Chapter 22 Kyzen #2
I empty myself inside of her, unable to control the twitches as I fall forward, laying my forehead in the crook of her neck. Amick leans into her and we both freeze as he places a kiss on her cheek, incredibly close to her lips.
Damn, I thought that was about to be it.
“You are the most magnificent being I have ever laid my eyes on,” he says, then stands back up. Her hand chases him as he walks across the room and out her door.
I can’t help the snort that leaves me.
Her sigh flutters across my chest. “Do you both regret letting that happen?”
I push myself up fully so I can look at her. “What makes you ask that?”
“Well, he just kind of left dramatically and you laughed. I’m starting to feel like it was wrong of me to want that.”
“Hey, none of that,” I say, using my finger to tilt her face back toward me. “Neither of us regrets that whatsoever. I chuckled because of him. He just watched his Binder, who’s also his girlfriend, have an orgasm. So he’s going to take care of the problem that caused.”
“Problem? He asked if he could stay.” Her eyebrows scrunch together, and I give her a minute to catch up. She doesn’t take long to figure it out, and her eyes widen. “Oh!”
“Yeah.” I smirk, then lean down and pull her bottom lip free from her teeth with my mouth. “Was I caught off guard at first, yes, but I have complete confidence in my ability to perform under pressure.”
A small laugh rumbles out of her, and I give her a wink before growing a little more serious.
“I wouldn’t agree to anything I’m not comfortable with and I expect the same from you. If you aren’t comfortable with sharing and showing affection toward one or multiple of us in front of the others, all you have to do is say so. We’ll respect that. You know that, right?”
She nods and pulls me down for a kiss. “I do.”
“Good. So…”
“So what?”
“Did you like that? Being fucked and watched at the same time?”
“Kyzen,” she shrieks, playfully popping me on the arm. “How vulgar.”
“Really?”
I’ve heard shit ten times as bad come out of her mouth.
She attempts to hide her smile, but it wouldn’t matter. The coloring in her already freshly fucked flush intensifies.
“Yes, I enjoyed that. Probably more than I should’ve.”
Gods, the places my mind goes.
She isn’t lying. She enjoyed it thoroughly. Just thinking about it has her body breaking out in chill bumps and her nipples hardening back into tight peaks.
I’m suddenly fucking smug about the fact I got to make her come in front of him.
At the same time, my mind can’t help but think about what pleasure we could pull from her if him, or even one of the others, didn’t just watch…
Yesterday started out amazing.
I woke up with Thayla in my arms—which is becoming my new favorite normal. We skipped working out—well, we worked out in the shower we took, but we didn’t go to the meadows and swing swords. Then breakfast happened.
Awkward was an understatement.
Amick had already arranged for everyone to come to the house. Lambrit, Rose, Havar, Yemi, and…Sevryn.
The tension didn’t even need a knife to cut it. A damn spoon would’ve worked fine.
Besides my brothers and my hostility toward Sevryn, I thought Havar was going to come across the table and kill him.
Which would’ve been stupid on his part. You don’t attack the son of the God of Pain unless you can handle pain.
Amick jumped into his speech about how Sevryn was going to have to come with us, and we’d have to hide him until we left the Godsdawn. He attempted to tell everyone the new sleeping arrangements, but Yemi said she’d decide for herself what was best.
That drew a surprised snort from Thayla, which she quickly covered up, but honestly, I was shocked as well.
Yemi seems completely comfortable with him, and I don’t understand.
She has no clue about his past, which is just as dark as ours, but the fear she had toward us is nowhere in sight when it comes to him.
I don’t think she understands what he’s capable of.
I won’t hold anything over his head that he was forced to do, same as us, but what he did to us is unforgivable in my eyes.
I’m keeping the peace for now, making sure Creed and Riven don’t rip his head off, for the simple fact we’re too close to leaving for something to happen that draws attention to us.
After we successfully return from this trip, I couldn’t give a fuck if I ever saw his face again.
At the end of breakfast, Thayla told Yemi to hang out at her house with him for the day and we’d proceed with today as planned. With the new change of Havar staying at Yemi’s to babysit Sevryn.
Walking around all day yesterday, pretending what happened in Hellveilious never happened, was hard, but today is even harder.
