Chapter Seventy-Eight
Jump
“Run,” Minea commands.
I toss my gaze back to the trees to ensure none of the Guards have come looking for me and release a breath when there are no other beings, needing to avoid any sort of interference now that I push off the ground and rush ahead.
My muscles sting as I allow fear to propel me, then slow, regardless of the terror coursing through my veins.
Fuck the Emperor and his forcing me into a life of low activity. This may be the worst possible moment for it to finally catch up with me.
I stumble and my muscles tense. I can’t do this.
My heart hammers and it’s obvious I cannot possibly jump high enough to reach the back of a low-flying Dragon.
Sharp pain radiates up my legs as I stagger forward, trying to reach where they might come close to landing. The veins on either side of my neck throb as the vibrant green Dragon coasts lower, requiring me to shift my trajectory as he hovers farther away than expected.
Shuddered breaths spill into my chest as I sprint toward them.
Varic pushes off Minea’s back to sit, having just extracted his arms from the harness. “Keep going! You’re doing great!”
“I don’t think I can!” Concern laces my intestines with his position being one which is known for causing injury, and I cannot allow him to keep hurting himself to protect me.
“I know it seems impossible,” he shouts. “Just a little closer and I will help you.”
Minea careens, and his deep green wing sails over my head, casting a broad shadow as his talons drag along the dead grass.
Varic leans and reaches for me. “I need you to jump, mei meida! I will catch you. I promise.”
I try to run closer, but my legs feel like they are filled with sludge, and I startle at the guttural scream sounding again—though much closer this time.
Varic’s eyes flare wide and a deep sense of urgency powers my movement as I try to convince my legs to leap toward a moving Dragon.
“Mei waella,” Varic yells, leaning further while I run alongside them, still not confident enough in my speed or footing to attempt launching myself toward his open arms. “Look at me. I need you to keep your eyes on me and jump when you’re ready.”
Fatigue drags my limbs, and my vision begins to cloud around the edges.
This is as close as I’m going to get.
So I do what he says: I stare into his eyes and jump.
The tingling warmth of his amber magic envelops my legs and lifts me toward him, just like it has at much shorter distances. Its pulsing heat is a balm to my sore muscles as I rise high enough for those impossibly bright brown eyes to become level with my own.
Varic’s arms wind around my back, and he crushes my body to his as he expands the force-shield to cover us both, casting an amber hue on the world around us and providing a barrier from the wind as he sits back before lowering me to his lap.
“I have you,” he whispers, releasing an arm from behind my back.
His hand drops to grab hold of my thigh and extends my leg further so my knees bend over his own. My boots now dangle on either side of his thighs, just above the harness. I tighten my hold on him while my pulse thrums harder and faster as we settle into this intimate position.
Low-hanging clouds drift over the thin orb of protection as Minea coasts ahead, most likely waiting for us to secure ourselves before flying faster or higher than this.
“What happened to the interim Guards?”
“They went into the forest after the soldiers and witches,” Minea projects into each of our minds as we share a look of confusion.
“Why would—” Varic starts to ask.
“All in due time,” Minea adds.
We stare at each other with uncertainty, and I clear my throat to ask, “Do you think that scream came from the mystery beast accused of killing the livestock?”
“It’s possible. Either way, I wasn’t going to leave you down there to test the theory.” He grunts and adjusts his hips under me. “I need to wrap your legs around my waist, okay?”
“Okay.”
Time stills when Varic’s hand drifts down from my shoulder, heart leaping with the pressure of his fingers dragging over the leather so thin, it feels like a second skin.
Tingles scatter everywhere he grazes me, and I drop my head to rest on his shoulder.
Then whimper when the sparks become almost unbearable when his hand casts over the small of my back.
“Do you want me to continue like this?” he asks, fingers flexing around my hip when I nod in encouragement. “Or do you want me to stop?” My heart drops as if he’s just issued a threat rather than said this in jest.
I shake my head in the crook of his neck and rasp, “Don’t you fucking dare, distractor.”
His chuckle rumbles low in his throat. “I don’t have to take my time. I could always guide your leg around without needing to touch you as much.”
“You’re going to make me say what I want you to do, aren’t you?”
