36. Seir
Chapter 36
Seir
I t was still dark outside when I opened my eyes to find Hailon tucked into me like a little spoon, just as we’d fallen asleep. The desire to breathe her in, consume her taste, rode me hard. She was so peaceful though; I couldn’t bring myself to wake her up.
Instead, I buried my face in the curve between her neck and shoulder, the sweet smell that was uniquely her branding itself into my memory, my hand palming her hip instead of dangling over it. My tail tightened around her ankle as I settled.
I realized it was inconsistent of me, but I couldn’t help vacillating wildly between being confident she was going to be perfectly fine without me here and utterly anxious at the prospect of having to return to Hell.
As I lay there ticking off mental boxes, reassuring myself she would be secure either in or near Revalia, she turned over, crushing her face to my chest and breathing me in just as I had done to her.
“Why are you awake?” she asked, voice rough with sleep. Her hand rose to my neck, and I captured it with my own, bringing it to my mouth and kissing her palm.
“Normally, I’d already be up and about. Stoking the fire. Thinking about how soon is too soon to start breakfast.”
“Mmm.”
After a few minutes, her breathing evened out and I slipped from the bed to do just that—the fire part at least. Reviving the flames brought some much-needed warmth and light back to the room. I was fine seeing in the dark, but the loving way the glow bounced off Hailon’s features was unmatched. I’d stared at her plenty in such light during our travels.
I filled the big pot with water as well, ready for my own bath.
Hailon cuddled her body into me immediately when I laid back down. My heart thumped happily behind my ribs, the bond pleased by our closeness.
“I didn’t mean for you to leave,” she complained sleepily.
I brushed my lips across her forehead, fingers stroking through her hair. “Just taking care of the fire. It’s cool this morning.”
“Mmm. Can you go back to sleep now?”
“No. But you can.”
She shook her head. “We’re working with limited time today, though, aren’t we?” She covered a jaw-cracking yawn with her hand.
“Yes, but you need to be rested. Right now, there’s nothing going on but this,” I argued, closing my eyes and resting my lips against her forehead as I slowly pulled my fingers through her hair.
Her hands were restless and started working under my tunic. My muscles tensed as her fingertips crawled up my stomach and danced along my ribs. I copied the gesture, and she squirmed a little, cheeks flushing pink.
“I like touching your skin,” I whispered, dragging my hand along the tiny scars that decorated her back along the ribs. “Tasting it.” I pressed my mouth to hers, a surge of lust hitting me as she breathed a light moan while kissing me back. Her leg rose, hitching over my hip, and I suddenly desperately wanted out of my trousers. I traced my way up her leg with my hand, stopping at the top of her thigh.
“I like those things too.”
I groaned into the curve of her neck and allowed her to take her time exploring while she kissed me, her fingertips leaving tiny fires in their wake as she touched every inch of me she could get to. She traced along my tattoos, then down the valley between my stomach muscles. She poked gently against my ribs, counting them before tracing along the hollow of my collarbone. Then she dipped her hands under the waistband of my pants, and I had to pull away from her clever mouth. “You’re dangerous, Little Moonflower.”
She rose up in the bed on her knees, pulling off the tunic she’d gone to sleep in. To my immense pleasure and distress, it was the only thing she was wearing at all.
“Hailon. Please.” I wasn’t even sure what I wanted, but I was begging. I didn’t care.
The beautiful creature shimmied my trousers off my body and decided immediately to end my existence on this plane when she settled herself between my legs and lowered her mouth to the head of my throbbing cock.
It was an exquisite kind of pleasure, the way she worked me with both her hands and her tongue. I was seeing white behind my eyelids with every stroke, the alternating sensations of heat of her mouth then the cool air of the room plus her rotating hands impossible to keep up with. There was no boring topic in the world I could have thought of that would have kept me from getting that tingle down my spine, the warning that things were going to end all too soon.
“No, please,” I groaned, reaching for her. “Not yet.”
She released me with a pop, rising to her knees after a long lick, and that was beautiful torture. Hailon settled herself on top of me, using her own hands to guide me to her wet center without so much as a blink of hesitation.
“ Fuck .” I heaved several breaths, holding her hips still so she couldn’t move. She wiggled side to side a little, getting a better position on her knees. When I was finally able to open my eyes, I found my goddess peering down at me, pleasure etched into her face. “Anything,” I offered. “Anything you wish for, my queen. I will get it for you.”
She smiled, a patient, gentle grin and started to rock, her weight shifting from her toes to her knees. Her hands settled against my chest as she moved, head thrown back and breath coming in short pants. Her eyebrows drew together, and I felt the moment her body decided to tease her with the first flutters of her impending release. I was barely keeping myself together, jaw clenched and body stiff, as she controlled our rhythm. I used my tail to slip between us, teasing at her sensitive clit as she clenched around me, her pace becoming more aggressive as she chased her orgasm.
