36. Jia
“I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Kaiya said behind her.
Jia stood at the edge of the woods, staring into the dark forest absentmindedly. The tents were full of happy, drunk civilians at her back. She should have been making the rounds, combing through the masses for information and clues to what the other houses were planning so she could help Rorax and Kiniera, but . . . she was tired. The hole in her chest threatened to pull her to the bottom of her grief, and in that moment she just didn’t care. Didn’t care about Rorax or the Choosing. Didn’t care about the plotting and secrets of the Realm’s Emissaries. She didn’t care about any of it. She was empty. Volla was dead and nothing mattered, but something about the dark woods called to her. A balm for her frayed nerves.
At the sound of that warm voice though, she turned to see Kaiya Whitethorn leaning against a nearby tree. She no longer wore her magnificent goldsteel armor but was still dressed in House of Death colors. She wore a black cloak and tunic with red edges, and her silvery braids framed her face, with layered necklaces circling her neck. She stood tall, almost as tall as Volla had been. Jia had always been drawn to tall women.
Kaiya’s charismatic confidence seemed to wrap Jia up, making her feel a few degrees warmer. Kaiya smiled at Jia with a wicked, triumphant gleam in her brown eyes, like a predator who had finally cornered her prey.
Jia remembered what Kaiya had said. If I win, I’m taking you to my bed and making you scream my name until morning.
“Come to collect your debts?”
Kaiya grinned roguishly and stalked forward. “I don’t have to take you up to my bed if you don’t want. I could fuck you here, as long as you’re loud enough that everyone in the Realms can hear, I’ll go to bed happy.”
At first the thought of touching anyone who wasn’t Volla made Jia wince with distaste, but maybe this was exactly what Jia needed to pull herself out of the abyss, to feel something besides despair and grief.
“You took your time,” Jia drawled, turning back to look out at the forest.
“I expected you to be celebrating somewhere. Taking third in the Tournament of Houses is quite an accomplishment,” Kaiya said. “You belong out there.”
Jia snorted. She had never been part of that crowd, or any crowd except the one that used to follow Volla around. She had belonged then.
There was a heavy silence for a long moment, and Jia wondered if Kaiya had simply crept away before she spoke again.
“I should get back to my Guard.” Kaiya took a step back, but some broken, desperate part of Jia couldn’t let that happen. She needed to try, to try and feel something besides agony and the sharp, painful edges of her shattered heart, and she knew Kaiya could be the person to try with.
Jia turned and moved to the woman with a wicked smile that she hoped didn’t look as empty as it felt. She reached out and tugged on Kaiya’s collar sharply, pulling her in for a kiss. Kaiya immediately sunk her hand into Jia’s hair, kissing her back.
Kaiya moaned into Jia’s mouth and despite everything, the sound made Jia’s blood go hot.
“Make me feel,” Jia whispered into her mouth. “Make me forget.”
Kaiya didn’t wait. Didn’t ask for more permission. She lifted Jia up and Jia wrapped her arms and legs around Kaiya’s waist, kissing her as they walked.
Kaiya carried her blindly into the forest until the sounds of the revelry faded away behind them, then Kaiya broke away from Jia’s mouth and set her down. She unbuckled her cloak from around her throat and threw it on the ground for Jia to lay down on.
Jia cupped Kaiya’s jaw with both hands and brought her mouth back, slipping her tongue inside and over Kaiya’s full, soft lips. “Gods, you taste good,” Kaiya rumbled, and Jia’s blood felt like it was on fire.
Kaiya’s tongue stroked her back, as Jia’s fingers went to the ties on Kaiya’s tunic, ripping them out roughly until Jia could peel away the clothes from her body. Kaiya kept her hands in Jia’s hair and kept kissing her urgently as Jia moved her hand to the back of Kaiya’s bra and unlatched the clasp. Jia pulled the garment away, tossing it next to them before she flipped them both over. Jia straddled Kaiya’s hips, looking down at the topless woman, drinking her naked form in.
Guilt niggled in her chest, but she pushed it away because damn. “Gods help me, your tits are fucking perfect,” she growled as she bent her head and sucked a dark brown nipple into her mouth. Kaiya gasped and arched her back more fully into Jia’s mouth. Jia switched nipples, sucking the other one even harder, gently scraping her teeth across the tight budded surface.
“Fuck that feels good. Your teeth . . . fuck.” Kaiya gripped Jia’s hair tightly and her hips gave a jerk, and Jia knew that Kaiya was wet and ready for her. Just how she liked it.
Jia ripped off Kaiya’s pants and parted her thighs, and before any thoughts of Volla could ruin the electricity and lust thrumming through Jia like a live wire, she bent down and gave Kaiya a long lick. Kaiya tasted divine. She could easily become Jia’s new drug of choice to make sure she got through the Choosing without losing her mind.
Jia stayed there, sucking and biting and rubbing circles on Kaiya’s clit, curling her fingers deep inside her wet cunt until the woman started to shake and whimper, her hips gyrating and arching into Jia’s mouth.
Jia sat up smugly. She wiped her mouth with the back of her wrist and couldn’t help but admire how the moon reflected on Kaiya’s pretty, light brown skin.
“Come here,” Kaiya whispered, her voice both hoarse and throaty.
Kaiya ripped Jia’s clothes off and kissed her hard. Jia moaned into Kaiya’s mouth when their breasts rubbed together, Jia’s nipples brushing against Kaiya’s. So fucking soft.
It was Jia’s turn to be on the bottom, and K??n save her, Kaiya was a god with her mouth, and Jia wished she could worship every day. Heat burned as Kaiya swirled her tongue and thrust her fingers into her soaked heat until she came.
Jia came so hard, for a moment she burned like the sun was in her veins.
She pulled on Kaiya’s white braids, lifting her up and placing a kiss on her mouth. “Fuck, you are talented,” she whispered, and Kaiya laughed.
“Nothing turns me on more than being between a woman’s thighs. Especially a woman that looks like you.” Kaiya gave her a throaty chuckle and slid off her, laying on her back on a spot of the cloak next to her.
They stared up at the stars, but the longer they laid and the more the pleasure faded, the more Jia felt the same heavy devastation weigh her limbs down, so heavy she didn’t even know if she could move. A tear slipped down Jia’s cheek, as she pictured Volla there between her thighs, wishing with everything in her that it was Volla’s tongue that had done those wicked things and not a stranger’s.
I miss you, she thought to the stars, to whatever world there was beyond where Volla had gone, leaving Jia alone without her. Another tear forced its way from the corner of Jia’s eye.
Kaiya turned to her with a smile that dissolved when she saw the tears sliding down Jia’s face. “Are you okay, Frostguard?”
Jia heard the Death guard take a few more breaths in the dark before she responded.
“I’m fine.” Jia slowly turned away and rolled off Kaiya’s cloak.