"You're going to scream for me, Venari," Lex uttered when she pulled back. Her finger hovered at the entrance of her. The heat of her thumb sitting there, the anticipation of the pleasure sitting on edge. Lex kissed down the front of Bala again and then to her thigh. And when her nose once more brushed her clit, Bala felt herself start to shake. She watched Lex lean forward, open mouth, the heat of her breath billowing over those nerves. But not touching. Her lips pressed to the inside of her thigh again, moving slowly to the edge of her folds, and every time Bala thought Lex would devour her, she paused.
Bala's muscles stretched with anticipation. Every breath was forced. Her knuckles pale against the edge of the table as she waited for Lex to make her move.Beggingfor her to make her move. Her thighs squeezed, and she whimpered when a whisper of her tongue brushed that hardened spot. And she knew as soon as Lex decided to take her that she would fall apart.
Lex's eyes met hers, and Bala couldn't breathe. Lex moved her hand back to Bala's backside, and she squeezed her flesh, making Bala's hips move.
Which was when Lex finally licked her, and Bala's knees jerked.
Her mouth enclosed on Bala's clit, and Bala fell apart.
Every tensioned muscle in her body broke. She lost her composure, hand moving to Lex's hair as Lex devoured her. Spilling and coming apart over her lips. Her high-pitched moans echoing the tent and not caring that they were in the middle of the village and she would be waking people up.
Because Lex moved Bala's thighs to her shoulders, and Bala fell backward onto the table. Her muscles continued to flinch as Lex finished taking her, and she stared at the ceiling in an attempt to catch her breath.
After a moment, she finally opened her eyes, finding Lex standing over her and holding up her pants. She reached for Bala's hand and pulled her up again. Lex kissed her softly, and Bala could hardly keep herself from falling back onto the table.
"I think you need a second audition," Bala managed.
Lex chuckled as she pushed the shirt back over Bala's head. "I agree. You tried to sabotage my performance."
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
LEX WAS NOT happy about being told to stay behind. Bala could see it in every pore of the Belwark's face. But after they loaded the last of the crates onto Nadir's wagons, Bala simply wrapped her arms around Lex and told her they would be back that night.
No words were spoken as Bala and Nadir trudged over the Preymoor to the Noble's village. Bala didn't know what to say. She wanted to whip her wind violently over the sand and bury the entire southern coast in it. But she trusted Nyssa enough to know if she did something like that, the Princess would never forgive her.
As they reached the village, Bala had to stop.
"You didn't tell me it was this big," she managed at the sight of it. "Did Draven know it was this big?"
Nadir’s dead eyes never left the direction of the village as he replied. "It's doubled in size since we found out about it. So, no. He did not." With a great sigh, he started walking again. "Come on. We need time to set up before she's out."
Bala kept her hood over her head as Nadir spoke to the guards outside the fences, and then they strode inside. People bustled past them, most glaring in Nadir's direction, as they apparently knew he was not of their kind. Bala’s chest tightened with every stare. These were the people she'd fought against on that beach once. The ones who had killed her friends and part of the reason she'd lost her King.
More than once, Nadir had stopped to glare at her over her shoulder when the wind picked up.
They were just finishing taking the lids off the crates when in the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of dark red, and when she looked up, she found herself unable to move.
The sight of Nyssa coming towards them made Bala's heart stop. This was not the Princess she'd grown to love. This was not the Princess she'd sent to the Umber to take control of the negotiations and find a way inside Man's circle.
She’d never meant for her to be here.
Yet here she was... Deteriorating in front of her. Her once lively amber eyes were now swollen with redness, her once full cheeks sunken into her face. There was a pink scratch crossing under her eye. Nyssa kept her arms folded in front of her when she walked, her gaze darting all around them, obviously trying not to look at them as she neared and pretending to notice more about the goods she walked by. Bala squinted at the sight of what looked to be a sling around Nyssa's arm and chest.
"You did not tell me she looked like this," Bala muttered to Nadir under her breath.
Nadir pretended to be adjusting some of the fruits from his cart, pulling brighter ones to the top of the crate. "Would you have agreed to come willingly if I had?”
"I would have brought more than wind, that is for certain," Bala uttered. "Is her arm broken?"
Nadir slowly turned to glance at Nyssa. She heard him curse under his breath. "That's fucking new," he grunted. "As is that scratch on her face.Fuck—“ His fists curled around the fruit in his hand so tightly it burst in his hand, and he pressed his palms into the wood. "The fucking wife," he uttered.
Anger surged in Bala's muscles. She sent a whip of wind rippling through the street, her stern gaze not leaving Nyssa as she circled it around her. She saw the corner of Nyssa's lips quirk, but she didn't turn towards her. The gust wrapped up the woman herding chickens walking past her, and it flipped the woman's dress up over her head.
The woman shrieked and nearly fell over. Guards on either side of Nyssa stopped, helping the woman up off the ground. Nyssa's gaze finally met Bala's, and Bala gave her a quiet wink.
Discombobulated by the wind continuing around them, the guards didn't notice when Nyssa slipped away, pretending as though she were moving out of the way, but in reality moving to the cart beside Nadir and Bala.
"You know I could pick you up without touching you and send you flying back to the Umber, right?" Bala uttered low when Nyssa approached.
