Chapter 56 #2
Icy, ravenous fear clawed up Mariah’s spine, just as burning rage lit in her belly. He was looking for her because he thought she stole from him? When he was the one who took everything from her? “I cannot wait to kill him one day.”
Andrian smiled sadly, planting a kiss between her brows.
“I can’t wait for that, either. But you’re worrying too much, nio,” he said against her skin.
“Even if it’s dormant, the magic of the moon goddesses is in your veins.
This night belongs to you, and you have been so patient in getting to celebrate it. ”
A heated thrill shot through her, chasing away the darkness of her fear and rage. “Does that mean I’ve been good?” She lifted an eyebrow.
Andrian huffed a laugh. “Yes,” he said. “But this lesson isn’t over quite yet.” He glanced toward the raging bonfire, the musicians swaying with their instruments, the joyous bodies writhing with the incandescent melodies.
With a strange feeling of lightness Mariah hadn’t felt in a long time, she let Andrian drag her into the throng of the dance, losing herself in the music and magic of the night.
Mariah’s bare feet were coated with fine-grained sand, the soft layers of her paneled dress cool as they brushed around her legs. The music slowed, melodies easing from exuberant celebration to sensual worship. Sweat dripped off Mariah like drops of silver-gold moonlight.
And her blood was boiling.
Andrian’s arm around her waist tightened, firelight flickering in his crystalline eyes. Black hair fell messily across his forehead and the top buttons of his shirt were undone, the corner of his scarred Mark visible on his chest.
He was beautiful.
She needed him.
As if he read her thoughts, Andrian glanced around, a smirk tugging at his lips.
The dancing followed the slowing beats of the music. Just like in Onita, Leuxrithian children and families celebrated the Solstice at home. That was about where the similarities ended.
Heat flushed Mariah’s cheeks.
Leuxrithians, it seemed, were far more uninhibited than Onitans.
Some pairings—or groups—peeled off into the shadows of the woods, clothing already unspooling behind them.
Some didn’t even bother leaving the area around the fire.
Matheo and Signe embraced on the other side of the flickering flames, their lips locked with a desperate hunger that wasn’t unfamiliar to Mariah.
She huffed a soft laugh, her gaze drifting to other couples joined in ways that pushed far more boundaries than passionate kissing.
“Luexrithians have never cared much for Onitan standards of decency.” Andrian’s voice rumbled through her. “The Solstice for them is a night of magic and physical adoration without shame. An embrace of freedom and a shunning of control.”
Mariah swallowed, fighting to dampen the raging heat winding through her body. “Probably too much to wish that we could make things more like this back home.”
“Oh? Do you like what you’re seeing, princess?”
Her chest burned, heart thudding beneath her ribs. She pulled him down so her lips could whisper against the shell of his ear.
“I would’ve hoped that after last night, that wouldn’t even be a question.”
He laughed, breath stirring her hair. “Last night taught me a lot about you, nio. Thank you so much for the lesson.” His grip tightened. “I think you may have just earned yours.”
Mariah’s heart lurched, breath catching in her throat. “And what are you planning to teach me?”
Andrian didn’t answer. He only pinned her with a dark, hungry stare, shadows curling down his arms.
He moved, tugging her away from the bonfire, away from the swaying bodies. Toward the dark ring of trees lining the beach, edges gilded in brilliant moonlight.
He stopped where the soft sands turned to smooth pebbles, where the firelight was dim but still touched their skin. Right on the cusp between light and shadow, on the edge of darkness and visibility.
Andrian gripped her waist, whirling her to face the fire. Her back met his chest, body curving instinctively into his.
His fingers ghosted down her arm. “I’ve done a lot of thinking about how I would repay you for last night,” he murmured. “But then I realized…the punishment needed to fit the crime.”
“Punishment?” Mariah gasped, her voice low and a little hoarse.
“Yes, princess. You commanded a sworn, bonded member of your Armature to protect your image before a foreign court and then took it upon yourself to compromise that image.” He tsked. “Good queens make my job easier, not more difficult.” His fingers tightened, digging into the skin of her waist.
“But you’re not a good queen, are you?”
Mariah shook her head, just the barest movement. Heat pooled between her legs, her core burning.
No one could talk to her like this. No one but him.
And gods, did she fucking love it.
“That’s what I thought.” His hands relaxed, resting on the dip of her hip.
“So, for your punishment, you are going to stand here, right where anyone at this celebration could see, while my shadows feast on you. The more you react, the more sounds you make, the longer it’ll be before I let you come. ”
Oh.
Gods.
All that teasing, all that denial of her…she should’ve known it was only so he could plan his revenge.
She couldn’t possibly love it—or him—more for it.
Mariah snaked a hand over her head, wrapping it around his neck.
Her fingers buried in the thickness of his hair, back arching into him, pleasure spearing through her at the feel of his thick, hard length.
Andrian placed a soft kiss to the inside of her wrist, a surprising moment of tenderness that only made her blood course brighter.
“Do your worst, Armature.”
The kiss on her wrist turned into a nipping bite, a growl slipping past his throat. She couldn’t help but grin.
Her smile faltered, though, when shadows spilled from his arms, winding down her legs.
“You know people can see your shadows, right? Won’t that defeat the punishment?”
He chuckled. “Don’t worry, nio. I’ve learned some tricks of my own in our time here.”
Just as he spoke, his shadows vanished. Melted into the air around them, as if they’d never existed at all.
“What—”
A familiar coolness caressed her thigh, slipping between the panels of her skirts.
“The beauty of shadows,” Andrian said, “is they don’t need to be visible to exist.”
The tendril wound higher up her leg.
“Fascinating,” Mariah said, fighting the urge to pant her breaths. “I wonder if my light can work the same way, when I have it back.”
