Chapter 24 #2
“Wanting something doesn’t give me the right to demand it,” he said. “You were chosen with all four of us. The wing opened for all five. I don’t understand what that means yet, but I won’t punish you for it.”
“I’m not choosing you because of the Prism.”
“Good.”
The answer came without hesitation.
“You don’t?”
“I’m not Leander. I don’t need a rule for everything.”
“That seems unfair to Leander.”
“He’ll survive.”
“What do you want?”
Torren leaned back in the chair.
“You.”
The single word affected me more than any careful explanation could have.
He continued before I could respond.
“But not because I trained you. Not because I believed you in the Trial. Not because I stayed tonight.”
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
I crossed the space between our chairs.
Torren remained still as I placed one knee beside his thigh. His hands gripped the chair arms rather than reaching for me.
I settled across his lap.
The hearth turned red.
“This is my choice,” I said.
His gaze dropped to my mouth. “Say it again.”
“I choose you.”
The words did not close a door on Rafe or Bastian. They opened this one—with Torren, in this moment, because wanting more than one of them did not make any individual choice less real.
His control ended.
Torren’s hands closed around my waist and pulled me against him. His mouth met mine hard enough to take my breath.
I gripped his shoulders.
The kiss held none of Bastian’s initial caution or Rafe’s invitation for me to set the pace. Torren kissed with the restraint he had maintained since the training terrace finally released. His tongue moved against mine. One hand slid into my hair while the other kept my hips firmly against his.
I felt how much he wanted me through his trousers.
Heat gathered low in my body.
I moved against him.
Torren broke the kiss.
“Shoulder?”
“Fine.”
“Scale?”
“Fine.”
“Tell me if that changes.”
“I will.”
He kissed me again.
His hand entered the opening of my robe and spread across my bare back. Fire warmth traveled from his palm into my muscles, easing the remaining ache without burning me.
I pulled his shirt over his head.
Torren lifted both arms to help, then watched as I touched the scar across his chest. It ran from one shoulder toward his ribs, broad and uneven.
“Training accident?” I asked.
“Yes.”
His answer closed the subject.
I did not press.
Instead, I kissed the edge of the scar.
His chest rose sharply.
“Talia.”
“Bed.”
He stood with me still around him.
I laughed and tightened my legs around his waist.
“Your shoulder,” he warned.
“Is attached to me. I know where it is.”
He carried me into the sleeping chamber.
My crystal bed glowed when we approached. Clear curtains extended from the frame and turned opaque as soon as Torren set me on the mattress.
The rest of the wing disappeared behind them.
He stood between my knees.
“Last chance to tell me you want sleep instead.”
“I want you naked.”
His eyes flashed red.
“Good answer.”
He removed his trousers.
I looked at him without pretending otherwise.
Torren was thick and fully hard, his cock rising against his stomach. My body tightened in anticipation.
His gaze moved down my robe.
“Open it.”
I untied the belt.
His eyes darkened as the fabric fell away from my breasts and thighs.
Cool air touched my skin.
Torren looked at me with those dark eyes as if nothing else existed.
The attention should have made me self-conscious. Instead, it made me feel powerful.
“Beautiful,” he said.
“Still gratitude?” I asked.
“No.”
He lowered himself over me and kissed me.
His hand covered one breast, thumb passing slowly over my nipple until it tightened. Heat followed his touch, making every movement more intense.
I arched toward him.
He kissed my throat, being careful around the crystal torc, then he kissed his way down my body, learning every place that made my breath catch.
When his mouth closed over my breast, I arched against him. His hand slipped between my thighs.
I opened for him.
His fingers slid through the wetness already gathered there.
“Talia.”
The way he said my name sounded like another question.
“Yes.”
He stroked me slowly, learning what pressure made my hips lift. When one finger entered me, I gripped the blankets. A second followed after my body relaxed around him.
Pleasure built too quickly.
I reached for his cock.
Torren caught my wrist before I could close my hand around him.
“Not yet.”
“I want to touch you.”
“You will.”
He returned his mouth to my breast and pressed his thumb against my clit.
My body tightened.
The orgasm broke through me without warning. I covered my mouth to stop the cry, but Torren pulled my hand away.
“Don’t hide from me.”
His fingers continued moving until I had to catch his wrist.
“Enough.”
“Hurting?”
“No.”
He kissed me.
For one moment, the reality of what we were about to do settled over me.
Torren saw the hesitation and immediately stopped.
“Talia?”
“I want this.” I touched his chest. “I’ve simply never—”
His entire body went still. “Never?”
I shook my head.
“We don’t have to do this tonight.”
“I know.”
“We can stop here.”
“I know.”
“There is no shame in waiting.”
“Torren.” I caught his face between my hands. “I am not asking your permission to wait. I am asking you to be my first.”
Something fierce and tender moved through his expression.
“You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
He reached for the drawer beside the bed and found the academy-issued prevention draughts we had all pretended not to notice during the tour. He checked the seal before handing one to me.
Once I had swallowed it, Torren returned to the bed.
Torren settled between my thighs.
He guided the head of his cock through my wetness but did not push inside.
“Say yes again.”
“Yes.”
He entered me slowly.
The stretch bordered on pain before my body adjusted. Torren stopped halfway, his forehead pressed against mine.
“Breathe.”
“I am.”
“Not enough.”
I matched his breath as I had on the terrace.
My body softened.
He pushed deeper.
When he was fully inside, neither of us moved.
The fullness made every pulse of his cock distinct. I wrapped my legs around his hips and pulled him closer.
“Now,” I said.
Torren withdrew and thrust back into me.
His restraint lasted only a few strokes.
I wanted the loss of it.
I held his shoulders while he drove into me, each movement pushing me into the crystal mattress. Heat spread wherever our bodies touched. The clear bedframe filled with red light beneath us.
Torren’s hand returned between my thighs.
Pleasure tightened again.
I kissed him to keep from crying out.
He broke the kiss.
“Let me hear you.”
I stopped trying to remain quiet.
The second orgasm built harder than the first. My body clenched around him, and Torren’s rhythm became uneven.
“Talia.”
I came with his name in my mouth.
He followed moments later, pressing deep as heat pulsed inside me. His face lowered against my neck, breath rough across my skin.
We remained joined until both of us could breathe normally.
Torren rolled carefully to avoid my shoulder and pulled me against his chest.
The curtains around the crystal bed turned clear again.
Color filled the frame beneath us.
Red appeared first.
Then violet.
Silver followed, and pale blue moved through the opposite side. All four colors met inside the transparent crystal and became clear once more.
Torren watched them.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“You say that often.”
“So do you.”
He touched the scale at my wrist lightly enough that I felt only warmth.
“No pain?”
“No.”
“Regret?”
I looked at him.
“No.”
The bedframe brightened.
This time, the colors did not disappear.
They remained separate within the same crystal frame, distinct and bright without pushing any of the others out.