Chapter 22
T hat evening, Spencer snuck to my room to join Amyra and me for dinner. Ivy found reasons to not be there, conveniently. I was grateful for the opportunity to just be the three of us. I knew I could trust each of them with my life, and I hoped that they could learn the same for each other.
Dinner was mostly light conversation. We were all exhausted from the heaviness hitting us lately, and the conversation showed that.
But once dinner wrapped up, I showed off a little with my newfound skill.
In my bathing room, I had decorated with potted plants around my window to help provide some privacy.
I grabbed one of the smaller pots and carried it to the sitting room.
I opened with, “Do you want to see something really wild?”
Amyra and Spencer nodded, curious to see how this would go.
I sat the pot on the table and then stuck my fingers into the soil.
I used the trick Zoya teased me with earlier and started thinking about the things I’d want to do with Amyra while I stared at the dirt.
My thoughts shifted to kissing her soft, full lips, and how they always taste of raspberries and honey.
I thought about how thrilling it is to hold her hair in my hand, tugging on it while I have my fingers buried inside of her, taking orgasms from her.
I imagined what it tastes like to lick those orgasms out of her, tasting her honey dripping from her as I hold her thighs open for me.
The dirt rose. I willed it to flow like a ribbon around my wrist and then up through the air, like how Lettie played with water this morning.
I watched as it swirled in the air, dancing towards Amyra.
It flowed behind her head, then laced itself around her arm in a spiral.
I heard her breath hitch, like it was tickling her arm as it made its way down.
When it reached her wrist, I willed it to reach out for Spencer’s arm, just a few inches from hers.
I found it intriguing; my will seems to have taken on a life of its own.
I watched the dark brown ribbons of soil flow around his arm, then dance along his cheek before wrapping behind his head to the other side of his neck, and then down his chest. Once it disappeared below the table edge, it seemed to beeline beneath the table back towards me, up my front and around my neck before finishing its circle around my body.
All three of us had a ribbon snaked around us, tying us together.
The poetic nature of the image doesn’t escape me as the dirt ribbon breaks into three and then flows around each of us before returning to the pot.
Once the last of the dirt returned, I removed my hand from the pot and finally looked at them. “I have a new skill.” I whispered, an excited smile on my face.
Amyra released a slightly louder squeal. “Lyla, this is so exciting! How does it work?”
She held nothing but pure joy in her eyes, and she reached for me. This woman was my biggest supporter in life, and it was moments like this that made me so grateful to have her by my side.
“I honestly don’t know. I just feel it inside me, and when I connect with earth and then feel powerful emotions, I can make it move based on my will.
” As I shared that tidbit of information, I looked at Spencer and blushed.
I basically just admitted that I teased him with my power.
I didn’t mean to, but apparently, I needed to learn how to influence my will before my subconscious steals the spotlight again.
Marrying Spencer wasn’t for love or lust or anything.
It needed to be just for satisfying the Council and apparently satisfying this prophecy.
Spencer noticed my flushed cheeks and his eyes darkened. He knew what it took to make that show happen. But it was Amyra who asked, “What emotions did you just channel to do that?”
I looked at her with my cheeky grin and wiggled my eyebrow. “Are you sure you want me to answer that?”
Her cheeks flushed with a bright pink, but she nodded.
“I thought about how delicious you taste when I get to show you the stars.”
Our first time together was under the stars, while traveling to Ashenwoods. Ever since, that’s been our code for wanting each other when in mixed company.
Amyra whipped her head to look at Spencer.
He clearly understood what I had just said.
She turned back to me, shocked, but also…
was that amusement in her eyes? She leaned forward, and before I could even understand what was happening, her lips were on mine, and I was tasting the honeyed raspberries I just imagined.
My eyes closed, my skin tingled, and my core burned, aching for more.
I reached up and pulled her closer, deepening into this kiss.
The world disappeared around us, and I felt her hands on me, teasing my breasts.
A fresh wave of fire rushed through me, ending between my legs.
I moaned into her mouth and reached around her dress.
Spencer cleared his throat. Amyra broke her contact with me. I opened my eyes to see her entire face flushed with embarrassment. I took a few breaths to calm myself.
“Sorry to interrupt, ladies, but Lyla, you probably want to avoid such activities for a bit… the dirt flew out of the pot as you got into that.”
Spencer nodded towards the potted plant that had shifted, sitting crookedly in the pot and the mess of dirt around the table.
I jumped up and started trying to straighten the plant and wipe the dirt into the pot from the table. “They didn’t tell me that would happen! Ugh, thank you, Spencer.”
His lips curved, and his eyes sparkled.
Amyra smoothed her skirt back down while delicately saying, “I suppose we can take this moment as an opportunity to talk about what the future will look like?”
Spencer nodded. “Yes, that’s a good idea.
I see the love you two have. Your traditions dictate that the King and Queen must share a bedroom, but I want to do whatever I can to allow you two the ability to nurture your love.
I’ve never encountered a love like yours in all my travels.