“I don’t doubt anything you might be capable of, nio. But at this moment, there is one thing I am more curious about.”
The invisible shadow slid around the back of her thigh, under the dip of her ass.
“You didn’t bother with any underwear, did you? Even knowing all these people would be here?”
Mariah knew she would mewl if she tried to speak. She kept her mouth closed and shook her head instead.
“Were you hoping all along that my shadows would take you in front of them? That the world would come to know just how desperate Onita’s queen is for her shadow-wielding Armature?”
She nodded, again not able to trust her voice.
“Well, I can hardly deny my queen. But remember your punishment.”
Andrian’s shadow slid between her thighs. Mariah couldn’t stop the gasp that slipped past her teeth.
She remembered the first time he’d done this to her, hidden in the stacks of the Onitan library. So much had changed since then.
It thrilled her that some things never would.
“Gods,” he groaned into her ear. His shadows explored her, taunting and infuriating. “So wet already, even for my cursed shadows. If you stay quiet, this shouldn’t take long at all.”
“How many times do I have to tell you, Andrian.” Mariah wasn’t sure how she found her voice, only that the words demanded to be said. “Your shadows are not cursed. You are better than your maker.”
Those same shadows paused their taunting. Andrian released a shaky exhale.
“Whether I’m better or worse, it doesn’t matter. My magic and I belong to you all the same.”
The coil of shadow slipped inside her with a sudden, desperate thrust.
They filled her. Consumed her. Cracked her open, broke her, and pieced her back together.
Her grip in his hair tightened, nails of her other hand digging into his forearm.
Her head was thrown back, face nuzzled into the crook of his neck, the world swirling with rain and sandalwood and the distant tang of the bonfire.
But she didn’t cry out.
His shadows began to move inside her, her heavy breaths matching his.
The fast beats of their hearts roared in her ears, drowning out the sensual melodies of the music.
Even knowing they could be seen, even knowing they were far from alone, the moment narrowed to his arms around her, her body against his, his shadows between her legs.
“You’re doing so good,” Andrian said. “Staying so quiet. No one has even noticed us yet.” His teeth grazed her ear. “Let’s see if you can handle more.”
More?
Mariah’s thoughts fizzled when another invisible tendril slipped under the folds of her dress.
When it found the apex of her thighs, grazing over her clit, she couldn’t control herself. It had been so long, too long. She’d forgotten what it was like, what it would be like—
She whimpered.
Everything stilled.
“I’ll give you that one,” Andrian murmured hoarsely. “But I expect more control from you, princess. Understood?”
Gods, what an asshole.
She loved him.
She nodded, even as a thrill of competitiveness sparked through her. She would win this test. His taunting was all but assuring it.
“Good girl.”
That competitive resolve quaked when his shadows resumed their worship.
But it didn’t break.
Andrian’s shadows played her body like an expert musician played an instrument.
Coaxing and teasing, biting and soothing, delicate and firm.
Each twist inside her, each touch over her clit, had her pleasure climbing higher.
Somehow she stayed quiet, somehow she kept herself still, even though all she wanted to do was cry out into the night and writhe in his arms.
The fight for control only added to the thrill. That dormant magic sparked in her chest, just as it always did, a reminder that what was lost was not gone. And she couldn’t wait to get it back.
She felt herself nearing that precipice. Felt herself inching toward that cliff. She was ready to fall over it, ready for light to burst across her vision.
The shadows paused. Despite her sharply held control, a gasp of surprise slipped past her lips.
“What are you—”
“Shh, baby,” Andrian soothed, whispering against her temple. “I know you’re being perfect. Just as I knew you would be. But I’m not ready to move on quite yet.”
What?
A third coil of shadow met the back of her thighs, sliding over her backside, and she fell utterly still.
“I have more planned for you after this,” Andrian continued. “After my shadows have had their fill. I won’t do this to you tonight, because my magic has had enough fun, and I’m growing jealous.”
That third tendril of shadow eased between the flesh of her ass. Her eyes flew wide.
“But one day, when you’re ready, when you’ve earned it, your pretty pussy is going to take my cock while I fill this tight ass with my shadows.” Andrian’s deep growl thundered through her. “Is that something you’d like, princess?”
Mariah had forgotten how to breathe. Forgotten how to speak. Could barely move. She only nodded, the smallest movement, but enough for him to understand.
He was right; not tonight. But, fucking gods, was that something she wanted.
Andrian sighed heavily. “You couldn’t be more perfect for me even if the gods themselves had crafted you from my dreams.”
His shadows moved again, and there was no more teasing. No more waiting. With an expert finesse, his magic dragged her right back to that edge and shoved her off it.
Light and magic crackled around her. Energy thrummed through her veins, stars dancing in the field of her vision, the heavens dropping down from the sky to dance upon the earth.
When the crest of her release finally faded, when the sensations had swallowed her and set her gently back upon the ground, she found she no longer faced the roaring bonfire. Her face was buried in Andrian’s chest, arm still slung over his shoulder, fingers tightly gripping his hair.
Mariah lifted her chin and found his gaze, the blue filled with so much love and obsession and desperation and all the things they’d been navigating these past few weeks.
She pulled him down to her with a weak sob, their kiss a tangle of teeth and tongue and murmured words of heavy adoration.
After a time—either a few seconds or a few hours—they broke apart, breathing heavily, moonlight catching the sheen coating their skin.
Mariah swallowed, her mind still swimming, her thoughts slowly returning to her. “You said you had more planned?”
Andrian’s face broke into a full, beautiful smile. The kind he hardly ever shared, the kind that always felt like a gift when he did.
“That’s right, princess. The night is still young, and we’re just getting started.”