Chapter 19 #2
The cliff is rough, giving me enough purchase for steady progress, and I grin when my fingers reach the edge. I look back down and give Zaza a thumbs-up to let her know I'm fine before pushing fully up.
Only for my eyes to land on a pair of boots. Shit.
TATE
The moment Daeva told me Solaris’s answer, I knew it was bullshit.
Never ever would Ara simply agree to my demand to keep her two feet on the ground, and sure enough, here she is scrambling up a cliff again.
What I didn’t expect to find is the small golden egg I currently hold in my hand. How did she know it was up here?
I've checked my map twice since arriving, but this is not where it was supposed to be. One problem at a time. I slip it into my pocket and wait with my arms crossed for Ara to clear the ledge.
If I weren’t so mad at her, her reaction would have been quite funny. Her eyes land on my boots first, and she drops her head. I approach her while she is busy cursing.
Her eyes come up to me, and I’m not prepared for what that little tilt of her head does to me.
Her kneeling in front of me, her big, beautiful eyes fixed on me and full of defiance. Holy mists. I’m instantly hard. She bites her lip, and I know it’s a nervous habit, but my cock doesn’t care. I swallow down a groan.
“I thought we talked about this,” I say, and somewhere on the way up my throat, my voice dropped an octave. I swear that woman was created to tempt me.
“You talked about it,” she tells me, “but I never agreed. What are you doing here anyway? Your group went in a different direction.”
“And you thought Solaris happily agreeing to my demands wouldn’t make me suspicious?” I ask, glad that came out as a coherent sentence. “I know you, Ara. I see you. That we weren’t so far off helped too.”
I point behind her, and when she turns, I use the chance to adjust myself. She harrumphs upon seeing Calix and Jared in the distance, then turns back with a glare.
“Were you spying on me?”
My eyebrows rise. “Keeping my flight in line is my job,” I say dryly.
“It's not my fault that to keep you in line, I have to get a little more creative.” I step closer and notice her body going rigid, when I lean past her to let Zaza know we’ll head to the next location.
“Oh, and Ara is with us now,” I shout down before turning back to her.
“I warned you,” I tell her, and her eyes narrow. Oh, she is going to hate it.
Daeva approaches and lands behind us.
“Get on,” I order, and just as I thought, she declines.
“Thank you, but I have my own bird.”
“That would be difficult,” I tell her, and nearly laugh at her expression when she realizes the solidified air circling her wrist.
“You've got to be kidding me,” she hisses, her eyes snapping to mine.
“I keep my promises,” I tell her and nod toward Daeva. “Now, get on, or I’ll make you.”
“I will not sleep next to you,” she hisses. Huh, I haven’t thought of that, but then when has Ara ever slept next to me? She always seems to prefer to sleep on top of me. I tell her as much, and her reaction makes me grin.
“That's not what I meant,” she snaps. And maybe I get why she loves to drive me up the wall. This is the most fun I’ve had in days.
“So you want me to sleep on top of you?” I pretend to ponder her imaginative offer and hum.
“As if I would want—” She stops and shakes her head, huffing out in exasperation. “Just get this off me.”
“That I can’t do.” I grin down at her. “Consequences are earned after all.”
When she makes no move to climb on Daeva’s back, I get up first and hoist her up in front of me.
It’s only when she ends up with her back snugly against my front that I realize I haven’t thought that through properly.
She leans forward, probably to create distance, but with Daeva’s slanted back, that only presses her perfect ass more firmly against my crotch. Holy mists talk about sweet torture.
She quickly leans back, but now her head rests against my chest and neck.
Her scent floods my senses, and the temperature increases rapidly.
I’m hyper aware that I only have to slightly turn my head to press my lips against her temple.
Her left arm is crossed over her stomach and still connected to my right arm, which is resting on my thigh near her hip. I swallow.
Daeva launches, and the movement causes Ara to slide back against me. Even if she didn’t notice it before, there is no way in hell she can miss what her proximity does to me.
Thankfully, it’s a short flight.
Jared greets us with a smirk, while Calix looks confused, when Ara slides from Daeva’s back and waits for me to get down, her tapping foot expressing her annoyance. I stay next to Daeva and talk to her to give myself time to cool down before facing the others.
“What was that about only one first year in each group?” Ara asks behind me.
“I’d say I don’t have to worry about you straying from my side now. Do I?” I look at her over my shoulder.
“As if I have a choice,” She grumbles. “Yes, he chained me to him,” she says, seemingly answering Jared’s or Calix’s unvoiced question.
“You didn't give me a choice,” I reply evenly, while Jared snickers.
We hike to the next location, and as soon as we reach it, I look at Ara expectantly.
“What?” she asks.
“Where is it?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she says, but she is lying. I step closer.
“We both know that's bullshit,” I whisper into her ear, and goose bumps spread over her skin. I try to ignore it. “You want me to believe that you climbing up there was a coincidence? Come on, Ara.”
“You can believe anything you want.”
“You can feel or see magic or sense it in another way, can’t you?”
She stays silent.
“That is how you always know where I am. You recognize my gift, don’t you?”
“Those are some interesting theories.” She looks off into the distance.
“Haven’t I proven again and again that you can trust me?” I ask, slowly getting frustrated. She lifts her eyebrows at me.
“Have you?” She looks down at her wrist. “Funny, I must have missed it.”