I did want to throw rocks. I wanted to smash things. To fight someone. To scream until my voice gave out. To plot the ways I’d find Jules, and bring the Empire to its knees. I wanted to cause pain and violence. To find those who’d hurt me, who’d hurt her and everyone I loved. I wanted to find the Imperator, the Emperor, the Bastardmaker, Aemon, even my Aunt Arianna, and tear them all apart, limb by limb.
Rhyan’s emerald green eyes searched mine. “Let me help you figure that out.”
“You can’t.” I shook my head, the backs of my eyes burning again.
He took my hand, his thumb rubbing small circles into my palm as I stared ahead, fuming. “I can try.” Rhyan’s aura began to wrap around me like a cocoon, the cold finally smothering the fire in mine.
“Rhyan, please! I feel like I’m about to burst. I’m so—” I couldn’t even finish the sentence. There were no words for how I felt. For the anger. For the rage. My aura was pulsing with it, my body trembling.
For a long moment, Rhyan was silent, simply holding my hand. The muscles in his jaw tightened, as his eyes snapped to me, some decision having been made in his mind.
“Come to bed with me,” Rhyan said at last.
“I don’t want to sleep.”
“I didn’t saysleep,” he said pointedly, his voice low, commanding. “I saidbed.”
My stomach clenched. The fury that was boiling inside me now turned to molten lava rushing deep in my belly, sliding lower and lower.
“Come on. It’s freezing out here. Your aura may be hot, but your body won’t withstand the cold much longer. Now let’s go. You need this.Ineed this.” Rhyan threaded our fingers together, but still, I didn’t move. “Partner.” There was a warning in his voice. “This is a command from your apprentice. Bed. Now.” He started to walk backwards, pulling me with him, but I dug my heels into the ground.
“Meera,” I protested. We had a private section of the cave, our own little corner that had become our bedroom, but she wasn’t sleeping that far away, and there were no walls between us.
“I’m aware.” His good eyebrow lifted.
“So …” I gestured helplessly. I hadn’t exactly been in the mood since the Allurian Pass. But in the few moments oureyes had met in that specific way, the heat between us palpable, nothing had happened because we’d had no real privacy either.
“So,” he stepped in toward me, “that just means you’re going to have to be a very good girl,” his voice lowered, “and stay very quiet while I fuck you.”
My stomach tightened, my eyes meeting Rhyan’s emerald ones, blazing with a different kind of fire. He pulled me against him in one swift movement, his hands on my ass, lifting me up as my legs wrapped around him. Gods. He was already so hard and thick, I instinctively rocked my hips against him, listening with satisfaction as his breath caught.
His hands dug into me, attempting to keep me still as he made a noise low in his throat. Then he walked us inside, the wards humming and echoing with their protective magic.
“If I recall, you’re not exactly so quiet yourself,” I whispered, biting his earlobe. His cock twitched between us.
“I see. Challenging me are you?” he asked. “Bad idea.”
My stomach tugged, and a second later, my back hit our makeshift bed. I barely had time to place my stave on my travel bag before Rhyan was moving over me. His hands slid up my arms, pinning mine above my head as he thrust. My inner walls clenched and clamped down in anticipation of him inside me. Then he did it again, circling his hips, putting the exact amount of pressure my core needed to make me lose control.
His eyes met mine and he pushed even harder, grinding into me steadily as his hips rocked back and forth. I whimpered.
“Partner,” he whispered, shaking his head. “You’re already breaking the rules. Shhhh.” He covered my mouth with his lips, his tongue licking the seam and deepening our kiss.
I gasped. “What rules?” My heels dug into the ground as my hips lifted, rolling up to meet his.
Suddenly he stretched over me, flattening my body as a mischievous grin spread across his face. “I forgot, I’m the apprentice, and you are my novice. So, it’s my job to teach you. The rules are simple. Every noise you make, I stop. But if you’re quiet, I fuck you. Now, are you going to be my good girl, and remain silent?” he teased. “Or …” He reached beneath my sleep shirt—his shirt that I’d stolen—and cupped my breast. It was already heavy, my nipple hard as his thumb ran over it, making me buck. “Or am I going to have to stop?”
“You better not,” I hissed.
“Then you better follow the chain of command.” He pinched, and I gasped before his lips found mine again.
His tongue slid into my mouth, massaging mine before he trailed kisses down my cheek and jaw, practically biting down on my neck. All the while he continued palming my breast, his hips grinding as my arms remained trapped above my head.
I wrapped my legs around him, locking my ankles against his ass as he released me to draw my shirt up, his lips fastening over my bared nipple. Then he moved to the other. Pleasure rippled through me as his mouth wrapped around the peak, his tongue flicking before he sucked, while he continued rolling the first between his fingers.
I was trying desperately to stay quiet, but as he continued, the sensations began to build and build until it was too much, until I was overcome. “Gods!” I cried out before I could stop myself.
All at once, he pulled back, hovering over me. Not a single part of his body touched mine. I writhed, desperately trying to make contact with him again, to find more friction, more pleasure, but he held himself up. His arms were like an iron cage around my head.
