Chapter 24 Prudence, Answers & （more） Questions #2
“I’ve never entered the Atelier since she hurt me all those years ago. And yes, I knew the conditions. She presented the will as proof of ownership. But I swear I never did any of those things.”
He looked at Pru, tears visible in his eyes. She had no empathy left where he was concerned, and so she watched him lift his hand in an awkward wave and close the door behind himself quietly, his limp even more pronounced than before.
The ticking of the grandfather clock was the only sound to be heard in the room for a long moment before Victoria broke the silence.
“Well, this is the worst news, then, girls.”
Ceridwen cradled her cast in her other hand and finally took a seat next to Victoria on the sofa, then spoke softly, her usual calm infusing her words.
“If he didn’t do it, then there is someone out there who hates Rhiannon even more than Fowler. No offense, Pru.”
“None taken, except I think the truth is scarier.” With every eye in the room trained on her, Pru allowed herself to voice her fear. “I believe there’s someone out there who hates all the Crowharts, and Rhiannon was just an easy target.”
She walked in the dark, the hallways on the second floor of Ceridwen’s house now familiar and comforting.
As she took the final turn to the guest bedroom, she found the door ajar, the little pink lamp with a ballerina on its base glowing brightly, illuminating Rhiannon, who was sitting up in bed. In the soft light, she looked ethereal.
And then her face lifted, met Pru’s, and something shifted both in those forest depths and in Pru’s heart—something immense, like an avalanche—and Pru knew she would not be able to give it voice nor think about what she saw in Rhiannon’s gaze.
Not now, and maybe not while Rhiannon was still on Dragons.
It would be too painful, and it would make Pru wish for things, things she knew she shouldn’t wish for, since despite the feeling shimmering in those beloved eyes, Rhiannon would not stay.
So Pru smiled, flicked away a wayward tear, and undid her cardigan, the buttons falling open one by one before she shrugged the garment off.
The shirt followed, and by the time she stepped out of her jeans, Rhiannon’s face was alight with something much easier for Pru to live with. Desire. And then confusion.
“Ah, Prudence… I want you to know that I want you beyond what is humanly possible, but… I’m still…
” Rhiannon lifted her hands, palms up, and they trembled with weakness, though Pru thought she saw considerable improvement from this morning.
Good. It meant Rhiannon would get better, would be back on her feet and…
No, no, she wouldn’t allow her heart to ruin this moment.
And she wouldn’t rehearse the pain she’d get to experience soon, anyway.
She’d savor what she had, and grieve when she lost it.
“And that’s all you have to be, Rhiannon. Still. Let me do all the work. I hear sex has healing powers.”
Rhiannon licked her lips and rested back against the cushions.
“Where did you hear that, Prudence Ophelia?”
“I think it was your aunt.”
Rhiannon’s mouth dropped open, then she shook her head.
“Can we not bring up my aunt when you are standing naked in front of me?”
“Why? Do you think that will somehow make you enjoy the show less? I promise you, nothing will ruin this for you.” Pru allowed her hands to move down her body, fingers caressing and exciting, exciting even more because their every action was followed by raven’s green eyes, Rhiannon gasping when Pru tugged at the elastic of her simple cotton bikini panties.
“I’m sorry I don’t have anything more exciting—”
Rhiannon shook her head, interrupting her train of thought.
“Cotton never looked hotter, Prudence.”
Pru tugged the underwear down an inch, exposing her hip bones. Then she let her fingers wander, her right hand diving lower to her lips, where she was already starting to get wet, getting only wetter under the ravenous looks thrown her way.
“Sometimes I catch you staring at me and I feel your eyes undressing me, Rhiannon. I find it incredibly sexy when you do that in public, do you know that?”
Rhiannon gulped visibly. Pru smirked. She liked this.
“Ah… No?”
Pru smirked wider.
“You should know that.” She allowed her other hand to pull the panties to the side and let Rhiannon see what she was doing.
Rhiannon gulped again, watching Pru’s fingers play with her clit, not really stroking nor caressing, but flicking it playfully, barely touching it, teasing Rhiannon while teasing herself.
When Rhiannon’s hands grabbed the sheet in a white-knuckled hold, Pru drew a tight little circle around the already hardening nub and moaned.
