Page 77 of A Tower of Half-Truths

Forty-Six

They’d hardly closed the door when they were on each other, kissing with all the finesse of inexperienced adolescents.

The darkness, paired with the cheap wine, made their movements clumsy.

They fumbled about, kicking off shoes, loosening belts, bumping into furniture as they managed to maintain their connection.

As Alain’s tongue slipped against hers, Mavery reached behind her back, searching for the bedside lamp.

A quick infusion of her arcana cast the room in soft golden light.

She sighed as Alain’s lips skirted across her jaw, down her throat, until the collar of her blouse prevented him from going any lower. He pulled at the top button, then paused. Mavery’s eyes fluttered open, meeting a look of desire mixed with hesitation.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “If you still need to rest, I understand. We can—”

“I want this—I want you—more than anything.” He bowed his head. “I’m only thinking of how it’s been a long time, and my last was…memorable, but for all the wrong reasons.”

She tilted up his chin. “Then why don’t you lead the way?”

He nodded. “So long as you’re also sure.”

She smiled. “Of course.”

He smiled back, then held up a finger. “There’s one last thing I need to attend to.”

“And what’s that?”

He turned to the nearby wall. A verse of Etherean, paired with a rush of magic that cooled her flushed skin, answered her question. The walls and ceiling became veiled with violet auras—a soundproofing ward. Though Alain voiced no discomfort, he winced as he turned to her again.

“There,” he said. “Complete privacy.”

She sighed. “I thought you agreed to not cast any spells tonight. I could’ve done that.”

“I know, but I wanted you to save your voice.”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you expecting me to wake the entire inn again?”

He cupped her chin, then kissed her deeply. When he pulled back, his smoldering look made her shiver with excitement.

“No, my love.” He spoke with the low, rough voice he’d used the other night. “With what I have planned, you would wake the entire village.”

She grinned as fiery desire surged through her body, and then his lips were on hers again.

He unbuttoned her blouse, slipped the fabric from her shoulders, down her arms. As she worked on his shirt, her mind briefly returned to the moments before she’d revived him.

Her fingers were as frantic as they’d been that night, but now only desire guided her movements.

She removed his shirt, then pulled down his trousers.

Their discarded garments pooled at their feet, save for her brassière, which she tossed aside after unhooking it.

They took a moment to gaze at the parts of each other that had remained hidden before now.

His body was slender, more bone than muscle.

Her skin was not as taut, her breasts not as pert, as they’d once been.

But when their eyes met again, the look behind his told her that he’d found not a single flaw.

Likewise, his body was one she was eager to experience.

In the dim light, his scars were barely visible, but their locations had long become ingrained in her memory.

Her fingertips traced the one down the center of his torso, and he sighed as she placed a tender kiss to the one above his heart.

A token of appreciation for the warmth of his skin, his quickening pulse.

His sigh deepened as she left a trail of light kisses along his collarbone, then up the side of his neck, until their lips reconvened at last. His erection nudged her hip.

As she’d done before, she wrapped her fingers around his cock, rubbed her thumb against his tip.

His soft moan gave rise to her own pleasure, now pooling between her thighs.

But before she could make a second pass down his length, he placed his hand over hers, stilling her.

“Should you continue like that, I’m afraid I won’t last long at all.” He leaned closer, pressed his mouth to hers. “And I want you to come undone first.”

She smiled against his lips, and he guided her onto the bed, where she nestled herself against the pillows. Before joining her, he paused to take in her nude figure at this new angle. His eyes roved over her body from head to toe.

“You’re beautiful,” he said.

“So are you.” She extended a hand. “Now, get over here.”

He didn’t hesitate to take her hand and crawl on top of her. He lowered his body until it was merely inches above hers. Even that small gap was enough to render hers cold, yearning for his skin to slip against hers again.

She shuddered as his warm mouth caressed the crook of her neck, his hair tickled her collarbone. Deep beneath her wave of desire, she recognized the too-familiar sensation of arcana rearing its head. This time, it was in the form of electric chaos.

Gods, no. Not now…

Mavery needed to focus her thoughts, control her arcana before it rose to the surface.

Better yet, tell Alain to wait until it was completely spent.

But then his lips traveled down the valley between her breasts, and those thoughts faded to the back of her mind.

He took one of her nipples in his mouth, teased it with his tongue, and she could no longer remember what she’d been concerned about in the first place.

He moved lower, leaving a trail of light kisses on her stomach, her navel, her hip.

His hands grasped her thighs, and she sighed with delight as she watched his face vanish between them.

He continued where the trail left off, placing a kiss to her inner left thigh, then her right.

At a torturously slow pace, each kiss descended a bit lower than the last, progressing a bit closer to the joining of her thighs.

And then—finally—his lips brushed against her clit, and she threw her head back with a moan.

Her arcana roiled as his tongue encircled her, parted her, thrust inside her.

She shuddered, then focused on her breath, trying to calm the electricity coursing through her veins.

Yet, how could she focus on anything but his tongue when it was nothing short of bliss?

His languid strokes, followed by vigorous circles, were warm and slick against her already warm and slick skin.

She envisioned him reciting an elaborate incantation composed specifically for her, to transmutate her into a breathless, unraveling mess.