He flexes his fingers over my hip. “I need your words, Tasch. I need you to tell me—”
I draw myself up as far as my weakened arms will allow and lean in to whisper in his ear, “Yes, Varic, I want you to take advantage of our relative privacy to slowly cast your hand over my body.” A shudder rolls through him, and it shifts my hips over his lap with the movement.
“Yes, I want you to caress me with the curve of your palm, while your fingertips—”
He clears his throat and guides his hand beneath my ass, where he grabs me tighter, lifting me up while he adjusts his position.
“You okay down there?”
“Yes, just—you don’t have to describe how you wish for me to touch you in such vivid detail.”
“And you don’t have to be so attentive with the way you’re grabbing my ass.”
His eyes darken as he answers my challenge with torturously slow and deliberate movements, dipping his fingers into the crease of my hip before casting down and around the outside of my thigh.
Sparks light everywhere his palm strokes over me until his fingers dig into the ticklish curve behind my knee.
Every labored breath I take presses our chests together when he curls his fingers underneath, commanding me without needing to speak.
Yet I do not respond. Or not in the way he wants.
Instead, I sit with my head on his shoulder and revel in him—from the thrum of his pulse to the warmth of his scent—until he squeezes and elicits a squeal from me.
“Gripping the underside of my knee and squeezing—” I tease.
He shifts his hand higher to do as I described to the underside of my thigh, just hard enough it stings without hurting, and I can’t help but moan when he maintains his grip in challenge.
“You want me to be less aggressive? Is that what you’re saying?”
“No. If anything, I want you to be even more commanding.” My heart lurches with the wish slipping past my lips, then it repeats the action when Varic groans—a sound riddled with lust as it rumbles his chest and trembles against my own.
He holds on harder and longer as he clamps down on my leg, unrelenting in his attention as I emit my own tortured sound and refuse to do anything which might put an end to his administering this treatment.
Varic flexes, pressing in more than before, while a tingling heat begins to build in my core. “If you want me to be more commanding, then I need you to prove it works for my benefit.” He pulls in a breath and lowers his tone. “I need you to submit to me, Tasch.”
Every muscle in my body quivers as I force my hips to still, when all I want is to move more rapidly over him.
“I need you to release the tension you’re holding, so I do not hurt you—” He pauses to pin my eyes with his own.
“Or not in the way you seem to enjoy. I need you to allow me to bend your leg around my waist so that I can keep you safe.” Heat spreads through my chest as he leans in and whispers, “Then when you are bracing me fully, I can lie snug between your thighs.”
I moan as his lips part to graze his teeth along the edge of my earlobe.
He releases a breath and tenses beneath me as his fingers relent for a mere second before clamping down again. “I need you to submit to me, Tasch. I do not wish to hurt you.”
“So commanding,” I groan, and he adjusts his hand to hook around my calf, which he squeezes between his thumb and forefinger.
“So submit to me. Or are you going to make me beg?” I squeal as he clenches, shocked by just how good this feels.
“I submit!” I narrow my eyes at him. “Oh, commanding one.”
His deep laughter is more sensual than should be allowed, distracting me enough to swallow the moan building in my throat. I help him lift, then secure my leg around his waist, bringing our laps much closer in a way I had not anticipated.
“There she is.” His tone is sure, yet my brow furrows. “There’s my commanding witch.” Such a simple phrase, yet the meaning he infuses elicits such a heady feeling to drift over me.
I brace his waist with the leg he’s wound around it. “How am I commanding?”
“You know more than you let on, yet you are forced to be silent, so your commanding side mostly comes out when it’s just you and me.
Or the two of us and the rest of your Guards.
And we both know you’re the one in control here.
” A strangely empowering feeling ripples through me.
“Only giving in when you deign to do so, and only to the one you deem worthy of such trust. I do not think there is anything more attractive.”
“What? This position we’re sitting in?”
His lips curve up in a grin. “The way you trust me. And seem to appreciate the way I touch you.”
“I have no idea what you mean,” I tease, tightening my grip around his neck before commanding, “Now do it again.”
A light and airy laugh trills from him as he drags his hand upward, taking his time rather than switching to the other side.
“Showing me how much you enjoy my going slow and giving you this attention is the greatest gift,” he rasps, lingering for a heartbeat before caressing the outside of my thigh.