Page 44 of The Duke and the Disciple

“We could do that...” He glanced away.

“What?” Aesylt pulled her sleeves over her hands, precipitously more anxious than she’d been before the first kiss of the day.

“I need to get back before supper.” His teeth brushed his bottom lip, his stare traveling to her chest and then lifting abruptly. “I think we should make the most of the time we have left.”

“What did you...” Aesylt’s gaze shot to the window, the setting sun. The tingle between her legs turned to a buzz. But it wasn’t Niklaus she was thinking of, nor was it who she’d been imagining for the past hour. “Have in mind?”

He chewed the inside of his mouth. His hands twitched at his side. “According to the rules, we have to start simple and work our way through the more... challenging topics. We’ve already completed the easiest one, at least once our notes are done, but the next step or two don’t seem to require much preparation.”

“Tak, and?” Aesylt felt each blink, every prick of heat dancing across her flesh. But kisses were trivial. Everything else on the list would be further than she’d ever gone with anyone.

The thought of Rahn one room over, listening, was the most exhilarating of all—the most damning.

“Lie back, Aes.” Gone was the boyish gentleness of her childhood friend. His irises flared, reminding her of a wulf watching from the forest. “And I’ll show you. You don’t have to do anything except focus on how it feels. We’ll do our notes right after, so we don’t forget.”

She swallowed the dry thatch in her throat with a stilted cough. Suddenly, she understood. He wanted to continue their lesson on kissing, but it wasn’t her mouth he had designs on. “Oh.Oh.You want to... You want to do that now? Isn’t this skipping a step?”

“Do you not?” The fire in his eyes dimmed slightly. He looked embarrassed. “I know we’re supposed to try fondling first, but I’ve heard women enjoy that more when they’re already...”

She understood what he was trying to say, but she could find no response.

“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. I was only thinking of our schedule and trying to work in as much as we can when I’m here.”

“Nien, nien, you’re right. Of course you’re right.” Aesylt nervously fumbled with the stays of her dress, her fingers skipping atop the fabric, unable to take hold.

“You can leave it on if you like.” His throat jumped as his eyes traveled downward, then back toward hers. “I can... Your gown is simple enough for me to work around.”

“All right.” Aesylt backed up until she connected with the bed. She looked across the room, stalling, but Niklaus’s patience broke her daze. Planting her hands, she hoisted herself up and scooted back until she could lie back against the pillows. Her heart pounded so hard, she felt it when she breathed, when she swallowed. She’d been the one insisting the science could come before everything else. If she let her weakness take over now, they’d never finish. She’d never prove to herself she could be an objective academic.

There were few people she trusted as much as Nik, she reminded herself.

Niklaus climbed up on all fours. His hesitation was short-lived and then he was bunching her dress up and over her waist, exposing her undergarment to the chill in the room. It happened so fast, she’d had no time to reconcile the look in his eyes, the lust burning there, and the understanding he intended to bury his face in her nethers.

He rocked back on his heels and started tugging on her undergarment but paused. “You’re sure?”

Aesylt nodded, lying to herself and him. But it was another man’s tongue she imagined rolling around her privates. Another man’s hands hooked around her thighs as he tugged her taut to his face.

“I... Ancestors, you’re so...” He reached a finger forward, barely swiping the fabric, but it was enough to send her ass clenching and her eyes rolling back. The press of his finger to his mouth was almost too much.Scholar,she thought, and nearly came.

“What does it... taste like?”

Niklaus shook his head, his eyes cast to the side in deep thought. “I don’t know exactly, like nothing I’ve ever tasted. I’ll need more to decide.”

Aesylt closed her eyes and drew a shuddery breath, waiting... tensing. Her heart raced, skipping and doubling beats. When Niklaus’s hands skated across her flesh, traveling up her thighs, it sent a wicked shiver through her, and she sounded an involuntary shriek.

He went stumbling back with a horrified look. Aesylt started to explain herself, but the door slammed open, silencing her attempt. Teleria’soh dearwas drowned by Rahn’s heavy boots slapping stone.

Aesylt had never moved so fast in her life, scrambling first to pull her legs up, then to smooth down the fabric of her gown, which was embarrassingly difficult, bunched up underneath her in evidence of how quickly they’d transitioned from the innocence of kisses.

“Niklaus. Out.” Rahn’s voice had the forced evenness of a man struggling to control his pitch. Aesylt could barely register it in her horror, in the knowledge he’d seen her in such a vulnerable position. She felt all her truths were exposed, that he’d somehow know it washimshe’d fantasized about when her eyes were closed. All she felt was the shame of one who had been so certain she’d known what she was doing but had been woefully wrong.

Niklaus raced out of the room, with one hand on his collar. Teleria’s brows shot up as she turned and followed.

The door clicked closed.

Aesylt itched to escape to the celestial realm. Her flesh tingled, readying, but Rahn’s tense shoulders, lifting with each hard breath, ripped the air from her lungs. In the silence, she died a dozen mortifying deaths and made twice as many guesses as to what he was thinking, what he would say next. Whether he’d address what he’d seen, and why he’d sent Niklaus away.

Strain lined the edges of his jaw. His mouth opened, but no words followed. His eyes darted everywhere but at her, enough that he couldn’t hide the intention of his avoidance.

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