Page 245 of A Dance of Water

Her eyes fell closed, and he scoffed, as if thinking she was weakly giving in to the tears.

But Luella was searching inside herself, chasing after the five threads within her that all held different feelings, yet one thing was common: a fierce sort of protectiveness… But was it for her?

Could they feel her, too? Her almost innocent curiosity for a non-innocent act? The way her breath hitched each time his hand flexed against her? How Vale’s nearness did not scare her, but only fed into the encompassing yearning that flowed throughout her body?

Could they feel the rightness that had sunk into her as soon as she had stepped into the stone room?

Luella knew that the mage did not truly want to kill her, even if the words he uttered held violence.

She opened her eyes, finding he was already staring down at her, lips curled into a sneer. Yet his hands were not harsh on her body, where he held her head and cupped between her legs.

Another time, then. She would crack him. Vowed to wear him down like ocean waves eroded the rocks. If he was capable of growing soft, why could it not be her who did it?

She found herself saying: "If that’s what you believe." The stardust swirled around her, brushing down her thighs to chase after his touch, its warmth made her choke out a soft gasp. "F-finish this, then."

Gulping, she allowed herself to give in to the warmth of the stardust on her body, even while shameful trepidation and an overwhelming sense of disbelief threatened to make the corners of her vision grow dark.

Tharen’s gaze chased after the stardust, followed by his hands, but it evaded him every time, curling lower down her body. His fingertips trailed after the path it made on her skin, down her shoulders, over her ribs, across her stomach.

"Who knew you’d be so demanding?" he nearlysang, breath blowing hot waves against her flesh as his fingers drummed over her core. "Who knew I wouldn’t mind?"

He used the heel of his hand to grind against her. Her whole body radiated with pleasure, from the tips of her bare toes to the top of her head, not one part of her was untouched by the consuming feeling.

She swallowed each sound that threatened to give away just how much she was enjoying this, winding up to a precipice she had never reached before.

For the second—or maybe third time; it was getting hard to keep track—Luella pressed her hand to her mouth to stifle her cries. And Tharen seemed to have had enough.

He ripped her hand away, clasping their fingers and keeping her arm held by her head, pinned down against the unforgiving stone.

"I won’t tell you again. Those sounds are mine. You don’t get to hide them. If I can’t stifle your pretty pleas, then neither can you." He tightened his hold on her palm, his hand so large that her fingers stretched uncomfortably. "Every time you gasp, I want it to remind you of who’s forcing those sounds from your lips." Each word was punctuated by the grinding of his hand against her core, fingers digging into her tightly over the thin fabric of her gown.

She was aware of her bareness underneath—the material did relatively nothing to keep him away. Each movement made his forearm brush against the soft flesh of her bare inner thighs. He was so close to that aching, wet heat. But not close enough.

She wanted her gown gone, but never wanted to take it off.

Torn in two.

Her back twinged uncomfortably, making her shift upward to relieve the pressure against the unforgiving stone.

Tharen loomed over her. She forgot about Vale, the stardust… their bargain.

"Is this—" She hiccuped a soft sound. He ran his nose along the length of her neck, fingers locking tightly with hers to give her no ability to hide herself away.

"Is this n-normal? Why do I feel so…"

She could barely string together a coherent sentence.

Desperate to make the pit in her stomach abate, she attempted to close her legs.

Tharen used his thigh to keep her legs splayed open, fingers still stroking over her core. He did something—somethingthat made her gasp, the sound ending on a choked cry.

"That’s it," the mage muttered darkly.

Her head fell to the side on the altar.

"Tharen, I think I?—"

He shushed her. "Don’t try to stop it."

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