“I think you’re going to kill me, Moonflower,” I gasped for breath, praying I could hold out for her, the pleasure rocketing down my spine like a bolt of lightning. “It will be a beautiful death.”
“Seir!” Hailon’s head fell back, and she lifted up a bit as she found her release. Her fingertips dug into the flesh of my chest, and part of me hoped she’d leave me marked. My thoughts went white as my own pleasure chased through my body, the squeeze from her core too much for me to battle.
I pulled her down for another lengthy kiss, both of us slick with a sheen of sweat despite the chill in the air.
Once the temperature caught up to us both, I retrieved a fresh cloth and cleaned us up. She huddled under one of the blankets from the bed as we made a picnic in front of the fire out of some bread and cheese Merry had sent. The pair of us were quiet but happy as we broke our fast.
Then, somehow, I was kissing her again, and she was moaning beneath me on the rug.
I would never get enough of her, I was sure of it, but I was thankful we were getting a chance at a bit of a head start on eternity.
“I suppose I should start putting things away,” Hailon sighed, pulling on a pair of trousers and a tunic.
We were both refreshed and ready to move on after another quick trip through the bath.
“I know you’re right, but there’s no need for such haste.” I used my finger to lift the hem of her shirt, getting a decent glance at a strip of her stomach.
“Stop that.” She rewarded me with a small chuckle. “We need to get on the road.”
I groaned. “I suppose you’re right. Places to be, people to meet, and all that.”
She squatted down and picked up a stack of her things so they could be transferred to the pack she had open on the bed. As she stood again, the weight wasn’t balanced. Everything tipped, too quick for either of us to catch. As the strongbox hit the floor, it made a ticking noise.
“What was that?”
Hailon went to her knees and opened the lid. The top edge of what appeared to be the bottom of the box was tilted up.
Her hands flew as she took everything we’d already gone through out of it, piling it to the side before lifting the thin piece of wood that had served as a false bottom. She gasped at the contents hidden underneath.
There were three small, worn notebooks and an assortment of tiny bottles.
“That prick,” she swore, lifting out the bottles one by one. “Hair. Nails. Blood. These are Dr. Lang’s precious samples . And his research notes.”
I stared, horrified. We’d had this with us the whole time and had no idea.
“Keep those hidden, Moonflower. They could give someone a reason to continue his cruel research.” I felt my blood heat at the very idea. “His brother wanted more than that little spell book. I’d bet anything he was looking for this box. What was hidden inside of it.”
Hailon flipped through the notes, nose wrinkling more and more the further she read. Eventually she slammed it shut and tossed it back inside the box.
“Why would they have been trying to summon a demon, though?”
I shrugged. “Maybe they thought one could help them find the missing piece to their research. Maybe they wanted to barter for some magic item to replicate your power. Wouldn’t have worked though, that’s all against the rules. Whatever demon they might have managed to call up would have either told them to go fuck themselves or given them something fake and taken their offering back to Hell. And they wouldn’t even have been punished—summoning contracts don’t work like that.”
“Their offering was me.” She frowned deeper.
“No, not quite. Your spilled blood in the circle was the offering. Maybe their own rotten souls, too, but never you.” I took her chin between my thumb and forefinger, gazing deep into those unique eyes. I looked between them several times. “Your eye…”
“What’s wrong?” she asked, nervously searching my face.
I pulled out the scrying mirror and had her look in it. “What do you see?”
“My hair is so white,” she lamented, combing it back with her fingers before leaning in to look at her eyes, one at a time. “I don’t… How is that possible?” She took the mirror from my hand, gazing at one side and then the other, her cheeks growing pink, her breathing more rapid. “Seir?”
Her right iris appeared to have turned ninety degrees. The bright blue that had once been on the left side of her eye was now at the top, and the opaque yellow from the right side had shifted to the bottom. They were slightly off center, which made me wonder if they were somehow still moving.
“I don’t know, beloved. Do you feel any different?”
“No. I feel fine.”
“Your vision?”
“No change.” She handed the mirror back to me and gazed into the distance. “At Sal’s, when I got really, really angry, I felt… something. I figured it was because I was so upset. What do I do? What does this mean?”
“I don’t know,” I repeated. “But I think getting you to Revalia has become urgent for more than my own selfish reasons.”
We packed up, working in hushed tones as we set the lodge to rights. Hailon hid the key under a little ceramic pig stationed near the door, and we said goodbye to our second little cabin haven, urgency tingling under my skin.