Page 75 of The Chaosweaver's Daughter
Little late for that.
He stood frozen behind the panel that opened into her hallway, his childhood room. Softly, so as not to terrify her, he pressed his forehead against the smooth oak and suppressed a groan. She was probably sleeping. He couldn’t knock and he absolutely couldn’t waltz in. Gods knew she’dweave a hatchet and lop his head off.
Tendrils of magic slipped from his fingers out into the chamber.To make sure she’s safe, he told himself.
What an idiotic excuse, Kas.Why wouldn’t she be safe?The rational part of his mind argued back, but he ignored the starched fool.
His magic hovered near her. He couldn’t see to say if she was asleep or awake for certain. So, with a trick he’d taught himself as a child, he shifted the pressure and temperature of the room, whorling a cloud of cool, dense air together like a weather front to fill the space. It made it much easier to hear.
Her soft, even breathing reached his ears.
That meant nothing. She often stayed up reading, her own admission, so he swept his breeze toward the side table to check for a lit candle.
“Kas?” she murmured.
He froze, then a burningdesire to get rid of his writer’s block had him sending a whisper of wind to brush hair back from her eyes. Nes’s hands came up to bat away—no, to brush through his magic, tracing it with her fingers as she dragged her hands through the air.
“Touch me,” she whispered, and that was his undoing.
He was on her in an instant, trailing warmth over her bosom, her nipples hardening beneath her thin gown. He didn’t need to see her face to know how she looked, lying there beneath the covers, sprawled out on her back, arms and legs splayed wide, as he’d found her each night at the symposium.
And shewantedhim.
She arched into the magic, murmuring pleas for him to touch her. His erection strained against his trousers, and he rocked his hips, almost coming without any help.
Kas worked his magic down her body, to where her thin chemise was bunched high around her thighs, as he suspected it would be. She bucked into his power.
“Please,” she cried out, voice muffled by the panel. “More.”
Nes hadn’t invited him in, and he’d never knowingly force his way into her chamber. But she had certainly invited him to touch her. So, he stayedin the stairwell, damp forehead pressed against the panel as he worked his cock with one hand and brought her to ecstasy with his tendrils of magic.
Later, he returned to his study and wrote until dawn.
twenty-seven
Nesrina goes to a ball.
Morningsunlightstreamedintoher chamber, and Nes pulled a pillow over her face as she reconsidered whether or not she should be allowed to make decisions, ever.
It was a good compromise.She nodded into the down.
It wasn’t him, but it was.
It was agreatcompromise, wise or not. With a huff, Nes tugged down her nightdress that had climbed aboveher bottom during her nighttime adventure.
She was still so tightly coiled that her knuckles against her thighs sent a shiver to her core, reminding her of the way Kas had wrapped his magic around her hips and dippedintothere, twice now, with air wound nearly solid. But she wanted the real thing, she wanted the weight of him inside her, plunging into her.
Lost to her daydreams, her fingers found their way beneath her nightgown, en route to a private destination. A few minutes later, with newfound clarity and a flicker of shame burrowing into her belly, she dragged herself out of bed and plodded to the washroom.
Ugh, you cannot allow this. Nesrina tossed her head back as she cleaned her teeth.You will not be a mistress to a duke! Get it together.It was high time to nip the situation with Lord Kahoth in the bud. They’d be leaving soon for holiday, and she may not return. It was best if everythingendednow. Nesrina gave herself a resolute little nod and rinsed her mouth.It was with pure willful ignorance of her fully bloomed feelings that she set about her day.
Aylin’sfamiliarrapsoundedon the bedroom door, then the woman herself slipped quietly into the chamber. Nes glanced up from her book to find Aylin setting a bundle on the chest at the end of the bed. Then she turned and scurried out without so much as a “good afternoon.”
Curious, Nesrina hopped up and made her way over to the new delivery. A folded piece of parchment lay atop the wrapped box, demanding her attention. Taking the package back to her sitting area, she peeled the nondescript seal from the note.
Nes, humor me.
Please wear this.