As we prepare to enact our grand scheme of breaking into the High Chancellor’s office so Amick can copy the Book of the Gods Binding, all I keep thinking about is cutting him up into tiny little pieces and throwing him off the cliff into the Gods Gully for the creatures to eat.
Standing here, facing him with my fake-ass, put-together smile like nothing is wrong is eating me alive. Every time his narrowed eyes drift to Thayla, I want to snap. My vision grows hazy, and I shake my head to clear it.
Amick said we have to wait before we can handle everyone involved in the whole situation. Fine, whatever, I accept that.
One day, though, I will destroy Harriseen.
“Why are you all not reporting with us to inspect the carriage?”
“If something doesn’t check out, I’d rather us not waste time inspecting it twice.
After your judgment and approval of it, the rest of us will go and see it.
If you find something not to your liking, I’d prefer to wait and see it when those issues are corrected,” Amick answers diplomatically and the High Chancellor eats the shit up as he always does.
“I will thoroughly check everything over. With the importance of this quest and seeing as you only have a few days until your departure, I expect Chancellor Ellian and his Plentifuls to have everything perfect. After this, I want a full, finalized report on your travel plans.”
“I have that ready.”
“Very good. Shall we then,” he says, not actually offering for anyone to lead the way but him.
His robes flare behind him as he turns the corner from the nook in the Athenaeum with a chuckling Riven, stoic Creed, and a suspicious but going-with-the-flow Ellian on his heels.
Thayla, Amick, Lambrit, Rose, Yemi, and I wait a moment before following out as well.
Wordlessly, Lambrit and Rose turn off, heading down rows of books that will lead them to the table closest to Amick’s closed office.
Once we approach the Athenaeum doors, my power wraps around us. I spare a glance over my shoulder when we step out, watching as my brothers escort Harriseen in the opposite direction.
Our bodies are nothing but blurs as we move across the Assembly to the Sanctum. No one recognizes anything but the gust of wind we produce as we move past them.
As usual, the Sanctum is quiet, void of any excitement or personalities that don’t closely match those of the Beginning Gods.
I slow my power back down to our normal speed as we approach the Chancellors’ hallway, and my hand wraps around Thayla’s elbow.
Her worried face scans Amick’s very serious one.
She has nothing to be concerned about, though.
His silence isn’t apprehension. It’s pure concentration.
The carriage inspection won’t take long, and from what he explained, this book is thick.
Which means every second is going to count if he wants to copy the whole thing.
He’ll be a little tired and need some time to relax, no matter if he wants that or not.
He’ll have to lie around and read at a normal pace like everyone else.
“Remember what I said. If anyone comes down this hall and starts asking what you’re doing, just say you were looking for my office and got lost.”
“Got it.”
“Only minutes will pass.”
She nods, but it’s unconvincing. “I know.”
I lean in and give her a kiss, hoping it takes the edge off her nerves. Amick lays a fast, unfocused kiss right above her eyebrow, then turns to march down the hallway.
I can’t linger any longer or try to reassure her more than we already have. V’s ready to pass any messages or warnings we need back and forth between all of us. No matter. She’s going to worry until we leave.
I catch up to Amick in a split second and jerk my head at the sigh that leaves his lips as his fingers wrap around the doorknob.
“What’s wrong? Is it locked?”
“No.”
“Why do you seem so disappointed about that?”
“I’m disappointed in his ego. He has no sense of self-preservation because he believes he’s untouchable. If it’s this easy for us to intrude into his office, anyone with a half-thought-out plan could do the same.”
He ignores the grin on my face, and we don’t share any more words as he pushes open the door for us to slip inside. I shut it gently, then freeze when I take in the office.
It’s obviously my first time in here and it’s both exactly as I expected it to be but also completely different.
Yes, it’s glittering with marble, gold, three statues of himself, and rows of knowledge, but it’s an absolute mess.
There is no sense of organization among the piles and piles of parchments, scattered books, and rolled scrolls. The only spot somewhat clean is the cabinet behind the desk.
“Shit, did someone else already break in here?”
“No. It’s actually cleaner now than the last time I was here.”
“Are you serious? How does he stand this?”
“His thirst for records and history overwhelms him, I’m sure. He cares more about digesting the information than he does about actually caring and preserving it. Eventually, he’ll have an Attendant clean it up.”
“You think he just allows an Attendant in here to pick up after him?”