Page 28 of A Witch Out of Time
Reconnecting in this way was about more than sex. It was a reclaiming of each other, as two people who fit together perfectly, who connected on a core level. We understood one another in a shared language gained by rising from the ashes time and again, although every blow chipped more away from us. Only with each other could our collective pain become something stronger, something sweeter.
“Oh, I missed you, Vasi,” Asa breathed against my jawline as I gently raised and lowered myself. “I miss Tan too,” he added, voice catching.
“I know you do, my Beautiful Sun,” I whispered, angling my hips to better accommodate his size, enjoying the delicious drag of him. “And I trust you will fix things as soon as possible, because I miss having both of you in my bed at once.”
Asa groaned, fingers digging into my hips as he boldly took control of my movements. “I love fucking you with him. Feeling you wrapped around my cock while he’s inside me.Fuck,I want that again…”
I smiled as Asa’s thrusts grew more forceful, allowing him to continue leading our rhythm while I dug my claws into his shoulders, drawing blood. His pretty blue eyes glazed over as he entered the headspace he needed—that impenetrable fortress where there was only him and his most animal instincts. It was the same space I sought when chasing a vision; why humans paid exorbitant sums for my dream tea. The space of ritual and timelessness, near impossible to reach on one’s own.
Although this particular method is quite enjoyable.
Desire, relief, and heartache raced through our bond—our tether visibly shimmering between us as I rocked against him. “Yes, I want that too,” I gasped, feeling pressure building in my spine as I envisioned the tangle of limbs. “I can’t wait to watch you two together again. I want to see you buried inside Tan this time, fucking him until he can’t help but come in my waiting mouth.”
Asa’s gaze snapped to focus on my face, as if he were seeing me for the first time.“Jesus...” he panted, no longer pretending to be in control as I took over. Distinct, red horns started to curl outward from his forehead, similar to what I’d seen with Nox. I wrapped both of my hands around the base of each for purchase, shocked by how solid they felt. Water sloshed out of the tub as I rode him harder, and I leaned down to bite his lip, demanding he surrender to me completely.
I won’t lose you again.
He came with a strangled groan, stiffening beneath me as Tan’s name passed from his lips to mine. I shuddered through my own release before collapsing in his arms, watching in wonder as the horns slowly vanished from sight.
We stayed like that for a while, simply enjoying the feel of each other until our breathing returned to normal. “I love you, Vasi,” he plainly stated. “And you don’t have to say it too, I just need you to know.”
Drawing back so I could better see his perfect face, I found him gazing at me so innocently my heart almost stopped beating. The words were on my tongue, and I was desperate to say them—especially with almost losing him forever—but I still struggled to get them out.
“I...I honestly have no idea what love feels like,” I admitted, angry with myself for being unable to give him this gift in return.
He patiently smiled, and I felt the depths of his emotion flow through me as he sent it down our bond. “It feels like this, sweetness.”
I gasped at the enormity of it—the vastness of feeling that surpassed anything I’d ever experienced in my long life. It was the comfort of my mother’s love combined with the romantic fantasy of my time with the Tsar made real. It was every ounce of fierce loyalty and protectiveness and bone-deep desire I felt for my Riders. And it was mine.
“Well then, I feel it too,” I whispered shyly, knowing in my soul he would be there whenever I finally found the words.
Chapter 23
Vasilisa
My relief at being reunited with my men was quickly being overshadowed by my growing concerns. Besides Asa being unable to remember his traumatizing experience with Koschei, Veles’ implication that my Beautiful Sun couldn’t leave the Nav at all was deeply troubling. Yes, my legacy stated I needed all three Riders to achieve full power, but I also wanted a future with them, and the thought that we could be separated again caused something like panic to build in my chest.
Funny how only a short while ago I was happy to remain alone.
“Vasi?” Marena’s clear voice startled my focus away from the roaring fire I’d been staring into, interrupting my tumultuous thoughts.
Circling the couch, the goddess crouched before me, green eyes searching mine with the same intensity as I'd been giving the flames. “I want to talk to you about the situation with Asa. I may have an idea how you could safely remove Koschei’s death so he can return to the surface…”
“Why can’t he return with it still inside him?” Tan was seated at the other end of the couch with my feet in his lap, giving my arches more attention than they’d ever received. His tone was casual, but I sensed an almost suffocating fear radiating from him, which betrayed the depths of love I knew he still felt for Asa. Neither man had elaborated on what had happened between them in Koschei's lair, but if it was anything like their confrontation in the tent, then we still had a lot of work to do.
No, not “we.” Asa saidhewanted to fix this.
Marena glanced at Tan with an even more sympathetic expression than she had given me. “Have you seen what happens to shifters who carry his death within them?”
Tan’s beautiful olive skin paled considerably, and I felt the same dread building in my gut. Luperca’s wolf warrior was half-rotted into the earth by the time I was brought in to examine him, yet his body was still warm. And my dear friend Misha—one of the oldest bear shifters in the forest—had perished when Koschei left a Russian nesting doll inside him, like a calling card.
The goddess nodded grimly. “It’s nothing new, this business of Koschei hiding his death in other beings to avoid the threat of experiencing death himself. He usually chooses shifters because of their hardiness and long lives. However, ever since this Devouring took over the forest, time hasn’t been behaving properly, so his death seems to make actual death come faster, even for supernatural creatures.”
Asa and Nox walked into the room at that moment, causing our conversation to immediately cease. My Beautiful Sun’s head was thrown back as he laughed at something Nox had said, radiating joy despite everything he’d been through. Nox caught my eye with a pained expression, and at first I thought he’d picked up on the emotions coming from Tan and me. Then I remembered something far worse.
Nox’s father killed Asa’s mother.
And then he tried to kill Nox.
