83. Clash of Stone and Steel
Clash of Stone and Steel
Talyn
Talyn didn’t sleep much that night. The bed felt strangely cold and empty.
In the past she might’ve relished having her space back, but now she only felt exposed.
She found herself jumping at every little creak and bump she heard in the room, and she cursed herself for becoming so reliant on Samhail.
She’d have to completely retrain herself to be vigilant.
She was sure she looked like shit when she went down to breakfast the next morning, and she wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact Samhail didn’t look much better. He seemed just as exhausted as she was, and part of her wanted to believe he hadn’t slept any better.
She planned to ask Bressen if she was free to go, then leave after breakfast, but she found herself saying yes when Samhail asked if she wanted to train as usual in the morning.
Their sparring was more intense than normal and devoid of the playful taunting they usually engaged in.
Samhail looked as though he wanted to speak to her half a dozen times both during and after their session, but he didn’t broach whatever was on his mind, and they went back to their separate rooms afterward.
Talyn found Bressen a little later, and he gave her his blessing to leave if she wanted.
To her surprise, he actually urged her to stay.
He’d talked to her before the whole kidnapping incident about possibly working for him, and he extended an official job offer now, but she thanked him and declined.
He shared some information with her that almost made her rethink that decision, but in the end, she knew leaving was for the best.
She went back to her room and gathered her few belongings, prepared to go, but every time she tried to leave, she talked herself out of it.
She was too tired, she decided. Yesterday had been an exhausting and emotional day, then she hadn’t gotten much sleep. She’d stay at the Citadel one more day to rest up, and then she’d leave tomorrow.
Or tonight. It would be better to leave in the dark hours when no one was awake and there could be no goodbyes.
Talyn
When the knock sounded at her door later that evening, Talyn wasn’t at all surprised this time when she opened it to find Samhail leaning in the frame with his shirt off and the first button of his pants undone.
Her lack of surprise did nothing to stave off the heat that flushed her body or to ease the tightening she felt in her core, but she kept her expression bland and her eyes locked with his.
Self-control, Talyn reminded herself. She had enough self-control to keep her eyes from straying to the gorgeous expanse of hard muscles that flexed under the smooth skin of his chest. She was not – not – going to look down.
“How many times do you think that’s going to work?” Talyn asked as she gestured to Samhail’s bare chest. She kept her eyes locked with his.
He shrugged. “I was hoping to get at least two, maybe three… hundred more uses out of it?”
Talyn rolled her eyes. “And I’m just supposed to look at you with your shirt off and that button undone…,” she said, her eyes dipping to the flaps of his pants, “and…and…”
Nemesis take her, why had she looked down? She could see that shock of curly white hair peeking out from the flap of his pants, and she pressed her legs together tighter before tearing her eyes back up to his face.
“And what?” she said finally. “I’m just supposed to get on my back and open my legs for you?”
Samhail shrugged. “Actually, that’s exactly what I was hoping for.” He narrowed his eyes teasingly. “Is that not what you’re planning to do?”
Talyn huffed a laugh. “Do you need something?”
He smiled wickedly. “Yes. I need you on your back with your thighs spread wide for me.”
Talyn again kept her expression neutral as her stomach did a backflip. She started to swing the door shut, but he caught it and pushed it open.
Talyn turned into her room again, knowing he’d follow, but it was a mistake to turn her back on him. As soon as the door clicked shut behind her, she found herself yanked backward and thrown against it. Samhail pressed his body against hers, and his lips came down to cut off her cry of surprise.
She tried not to sag against the door as his tongue plundered her mouth, but her hands curled around his biceps to help keep her upright as she succumbed to his domination. Gods above, the man kissed like he was going into battle, and she lost this fight against him every gods damned time.
Talyn considered herself fairly aggressive during sex. If she saw someone she wanted, she wasn’t shy about going after them, and once in bed, she usually ended up on top.
With Samhail it was different. He’d overwhelmed her from almost their first moments together, and something about submitting to his dominance just felt right.
Not that she’d ever make it easy on him.
Talyn enjoyed fighting him, and she suspected he enjoyed their fights as well, that he enjoyed her resistance.
She’d never stop challenging him, but she had to admit that when their fights were over and he inevitably succeeded in gaining her submission, it felt so good to be beneath him, to feel his immovable weight on top of her and his long, thick cock inside her.
