by Alex Lidell
Standing with his arms crossed over his chest, Coal nods to a place beside him, and Tye moves over to create space for me. River’s gaze cuts across us all, scurrying so quickly over my face that my chest clenches. Whatever River thinks and feels, he has no intention of sharing it with me.
Plaited hair swaying behind him, Elidyr walks out from behind the dais to stand beside the map of Blaze that River has fastened to an easel. To my surprise, Klarissa does the same. As if we are equals on a single mission. Perhaps, for this short time, we are.
“Are you pleased?” River demands of Klarissa the moment she stops beside him.
So much for being on the same team.
“There is nothing pleasant about the possibility of a quint not returning from the Field Trial,” Klarissa replies, smoothing out the folds in her dress. “But yes, I am pleased that you decided to go to Karnish, River.” Her eyes flick to me and then return to the male. “Your experienced eye will see the true extent of the danger that the Night Guard poses better than any other.”
“And you set up five innocent warriors to make it happen.” The chill in River’s voice makes my stomach hurt, the gap between us widening with every word he utters. With every secret he keeps from me. A silly little mortal girl who can’t be trusted.
The female sighs. “You can’t have it both ways, River. Either you take charge and make decisions based on your values, or you step aside and let others do so based on their own priorities. Now, are you prepared to proceed?”
River stares at her for another heartbeat and then, ever so slowly, puts his hands behind his back. “When you are ready, Elders.”
I swallow, suppressing a shiver at the odd feel of the room, a professional energy that’s too honed to be called tension.
Elidyr steps forward, surveying us for a heartbeat before speaking. “Forty-eight hours ago, Kora and her quint were deposited in a neutral territory near the Blaze border.” He points to a spot on the map that makes River nod with comprehension. “As per trial protocol, the females were blindfolded and released in the Gloom within an hour’s travel of each other. As the quint has not yet returned, despite all indications that it should have, it is our belief that the females may have strayed into Blaze territory and been captured. The most likely place for such a situation is here, the town of Karnish, where hostile activities have been reported recently.”
“When you say ‘hostile activities,’ do you mean the qoru invading Blaze Court?” I blurt out, not caring how uncouth my interruption may be. Better to sound stupid than discover myself in the middle of a different mess than I think I’m walking into.
River turns to me, his tone too patient. “No. The Night Guard, acting on Emperor Jawrar’s orders, is responsible. The qoru themselves have only ever breached the wards closer to the Mors border, and never in numbers great enough to take a whole town.”
“River is correct,” Klarissa interjects smoothly. “The wards protecting Lunos fortunately still make it impossible for Jawrar to send his soldiers to execute an attack, but he is certainly providing both the funds and the orders to make it happen. Strategically speaking, Karnish is a perfect place to gain a foothold for a future assault, and Jawrar knows it.”
My gaze jerks to Klarissa, a feeling that I’m the only one missing some vital piece of this charade sinking through my gut. Likely the same piece that explains why Klarissa cares about River, specifically, going to Karnish. Enough to all but admit to using Kora as bait.
“If our theory is correct,” River continues coolly, “then we can expect the Night Guard to have fortified their captured territory and to hold any valuable prisoners they take for questioning.”
Stars.
He raises his chin, surveying Coal, Tye, Shade, and me. “As this operation is technically our third trial, it will be constrained by third-trial rules, which limit what information the council may provide and what tools we may bring. Regardless, the mission remains a search-and-rescue operation. By the time we leave here, Kora’s quint’s runes will be expiring in twenty hours. That is the window available to us. If at the end of this period we do not have the females, the mission will terminate and the priority will shift to us returning home. Nothing else. In either case, arriving back here safely within three days will render our third trial complete. Understood?”
A general murmur of consensus sounds, though I’m certain River’s words were primarily for Klarissa’s benefit. Still, the female only nods along sagely.