Rhiannon gasped, then threw her head back before quickly returning her gaze to Pru, visibly impatient and frustrated.
“Would you like to touch, Rhiannon? To see how wet for you I get just from your looking alone? Because I get so wet. The eye-fucking you give… Mmmm… Rhiannon…” She drew tighter circles, her fingers moving faster, unable to stop yet, hungry for pleasure, driven to lose herself in the way Rhiannon was looking at her, in this pleasure she was giving them both.
Pru had finally had enough of teasing and shimmied her hips, dropping the panties down, spreading her lips for Rhiannon’s better view, and stroking her clit in earnest before fingering her opening.
Oh yes…
She was drenched, and Rhiannon hadn’t even touched her. The things this woman did to her. The things she wanted to do to Rhiannon.
Pru took a few steps and set her knee on the bed right at Rhiannon’s shoulder, giving her an even better view as her own fingers got busy, thrusting deep before sliding up and circling her clit.
Rhiannon’s eyes were hooded, full of lust and something Pru did not quite recognize, something she had never seen there before, something that gave that green a tinge of silver, a shade that was both fascinating and dangerous.
Pru extended her hand, the one that had just been between her legs, and lifted Rhiannon’s chin, making her look her in the eyes, giving herself the pleasure of seeing that danger swirl and gleam in those beautiful depths.
Then she made them go wide by dipping her fingers inside herself again and then dragging them across Rhiannon lower lip, painting it with her essence, making her open her mouth, making her take her in.
Rhiannon obliged without hesitation. In fact, the speed with which she drew Pru’s fingers into her mouth, the eagerness with which she licked and sucked them, the sounds she made…
Pru couldn’t look away, couldn’t miss a second of this.
She was powerless, on her back, unable to move, and yet she had the upper hand.
Pru was almost feral for that mouth, for those lips.
She reached back between her legs again, desperate for relief, Rhiannon’s stern voice stopping her movement, hell, stopping her breath.
“Come here.”
Pru’s mouth dropped open.
“Prudence, come here.” Rhiannon slowly lowered herself away from the headboard, the pillows supporting her head.
“I can’t get up and throw you on this bed and fuck you till you can’t walk, you little tease.
I want to, and I will, soon. You better prepare yourself.
But now, I want you to sit on my face so I can eat your pussy and make you scream and wake this entire house up and scandalize all of Crowharts.
I don’t care. I want to taste you, to lick you, to feel you drip all over my face. ”
Pru didn’t remember moving faster in her life.
Rhiannon’s self-satisfied grin was the last thing she saw before she threw her knee over her head, and then as she slowly lowered her body, those greedy lips rose to meet her and nothing else mattered.
And everything did. Every lick, every bite, every stroke of that wonderful, wonderful tongue that drove her mad, that brought her so much pleasure, that made her want more and more.
Rhiannon licked and circled and sucked, was relentless, was so fucking good, Pru wanted this to never stop, to feel this way forever suspended in the ecstasy of being so well fucked, so fully satisfied.
When the orgasm came, it felt like dessert, like she had her fill of an amazing meal and this was the cherry on top.
And what a cherry. The climax rolled over her in waves, her thighs shaking, clamping around Rhiannon’s face, her soundless cry stuck in her throat and her heart beating out of her chest. The pleasure, razor sharp, bloomed like a bruise, carving her open, giving her everything and making her want more.
Pru forced herself to slowly move down Rhiannon’s prone body, trying to catch her breath.
She reached for the Kleenex on her bedside and gently wiped Rhiannon’s chin.
She’d probably need a change of shirt too.
Pru tried to think of practical things. Of logical things, of anything and everything that had nothing to do with how much she wanted to burrow her face in Rhiannon’s neck and whisper I love you.
It was Rhiannon who took care of the first part of Pru’s wish, carefully, arms still weak, pulling Pru closer, till she was lying on her shoulder and kissing her forehead. Then kissing her lips, deepening the kiss till Pru could taste herself with every caress of that wicked tongue.
“You’re amazing, Prudence Ophelia Fowler.”
Rhiannon’s power still playing in her eyes was the last thing Pru saw before she slipped into dreams.
She woke in the dark again, to Rhiannon moving slowly, carefully putting her clothes on. The dress was askew, and the jacket was not cooperating, and Rhiannon was quietly murmuring curses under her breath.
