CHAPTER 18 #3
“It’s complicated. And now isn’t the time to discuss it.
” His jaw was set, stubborn determination in his eyes.
“I know you want to help. But you can do that by staying alive. By completing the third Trial and passing the Rite. It’s wishful thinking, but maybe you’ll be the one to break the curse after all. ”
I wasn’t getting anything else out of him today.
I sighed. “Alright.”
“Alright? I’m not used to you agreeing with me. It feels like you’re speaking a different language.”
“I’m only agreeing for now. But you can’t keep me in the dark forever. And I have demands.”
He caught my wrist, bringing the inside to his lips. “List them.”
“I want to know about the third Trial.”
He hesitated. “Are you sure? It could cause unnecessary panic.”
“Or help us prepare,” I shot back. “And I want the entire group to be trained on channeling in preparation for the Rite.”
“Lirah. It’s highly unlikely that, even with months of practice, every candidate would be able to channel well enough to pass the Rite.”
“A chance is still a chance, no matter how small. Let each person decide for themselves whether they want to take it.”
He nodded slowly. “Okay. We’ll start tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
It was a weird thing, being in agreement with him. I was certain it would not last long. My fingers grazed his forearm, and he tensed ever so slightly. I let them trail up his arm, marveling at the contours.
I glanced up at him. “I lied. I don’t really hate you. Not for a while now.”
“I know.” His hands wrapped around my lower back, and he pulled me closer. “I’ve never been so bewitched by such a dreadful liar.”
The corners of my lips twitched. “I wonder what that says about you.”
“Certainly that I have excellent taste.”
His lips pressed against mine in a soft, slow kiss. His fingers sank into my hair, caressing my nape.
He drew back only to say, “I have something I need to prove. I believe the record was… twenty seconds, right?”
A mischievous glint appeared in his eyes, and my core went molten.
“More or less.” I lifted my arms, and he pulled my tunic off, I lay flat on the ground as his fingers moved deftly along the ties on my gear. “No blade this time?” I teased.
But there was no amusement left in his eyes, only voracious want.
He undid the laces of my cuirass with ease. I didn’t care that he was undressing me in the middle of a park in broad daylight. But as soon as the thought crossed my mind, a blanket of shadow caressed me, blocking out the sky above.
It was just Kilian and I in a pocket of darkness, only faint light streaming in from high above.
“This,” Kilian said, his fingers splitting the gear apart, “is only for me.”
He ran a hand down the plane of my stomach, and I whimpered.
I wanted his hands on every inch of my body, rough and unyielding, not the gentle, whisper soft caress he was trailing along my skin.
I wanted his length pressed against me, and to feel the hard lines of his body flush against mine.
I wanted him to rock against me the same way he had done last night, with hips and teeth and rage.
I wanted him utterly and completely. So much that the revelation scared me.
He pressed a soft kiss to the hardened peak of my nipple, his hand continuing its sweep across my stomach.
His fingers unhooked the button at the top of my pants, and he unzipped the closure with maddening slowness.
I didn’t know what to concentrate on: his tongue as it dragged lazily across my neck or the hand tracing the seam of my underwear.
He slipped a finger below the cotton band, stroking the skin just beneath.
He was barely touching me, but it felt like I was going to explode. My body was taut, my muscles quivering in anticipation.
“Are you planning on doing something worthwhile, or do I have to do it myself?” I bit out.
Kilian’s answering laugh rumbled across the darkness, and I felt his smile press against my neck.
I wanted to pull him away just so I could look at it, but I couldn’t bear the thought of his lips parting with my skin.
He dragged his teeth along the column of my throat in an arc that alone made me see stars.
His lips pressed to the corner of my mouth, and he said, “So impatient.”
I panted as his fingers dipped lower, drawing small, idle circles with each inch they descended. Until finally… finally…
Soft pressure glanced against the most sensitive spot on my body, and my eyes slammed shut, my neck stretching so that my mouth could slant against his.
He met my urgent kiss, stroke for stroke, while his fingers continued their ministrations.
It was not nearly the kind of pressure I craved though, and my hips rolled against the palm of his hand, needing release.
