Chapter 24
Chapter twenty-four
“The best part of winter is the excuse to stay inside and read.” – from the diary of Oren Byrne, age seventeen.
“You are not reading,” Abnus commented.
I grunted. He was correct, of course. I was currently kissing his neck, sucking to make a mark just below his collar.
I was covered in bites and kiss marks from last night, but his had vanished by the morning light, which was distressing.
I wanted to leave my mark on him in any way I possibly could.
Abnus didn’t act particularly upset about my disinterest in the dusty, old tome. He kept a hand on my lower back and another held my neck, keeping me pressed against him. We were in our corner of the library, and no one should come looking for us until lunch.
Nipping the apple of his throat, I groaned when Abnus took a stuttering breath. I whispered against him, “I know I need to focus, but I would rather put all my focus on you.”
“Mr. Byrne, you are tempting me.”
“I am, Lord Abnus. My room should be quiet if you wish to be tempted more.”
“No. We need to focus on the task at hand, as much as I wish to do otherwise.”
I sighed, trying to pull back, but he didn’t allow me to. “Yes, you truly seem anxious to read.” I rocked on him, rubbing against his hard cock.
He pulled me back so I could meet his gaze. “I wish to fuck you, Oren, but not right now.”
“Someone would probably hear us.”
“You are not quiet.”
I chuckled. “I’m not.”
He pressed a kiss to my temple. “You need to sit in your own chair.”
Reluctantly, I slid off his lap and took my seat next to him. I grabbed the tome, but my eyes kept flicking toward him. It was impossible to focus. Abnus gave me the slightest smile and crouched in front of me.
“I understand. I do. The same desire lives in me, but death is on your doorstep and your safety is my responsibility.”
I smiled. How could I do anything but. “Fine. I shall focus.”
“Excellent.”
He retook his seat, but my effort lasted all of two minutes before I was looking at him again. It was simply too hard. It shouldn’t be, but it was.
Abnus took my hand. “Perhaps we should pack up what books you want to read, some snacks, and go outside.”
Into the cold? And what? Read on a blanket? I didn’t say any of that, instead asking, “Aren’t you worried I’ll catch a chill?”
“Indeed, you are right. A picnic in the snow is not a good idea. It is much too cold for you.”
I frowned at him, and he simply returned my look. I asked, “Maybe a ride?”
“That’s not investigating necromancy.”
True. I just wanted to spend time with him.
Though he was correct that we needed to assist in finding the necromancer, if one indeed existed.
A sudden longing for Aidan rose within me.
We hadn’t been this long separated from each other, and it was odd not to have him by my side.
It was painful. And yet if he was here, I wouldn’t have Abnus’s focus as I did now.
It was an odd sensation to desire Aidan’s return while simultaneously wishing that he would remain away.
A memory of me and Aidan running off, hiding, laughing, surfaced, bringing a smile to my lips.
“I do have an idea,” I said. “There’s a place that is isolated, but out of the weather. We should be able to read there.”
“The hunting shed?” Abnus asked, his deep purple eyes narrowing while tension filled him.
I rested a hand on his arm and smirked when the muscles contracted beneath my touch.
Yes, I would very much enjoy returning to the hunting shed with Abnus and reliving our first encounter, but no, that wasn’t what I had in mind and said as much to him.
“I was contemplating the ruins past the church. They are small, but intact. Or if you feel interested in venturing into the woods, we can seek out Aidan and Cethin’s cabin.
I don’t know its precise location, but I’m positive we can find it. ”
“It wouldn’t be wise to venture into the woods at the moment,” Abnus replied.
Very true, but that statement didn’t preclude his desire to go to the cabin where we would be alone, with a bed in close vicinity. “Do you wish to go?”
“I wish for many things, but that doesn’t mean I shall get them or that taking what I wish is a good idea.”
“So the ruins?”
“If you desire.”
I ran my hands over my thighs, and Abnus followed the movement, which sent my stomach aflight. “I should probably bring one of my brothers,” I said, though I truly didn’t want any of them to come.
“I will protect you from any threat,” he replied.
“It’s not threats that have me concerned,” I whispered.
“Then what frightens you?”
“People’s tongues.” I didn’t fear something harming me; I worried what someone might say if they saw us alone. Already Cethin was threatening to force Abnus and I to wed, and if Mother had an inkling of what we were doing, then she would as well.
“Then I shall remove their tongues,” Abnus announced in a bland voice as if he was commenting on the weather. “Nothing is allowed to frighten you and remain.”
His comment should have sent terror racing down my spine, but it did not. Instead, white-hot arousal was in its place. His darkened aspect and the calm way in which he threatened such violence on my behalf was oddly attractive.
Unable to help myself, I climbed into his lap once again, and Abnus surrounded me with his arms. My lips found the cool skin of his cheek, and I pressed a gentle kiss, arms going about his neck.
“I don’t require that,” I said.
“You may not, but I swear that I will not allow anything to frighten you.”
Holding his dear face between my palms, I replied, “I would be careful making such oaths. You are bound by word to follow through with them, and I don’t need or want such violence. I was merely suggesting discretion, though I would be more pleased to spend the day alone with you.”
“I will take your words under advisement.”
I laughed, and the barest smile pulled at the corner of Abnus’s lips.
He hauled me closer, so I was flush against his chest and his arms were locked behind my back.
“I wish,” he said in a low voice, “to spend every second possible with you until you leave for school, and then I shall write to you until you are sick of me.”
Heat filled my cheeks. “That’s not possible.”
Once again that little quirk played on the corner of his lips. “Then I shall endeavor to try to make you sick of my writing.”
One of my hands snuck into his hair, and I moaned at the silk I found there. “I will never be sick of you, Abnus. It’s simply not possible.”
“For that I’m glad, because you will never be rid of me.” He kissed my chin, so close to where I wanted him. “I will even visit you.”
I hugged him close, heart thrashing against my ribs as every romantic notion I harbored sprang forth. Oh how I wished this was true. Yes, Abnus meant it, but the truth was a wily thing and it changed like the flowing river. What was true for him today might not be true for him tomorrow.