Chapter 32
Chapter
Thirty-Two
Aweek later, I was in the middle of a forest that I had no knowledge of. I stood with my eyes closed and arms spread, focusing solely on my bodily senses.
He was lingering nearby. I couldn’t hear him, but my skin prickled as if something inside of me subconsciously knew he was close.
I drew my dagger, aiming it to my right then stepping forward, focusing on the feel of rock and dirt under my boots.
A cool breeze flew by me, and my body jumped sideways, recentering my focus to somewhere on my left.
It darted by me again and I spun in a circle, suddenly completely unaware of where exactly I stood. Was I facing the boulder again? Or the batch of shrubs that had been on my right when we started this? If I called upon the stars and aimed wrong, I could take this whole forest down.
I didn’t want to break the silence, but what Sebastian was asking me to do was insane.
“Seb?” I called out, opening my eyes though still only seeing black from the blindfold he had tied around my head. “I don’t like this.”
“You’re not supposed to like it.” His disembodied voice flowed through one of my ears before wrapping around the back of my head and lingering off into the other.
I pivoted in the dirt, following the trail his voice left.
“It’s scaring me.”
“Why?” he called from much further away.
“I have bad enough aim when I have vision. Take that away, and I’ll probably turn you into stardust.”
I reached my arms up to the blindfold, only for my body to flinch at the feel of calloused hands gripping my own.
“Leave it. You can do this.”
I stomped my boot into the dirt. “I would rather not kill the man I’m in love with.”
When that man didn't respond, I drew a deep breath and began moving again, using my blade-less hand to feel about my surroundings.
The anxiety inside of me buzzed and collided with the cosmos that I had absorbed unintentionally. Soon I would need to release the tension before it built too high for me to control, but I had no idea where Sebastian was, and therefore no idea where to aim.
“Seb…” I drawled, angst making my voice waver.
“You can do this.”
A grumble of irritation poured out of me. “Fine. But get ready to run,” I warned.
Steadying my footing and ensuring my body was perfectly balanced, I called upon the sun—the biggest star in our galaxy. My veins warmed as I sucked in its power to a level that bordered uncomfortable, but not so much so where I risked it exploding out of me.
I focused on the sound of my breathing, using the white noise to drown out everything else surrounding me.
Okay, Maeve. Please don’t start a forest fire and please don’t kill the love of your life.
Following only my intuition, I roared to the right, ripping my body sideways and releasing the built up starlight in one swift motion.
An agonizing cracking sound filled the forest, and with the release of my power, I tore the blindfold off and frantically scanned the open air around me.
Where was he?
“I told you that you could do it.” Sebastian's palm swallowed my shoulder, making me jump.
“Oh, thank the gods.” My hand met my heart in relief.
He pointed to a blackened boulder in front of me. “See? You need to trust yourself. You have more control than you even realize.”
I studied the frenzied burn I had carved into the stone with the cosmos. “How did you know I would be able to do that?”
He shrugged. “Magic 101. Intuition is hardly ever wrong if you are utilizing it right.”
“Not mine.”
“Tell that to the forest you so graciously didn't burn down,” he retorted with a cheesy grin. “Let's do it again.”
“Ha!” I snorted. “How about we not test our luck?”
“Come on, love. You aren't one to back away from a challenge, are you?”
“I am when it could potentially kill you.”
He glowered at me. “One more time. You can keep your eyes open this time. Deal?”
“Fine,” I grumbled, grounding myself where I stood.
“No blindfold, but I’m going to distract you in another way.”
My head cocked. “Huh?”
Standing behind me, Sebastian pressed his chest into my back. “Let’s see how well you do when I’m focusing on the most sensitive parts of your body.”
His knuckles grazed the back of my neck, brushing my braid over my shoulder. Then his lips met my flesh, planting tiny, feather-light kisses just below my ear.
I let out a moan as his palm slid down my waist, gripping my hip before fiddling with the waistband of my pants.
“Seb…” I breathed his name as a warning when his fingers slipped into my panties, wasting no time finding my clit. “I’m not going to be able to do this while you're doing that.”
“Shh.” His teeth scraped up, nipping the bottom of my earlobe. “Yes you can. And the quicker you do it, the quicker we can go back to our room.”
With that incentive as added motivation, I drew a steady stream of starlight inwards, securing it within my soul. I held on to it tightly even when Sebastian moved his other hand to my breast, pinching my nipple through the fabric of my shirt and pulling a subtle moan from my lips.