Disappointment stabbed through Talyn at the thought that she’d never see him again after today. Sex with him was beyond anything she’d ever experienced, and it was going to take her a while to forget how much she enjoyed it. But she would forget eventually. She hoped.
“Why are you here?” Talyn asked again when he finally let her draw in a breath.
“I can’t stay away from you,” Samhail rasped against her lips as he pressed her against the door. One of his hands clasped her just under her chin to hold her head in place while the other splayed across her lower back to pull her against him.
Talyn could have ported away, and they both knew it, but she wouldn’t. Not yet.
“Why didn’t you tell me what Cyra is?” she asked.
He pulled back in surprise. “She told you?” he asked.
“Lord Bressen did. I had a conversation with him a little while ago, and he filled me in.”
His eyes narrowed even more in suspicion. “He told you she’s…,” he trailed off, apparently not trusting that she actually knew.
“A Hand of the Gods,” Talyn filled in. “A servant of the Nemesis.”
Samhail’s brow eased, and he nodded slowly.
“I couldn’t tell you,” he said. “Bressen swore us to secrecy, and I wasn’t going to give him a reason to make my brain leak out of my head.”
She arched a brow at him.
“Why does it matter anyway?” he asked.
Talyn frowned. “It matters because you fucked her, and apparently you’re divinely obligated to protect her.”
In truth, she no longer cared that Samhail had fucked the lady.
She liked Cyra despite herself, and Cyra was only one of many women Samhail had slept with over the years.
Talyn had her share of past partners as well.
They both had their own histories, and it did no good to dwell on those.
No, the only reason she brought it up now was because she needed to drive a wedge between them, or she’d never bring herself to leave tonight.
Samhail’s face darkened. “Yes, I’m obligated to protect Cyra – I’d protect her anyway because she’s my friend – but when I had the choice to help her or you, I chose you. Instead of helping Cyra against Magdalene, I pulled you back up over that chasm.”
Talyn froze. What had he just said?
She shook herself mentally. It didn’t mean anything that he’d saved her over Cyra. It didn’t.
“You chose me that time. What about the next?” she asked. Not that there’d be a next time.
She wasn’t being fair, and she knew it, but she didn’t care. She had to find a way to push him away, both physically and emotionally.
To her surprise, Samhail only smiled down at her.
“Are you jealous?” he asked.
Talyn scoffed. “I’m most certainly not jealous.”
“It seems like you are.”
She made a disgusted noise. “You’re welcome to fuck whoever you want,” she said before she ported behind him.
Samhail didn’t move, even though he was now leaning against the door alone. She crossed her arms as he sighed heavily and turned to her.
“And what if you’re the only one I want?” he asked.
“My apologies. I misspoke,” she said, “You’re welcome to fuck whoever you want, except me.”
Samhail crossed his arms as well, and they stood facing each other for several seconds.
“We both know how this ends,” he said finally, breaking the silence.
“You resist me because for some reason you feel you need to. We’ll fight.
There will probably be blood. There will definitely be lots of heavy breathing, both during the fight and after, but ultimately you’ll end up beneath me on that bed screaming my name.
Can’t we just skip to the end this time? ”
Talyn’s chin went up at the audacity of his statement, but she couldn’t suppress the flutter that went through her stomach.
Why in the three hells did it excite her so much to hear him say things like that?
She could already imagine him driving inside her with that thick cock of his.
She just prayed he couldn’t tell how much he affected her.
“Your arrogance is truly staggering,” she said as levelly as she could.
“It’s not arrogance. It’s inductive reasoning. I’m drawing a conclusion based on a pattern,” he argued.
Talyn huffed a laugh. “Fine. Maybe it’s a pattern with us, but don’t pretend you don’t want me to resist. The only reason you’re here right now is because you like it when I fight you. If I ever just started letting you have me, you’d be tired of me before the end of the day.”
There was the hint of a smile on Samhail’s lips. “So you fight me to keep me interested?”
She growled in frustration. “That’s not what I’m saying. What I mean is…” She shook her head. “There’s something seriously wrong with you.”
Samhail considered this. “I’m fine with that. Now can we just get on with this? I’m starting to get hard already just arguing with you.”