Page 28 of Ensii
Talitha couldn’t remember how long it had been since she slept and there was a dull ache in every last one of her muscles. Perhaps he was right
Instead of answering,Talitha slung her shield over her back and webbed her fingers through his. “Let’s go.”
The guards escorted them to her chambers, the same room she had lived in for more than twenty years since becoming old enough to have her own household. The golden mural of Anakti had been ripped out of the ceiling, leaving behind a scarred, raw space. At least that was taken care of. Below, the stone dust had sprinkled everything in a white coat of grime. The maidservants had moved the bed out from under the ruined mural and changed the silk bedclothes.
No sooner had the door shut on the guards than Ashek had her against the wall. He pinned her to door as she attacked the laces of his armor, stripping off his breastplate with the urgency of the starved.
“Easy, love,” he chuckled, caressing her neck with an easy affection that sent tingles straight down to her feet.
“But I want you,” Talitha clipped, “I’ve never wanted anyone this much.”
Ashek peeled off his armor and the light linen tunic underneath. His hands deftly found the leather cords under her arm that held her armor in place and set to freeing her.
They tumbled into the bed as the first light of the morning was just creeping over the horizon. Talitha lost herself in his touch, his smell, the heat of his mouth, and the taste of his sweat.
After, they collapsed into the bed, breathless, slicked with perspiration, and satisfied. Talitha was asleep in moments, but her dreams were of monsters with tar for skin.
