54. Chapter 54
Chapter 54
Viola - 15 Years Later
M ace's lips travel down my throat, peppering kisses across my collarbone. One of his hands grips my breast, kneading into it, and the other skates across my hips.
I sigh, my body relaxing under his touch in a way it hasn't in days.
It's been a tough election season, with too many candidates and the vote too split between all the towns. Each city gets one representative on the Council, which I preside over with my high priests. It wasn't a shock when Bean was elected to represent Rainworth. He's very well-liked and has an eye for commerce that so many don't.
Mace kisses down my sternum, across my sunfire brand, and down to my belly button, leaving me shivering.
Trade between the cities is surprisingly seamless since Jaz and Plume took over coordinating it. Together, they've worked out the most efficient routes and fairest trades. It was a huge relief for Cirrha, who, admittedly, does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to running Krillium. Obviously I'm hands-on, but she helps me figure out what needs to be a priority and what needs to be put to the side for a while.
"Out of your head, numen," Mace mutters, his mouth pressed tightly to my core. I barely noticed he got there.
"It's hard to calm my mind. There is so much going on," I say, running my fingers through his hair.
"That's why we're doing this here and now, Viola," he says, dragging his tongue up my slit. "You cannot carry everything, you have to release some of this tension." He sucks on my clit, pulling it into his mouth, where he rolls his tongue over it. My hips buck into his mouth, and my hand grabs the back of his head so I can grind into him. He murmurs a sound of approval and continues to tease, licking and flicking across my heat.
"There we go," he says, pulling away from me just enough for his words to be heard. He drags a finger through my wetness and then pushes it inside me and pumps twice before adding another. I writhe on his hand, relishing in his attention.
Every time feels like our first. Despite how long we've been together, every time I get this man naked, I lose my fucking mind. We've always had explosive chemistry, at one point literally, but the longer we're together and the more we learn about each other, the better it gets.
I've discovered that a little bit of well-placed Frost magic can really make things fun if you let it.
Mace rises up, pushing his pants down, gripping his shaft, and pumping it a few times before leaning over me. My knees drop wider, welcoming him in. He leans down, propping himself up on his elbows and dragging the tip of his cock across my wetness, thrusting it against my clit. I groan, throwing my head back. I don' t know why, but that drives me crazy every time.
He slides inside me, my toes curling as he slowly drags himself in and out of me. "Tease," I grumble, trying to meet his hips with mine. He sits up and pins them down so I cannot move them.
"You'll get what you need, numen, but right n-"
"Viola! Come quick!"
Mace freezes, and I push him off of me, scrambling to pull on a pair of linen pants and a shirt. "That was Tulip," I tell him like he wouldn't recognize her voice.
"I know that was Tulip," he groans, rolling onto his back. His cock stands up, angry and red, glistening with my wetness. "Tulip has bad timing."
"Coming or not?" I say, shoving my feet into my boots.
"I was trying to come…" he mutters, pulling his pants on and following me out the door sans shirt.
Tulip and Morrow are standing in the courtyard, arms around each other. It's late afternoon, and they look very calm for yelling like the world was on fire. Tulip's eyes crinkle when she sees us.
"Oh no, did I interrupt some … devotion?" she says with a sly grin.
"Shut up, Tulip," Mace says, crossing the courtyard in three steps.
"What did you need?" I ask, looking around and seeing no danger.
"Watch," Morrow says, tilting his head to the center of the courtyard.
Their twins, Peach and Plum, who are six years old now, sit in the grass, tossing a ball around and giggling. They've both got creamy brown skin, and Peach has bright blue eyes like Tulip, while Plum has her father's brown eyes. Both of them have dark, curly hair and are dressed in matching rompers. Despite not being identical, they've always liked to match.
"What am I watching?" I ask, looking at Tulip, who looks like she's about to cry.
"Watch!" she says, turning my head back to the twins.
I'm glad she did because when Peach throws the ball wide, Plum retrieves it with a shadow.
A shadow.
"She's a…" I can't find the words.
"She's a Shade," Tulip says, her hand over her mouth. "We haven't seen any of the other Winter magics, but maybe they'll show up. For now, she's a Shade."
I cross the courtyard quickly and sit on the grass. The two girls squeal and tackle me to the ground. I thought I would hate playing with kids, but it's different with these two.
"What about Peach?" I hear Mace ask.
"Nothing yet, but most don't manifest until when like eight or nine?"
"Something like that, yeah," Mace replies. "She's advanced."
I turn my attention back to my girls, who are talking so quickly over one another that I cannot make heads or tails of anything. "Auntie Lola!" Plum shouts, way too close to my ear. "Did you see it!"
She throws out more Shadow magic, but all it does is produce a fine mist of magic that flows to the ground like specks of shadow.
In the years since we built Rainworth, we've had several Frost wielders manifest. There has always been so little literature on Winter magic that we had to create a name for them. We settled on Zimas.
But we have yet to see a Shade or a Winter Seasonale, making Plum something special indeed.
She looks so proud of herself as she smiles at me, and I can't help but pull her to my chest. "I saw it, my little shadowweaver. I saw it."