“What are you doing, Rhiannon? Stop, you’re sick!”
Pru was up and at her side in a second. She tried to push Rhiannon back down on the bed but was met with surprising strength.
“I’m better. Call it recovery by pussy, now help me up.”
She didn’t find the joke funny, too preoccupied and confused by what was going on.
“Rhiannon, what’s happening?”
“Samhain. Samhain is happening, Prudence. Ceridwen’s circle ceremony is tonight. I need to be there.”
Pru dropped the stocking she was holding.
“You’re going to stand in Ceridwen’s circle? Rhiannon, what—”
Rhiannon got up, swayed on her feet, then grabbed Pru’s shoulder.
“I don’t know about the standing. Maybe I’ll lie down there.”
“Rhiannon! Ceridwen told me she was fine, that Seren and Deryn will be there for her.”
“She needs me, Prudence. Her wrist is broken. And she already opened a goddamn circle just days ago to save me. Mom told me to stay behind too, twenty-two years ago—” Rhiannon cut herself off and looked imploringly at Pru.
“I need your help, please. I can’t lose my sister, not when I just found her again.
I let my mother down; I can’t let Ceridwen down as well. Please, Prudence.”
The pain, the anguish in Rhiannon’s voice tore at Pru’s heart.
“You don’t have magic, Rhiannon. You’re weak. You can barely move.”
Rhiannon squeezed her shoulder tighter.
“Please.”
They drove. Pru could barely see the small gravel path that splintered off the main road and led to the Sky Blue Cliff. She said a silent prayer to any and every deity that listened. To keep them safe. To keep Rhiannon whole, because what she was about to do was sure madness. She told Rhiannon so.
“Madness worked for me so far,” was her answer.
“Says the woman who can barely walk.” Pru huffed out a breath and sped the car up.
In the distance, she could see the faint silver glow of magic. Ceridwen’s circle.
“Look, there’s no science behind this thing, Prudence.
All I know is that my mother wasn’t strong enough to hold the circle.
She needed me, and I wasn’t there. She died on this goddamn cliff.
Ceridwen is injured. Yes, Seren and Deryn are there, but they are all exhausted.
I don’t know if Ceri told you about circles.
They’re not fun. Not some dancing ceremony.
They’re hard, and they demand all your concentration and your craft and your energy.
Victoria was never powerful enough to be part of one.
Not even Mom’s…” Rhiannon trailed on, and from the corner of her eye Pru could see the sheer force of determination shine in those angular features.
She knew she wouldn’t be able to stop her.
Pru threw the engine into fourth and prayed again.
A few feet away from where the forest started, and before the car even stopped properly, Rhiannon threw the door open and staggered out. By the time Pru reached the first trees clustered on the side of Sky Blue cliff, Rhiannon was limping into the deep of it.
Pru wondered where the strength came from.
Visibly in pain, injured, drained of magic, Rhiannon bulldozed her way through bush and forest and into a small clearing where three figures were surrounded by ethereal light.
She could hear chanting, but it felt more like cries.
Something was clearly wrong. The power pulsed in waves from them, and Ceridwen was bowled over, her wounded arm hanging limply at her side.
Pru barely had time to assess what was happening when Rhiannon simply walked into the circle, grasping Ceridwen’s broken wrist and standing next to her.
For a moment the silence was absolute, no chanting, no desperate cries, just stillness of a kind Pru had never experienced before, and then as the light of the magic dimmed completely, it suddenly erupted back in a perfect circle, golden and pulsing, the four connection points between the sisters glowing particularly bright.
The scent of petrichor was strong in the air, and when the rain came, it fell down in warm waves, soft and carefree.
Pru watched as Ceridwen’s face filled with joy, the mask of pain and horror from earlier erased, her fingers clasped tightly in Rhiannon’s. Deryn was laughing, and Seren’s smile was for once full and open.
And Rhiannon… Rhiannon looked reborn. Her head was thrown back, rain washing her face, drenching her hair and clothes, and yet she stood still, taking it all in, her magic shimmering around her.
Pru felt her own tears mingling with the rain and wondered if she would ever be the same after witnessing Rhiannon step into the circle, and she knew she surely never would.
Some things, some people, you never recovered from.
And maybe you were not supposed to. Maybe you were supposed to be brave and never let them go.