Chapter 15 #3
I let out a laugh of disbelief. “I doubt he said that. Also, we weren’t betrothed, and we broke up a long time ago.”
He pulls me close, gripping me hard. “You prefer me, don’t you? There’s no comparison, is there?”
“Each person is unique, so why would I compare?”
He smirks. “Maybe I gave you too little to compare.” I try to push him away, but he grips me harder and leans closer. “Let me make one thing clear. I don’t want you talking to other men.”
“I can’t have friends now?”
“Friends are fine. Stepping away with a man in a party like this is not fine.”
I narrow my eyes. “Who are you to tell me what to do, Alayel?”
“The future king of Dracolius, darling,” he whispers in my ear.
“You’re not the king yet, and you’re not my betrothed.” I manage to push him, then walk away to the edge of the water.
My legs feel light as I enjoy the feel of the sand on my feet, and a subtle buzz comes to my head as I watch the deep blue, almost black ocean. Such a beautiful ocean. Such stunning waves.
Stars above. Stars below. So many points of light everywhere, and then I feel like I’m made of light too, shining like the lumos algae. I’m walking on the sea, then turn around and take a run through the sky. We’re one. Brilliant. And I float and fly like a dragon. Glide in the sky with no glider.
The universe opens its doors to me, and I step in, careless and curious, swallowing the immensity of it all. My body’s relaxed. I’m free, and in a place where nothing can ever go wrong. And the stars spin, spin, spin. I spin with them, to the other side.
There’s only beauty. So much beauty everywhere. The fire on the beach is the fire within a dragon, ready to swallow us.
Then I’m floating again, something light and pleasant under me. Something soft above me. Something hard within me.
“Your Highness!” I yell, while he pounds inside me. Hard. Soft. I feel him in every part of my body, feel everything.
I let go, the pleasure of being fucked taking over me. We’re just two bodies lying on clouds.
And then I’m on that island again. Feeling that enormous tongue caressing my breasts.
The rider’s long hair brushes my naked body as he grips the staff, the object so brilliant and majestic, spreading waves of light around us.
When the rider’s face is near my thighs, he looks at me with those mysterious dark eyes, then, slowly, caresses my core with the staff, igniting a new energy inside me, a new light.
And I open my eyes.
Alayel is above me, his bare chest touching my breasts, as he kisses my neck. We’re in his bedroom.
“Wait,” I mutter.
He stops and looks at me. “Something wrong?”
“I’m not feeling well.” My body’s trembling, and I’m in panic. How did I even get here? “Did we?”
“Have sex?” He exhales, annoyed. “Frankly, I’m absolutely certain you would remember it. I’m that memorable.”
I bite my lip, feeling foolish, and yet still trembling, still puzzled. I remember having sex with him, but then I also remember walking among stars, and being naked with the rider. And the staff. By Vigorlu. What was even that?
He swallows and kneels on the bed, his legs between mine. “Are you all right?”
I sit, and realize I’m still wearing my lower undergarments. Alayel still has his trousers on. I’m not naked. None of what I saw could have been true. A wave of relief washes over me, even if I’m still startled. “I think I had too much star nectar.”
“Hmmm.” He gets up, pours a liquid in a cup, and brings it to me.
I give it a side eye. “What’s this?”
“Water, Mayara. It will help you flush the star nectar.”
My nose is numb again, and I have to taste the liquid to confirm it’s indeed water, then I drink it greedily. When I finish, I say, “Thanks.”
Beside the bed, my dress and brassiere lie on the floor, and suddenly I feel deeply aware of my partial nudity, and oddly bothered by it.
“How are you feeling?” Alayel’s eyes flash with concern.
“Horrible. Sorry. I…” I get up and grab my clothes. “I need to go.”
“Come back tomorrow. After dinner.”
“Sure.” I get dressed quickly, then turn to him. “Are you upset?”
“I’m worried. Let me walk you to your room.”
He puts on a shirt, then leads me to a set of stairs, but then I decide there’s another place I need to go.
“Actually, I want to see the hatchlings.”
“I’m starting to get jealous, Mayara.” At least his tone is playful, so I know he’s not serious. Not completely, at least.
“Insecure people get jealous. You’re arrogance personified, so I have a hard time believing that.”
He chuckles.
At the bottom of the stairs, he kisses me, his mouth hard and hungry against mine, biting my lower lip until I gasp, his hands grabbing me tight, one of them finding my ass and pulling me into him.
It’s a wild, desperate, hungry kiss. I almost want to ask him to take me back to his room and finish what we started, but I’m still too puzzled, my mind too addled.
When we part, the look he gives me is sweet and loving, not at all upset that I walked out of his bed when we were in the midst of… something. The worst part is not remembering, and it’s why I can’t bring myself to continue anything tonight.
“I’ll come back tomorrow,” I say. “No star nectar. I’ll be normal.” Just because I’m feeling bad for leaving him like that, I add, “If you’re nice, I might even scream Your Highness.”
He smirks. “What if I decide not to be nice?”
“We’ll see.”
“You know it’s torture, right? I’ll spend the entire day thinking of you.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You got two hands. Use them.”
He smiles but shakes his head. “I want to save it all for you.”
We kiss again, this time a slow, gentle kiss, leaving me breathless when we part.
“See you tomorrow,” I say, then I open the door and leave the staircase, otherwise I might stay with Alayel the entire night.
The guards let me go through to the room with the hatchlings, and soon I find little Ava and Vos, who climb on my lap.
“Listen up,” I say. “I have something very, very important to tell you both. Never drink star nectar. It feels good, until it feels awful. I know you don’t understand, but I need to vent.
I wish I could vent more and tell you all about my weird night, but you’re too young and it’s inappropriate.
And it’s very, very weird. I’ll never tell anyone about it.
The lesson remains. Star nectar is bad.”
I lie down on the pile of straw, and they rest their little bodies against mine.
My eyes close, and yet I can’t wipe the image of that rider, his long dark hair caressing my body, his staff caressing my core, awakening something, igniting a strange and yet powerful heat.
Before the memory becomes too pleasant, I tell myself that the tip of the staff would feel cold and weird, and that it was a bizarre thing to imagine.
And yet I can’t forget his hair touching my nipples.
Bizarre, Mayara! I remind myself. Weird, weird images. Evil Star Nectar. Evil staff.
I don’t even know where they put that artifact, and what kind of magical powers it has. It’s something I need to investigate. One more thing, among so many. For now, I just want to sleep and forget the odd night.
Then I recall the promise I made to Alayel. I might even scream Your Highness. What the fuck was I thinking?