Page 86 of A Tribute of Fire

But my hands were still on the back of his head, holding him in place while he continued to kiss my neck.

“When I give my word, I mean it,” I breathed.

Almost like a punishment, he wrenched his mouth away from mine. He gazed deep into my eyes.

“As do I. And I give you my word that you will never know pleasure like you would with me.”

My insides quivered at his words, my core melting, my heart pounding hard against my chest, as if it meant to break free and give itself to him.

I believed him.

Without taking his eyes from mine, he began to push the hem of my tunic up my legs, exposing more of my skin, until he had it all the way to the tops of my thighs. I held my breath as his strong, warm fingers pressed into the skin there and everything went up in flames.

He bent down and kissed the inside of my right knee, and all the bones in my legs turned to liquid.

“Lia, let me love you,” he pleaded.

“I can’t.” But my words were weak. I didn’t mean them and he could tell.

Because his mouth was back on my leg, working his way up my thigh, and I started panting. I didn’t know what he intended to do, but I was desperate to find out.

“Tell me to stop.” His clean-shaven face was soft against my inner thigh as he left hot, consuming kisses there. “Tell me to stop, and I will.”

I couldn’t have even told him my own name, let alone ordered him to stop. I had no more will left to resist him.

“Jason,” I begged. His name I still remembered.

“Lia,” he groaned my name into my sensitized skin and I dug my fingers into his scalp.

“Lia!”

My eyes opened and I saw Io standing over me with a silly grin on her face. In a loud whisper she asked, “Who is Jason?”

I felt my cheeks going up in flames and I pressed my hands over them. “How much did you hear?”

“Enough to know this Jason must be handsome and a very good kisser.” Somehow her grin got even bigger.

I wanted to bury my face in my pillow. “He’s someone I met back home.” The last thing I should do was tell her that Jason was somewhere here in Ilion. I guessed that the teasing would be constant if I did so.

And I didn’t even know if he was still in the city. He probably was back at sea.

“Is he worth getting buried alive for?” Io asked.

“No!”

“Shh,” she said, putting a finger to her lips. “The other girls are still sleeping. You need to get up so that I can show you what your responsibilities will be in the morning.”

“What time is it?”

“Just before dawn,” she said. “I’ll meet you out front when you’re ready.”

With a yawn, I nodded and sat up. I had intended to sneak out last night and go into the temple to check the statue of the goddess, but I’d been so exhausted that I had fallen asleep the moment I’d lain down.

The second floor of the dormitory had a special shared washroom for cleansing ourselves and toilets to use. Cold water came out of metal pipes in the wall when a handle was turned.

“Aqueducts,” Io had said when I’d marveled over it, as if that explained everything.

After I relieved myself, I came into the main room to wash my teeth and face. My eyes ached and felt puffy from crying so much the night before. It had been cathartic, though. Cleansing.

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