“Yes, no heroics, please,” she adds on the heels of River’s declaration, one perfectly groomed eyebrow quirked. “If you are unable to retrieve Kora’s quint, your priority is to get yourselves back here quickly. I little wish to lose two quints to this mess. Go safely and quickly. There will be time for adventure later. With the successful completion of this mission, you will be one large step closer to leaving the Citadel as a full quint. Meanwhile, I wish to perform one more healing session with Shade before you go. The shifter should be at full strength in case any healing is needed in the field. And after this morning’s training session, it would be prudent to check the human as well. You leave in under four hours; get as much food and rest as you can before then.”
Without waiting for a response, Klarissa beckons Shade to the back of the room. River crosses the chamber to wait at the door, the hard muscles of his turned back making me flinch. Coal and Tye stay where they are, their tall, calm presences on either side of me keeping my racing heart in check.
Klarissa works on Shade for a quarter hour before clearing him for the trial. When she calls me over to sit in the chair Shade just vacated, I feel my body stiffen, my joints refusing to bend as I walk closer to the female. Sit down. Take a breath.
Klarissa smiles.
The female’s healing magic, efficient and frighteningly powerful, impales me so roughly I gasp, leaning forward and resting my arms on my thighs to catch my breath.
“Are you all right, Leralynn?”
“Yes.” Breathe in. Out. “Just taken aback, ma’am.”
“Hmm. Yes, with so little time, this is a bit of a brute-force approach. About the opposite of what your friend Tye would call cleanly executed.” The female’s nose crinkles and her voice lowers to a murmur. “Speaking of the males, a word of caution from one mixed-quint female to another. Tread carefully with River, girl. The prince of Slait is pretty to look at, but he can only ever take you as a plaything. You deserve better.”
“I am not River’s plaything.” The words escape over my better judgment, indignation crowding out common sense.
“You know best, no doubt,” the female agrees in a soft, sweet voice. “Though I do wonder why the prince stood by and did nothing during the last trial. Why was it only Shade and Coal who risked their lives when yours was in peril?”
I should have kept my mouth shut. “There was nothing River could do.”
“Of course. The prince of Slait thought himself more powerless than an ex-slave and a shifter. It only makes sense.” She steps away, leaving my mind a jumbled mess. “You are all set, girl. Go get some rest while we make the necessary preparations.”
Tye gathers me against him on our way out, crowding out Shade to claim the space. His hand remains on the small of my back all the way to the suite, even as my mind twists into knots. The warmth of his palm through my tunic reminds me of his powerful flames—and the equally powerful ghosts that crowded the practice arena with him. When this is over, when we get Kora back safe, Tye and I are going to talk.
Tye guides me down the hall toward my bedchamber, the several hours of promised sleep already beckoning to my tired body.
“Leralynn.” River’s voice hits the back of my head like a bucket of ice water just as Tye and I walk into the room.
Fighting the childish urge to pretend I didn’t hear his call, I turn toward him. “Yes?”
River strides into the chamber and closes the door. His jaw is set, his gray eyes an unreadable steel that’s as beautiful as it is distant. Impecc
ably dressed in the wine-colored tunic and black trousers of our uniform, he manages to turn even this practical attire into a badge of crisp perfection. The wide sash wrapped tightly around his taut waist emphasizes the width of his shoulders and the great corded muscles of his thighs. Hands behind his back, the quint commander paces the few steps between the walls. Once. Twice. Five times.
“It’s fortunate the floor is stone, not rug,” Tye says finally. “If I didn’t know better, River, I’d call you at a loss for words.”
I furrow my brow, which Tye smooths with his thumb. “Can you just spit it out?” I say finally. “I’m tired and you are making me nervous.”
Obediently, River stops in place. Faces me. Lifts his chin. “We are heading into an uncertain situation, likely a combat zone filled with fae warriors of the Night Guard. It is my desire that you have access to as many tools as possible during the mission. Have every advantage that might keep you safe.”
