Page 49 of Mistress of Hours

“Since when do you know Aldith to be open to assistance from anyone other than you, dear sister?”

She knew Aldith had her faults, but this conversation gave her pause. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of it, but she hoped Sylvain would stay after the celebration ended. It was good to have him home.

“I’m very glad you’re here, Sylvain. Will you at least consider staying when all this is done?” He looked down at her with a fond smile.

“How can I refuse when you ask? I will consider it.”

Chapter Thirty-Eight

As a closefriend to Ichorna’s heir and her intended, she had grown up near this palace. They had spent countless nights in this garden getting up to all the nonsense seventeen-year-olds could muster. Evienne knew the hedge maze like the back of her hand.

Back then, this had been the best place on palace grounds for a midnight tryst. Evienne supposed it still was, but the hum of voices that filled the garden reminded her how many people were nearby.

Though people lingered close to the maze, it didn’t seem to be the most popular spot at the party. The mage lights only stood near the entrance, the darkness discouraging people from getting lost in its winding rows. This hedge maze took up nearly a full acre of land, its paths lined with seven-foot-tall yew bushes.

Evienne didn’t hesitate, striding into the vast maze. A massive oak tree stood in the clearing at the center of the maze, ancient and twisting. It was visible from anywhere in the maze, meant to taunt those trying to solve the massive puzzle.

She walked the paths of this maze she knew so well, not faltering in her path as she made her way toward the center. After about ten minutes of walking, she arrived at the middle clearing. She paused and took a deep breath of cold night air, looking up at the darkened sky in all its majesty.

“Hello, love,” Orion’s gentle voice drifted to her on the night breeze. She closed her eyes as his arms wrapped around herwaist from behind, his body pressing into her back. “Are you alright? I was so worried this afternoon,” he continued.

“Yes, I’m well. I…Orion, I saw what we needed,” she whispered into the night. She felt his breath catch where his chest was pressed to her back. His hands splayed across her soft waist, and his arms tightened a bit.

“You’re certain you are alright? I’ve never seen you so shaken, and I…” he trailed off, considering. “I felt your fear and chaos in my own soul.”

Evienne turned in his arms to face him, and she felt tears spring to her eyes. “I feel very overwhelmed, but I have to be strong,” she said, her voice breaking.

His hand cupped her cheek as he wiped away the tear that fell. “You’re the strongest person I know—but part of having a Còmhanam is sharing your burden with me. I’m here for you. Whatever you need,” he said quietly.

Evienne didn’t know what the future held for them, tonight, tomorrow, next year. But she knew she wanted him one more time before they plunged into the danger ahead.

“I need you,” she said, pulling him down into a kiss.

He kissed her back, meeting her tongue stroke for stroke. His touch lit up every nerve ending in her body and heat trailed down her spine to the apex of her thighs. She felt the tips of his fingers pressing into her waist, his kisses growing more urgent.

“Orion, we don’t have to if you don’t want to,” she started, breathless.

He cut her off by slipping his hand between her legs over the fabric of her dress and pressing, the friction exactly where she needed it.

“You said this is what you need, and I will always give my Còmhanam whatever she needs. I am yours, body and soul,” he whispered against her neck. She moaned as he scooped her upwith an arm under her rear, and her legs automatically wrapped around his waist.

He walked them backwards, never ceasing his trailing kisses and bites against her neck. He stopped as Evienne felt the bark of the great oak pressing into her back.

Evienne looked up at him, both of them out of breath and flushed, and he smiled at her wickedly. “I intend to have you here against this tree, Còmhanam, and knot you in the light of the full moon,” Orion said, his eyes roving over her.

Evienne knew they shouldn’t, out here in the open where anyone could find them, but she found she didn’t much care for what they should or shouldn’t do. She knew they were about to risk their lives to find the truth of Beitar’s suffering; all else seemed unimportant in comparison.

“Then take me,” Evienne said, the challenge in her voice echoed in her gaze.

Orion didn’t hesitate. He hiked her skirts up to expose her legs and found her bare, fully exposed to him with her legs still wrapped around his waist. He groaned at the sight, running his hand from where it had been cupping her face down over the curve of her breasts, across her rounded stomach, finally coming to rest between her legs.

She could feel how wet she was for him; she needed him to touch her, now. She ground her hips against his hand, and he smirked at her, enjoying how needy she was.

“Look at you, begging me to touch your pretty cunt,” he purred.

She whined, and let her head fall back as he pressed two fingers into her.

“Fuck, you’re so tight on my fingers,” he said as he found and stroked that spot deep inside her that made her whole body tense with pleasure.

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