Chapter 4
four
. . .
Surprisingly, Astra stayed with us and the company at the Oasis. I had convinced myself she was going to sneak away to see her family or maybe even a special someone, but she stayed the entire time. I didn't know what annoyed me more—that she got her way or that I had been wrong about her motives.
I hated to admit it, but Princess Serena and Astra had been right.
I had only been thinking about pushing hard to make it out of the desert, not about what would come after.
I had thought we could rest once we made it out, but they were right.
We needed the rest now. Besides, if Astra didn't have an ulterior motive, then that meant she had seen more of the bigger picture than I had.
I hated admitting that, even if it was only to myself.
We rented out the only unoccupied inn in the oasis, but there weren't enough rooms for everyone. Of course, I refused to sleep in a room if everyone in my company couldn't, so I decided to stay in my tent that night instead of at the inn.
“Cierra!” I heard through the tent flap. I cursed under my breath. What in the gods’ names did Astra want?
The tent flap was yanked open, and Astra shoved herself in. “Why are you ruining my life?” she groaned at me.
I blinked up at her, waiting for her to say something else that made more sense. She didn't.
“I'm trying to sleep. You barged in here.”
“You weren't even supposed to be out here. You were supposed to stay at the inn,” Astra practically snarled at me.
Still not understanding why she was upset, I said slowly, “Right. I was, but once I found out there weren't enough rooms, I didn't feel right staying there. I gave mine to Devyn.”
“Exactly! I can't decide if you're trying to ruin my life or if you're just that gods-damned nice.”
“Umm—the latter?” It came out like a question.
“You didn't take a room, so I couldn't take a room.”
That wasn't strictly true. “You still could have.”
“And let you look like a martyr? Absolutely not!”
“So you're in here yelling at me because you have to sleep in a tent again?”
She threw up her hands, which I could see were a shade of purple I hadn't seen on her before. “I'm in here yelling at you because I don't have a tent now!”
“What happened to your tent?” I asked, still not understanding.
“Arabella has my tent. They were getting sick of sharing with Bennet, and since I was going to be in the inn anyway, I figured it didn't matter.
Except now Bennet and Arabella are both asleep, and I'm tentless, and I already gave my room away to Jules, so I can't even let you and your martyr complex sleep outside while I get to be comfy in the inn. I don't have anywhere to sleep.”
“Why don't you visit your family?” I asked. “You're from here, right? I'm sure they could put you up for the night.”
Several variations of purple flashed blindingly through the tent. I closed my eyes against the assault of light, and when I opened them, her hands had cooled to a dim lilac. She glared at me and bit out, “I'm not making your screw-up their problem. You caused this problem, so fix it!”
I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do. She had created every part of her own problem, but I was too tired to argue. “I'm not moving.”
“Well, I'm not either until you fix this and find me somewhere to go.”
“It sounds like you've solved it then. I'm not moving until the morning, so you'll be standing over there until then. Problem solved.”
Her mouth gaped open and hung there for a moment as she sputtered, “But—what—that's—No, that's not what I meant, and you know it.”
“Well, I'm not moving.”
“And I'm not standing here all night.”
“I thought you didn't have anywhere to go?”
“I don't, so move over,” she said as she sunk to her knees in front of me.
I stared at her. She couldn't be serious. The tent was taller than it was wide. I had taken one of the smaller tents because it was just me. There would barely be room for two people to lie down. If she slept here, we would certainly be touching. “You can't be serious.”
“This is your fault,” she ground out. “If I have to be uncomfortable, so do you.”
“You don't have to be, though.”
“As if I'll be comfortable next to you,” she ground out as the tent filled with lavender light.
“You don't have to stay.”
“And let you enjoy your solitude? Not happening! Scoot over,” she said, shoving into my leg with her shoulder.
“I'm not moving,” I said, even as she was shoving me over.
I finally relented and scooted over a little before rolling onto my side so I was facing her. “Why are you like this?”
“Why am I like this?” she sputtered out. “We could've been comfortably enjoying the inn, but you had to have a hero complex.”
“It's not a hero complex. I just don't think I deserve better than the rest of our company.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course you would think that. As much as I hate to praise you, you earned it. Not as well as I did, of course.” I narrowed my eyes at her, but she put a finger on my lips to stop me from interrupting.
“But you're an officer. You earned it and deserve the very minor perk of getting a one-night break from sleeping on the ground.”
She still hadn't moved her finger, so I stuck out my tongue and licked it.
“Ew! Gross! What are you doing?!”
“I'm sorry. I figured since you stuck your finger in my mouth, you wanted me to lick it.”
“I didn't put it in your mouth! I put it on your lips!”
“My tongue begs to differ.”
“It's different!” The tent was awash with too many purple hues for me to name.
“Hardly.”
“It is.” In a swift move I wasn't expecting, she swung a leg over me, toppling me from my side onto my back as she came down on top of me, straddling my chest with her thighs, squeezing tight to my sides.
“What—”
She put her finger to my lips. They were glowing a magenta hue.
I wondered if her magic had a taste and thought about sticking my tongue out to find out.
I considered pushing her off of me as she traced my lips with her finger.
I could easily overpower her if I wanted to, but I was too curious about what she was doing.
“This is me touching your lips,” she said, then she pushed her finger into my mouth with a pressure that was insistent but not forceful.
She stroked my tongue a couple of times with her finger.
The magic emanating from her didn't have a taste so much as a feel.
It felt bubbly, like those fancy sparkling drinks royals drank instead of ale.
“Suck.”
I don't know why I listened, but I did. I tightened my lips around her finger and sucked, swirling my tongue around it.
She slowly pulled it out. It made a slight popping noise that permeated the silence of the tent.
“That,” she said, wiping her damp finger on my shirt, “was in your mouth.” She slung her leg back over me and settled on my right. “I hope you're happy now.”
I didn't know what I was, but I knew I certainly wouldn't be able to sleep.
And it wasn't because of the magenta glow coming from her hands. My thoughts were racing. What in the gods’ names just happened?
Astra had her finger in my mouth. Why in the Six Realms did I suck her finger?
If I woke up tomorrow alone and this was all a dream, that would make more sense than this turn of events.
She pressed her ass into me, and I suppressed a groan.
It had been a long while since I had been with anyone.
Army life wasn't conducive to serious relationships, and I wasn't a casual person.
That was another reason I was so excited about retirement.
I was hoping to settle down and meet someone special.
Losing a few weeks wouldn't matter in the grand scheme of things, of course, but feeling her grind into my hips was making me wish I had someone I could let myself get close to.
I couldn't tell if she was already asleep or not.
It wouldn't have surprised me to find out she was awake and messing with me, but it was more likely she was asleep and unaware of what she was doing.
I tried to move back a little, but after a few moments, she followed.
All I had succeeded in doing was giving myself less room and moving us closer to the side of the tent.
I took a deep breath and tried to relax. I was sure she would stop soon.
Eventually, she did, but that didn't stop my mind from replaying the finger incident repeatedly until the darkness claimed me.