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Before Ashlynn touched the scented oils and herbal infusions she’d prepared, she fetched a silver hairbrush and the dark silk ribbon from Nyrielle’s corset.

"I love your hair," Ashlynn whispered from behind her lover as she ran her fingers gently though Nyrielle’s long, dark tresses. Despite the days of hard travel, Nyrielle’s hair always felt smooth and satiny in her hands, as though it refused to be stained by the dirt of the world.

"But I don’t want it to get in the way tonight," she added.

Gently, working with slow, unhurried strokes, Ashlynn started by brushing Nyrielle’s hair. Her fingers wandered as she worked, dancing briefly across the vampire’s pale shoulders whenever she gathered another section of her lover’s dark tresses before returning to her work.

"Since you are my queen, let me treat you like one," Ashlynn said as she retrieved the silk ribbon.

"This braid," she explained as her fingers wove the ribbon into Nyrielle’s hair. "It’s meant for the wives of dukes and kings. It circles your head like a crown and it’s supposed to be able to support the weight of one. "

"And would you have me wear a crown for you, my darling?" Nyrielle teased as she soaked up the warmth of the crackling fire and Ashlynn’s gentle touch. "Or am I your queen alone?"

"You could be a queen," Ashlynn said, pausing to rest her head against Nyrielle’s naked back. "But, right now, I want to be selfish," she whispered as tears sprang unbidden to her eyes. "I want you all to myself before I have to share you with the world."

"You never have to share me with anyone, my love," Nyrielle whispered, turning on the dark fur blanket to face Ashlynn. "You and I, together. Always."

"I know," Ashlynn said, wiping away the moisture from her eyes and returning to her braiding. "Tonight is just about right now, about you and I," she promised softly. "The rest can wait until tomorrow."

"Mmm," Nyrielle agreed, stretching herself out on the furs once Ashlynn finished her braiding.

For a moment, the sounds of soft, rustling fabric filled the air followed by the sound of Ashlynn draping her dress and hat across the back of a chair.

A few heartbeats later she knelt beside Nyrielle, tracing her hands across the vampire’s slender back, feeling the faint ridges in the other woman’s skin that marked the place her wings would unfurl from.

Slowly, Ashlynn curled around Nyrielle, holding her close and feeling the warmth of the fire enveloping them.

Neither woman said anything, simply soaking in the heat of the fire and feeling the each other’s shallow breathing and steady heartbeets through their skin as if they were drinking in the feeling of having nothing between them.

"Now relax," Ashlynn whispered as she returned to the table and retrieved a bottle of oil that smelled of fresh bergamot and lavender. Pouring a few drops of oil into her hands, she started from Nyrielle’s feet, pressing her strong thumbs deep into the soles of of the vampire’s delicately arched feet before pulling toward her slender, dextrous toes.

Travel, whether in a carriage or on a horseback, was hard on the body and even though Nyrielle enjoyed the comforts of a luxurious carriage, nothing could stop days spent being jostled and shaken in the carriage from straining her muscles and building tension in her joints.

Now, Ashlynn used the same techniques on her lover that the Ancient Clan had used on her, loosening her muscles with long, slow strokes and easing her joints with steady, practiced movements.

A month after her first visit to Crystal Lake City, Ashlynn had returned to rest but also to learn from the Ancient Clan and it had been for this moment that she invested so much of her time in studying with Jacque’s cousin.

From slender, arched feet to smooth, supple calves and toned, trim thighs, Ashlynn worked her way higher, her fingers kneading every inch of Nyrielle’s alabaster flesh with a tenderness and reverence that bordered on worship.

"Mmmhhhh." A soft moan escaped Nyrielle’s lips when Ashlynn’s hands reached the small of her back, applying a firm, gentle pressure that made her body melt like putty in the witch’s hands.

The longer Ashlynn worked, the more Nyrielle felt the tension fading from her body. Even the hunger that burned within her seemed to die down as if it had been lulled to sleep, allowing her to enjoy the combination of the crackling hearth and her lover’s soothing touch.

For a moment, Nyrielle felt herself drifting on the edge of falling asleep.

For the first time in more years than she cared to remember, she felt so calm and at peace that even in the depths of the night when the moon still hung high overhead, she felt she could drift off to sleep and dwell in the memories that awaited her there.

Only the feeling of Ashlynn’s steady pulse in her hands and the evergreen scent of her lover that blended with the lavender and bergamot oil kept her anchored enough in the present to resist the pull of relaxation and sleep.

"Now," Ashlynn whispered into her drowsy lover’s ears.

"Roll over and rest your head on my chest," she said, taking a seat on the dark fur blanket next to Nyrielle.

"Just close your eyes and use me like a pillow," she added, resting Nyrielle’s head on her full bust as her fingers sank into the other woman’s hair and began to massage her scalp.

This time, it wasn’t the scent of lavender and bergamot that filled the air, but an herbal infusion of rosemary oil and a trace of Ashlynn’s own wood energy that melted not only the tension in Nyrielle’s scalp but dulled the worries that plagued her mind and made them feel distant and unimportant when she was here in Ashlynn’s embrace.

"You’re using witchcraft on me," Nyrielle observed softly. Though she commented on it, she put up no resistance, basking in the feeling of gentle reassurance that flowed from Ashlynn’s touch into her innermost being.

"Just as you used sorcery to ease my hurts the night we met," Ashlynn whispered, her mind flashing back to the way that Nyrielle had banished the pain she felt after Owain’s savage beating.

"So little can hurt your body, but so much can hurt your heart," she said softly.

"Let me wipe those hurts away, even if it’s just for a little while. .."