Page 61 of Unrivaled
They hummed in agreement, leaning into me.Their weight felt glorious.My mouth was dry.“You talk big game.”
I wrapped my hand around the nape of their neck and found their lips with mine.
They didn’t taste like salt, but like vinegar and apples.Their hands fisted in my back, locking me in close.Their tongue was in my mouth, pillaging, and I met them, reveling in the heat that swept through me, the crackling anticipation under my skin.
They made a noise in the back of their throat, something hungry.I pressed them back against the bench, feeling them soften even more in my hold, feeling their hands start to cling.When I came up from air they were panting, but the grin was still on their mouth.
I wanted that mouth to be slack.Shocked.I wanted their eyes to be unfocused and their body pliant.
“You ought to come tour the Ally,” they said, the words warm against my damp lips.
The thought of climbing aboard that ship… “What would I find there?”
“Whatever it takes to make you happy,” they promised.They weren’t laughing while they spoke.It felt like a promise.“Whatever size, whatever hole, for however long it takes.I’m adjustable, princess.”
There was no way that offer should’ve had me wanting to curl up under the bar and laugh until I was sick.I bit my lip, resting my forehead against theirs.
“Finally shut you up,” they said, the grin back.“Now I know what it takes.”
“Do you?”I asked, just to draw it out, to drink it in.
“To shut you up, yeah.”Elnyta raised up and nipped at my lip.“Once you’re quiet, then I’ll learn what noises you make.”
There was no way I should get on that ship.“I should go.”I didn’t want to, though, and I didn’t move.
“On my ship,” they agreed, their hands firming on my waist.“I agree.I’ve some villagers who need you to rescue them.Sounds like something the brave lady of La’Angi would do on a quiet spring day.”
It did.It really did.I put it all aside and moved back in for a second and last kiss, feeling the way their tongue moved while their hands gripped my ass.
“I’m glad you sailed into my city,” I told them, while they were still breathless.
“Say it again,” they said, their eyes lowering to half-mast.
I moved in close until my lips brushed their ear.They smelled like salt and copper.“I’m glad you sailed into my city,” I said, and felt a shiver go up their spine.Anticipation coiled low in my belly.“I’m glad you tried to trick me so I could sit so close to you.I’m glad you came and visited me this morning.”
“Your dress was unlaced,” they said.“You were still warm from bed, weren’t you?”
“Come find out, next time.”I scraped my teeth against their lobe.“Thanking you, Captain.”
They drew in air, shaking their head.“You’re well come, m’lady.Any time at all.”
I felt a measure taller as I walked out of that inn, heat coursing through my veins and the taste of Elnyta on my tongue.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
CHAY
Love-drunk today, hungover tomorrow.
—La’Angi saying
15thDay of Spring’s One Moon,
Age of the Locways, Year 272
La’Angi City
Outside the city was quiet.Inside felt even more eerie than the dead towns we’d passed through.While I’d been on the road, I wanted to be back here.Standing behind her, listening to her ideas, watching her figure out leadership in real time.Now that I was here, I missed the peace of the road.