Your souls were clearly meant to intertwine. ”
“Are we? That prophecy says otherwise. The Queen of the realm binds her fate to a King who sees the depths of souls,” I repeated from earlier.
Amyra looked confused. “Prophecy?”
“Oh, goodness, I didn’t tell you yet.” I filled her in on the prophecy we read earlier. I read it so many times this morning, then repeated it in my mind during the magic practice, that it’s now committed to my memory.
After I caught her up, Amyra took a moment, staring at her hands in her lap, folded neatly, holding her emotions in.
“ In the union of Queen and King lies not just the union of hearts,” she repeats quietly.
A shaky inhale lets her speak a bit louder.
“That doesn’t really leave much space for me, does it? ”
I reached for her hands.
“It doesn’t close you out completely, either. I don’t know what will come for Spencer and me. Maybe our friendship is enough.”
I looked at him and offered a smile, which he heartily returned. My gaze returned to her. “But I love you, and Spencer promises that you and I will have our space. I will make sure of it, even if I need to use my magic to move stones and make the chambers a bigger room to fit another bed.”
Amyra looks up with amusement. “Could you even do that?”
I shrug, “The Priestess thinks I could. I lifted some enormous stones this morning, so it’s possible. And more importantly, Spencer, she can share our chamber, right?”
Spencer nodded. “I will use a second bed. You are her love, Amyra. I would be just her king.”
I felt a flutter within as he shared that. I didn’t know what I did to deserve him, or why he was so committed to seeing me happy with someone other than him, but his commitment to Amyra and me flooded my heart with so much emotion.
Amyra’s smile reappeared tentatively.
“I could just kiss you for that.” She said. Then she leaned towards him, as if she had decided she would. She planted her lips squarely on his. Spencer’s eyes widened, and he looked at me with confusion and shock.
I smiled at him. I was just as confused, but I didn’t feel any pangs of jealousy.
He accepted the smile as reassurance and closed his eyes to return her kiss.
I watched as his hands tentatively rose to the back of her head, where my hand had been just a moment before.
Her hand reached for his chest, almost the same way she had held mine.
On him, she trailed it up and to his neck, then to the back of his head and through his hair.
My heart swelled watching them enjoy each other’s kiss. After a moment, they pulled apart.
“Uh, well, that was unexpected.” Spencer said.
Amyra grinned. “I don’t know why I did that. Please let me apologize. I just suddenly felt immense love for you, like I had known you for years and that you are mine.”
She held her hands to her eyes and rubbed them, as if trying to rub that feeling away. “Lyla, I am so, so sorry.” She turned to me and reached for my hands.
I offered her the same smile I gave Spencer before. “Amyra, love, no, please don’t apologize. I only felt love watching that. I wish I could explain. It felt like it was meant to happen that way.”
We exchanged looks with each other, not understanding what had just happened between us.
Without warning, Amyra was back in my arms, kissing me again.
We stood in unison this time, and we took our familiar dance to the settee nearby.
We lost ourselves in each other. I ran my hand through her hair, and she lightly scratched my back with her nails.
This time, I remembered Spencer was in the room before I lost myself in her love.
In my lusty haze, I held out my hand, inviting him to join us.
He moved to sit behind me, unsure of what to do at first. I guided his hand to my breast, my fingers over his as I showed him how I liked to feel fingers on me, teasing my nipple.
After a moment, I moved my other hand to Amyra’s breast to tease her and broke our kiss to turn and kiss Spencer.
The moment my lips touched his was electrifying.
I felt an aching need for more. All I could hear is my blood pounding, and I felt my skirt rustling as Amyra expertly weaved her hand between my legs to swirl her thumb and tease me.
I moaned into Spencer’s mouth, feeling his free hand tangle itself in my hair as he passionately explored my mouth.
Amyra tugged my cleave over my neckline, placing her mouth around my nipple, giving it the attention I’ve missed most from her. I felt my heart pulled to both.
Without warning, Spencer broke the kiss and pulled back.
“We shouldn’t do this.” he took a deep breath to calm himself.
Upon opening my eyes, I fixated on the bulge between his legs. I had never been this close to being with a man before, and never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined wanting to. I leaned into Amyra, half hugging her, feeling her breathing as hard as mine.
“I’m so sorry. We need to protect your purity.” Spencer returned to the dining table.
I laughed. “My purity? Amyra and I have left that behind long ago.”
Amyra touched my arm. “It’s ok, Lyla. He’s right.
We need to be careful. You and I can’t do the things he can, plus, remember how he saw how my soul changed yours?
What if someone working with Egan can also see that kind of thing?
And then they see his soul intermingled with yours?
We need to be careful until we know who they are and what they can do. ”
I took a deep breath, and then another, grounding my emotions, bringing my back down from the heavens. She was right. He was right. We needed to tread carefully.
“You are right, both of you. Thank you. We need to play this smart, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want this. I can’t explain why, but it feels right with both of you.”
A smile slid across my face as my next thought formed. “At least we know one bed could do just fine.”