Page 32 of Mistress of Hours

He reached between their bodies and began to knead her clit in a firm, rolling motion, and she cried out, pleasure flaring through her. He kept stroking until her orgasm crashed over her. His cock was buried so deep, and he had stilled inside her, so they both felt every pulse of her release. Orion tensed, moaning her name as he followed her to completion.

Evienne felt the pressure inside her increasing, just as it had before, but she knew now what was happening. She had never considered the possibility, but now that she was faced with it, the fact that Orion’s magic had woken in response to her, his Tuanadair nature taking over to lock himself inside her, she found it incredibly erotic and deeply meaningful.

His knot expanded fully, sealing their bodies together. Evienne’s nails pressed into the expanse of Orion’s back as she fought to catch her breath. He caught her chin in his fingers, tilting her face to him, and the corner of his mouth pulled up as he stared at her. She shifted slightly to lean her head against his shoulder, and the small movement made Orion moan. She felthim fill her again, and her own release found her once more at the sensation.

Orion gently turned them and laid them on their sides, facing each other with their legs still entangled. He brushed Evienne’s sweat-damp hair from her brow, observing her with what appeared to be reverence. She smiled at him then, and took his hand in hers, squeezing gently.

“Orion, I believe there are two things we should discuss,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“What’s on your mind, love?” He answered, holding her close to him as he remained locked in place inside her.

“First, I think I should tell you something about my magic that I’ve never told anyone…” she trailed off, feeling overwhelmed at how vulnerable she was about to make herself to him. She had to tell him though, after she had invaded his privacy just now. “I can do more than blood magic, and I don’t know how or why,” she said with a small sigh.

Orion’s brow furrowed slightly as he listened intently, not rushing her but leaving space for her to continue when she was ready. After a moment, she went on, “Sometimes, when I touch people, it feels like I’m thrown into their memories. I never control what I see it’s always a shock when it happens, but no time passes no matter how long the memory is that I see.”

She searched Orion’s face for any fear or disgust and found only gentle curiosity, and maybe a bit of concern.So she went on, “It…well it happened just now. With you,” she said with a bit of a wince. She didn’t take lightly what an invasion it was to see someone’s memories without permission.

“Oh really?” Orion looked more interested than upset. “What did you see?”

“You aren’t angry?” Evienne said, uncertainty lacing her words.

“No, love. All my secrets are yours to take should you wish it.”Orion smiled as he spoke, and pressed a kiss to her brow. She shifted as she felt the pressure in her core decreasing, a gasp escaping her lips as Orion withdrew.

“I saw the first moment you saw me when you arrived in Ichorna,” she breathed, looking anywhere but into Orion’s eyes. “I heard your thoughts.”

Orion pulled her closer so their bodies were fully wrapped in each other. “I am glad you saw; now you can be sure of me when I tell you there was a pull for me from the very second I beheld you.”

Evienne had felt the fire between them, had been intrigued by Orion since she met him, but she had not expected him—or anyone for that matter—to say such things to her. She planned to keep an open mind, but Orion had her falling for him faster than she thought possible.

“Like I said, I don’t understand this part of my magic. I’ve never had to use blood to power the spell, not that there even is one really…it just happens when I’m least expecting it.”

“Well, love, it sounds like you have some studying to do to see if anyone has recorded similar magical abilities here in Ichorna,” Orion said with a smirk.

“Yes, I suppose that’s a good place to start. Like I said, I’ve never told anyone, and I’ve honestly been a bit afraid of what I would find if I looked into it,” Evienne admitted.

“What was the other thing you wanted to discuss? You said two things,” Orion asked as he stood to collect a towel from the bathing room.

Evienne sat up and took a deep breath. She took the towel he offered when he returned and looked up at him.

“I think you should try to shift.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

The next morning,Evienne and Orion rose with the dawn, taking their horses to ride out of the city limits. Evienne went riding often, so their departure wasn’t suspicious in the least. Autumn had slipped away into winter in earnest, and the morning breeze carried a cruel bite.

They rode in silence, anticipation and anxiety hanging in the air as the countryside passed them by. Ichorna’s land was a mixture of rolling fields, grasslands, and wild, mostly untamed forests. The fields were what made Ichorna prosperous; Lucinne sat at the center of the heartland, the jewel in a crown of golden wheat.

Evienne had decided that her plans to find out what nonsense Dominique had been up to could wait; this was important, and they had a morning free from any official agenda. She would find Dominique another time. She knew she was likely just making excuses to avoid the confrontation, but she was enjoying her time with Orion too much to feel truly guilty.

Their destination was the Assombrie Forest, the closest stretch of woodland to Lucinne. Its ancient oaks and romantic drooping pines cast deep shadows across the dirt path as they entered the shelter of the woods. The cold air carried the scent of evergreen and soft, loamy earth.

This place had always felt separate from time as Evienne understood it. She hadn’t come here often, too unsettled by the sentience of the trees and the feeling of eternity that suffocated her here. The forest was desperately ancient and heartbreakingly new all at once, and her soul never quite knew what to makeof it. She had thought once that it unnerved her because being here felt like looking in a mirror; her spirit eternal and also just beginning.

They reached a small clearing in the trees. Even the chill fog seemed to recoil from this circle of mossy ground. Tiny, tightly-furled ferns braved the assessing gaze of the gray sky above, while the trees found comfort huddling near their neighbors.

Evienne slowed her horse, and Orion did the same as he took in the clearing. A look of reverence and apprehension adorned his perfect features. The sight of him here in this ancient, wild place nearly took Evienne’s breath away. She knew it had been right to bring him here; he looked like he belonged to this place.

“I think this will do,” Evienne said as she slid off her horse. Orion nodded, his lips tightening into a line. Evienne knew this was a difficult thing for her to ask of him, trying to shift after a lifetime of grief over the Tuanadair’s failing magic. Hope was more cruel than apathy.

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