“So far, so good,” Tye says slowly. “Have you some secret weapon that she might slip past the runes, or are you here to spout general wisdom?”
“No. Yes.” River spreads his shoulders, speaking to me as if Tye wasn’t there. “No, I have no way of taking weapons into the third trial with us. However”—his face turns a deep red that creeps up to fill the points of his ears—“if Autumn’s supposition is correct, that perhaps there is something to be done to aid you in controlling my power, it could make a significant difference in your defenses. I thought it prudent to try that thing. Or offer you the chance to try it. If you wanted.”
“Do you have any idea what he just said?” I ask Tye.
“Aye,” Tye growls under his breath before glancing between River and me. “Our fearless leader is offering to lie with you.”
20
Lera
My face heats and it’s all I can do not to grab the back of Tye’s shirt to keep him from leaving the room. The silence he leaves behind is deafening. Clearing my throat, I brush down my crumpled uniform and conjure the effort needed to look up at River’s face. He stands tall and straight, hands clasped behind his back. “You want to lie together?”
River nods curtly. “I only suggest it because it may help you control the magic you echo from me. Magic that may prove vital for protecting you this evening.”
I sit on the bed, my legs suddenly giving up on supporting me. “Right now? You want to couple right now?” I sound like a bloody parrot. In my defense, I’ve never discussed this in such transactional terms. I look at River, his broad shoulders and powerful arms making his beautiful chiseled face even more daunting for his hesitance. “With me?”
River runs a hand through his short, dark hair, a tell of his unease. “It was a rash idea. Forget I—”
“No, wait.” I hold up my hand, my mouth dry. The sudden tightness of my thighs alone betrays how much my body wants to lie with River—has longed for it for weeks. As for the rest of me, half of it wants to rip River’s cock off, but the other half . . . It wants to lie with River for reasons well beyond aiding my control of his magic. Except I know the male would bolt from the room if I uttered as much. If I told him the truth. “I think it’s a good idea. For the sake of safety. And experience. Tonight’s experience.”
River’s shoulders relax. “Yes. For that sake.” He steps toward me with his wide, calloused palm outstretched. “It would be a prudent thing for us both to do.”
I clench my jaw, swallowing the truth as deep as I can. I believe River loves me, but he isn’t in love with me. Not like he was with Daz. Stars, I’ve not met the female and the burrs of jealousy still cut me deep enough to bleed. For all this, River is offering me the one thing he can.
And if I secretly wish to extract more pleasure from it than River’s intent warrants, it’s only polite to keep that desire to myself.
I brace myself as the male reaches the bed where I’m sitting, his large body shifting the mattress as he sits gingerly on the edge. His gray eyes study me for several heartbeats, straying to where my hands clutch the bedspread to keep from clutching him instead.
The male sighs and reaches forward to brush a stray hair off my forehead, tracing the line from my brow to my cheek to my chin. When the pad of his thumb brushes over my lips, his rough calluses sending tingles of heat through me, I flinch with sudden want. With the need to hide how desperately I long to feel River inside me.
“Are you afraid?” River’s voice is a gentle rumble, his gray eyes flashing with that protective instinct that makes River who he is.
Yes, I’m very much afraid. But not of what he thinks I am.
“I . . . I know how it’s done,” I say, realizing the stupidity of the statement as soon as it exits my mouth. Between Shade and then Coal, there is very little question as to my knowledge of the deed’s mechanics.
River kneels on the floor in front of me, letting me look down at him instead of towering over my small form. His fresh, earthy scent fills the air between us. “We need not do this, Leralynn,” he says, a gravelly note to his voice. “And if we do, I will go slow. It will . . . I will do my best to ensure it doesn’t hurt. To prepare you.”
Prepare? Stars, I’m fairly certain that my underthings are damp already. Surely River can smell my arousal.
As if in confirmation, River’s eyes flick down to my thighs, then slide to the door through which Tye left moments ago. His jaw tightens. “You had other plans. Do you want me to leave?”