His fingers swirled around my nipple, his other hand stroking up and down the entirety of my pussy at an agonizing slow pace.
“Oh gods,” I whimpered, grinding into his hand. “I—I can’t.”
“The sooner your magic hits that rock, the sooner you get to come around my fingers and I get to suck the taste of you off of them.”
Fucking gods.
I drew in a thick breath. “Ready?” I croaked out at last.
When his head nodded into the crook of my neck, I released the full magnitude of my absorbed power, slamming it into the same bolder.
My skin and hair nearly blinded me as the intensity of the starlight I absorbed pushed me and Sebastian backwards. We went flying a good few feet, though my body fell on his as a cushion while he landed in the dirt.
I scrambled to roll over and off of him, the lust inside of me completely dissipating. “Shit. Are you okay?”
Eyes squeezed shut, he winced and grunted as he forced himself to sit. “See? I knew you could do it.”
My mouth set into a tight line. “Seb.” I pointed a shaking finger at his left arm, hanging loosely from the socket of his shoulder.
He glanced at where I stared. “Oh. Yeah. Gonna need to get that looked at.”
Sebastian crafted a makeshift sling out of his shirt, then we meandered back to the palace in hopes of finding Pia or another healer in the mending wards.
Along with Kade, Delani waited on the steps of the palace, gazing off into the field that separated her from the stables.
I turned my head to follow her line of sight.
Leighton was riding in, eight days after her departure, and a gasp of relief expelled from my chest with the confirmation that she was alive and seemingly didn't screw us over.
She stopped at the stables to drop her horse off, then sauntered towards the palace, the lack of sleep evident in her weary gait.
“What happened to your arm?” Delani asked when Sebastian and I reached the steps, taking our place beside her to welcome Leighton.
“Dislocated shoulder.”
Delani’s eyebrows drew together. “How?”
I raised my hand.
Kade jumped right to the point, not even greeting Leighton when she reached us. “Go shower and change then meet us in the lounge.” He turned to Sebastian. “You too. You’re covered in dirt.”
Sebastian patted his shoulder when we climbed past him. “Good morning to you, too, Lyrise.”
Kade grunted a greeting, then called out after us, “Don’t waste any time doing whatever it is you two usually do in your room. If you aren’t in the common room in fifteen minutes, I’m coming to get you, and I’m not knocking.”
“If you want to join, Lyrise, all you have to do is ask,” Sebastian taunted, shouting back down the stairs to Kade, whose mocha skin turned a shade of crimson.
My mouth fell open as we entered the palace. “I know you did not just make a threeway joke to Kade,” I said in total disbelief.
“Hell yeah I did. The look on his face made it so worth the crap he’s going to give me for it later.”
“Seb! My father was right there!” We took a corner at the top of the staircase, starting down the hallway to our room.
He shrugged as he unlocked our door, holding it open for me. “Kade kinda looked like he was considering the offer,” he quipped with a sharp smirk.
“Oh, please. He did not.” I rolled my eyes and flopped down against the bed.
“He did. I saw the slightest hint of a glimmer in his soulless eyes.” Sebastian climbed over me, supporting his full weight with his good arm and aligning his face with mine. “I wouldn't be surprised if he comes knocking on our door later when he hears you screaming my name from down the hall.”
I flicked his shoulder, not enough to hurt his injury, but enough to get my point across.
Sebastian’s lips dipped towards mine, lingering above them but not colliding enough to be considered a kiss. “You know, if he does, it might be fun to watch you take two—”
“What happened to you're mine,” I imitated him in my best attempt at a deep voice, reminding him of his claim from the storage room.
“Oh, you are mine. I would have to kill him after,” he deadpanned with a one-shouldered shrug.
“Do you need help in the shower?” Dodging his comment, I rolled out from underneath him and gently probed his loose arm to distract my eyes from his godsdamn beautiful abs.
He turned over to unwrap the makeshift sling, then propped himself up on his good limb, giving me a look that I knew would have me on my knees within minutes.
So I turned my back to him, my cheeks flushing.
“What's wrong, love? I saw the way your eyes lit up when I mentioned the idea.”
I shook my head and crossed my arms over my stomach. “They did not. You're just in so much pain from your shoulder that you're seeing things.”
“It doesn't even hurt that bad.”
“And considering you punched Sawyer in the nose for just kissing me, I have my doubts that you’d be up for a threesome.”
“Mhm,” Sebastian mumbled, fighting back his laugh. “Have it your way.” He slid off the mattress to press his bare chest against my back.