Kilian held me down with that same palm, his grip a stone vise, and I writhed beneath his hold. He tutted against my lips. “Good things come to those who wait.”
His fingers traced the shape of me, running down my core and then right back up. He slid a finger inside of me, and then added a second. I wasn’t going to make it. Not to the third Trial. I was going to fracture into a million tiny pieces of starlight.
And then, without warning, he wrenched his fingers out of me, dragging them back across my stomach. I nearly screamed at the loss of contact. He tore his lips away from mine. Staring down at me, he drew his fingers to his mouth and licked them clean.
“You’ll forgive me,” he said, his voice rough like gravel, “if I want a second taste. Lift your hips for me.”
He pulled the waistband of my pants and underwear down in one swift move, and then paused as he stared at me, swallowing hard.
Everything inside of me was hot and aching, my entire body quivering. “Can you stop gawking and fuck me?” I didn’t have time to ask nicely when I was wound tighter than a coil.
It seemed to jolt him out of his stupefaction. “There’s that sailor’s mouth I so enjoy.”
Kilian placed his hands firmly on my thighs, holding me down as he positioned himself before me. I sank my hands into his silken hair. It was all I saw before the first swipe of his tongue against my folds, and my vision turned black.
He suckled, his tongue circling me with lethal precision and tantalizing accuracy. His fingers stroked my entrance and then they were back inside me, rolling and curving along a spot that made me gasp for air.
The feeling was choking, the sensation overwhelming. My skin was on fire, fresh hunger coursing through my veins. I ground my hips against him, but his grip on my thighs was firm, limiting my range of motion. I was going to scream if he didn’t pick up the pace.
“Kilian,” I rasped.
He lifted his head, lips glistening, silver eyes meeting mine. “You’ve never said my name before.”
That was ludicrous. I’d said his name plenty of times… in my head. Never out loud to him.
“If I say it again, will you let me come?” I squirmed beneath him. “Kilian.”
He shivered. It was quick soft vibration of his skin against mine, but unmistakable. His expression morphed into one of pure, unfiltered need, a savage gleam in his eyes. His mouth was back on me.
“One.” He spread my legs wide.
“Two.” His tongue swept clean along my center.
“Three.” He plunged two fingers inside of me.
“Four.” His teeth grazed me, his tongue darting out to soothe the sting.
“Five.” He gave me exactly what I needed.
His fingers set a fast pace, his tongue lapping against me, and my muscles quaked.
My back bowed straight off the soft grass as blinding pleasure ripped through me.
I was falling and flying, hurtling toward nothing, pure ecstasy singing in my soul as he kept the same hard rhythm, allowing me to ride out my high.
I screamed his name as I came apart on his lips.
He grinned up at me with feral satisfaction.
“Five seconds. You just beat my record.”
I wanted to hurl some witty retort back at him, but I was so sated I could barely keep my eyes open. I reached for him, but he pulled away, reluctance shining in his eyes.
“Not today, Lirah. We should get you back to the house and cleaned up before supper. Rite training starts tomorrow. You should get a good night’s rest.”
“You haven’t told me about the third Trial yet,” I said through a yawn.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “You’re exhausted. I can feel it.”
I was exhausted. And I had been up at an ungodly hour this morning. I could use a bath, a hot dinner and a seven-to-eight-hour sleep.
I re-laced my cuirass and grasped my tunic, my movements sluggish as I pulled it over my head.
I slid my pants back up my shaky legs. Kilian hooked a finger in the band where a belt might go, dragging me toward him.
His hands fell to my waist. I watched as he buttoned my leathers and zipped the closure back up.
He leaned down to press a soft kiss against my head, and I breathed in his scent, letting it flood through me.
Something vital and raw had shifted between us today. I could feel it through the link. In the current of power echoing around him and encircling me.
It was a distressing peculiarity to note that I no longer loathed Kilian Valhan. An oddity to acknowledge that all the energy spent despising him had been a complete and utter waste. That after trying my very best not to, I’d still somehow fallen for the enemy.
And maybe… he wasn’t really the enemy after all.