He stopped and pulled back slightly. Though she knew he likely needed a brief respite, his absence was nonetheless agonizing.

“Should I continue?” His breath warmed her sensitive skin, causing her entire body to quaver.

“Gods, yes,” she sighed.

Her voice reverberated through the room when his tongue reunited with her clit. She was thankful he’d taken that moment to place the soundproofing ward.

She reached down, entwined her fingers in his hair. A gentle tug made him groan, the vibration of his lips made her writhe against his mouth. She pushed her hips forward, and each stroke of his tongue became hotter, more forceful than the one before it.

And then, there it was again. As another flick of his tongue brought her to the edge of her climax, arcana crackled beneath her skin.

She looked to the ceiling, focused on the violet tendrils dancing across it as she tried to calm the oncoming surge.

But arcana and pleasure had become one and the same; she could no longer differentiate the two. Her toes curled, her back arched.

Wait…!

She tried to shout a warning, but all she could manage was a drawn-out moan as her orgasm, alongside a swell of electric energy, rippled through her.

Alain yelped, and Mavery bolted upright. She grasped him by the arm a split-second before he pitched backward off the bed. Mercifully, her arcana had subsided as quickly as it had broken free, and she avoided shocking him a second time.

Both of them sat back on their heels, facing each other, as their hearts pounded and chests heaved in unison. Their eyes met, and they exchanged breathless laughter.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” he said as he rubbed his lips. “I can only imagine that’s what kissing a lightning rod during a thunderstorm would feel like.”

Though she was relieved she hadn’t harmed him, her heart continued to hammer against her ribcage. Her stomach clenched with the guilt from easily losing control again.

“Gods, I’m so sorry. I can’t remember the last time I had a magic surge during sex.”

“Well!” he chuckled. “If I was responsible for all that, I ought to take it as a compliment.”

“You should.” She reached up to brush a lock of hair from his eyes. They closed as her fingertips lingered against his temple. “Once again, you prove to be incredible.”

“I’m glad you think so. I rather enjoyed that.” He opened his eyes again. “For clarity’s sake, I meant the amorous congress between your thighs, not the less-than-amorous brush with electrocution.”

She laughed.

“Your arcana, it’s…?”

“Lying dormant. We can keep going if you’re—”

Before she could even complete the suggestion, he cupped her face between his palms and pulled her into a deep, intense kiss. Her taste lingered on his tongue, her scent on his skin.

Her hand wandered downward. She was surprised to find that he was still hard, and she wondered if the shock had actually added to his arousal.

He moaned into her mouth as she resumed stroking him.

A moment later, he broke the kiss. His brow furrowed as he seemed to struggle with holding himself together.

“Should I savor you now?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Not this time. Let’s move to the ‘grand finale,’ so to speak.”

Together, they moved back to the center of the bed.

As before, he bestrode her as she nestled her head against the pillows.

He shifted his hips and pressed his tip to her entrance, but his aim was slightly off-center.

He muttered something that she gathered was frustration with being a bit out of practice.

“Let me,” she whispered, then slipped her hand between their bodies.

He emitted another deep groan as she wrapped her fingers around him. They sighed in unison as she guided him inside her, their bodies becoming the most connected they’d ever been.

He leaned down to kiss her cheek, her jaw, her neck.

Her eyes fluttered shut at the softness of his lips, his hair brushing her face, both now heightened with the sensation of being completely filled by him.

A low whine escaped the back of her throat as he began to move, his slow friction rekindling her arousal.

She opened her eyes and pushed back his hair, uncovering a gaze that was completely drinking her in.

Her hand traveled to the nape of his neck, and she pulled him down into another kiss.

She teased his tongue, a mirror of the movements he made easing in and out of her.

His pace was slow, gentle, cautious. Perhaps he wanted to savor this for as long as possible, or perhaps he was uncertain of how far he could push himself tonight.

She broke the kiss and leaned back. From the strained look on his face, she could tell he hadn’t been exaggerating before. It wouldn’t be long before he reached his own release.

Together, they found a new rhythm. She met each of his thrusts with a tilt of her hips. He groaned as her fingers raked down his back. She gasped as she arched her own back, allowing herself to take him more deeply. The longer they continued, the more erratic his breathing became.

He came undone with a final thrust, a guttural moan against the side of her neck, a full-bodied shudder. His arms trembled, yet he managed to keep himself upright.

“See?” he gasped. “I told you I wouldn’t last long.”

“Oh, hush. I still enjoyed every minute of it.”

He slipped out of her, then lay at her side. He pulled her toward him, and she rested her cheek against his chest. They remained like that for a while, absently caressing each other. His fingers ran down her back as hers drew circles against his chest hair.

“Whatever awaits us tomorrow—”

She cut that sentence short with a kiss. “Let’s not talk about tomorrow. Not yet.”

“I know I shouldn’t ruin the moment, but…” He sighed as he pulled his arms more tightly around her. “But I love you, and whatever awaits us tomorrow, I promise I will do everything I can to ensure no harm comes to you.”

“I love you, too, and I promise the same.”

His eyes—dark, warm, brimming with adoration—met hers.

From that point forward, they had no need for words.

They let their bodies continue the conversation deep into the night, until they once again collapsed in each other’s arms, pleasantly spent, and the final tendrils of warding magic dissipated.