Page 56 of The Cerulean Sister
But what changed his mind? What thoughts lured him away enough to walk around for hours until dawn crept into our window and he returned?
"I messaged my father, updated him on the council meeting status and what the lord general suggested," he says, answering my thoughts I did not mean to share. "He is the reason I have returned calmer."
I want to know what wisdom Allister gave to 99, but I think it is not for my ears. He would reveal it if I asked, but there is something special knowing they had a moment to reflect together when 99 has given such strong indication that they have not had a deep, meaningful conversation in a long time.
"I am happy you spoke to him." I squeeze his hand to ground myself in the sensation of how profound it is to finally understand what it is like to have family.
"If it comes to it," he sighs like he is about to say the most difficult thing in the three worlds, "I will not try and stop you or convince you not to go. If I could have gone to my family when they left, if there was a way for me to be permitted?—"
He inhales sharply and starts a few more sentences before giving up.
I tug his hand up to my lips and hold it there.
His disdain for this process and how his government makes decisions is so apparent. He has no faith in them when it comes to helping in ways such as this, when family is in danger butcomplications muck up the facts. Of course he attacked the lord general, perhaps because he knew he was right.
"Was he there when you petitioned for your mother and Oliver?" I say as gently as possible.
He nods into my hair, confirming my suspicions for the true reason of the special visit from Lord General. He came to warn us and give further advice because he doesn't want another tragedy on his conscience.
I press a kiss to 99's giant hand and send affection through the tether, hoping to fill in the spaces where my words are failing me. I am grateful for him, his protection and support, and the complicated feeling of not wanting to do this but knowing it may be the only way Leema will be protected.
"We were just getting started here." His whisper breaks my heart. If I didn't feel his breath on my neck, I would have thought he said it through our tether, it's so rare he says something so vulnerable aloud.
"We are not done, 99, not even close." I twist my body to face him. "Do you hear me? Not even close." My voice cracks a little, so I press a kiss into him, sealing my words.
He lets me pepper his mouth with kisses until there is a tiny tug of a smile on one side of his lips.
"If you had any idea, Priestess." He sighs. "There was nothing before you."
I run my hand up the scruff on his chin, mesmerized and breathless.
His dark, blown-out pupils in the low light of our little room dip down to my lips, his expression changing from the soft, dreamy state of the morning to something else entirely.
I lick my lips under his intense gaze, and before I can part them to say my next thought, he captures me in a deep kiss, one that has me opening for him without any prompting. Histongue slides over mine as his palm goes to the back of my neck, directing my head into the position he wants me.
I want him closer, to feel his chest against mine, but my arms are pinned between us. When I wiggle to get them free and draw them toward me, my hand brushes his pelvis. He's completely naked, his hard, scorching length pressed against my thin nightgown.
I can't help but get lost in the overwhelming sensation of his kiss, his strong hands holding me in place, and the effect it has on his body. I love how our intimacy can blend such strong emotions of honesty and vulnerability with desire for each other.
Emboldened by my own need rearing to life, I move my hand farther down, seeking out the full scope of him. His hips buck a little when I wrap my hand around it and slowly draw upward. A rumble starts in his throat, vibrating with a deep timbre, winding down his kiss. With another stroke, his lips only rest against mine, and he lets out breathy pants that hitch each time my palm reaches his tip.
He gets so lost in the moment, I think maybe he only wants me to kiss and stroke him, which I would be more than happy to do because he seems so tired and his mind is still cloudy with all the events that transpired yesterday.
But as if to prove my assuming thoughts wrong, he moves down my neck and nips at the sensitive spot he knows I love, sending a new sensation over my skin with each exhale.
I'm so wet, he could slide in right now with little effort. And when I send that thought through our tether, he hisses through his teeth and bites at my shoulder harder than I was expecting.
We both want to get lost in each other and temporarily forget what we are about to face, what we cannot escape, and only focus on the other’s pleasure.
I moan his name when he tugs on my nightgown until I can feel his cock against my skin.
He juts his hips slowly upward again, like he can’t help himself, and I can feel the hard tip glide through the pre-cum coating my stomach.
Without warning, he hitches my leg up on his hip and reaches his hand down between my thighs, and a thick finger runs through my aching core. He hums his approval and says how wet I am for him, how soft I feel.
He coats his finger at my entrance before sliding a single digit in and capturing my gasp in another brutally deep kiss, turning me over until I'm sprawled out underneath him.
His tongue runs along mine over and over until his kisses become little nips on my lower lip that make me squirm under his weight.