Instead of answering, I take River’s hand and move it over my breast, trying hard not to melt into his touch.
River nods once and swallows, his hand tightening gently. When I guide his other hand to my chest, something too quick to read flashes in his gaze. Drawing a sharp breath, River stands up quickly, striding over to latch the door.
“All right then,” he says, his broad back still to me as the air’s sudden chill brushes away the heat left behind by his touch. Without ceremony, the male starts to undress himself. Boots. The sash hugging his abdomen. The laces of his shirt collar. Reaching behind him, River pulls off his burgundy tunic in a single motion, the chiseled muscles of his back flexing like wings.
Stars take me. No one should be able to turn the simple process of taking off a shirt into a sex-clenching ritual, especially without even knowing he’s doing it. But it’s always been thus with River, hasn’t it? Forever there, forever perfect, forever out of my reach. Until now. In some form at least.
I’ve just realized that I should probably be undressing as well when River reaches for his fly and all thought leaves my head. Practical, I tell myself firmly, snatching at reason before it escapes me completely. This is a practical exercise.
River turns to face me.
My hands tighten on the edge of the mattress, my body tensing at the sight of his perfect, naked form, a field of muscle narrowing into taut hips and a cock standing erect even now. Yes, of course the male can prepare himself from thoughts alone—more likely than not with memories of Daz.
Heat touches my cheeks as River catches me watching. Likely thinking me an idiot for enjoying the show instead of getting on with things. “Right,” I mutter as I rise. Turning my back to him, I reach for my shirt quickly, trying to make up for lost time. We don’t have a lot of that. “Sorry.”
Attacking the shift first, I pull on the fabric. Once. Twice. Stars. Twice my size, my uniform tunic usually feels like a bedsheet—yet the one time I need to remove it expeditiously, the thing grows vines for sleeves, which wrap tighter around my wrists the harder I try to pull them off. My jaw clenches, the humiliation in my throat somehow making my hands work even worse.
I feel River’s warmth behind me, his earthy scent and power caressing my skin. Wordlessly, the male takes hold of my hands, calming them. That done, he brushes his wide palms along my body, his touch practical but gentle. Finding the hem, he pulls my tunic over my head with a great deal more grace than I was managing.
Cool air brushes my skin, but I let myself think about none of it as I reach
for my chest wrap.
“Why don’t I do that,” River says, his voice so carefully controlled to conceal reproach that I flush again. “At the rate you’re going, you just might strangle yourself with the cloth.”
Right. I stand still, begging the stars to open a chasm in the floor beneath me. Instead, they grant me only the efficient feel of River’s hands as he removes the rest of my clothes and, sliding his arms beneath me, lifts my naked body onto the bed. Practical. Controlled. Kind. The perfect commander, simply doing his duty to protect his quint.
River hovers over me and runs his gaze down my body, stumbling on my peaked nipples. His breath catches, his hands fisting in the sheets. “I’ll—is there anything specific you enjoy to prepare?”
Breathe, I order myself, the proximity of River’s body already making me throb with need. Prepare. I think I’ve been prepared for River from the moment I shared his saddle on our ride through Mystwood—at least my body was. My mind . . . That is another matter. Though thoughts are quickly losing all meaning. Blinking at River, I realize that he still awaits an answer and I feel my sex tingle in spite of itself.
I meet his eyes, the wall inside them too high and thick for me to see through. But as my stomach tightens with hurt, I discover a new desire burning in my core. This coupling, it isn’t something River is going to do to me. It will be something we do together. Drawing a shallow breath, I run my palms over River’s arms, his shoulders. His chest, tight with a held breath as he braces himself over me on outstretched arms.
Tense, hard muscles holding so still for my exploration that I wonder whether the male isn’t made of stone. Only the sight of his cock, large, glistening, and twitching with every heartbeat, gives away that River is aware of my touch.
