feet, circling her. She took one final breath in, halting on a small gasp before holding it.
And then she was on me, feet and arms sweeping out in a skillful rhythm.
I quickly changed my position and felt a jab to my side as her arm shot back, making contact.
I grabbed it, locking it against my ribs and putting her at an odd angle.
This round is finished.
I heard the small hiss of stored oxygen escaping her lips as she kicked out with her legs and used her body weight to pull us forward onto the grass. The shock of it had me falling, but with a twist of my body, I had her pinned beneath me and writhing.
“That was a wonderful attempt, Fia, but you’ve put yourself into quite a precarious position.” I attempted a teasing tone, but my words were ragged. The way she could catch me off guard was a mixture of terrifying, exhilarating and euphoric. It was something I’d never experienced before.
My fingers flexed around her wrists. The feeling of her body arching against mine had my mind spinning and the length of me aching in the front of my leathers. Her usual, mouthwatering scent of rosemary and sweet musk was overwhelming in this proximity.
Fuck. I needed to move.
Her right leg escaped from where my knee had pinned her, and she looped it around the back of my thigh, pushing upward in an attempt to flip me.
Fia froze.
My hardness was fully pressed against her now, and there was no way she didn’t notice.
Heat rushed through me almost painfully, and I released her wrists, quickly sitting up, trying to untangle our limbs.
“Let’s end here for the day,” I rasped, thankful her blindfold was still in place.
“Laryk.”
My name on her lips froze me in place. I felt the leg she had wrapped around me tighten as if to pull me towards her again. Her arms blindly made their way around my neck, and she leveraged herself, rolling her hips in a teasing motion that had me seeing red.
My eyes closed at the sensation of her grinding against me. My body pulsed with need even as it shook with restraint.
“Fia,” I growled. It was a warning.
Her hips rolled again as she forced her head back, exposing that beautiful neck to me. A moan escaped her lips. It sounded like the most beautiful song I'd ever heard.
”Laryk…please.”
My sense of reason snapped.
My mouth was on her in a second, tasting the soft skin of her throat, tracing over her jaw until my lips captured hers in a possessive kiss. She tasted even better than I could have ever imagined.
I pressed her onto the ground, meeting her desperate hips with a hard thrust that left her gasping.
Breaking the kiss, I demanded, “That’s it Fia…
moan for me.” One of my hands tangled itself in her silken hair, tugging softly, while the other worked to deftly undo the clasps of her bodice.
My mouth explored her, impatience warring with need as I pulled at the leathers that stuck to our heated skin.
When her chest was fully exposed to the morning air, I was practically drooling. I only gave myself a second to enjoy the view before sucking one of the peaks between my lips… gently… delicately… before biting down hard.
“Ah!” She whimpered, ripping away her blindfold to look at me with intoxicating intensity.
I gave her a roguish grin.
I wasn’t known to be a gentle lover, but before she could make another sound, my tongue flattened, soothing the ache, and she melted against me once again.
“Good girl,” I hummed against her skin, making my way to the other peak–giving it the same treatment. I watched as her lips parted on a sharp inhale. Her eyes fluttered closed as my tongue teased her sensitive skin.
Her body shivered as she pressed against me.
“Laryk, we have to hurry. The sun will be up soon. Someone may see…”
Fia’s plea had me coming apart. In one quick motion I laid her back, yanking down hard on her bottoms before tossing them to the side.
Her sex was completely pressed against the front of me, with only my leathers standing in the way of my clearly outlined need for her.
I slid my hands over the pale expanse of her thighs, opening her up for me. That parched feeling returned and I dipped down, hungrily nipping at the soft skin between her legs, never quite reaching my destination.
“Tell me you want this.” My voice was hoarse with desire.
Her startling opal eyes found me, and I saw a desperation that matched my own.
“I want you,” Fia assured, her hands digging into my hair, using it to guide me to her center. That was all the confirmation I needed.
Like a man starved, I dove into her heat and rolled my tongue. She was divine. A guttural moan escaped my throat that ? —
Woke me up. I was awake.
What…. was that ?
My body was shaking and flushed as I frantically searched my surroundings only to find that Laryk was also wide awake. His eyes were locked on me from across the dying embers of the fire. He looked as disheveled and riled as I felt.
“I think I was… were you just… dreaming about me?” I whispered with a shaky breath.
His eyes flared in the darkness before icing over, opening his mouth but closing it just as quickly. Even in the shadows, I could see his chest rising and falling rapidly, in rhythm with my own.
He said nothing, but his eyes told me it was true.
I had been inside his dream.
My thoughts began to spiral. I swallowed hard, knowing that the same questions were racing through both of our minds.
“General, we need to depart soon to stay on schedule,” a guard called from outside the tent. Laryk broke eye contact first, grabbing his bag and storming out.
I guess sparring practice was canceled.