Page 185 of Unrivaled
“I thought you were gone.”
“I’ve been loading my cargo.”They put one finger under my chin, and I grabbed it, holding it over their head and against the door.“Silks, furs, spices, all going to Ltona in time to avoid the ice up to the north.”They wiggled their fingers a little beneath the cage of my hand.“And I can do all that andstillbe here, joining in my first ever La’Angi ball.”Some of the laughter bled from their eyes.“Not my last, I trust.You’ll have me back, won’t you?”
My throat was tight.
I’d said good-bye this morning.I couldn’t do another good-bye.I couldn’t watch them circulating, knowing it might be the last time they saw me.What sort of memory was that?
One they want.I swallowed around the knot in my throat and leant in, seizing their mouth, losing myself in their kiss.Their breath hissed in.I felt them go boneless, the softening of small muscles and large alike.Between the door and me they waited happily, opening their mouth and inviting me to plunder.
The playful stroke of their tongue against mine took me back to last night, to the slow, thorough way they’d devoured me like I was a fine meal to savor.My nipples ached.I’d wanted to do the same to them.I’d wanted to, but they hadn’t wanted that.
There was no way we had time tonight.Right now.I couldtakethe time and who would dare decry me?But…
“Don’t drop the sails while we’re in the bay, now,” they gasped.
The metaphor I put aside to worry about later.I kissed them again, feeling the give of their body against the solid barrier of the door, the way they gasped and waited.I knocked the fabric from my thigh, sliding it between their legs.
They sucked in a breath with a little pressure.I swallowed the surprised, needy noise they made at the back of their throat, consuming everything I could.They reached for me, and I grabbed their other hand, pinning it with their first.I kept most of our weight on my free arm, controlling the pressure as I shifted my hips in a circular motion.Against my thigh their sex was hot.They ripped their mouth away, sucking in air, bowing their body.“Slower,” they begged.“Just a little slower.”
I sank my teeth into the cartilage of their ear, between the ornaments, enjoying the resistance of their flesh and the way they shuddered for me.Every tiny, gasping breath, every raw, hungry noise fed me.I ground us together, slow, inexorable.They panted, unravelling for me, until I heard their breathing change and felt their thighs flex and quiver.
Elnyta’s moan was enough to make the muscles deep inside me flex and flutter in response.I rode it out, knowing their rhythm, knowing how long to hold them for.When I heard their breath come in a quick, hurried gasps I knew they were recovering.
Releasing their hands gently, I held them against my chest.My leg remained between theirs.
“Rich people parties are the best,” they whispered.
“Only the ones with dashing pirates,” I countered.
“They should make a ballad about this.”They pressed a kiss to my lips.At the first tentative exploration of their hands, I had to stop them.“I want to touch you, too,” they objected.
“Can’t,” I whispered.“I’m a kraken.”
The way their expression changed, the empathy in those hazel eyes, the love…I almost came undone.I swallowed it away, pressing a gentle kiss to their lips before slowly extracting myself.“Those ballads would be banned, for sure.”
“The best ones are,” they assured me.“I know a lot of ’em.”
“You’ll have to sing for me, one day.”
They snorted.“Give me some beer and I’ll do it now, Your Highness.”
I grinned at the image of Elnyta leading a bunch of them in chorus.There’d be plenty here tonight who’d love it, at the end of such an intense series of events.I straightened their beautiful tunic, my eyes lingering on their belt as I double-checked we were both in order.“That’s exceptional,” I said, as they opened the door to reveal the broad back of my most stalwart of knights.
He’d made sure we had privacy and stepped aside with a quick bow to us both.“Thanks,” Elnyta said, with a wink to Chay I didn’t understand as they looped one thumb back into the belt and swaggered out beside me.“You wouldn’t believe where I got it.”
“You can tell me,” I said.“Next timeyou’re in La’Angi.Enjoy the ball.”There was no easy way of keeping track of time in the big, cavernous rooms full of dancing and music.“But please, not for long.”
“Trying to get rid of me so soon?”they asked, giving me a bit of a nudge.“Who’sthis?”they asked, spotting Kadan and giving him a quick up and down.“He’s got thetreshyaa’ki.”
I frowned.“The what?”
They moved a hand in a circular motion around their chest, then waved at me.“Glimmer.Like…inner glow.You don’t have a word for it.It’s…” they nodded to me.“The mark of a kraken.”
I blinked.“You can see that?”
They tapped their forehead thoughtfully.“You don’t see it with your eyes.Introduce me.I want to make money off him.”
Laughing, I delivered Elnyta to Kadan’s circle of men, knowing they’d be safe there.
