Page 4 of Shadows and Flames
Noruh and Tomás were the opposite—they mostly came here for the few Shadow ceremonies we were all called to attend or when they had to train or meet with the others.
“Nor, you cannot be serious.” He lowered his voice since we were drawing the eyes of the others in the room. “You know that Jones deserved it.”
Noruh snorted. “I know.That’swhy I did the best I could to talk the rest of them down from a harsher sentence, you lout.”
“Ugh.” He turned back to me and looked at my empty glass. “And you? Want to play another round?”
It took me a moment to follow my brother’s bouncing train of thought. “No. Like she said, I barely know the rules. And I teach the acolytes enough.” I took another sip of the liquor and felt the slight warming of it in my chest.
“Then what, we drink ourselves into a stupor?”
I glared over the table at him. “Exactly,” I said as I threw back the rest and slammed the empty glass on the table. Tomás didn’t abstain from alcohol, but he barely ever drank to excess. I could count on one hand the amount of times I’d seen him drunk in the past two hundred and thirty years.
“Back me up, here!” He looked back to Noruh, apparently wanting her on his side again.
My gaze cut to her, daring her to speak, and the concern on her face made my eyes narrow even more.
“I’m leaving,” I said quietly and stood. Neither of them tried to follow me, but I felt their eyes on my back as I grabbed one of the bottles at the back of the room and left.
My steps were silent and steady—it would take a lot more for my mind to descend into a stupor—as I made my way down the dark corridor. The black walls were bare aside from the lamps placed intermittently so that the place wasn’t in total darkness. Though it was cool here, my mind flashed memories of warm Temple halls decorated with intricate tapestries.
I raised the bottle to my mouth and took a swig. A drop of flame lit on my other hand, and I juggled it between my knuckles as I walked.
“Elián,” a deep voice called behind me, and I held back a wince. But I stopped, and turned around to face the one who had followed me out of the common room. I extinguished the flame.
I’d hoped he would grow uninterested, but Danner seemed determined to get me in his bed again. “Danner,” I greeted. His pale skin was lightly flushed, and his light hair was almost as long as mine now was. His deep chocolate eyes almost reminded me ofhers, and I ground my teeth at the realization.
He was dressed in an easy, white tunic and tight leather trousers, and perhaps it was the alcohol or the months since I’d returned, but I could remember why I’d been drawn to him throughout the years. He was just slightly shorter than me, his lean but strong frame eager to take anything I gave him.
But I hadn’t touched anyone else sinceher, and I had barely even felt my own hand. It all felt so pointless and empty.
Even now with heat plain in his stare as he stopped very close in front of me, I felt no desire whatsoever.
“I’ve been trying to get your attention, if you haven’t noticed.” He smirked at me, point of his right fang showing, and I let him inch another step closer.
“I know,” I said as I looked down at him. He smelled of grass fields and fresh-tilled earth. It was once a smell that reminded me of a place not far from my father’s home. When Papá, Leandro, and I would leave the Well to stay at his house, we would sometimes take a basket of food to eat in the sprawling meadow. My twin brother and I used to catch the grasshoppers and examine them before they jumped out of our palms.
Danner stepped closer to me, and my head tilted, considering. Maybe it was time to feel this again. The physical exertion of teaching and training on my own did distract me for that stretch of time. But even the liquor didn’t adequately quiet my thoughts, the ruminating.
He raised a hand and rested it on my chest. I’d actually dressed in something besides training clothing or leathers, and the embroidered, high-collared Zonoran vest left most of my torso bare. Danner’s hand was callused and dry on my skin, but it was almost as warm as my own. He applied a bit of pressure, and I let him push me back into the wall of the corridor.
A pair of Shadows walked lazily up the hall, probably headed for the common room, but they barely even glanced our way as they passed.
Danner’s thin lips wasted no time lunging for mine, and I pressed my mouth back onto his. His other hand twined in my hair, untucking it from behind my ear. His kiss made my lower belly stir slightly, and I focused on that feeling, trying to make it take me over.
He prodded his tongue at the seam of my lips, and I let him in. My hands were still down at my sides, one still clutching the bottle of brown liquor, but Danner clung to me with his entire body. His chest pressed against mine, hips grinding as we kissed.
He detached from my mouth, only to make his way down my jaw to latch himself at my neck. Danner’s hands were now on my hips, and I met the iron press of his cock with my half-hard one.I looked, unseeing, at the wall across from us while he licked and nibbled. Before, when he and I would sometimes fuck, this touch from him would leave me shoving him into the nearest empty room and demanding he take his clothes off.
But now, the lust didn’t rise. My body halfheartedly stirred, and I again tried to focus on the parts of me that did respond to Danner’s familiar touch. He never demanded I talk or that I share anything other than flesh.
I reached a hand between us—maybe touching him would help. He moaned into my throat while I palmed his cock, feeling it jerk. I sent more warmth into my grasp, and moved my hand against him, still focusing my gaze on the wall opposite.
If I closed my eyes, I’d only see her.
“I need you so badly,” he rasped before shoving his hands in my loose trousers. I leaned my head back against the wall and let Danner work my body to respond.
He brought me in for another long kiss before dropping to his knees.
