‘I’ve got you. I’ve always got you …’
It’s just the head, and yet it’s stretching me as it inches slowly in, my senses on overload.
‘Gods, Rose. I … I …’ The word is on the tip of his tongue, I know it is, but before he speaks it, I thrust my hips downwards and plunge him in a little deeper. ‘Fuck!’
Our gasps are simultaneous as his body spasms inside me, but it’s not enough. He’s not all the way in. I’m not sure I can take him all, but I sure as hell am going to try. I want every single inch of him. I brace myself, ready to thrust again, only for a shrill sound to cut through the air.
Our eyes meet.
‘The fourth trial?’ I groan, sinking my head onto his chest.
‘Of course it fucking is,’ he growls. ‘Get dressed. We don’t know how long we have, and if they use portation …’
Yeah, being chucked in a tundra of ice in the nude would not go well for either of us.
‘Later,’ I tell him, allowing my tongue one more sweep against his, and he nods as we carefully detangle. ‘We will finish this later.’
‘That better be a promise,’ he says, grabbing my hand. ‘Rose.’ His eyes lock on mine, and I know exactly what he’s going to say, but I can’t hear it now. Not like this. Not when one of us could die.
‘Later,’ I say forcefully.
His lips press tightly together before he nods once. ‘Later.’
Chapter 59
‘Idon’t have my furs,’ I say to Kyor in a panic as I race to pull on my clothes. I can’t believe I didn’t think to bring them down here with me. I’ve spent every night here after all. But I guess I thought we had more time until the next trial.
‘In the wardrobe,’ Kyor tells me. ‘Benny gave them to me a couple of days ago. I forgot to tell you. Guess he figured it might be another middle-of-the-night thing.’
‘Thank you, Benny,’ I mutter as I grab the clothes. There was a reason the others always looked at him as a leader. He thinks of it all. As I sheath my dagger, feeling the steady cool of the metal in my hand, Kyor is already painting his sigils.
‘You want me to do yours?’ he asks. ‘Etta and Aitara, right? With the Wrohelm rings?’
I nod. ‘Thank you.’
Given his artistic skill, it’s unsurprising that his hand is far steadier than mine and the circles of Wrohelm are actually circular, unlike when I’ve drawn them.
‘I should’ve got you to do them before now. You’ve done a better job than I can.’
‘How about I do it for every battle going forward, then?’ he says, and it makes my heart ache because my father used to paint my mother’s.
‘That sounds like a deal.’ I turn my head up and kiss him gently on the lips.
With our faces painted, we gather with the others in the courtyard, where the carriages are already waiting.
Benny beckons us over.
‘What have you learned?’ I ask.
He gestures to the carriages. ‘Their tyres. They’re the same ones we picked up when we arrived at port. Exactly the same. They need them to go over a very specific terrain so my best guess is we’re heading to the Lueayan Channel.’
Fear flutters through me. I know people have swum the expanse of water that lies between the mainland and the Eastern Isles before, but surely they can’t expect us to do that? If they do, there’s no way I’ll make it.
I gulp. ‘Maybe we have to row across,’ I say hopefully.
‘There’s no point guessing,’ Kyor replies. ‘It’s a waste of energy.’
‘He’s right,’ Jonas agrees.
