Page 71 of By the Orchid and the Owl
I didn’t even know what I was saying, just that I was letting whatever came to mind spill out of my mouth and into his.
At my words, his hands yanked down my pants and the scrap of lace beneath. The cave air bit into me, chilling me, but he pressed himself fully against me until his body heat had stifled any trace of the cold.
“What about here?” he said. “Has anyone ever touched you here?”
One of his hands cupped the back of my neck, holding me in place, while the other… the other spread each of my thighs apart, one by one, and slid down to where I ached and throbbed andneededhim. His fingers found their mark.
No. No one had ever touched me there, but I could revel in it forever, the pressure and movement of his fingers pushing further and further into me until…
I couldn’t suck in a breath fast enough. Couldn’t get enough of this.
“Is this enough experimentation for you?” Coen asked, tilting his head as if it was such an innocent little question. As if his own hunger wasn’t sparking in his eyes.
“No,” I choked out. “Not… not nearly enough.” My fingers scrabbled at his back as his fingers moved inside me, exploring my body from the inside-out. He was staring at me, now, a look of utter fascination stealing over his whole face.
I stared back, realizing with a jolt that Coen Steeler was…. was actuallyinme and not acting haughty or boastful or smug or anything I would have expected.
Rayna Drey.
His voice was a caress in my mind. He didn’t make a single comment about the moans escaping my mouth or the small puddle I was surely making or the way my hips arched against his touch again and again, delirious for more, more, more.
You are much too lovely for this world,was all Coen said, and it was his name—his nameonly—that raged like a waterfall in my head as he stroked me deeper into bliss.
We got back to Bascite Boulevard by dawn, where Coen kissed me goodbye right in front of all those windows and left me by the front door of my house.
I walked inside, exhaustion touching down on my shoulders for the first time since the Testing Center… but the butterfly wings beating in my ribcage wouldn’t die down.
We’d made out forhours, touching each other in every way except for that final one, the one neither of us could bear to do in a semi-open cave. But God of the Cosmos, I’d never known I could lose myself in pure, carnalfeelingbefore. No thinking. Just touching and exploring and tasting and losing myself to him and his skin.
Almost to the stairs, I lurched to a stop at the sight of Emelle, dozing upright on one of the sofas, her outfit from last night blending in with the sofa’s velvet fabric. As if she’d fallen asleep waiting for me to come home.
Oh, shit.
“Melle?” I rushed forward and shook her shoulder. “Hey, Melle, I’m here.”
Her eyes fluttered open. Dazed, she blinked away her sleep and took me in.
“Rayna.” Her focus sharpened. She sat up straighter. “Rayna. Where the hellwereyou? Willa said you’d gone somewhere with Coen, but she didn’t know where. And after those tests that screwed everyone over, I was so worried something had gone wrong with yours.”
The butterflies in my heart fell dead at her expression, a mix of something I’d never seen on Emelle’s face before: fear mixed with… distrust. Aimed at me.
Something crumpled within me, because how could I tell her the truth? I didn’t think she would ever run off and tell the Good Council about my forbidden power, but I also didn’t want to involve her, not when she’d be at risk for it.
“I failed the last test,” I started haltingly. “I—I couldn’t get those cockroaches off me, and was really upset by the time I left, so I called for Coen. As a distraction.” The words came out like rocks, clunkier and heavier than they should have been.
Emelle’s face didn’t break from that horrible, mistrusting expression.
“You failed the test like everyone else and thought running away with your crush for the night, without telling any of your friends where you were going or how long you’d be out—you thoughtthatwas a good idea?”
I’d never heard such sharp edges to her words, and I felt myself cringing.
“Hearing you say that out loud, no, it doesn’t seem like it was a good idea. I’m really sorry, Emelle. I should have told you where I was going so you didn’t worry.”
“It’s not just that.” Now the sharpness of her voice cracked a bit. “It’s the thought that you didn’t think I could help you. Iwantto help you, Rayna, just like you’re always helping me. I want to be there for you, but I can’t if you don’t let me.”
“I’m sorry,” I said again, and now a single tear bit into the corner of my eye.Tell her something true,I begged myself,if you can’t tell her about Ms. Pincette’s warning.
I lowered myself onto the cushion beside her.
