Chapter 24 #2
Her brows turned in, and her mouth formed a thin line.
Silently, I pleaded she would not press further.
I was not ready to revisit the darkest of my memories or voice the truth of what happened that day.
After all these years, I’d not spoken it, not since Astraea had knelt before me and told me the penalty of what I’d done, the repercussions.
And, beyond those, the effects such knowledge would have on Nyana.
It would shatter her to know I was responsible for her son’s death.
A tremble coursed down my spine even as I held Evera in my arms.
“Neirin.” Evera’s soft coaxing drew my mind back. She reached a hand up and brushed the hair above my brows to the side, not unlike she’d done with her mare.
The trail of her touch unleashed within me a longing for the kind of companionship I’d never held faith in or even had desire for in the past. For all the cruelties magic had played on me in my life, just this once, perhaps fate had smiled upon me.
“Thank you,” I said, my voice thick with emotion.
Dragging her fingers down the length of my jawline, Evera hummed. “For what?” Her palm cupped my cheek, and her thumb swept once over my bottom lip before she raised her eyes, the coloring of them even more stunning somehow in the light of late dawn.
For giving me a chance. For not pushing me away, though I would understand if you do. For this bonding that neither of us can control, yet which resonates with me to my very being. For not balking in the castle corridors or before the King’s body, or any time since.
“I am just grateful for you,” I said, for there seemed no way to describe the swirl of emotions holding me in place.
She smiled and sighed. Withdrawing her hand and placing it on my chest, she stood on her tiptoes and brushed her nose along mine. When I shuddered a breath, she lowered back to the heels of her boots.
“Tease,” I lectured.
Grinning, she laughed, and the sound was more beautiful than birdsong or the thrum of a harp or even the crashing of the waves.
On an impulse, I took her hips in my hands and spoke against her ear. “Swing your leg over.”
“What?”
In a single motion, I hefted her up, and she squealed, wrapping her legs around my hips and nearly causing me to fumble as I redirected my weight. The layers of her dress bunched awkwardly.
“That was not my intention.” I laughed as she drew back to meet my eyes and set me with a false glare, the corners of her lips twitching up. To have her body wrapped around mine in this way brought back thoughts of the tower house and stirred my desire.
“And how am I to know your intentions are not impure?” She wrinkled her nose.
“Who is to say they are not?” I met her challenge, mirroring her expression. “No response to that?”
Sucking in her lips, she shook her head.
“As I said before.” I adjusted my hold on her. “Swing your leg over.”
This time, when I gripped her waist, she loosened her hold with her legs and let me heft her atop the mare. She landed somewhat awkwardly. Sorrel’s flanks quivered, and in response to the animal’s reaction, I held Evera a moment longer until I was certain the mare wouldn’t spook.
“Your mare is jumpy today,” I pointed out, considering how well she’d reacted to the situation with Calix the night of the fire.
“She’s fine,” Evera clipped, rolling her eyes.
Amusement rumbled in my chest.
Right, the animal is special to you. Very well.
Leading Sorrel by her harness, I brought her to the fence line.
Mounting without someone in front of me was second nature.
But with Evera on the mare’s back, I was unsure I could, and I wasn’t about to risk unsettling the jumpy creature.
Using the fence would be easier. “Scoot forward,” I instructed, a hand at Evera’s waist.
She did as I coaxed. I climbed the fence and eased my weight onto the mare’s back slowly, testing her. Once I was confident she wouldn’t buck, I settled Evera with her back to my chest and wrapped an arm around her torso. The sight of her ass against my lap was admittedly distracting.
“Reins,” I said, the word coming out thicker than I intended.
Evera lifted the leather strap off Sorrel’s withers, and I drew my other arm around to take it.
If she noticed the stir of my cock against her backside, she did not voice it.
I swallowed, trying to calm myself. Though the newfound sensations were intoxicating, I was finding that the effects could be hindering at times.
Checking my breathing, I squeezed the mare gently with my heels and clicked, encouraging her toward the gate. Evera’s body tensed, and she braced herself with both hands. The animal’s ears pinned, and I pulled back on the reins, stopping her.
“Relax,” I instructed, placing a hand on Evera’s inner thigh.
She drew a sharp breath, and desire seeped through the bond. I cursed myself mentally for the placement of my hand, even as the racing of my heart and Evera’s eagerness in response encouraged boldness.
Knowing she desired me as much as I longed for her, I allowed my touch to wander. I stroked trailing fingers lazily at her leg. The rushing warmth through the bond intensified, and I leaned in and spoke against Evera’s ear. “I can sense that emotion, too.”
She raised her chin, the indigence in her tone underlined with teasing inflection. “Your senses betray you, Lark.”
Rumbling with my amusement, I wrapped my free arm around her torso. “I won’t let you fall, but if you keep squeezing the mare’s sides like that, she might take off. You need to relax. Trust me.”
Though I expected a retort, Evera only grumbled. “Fine.”
The tension in her body relaxed through a breath, and she wiggled, settling against me.
The movement made my cock throb; I had to resist the urge to rock against her.
In the tower, she’d been fully clothed aside from the slip of her top.
Now I envisioned her like this, in front of me, naked, with the firmness of my length against her ass.
No, not until I earn her name. I traced my thumb beneath the dip of her ribs, and when she leaned back into me, I rumbled against her ear, “Good girl.”