“Nothing, really, nothing. Ms. Allende wanted to warn me about people being after Crow & Cat, I guess.”
Rhiannon paused for a second and Pru saw her eyes warm up.
“It’s quite a name. I love it.”
Her answer was a small kiss placed on the palm of her hand, then Rhiannon’s gaze lost its warmth.
“I don’t know what she actually wanted. She spoke of the town’s archives and how they might have things I should be digging into. And the rest is just the usual campaigning? I wouldn’t be able to say, I was never part of one nor have I ever wanted to. Yanking your father’s chain is one thing, but getting involved is entirely different.”
Pru held her breath for a few seconds before she exhaled, the world settling heavier on her shoulders. She hated this. Snippets of conversations, gossip, scandal, and news clippings all were jumbled in her mind, and she felt dizzy for a moment. Something big was going on around her, and she seemed to be missing her cues.
“It’s so strange. It’s the talk of the town and fodder for gossip and yet nobody ever even talked about the Atelier in my presence since I took over Book Nest five years ago. You were quite a shock, to say the least.” She smiled, remembering the first day she saw Rhiannon Crowhart striding in her boots down the Market Square, seeing no one and being watched by absolutely everyone. The new mistress of the abandoned forgotten building.
Rhiannon’s smile was tired yet delighted.
“Shock, really?”
“Well, you did bring the storms.”
It was perhaps testimony to how exhausted Rhiannon was because she did not scoff, did not blow up or ignore the reference to magic. Her smile did not waver. If anything, it grew warmer, sweeter, the forest-green eyes losing their shadows.
“And you calmed them.”
“Did I?” Pru tried very hard to hide the note of yearning from her voice. She should not show it. Rhiannon couldn’t know just how much Pru wanted this. This warmth, this intimacy between them, in the middle of a crowd.
And then Rhiannon, perhaps inspired by being called shocking, surprised her again. Instead of answering Pru, she closed the distance between them and touched her lips to Pru’s. Here, in front of over a hundred people, in front of Paloma Allende, in front of Headmistress Nox, in front of the whole town.
Pru’s head spun, and she lost herself in the kiss, brief as it was. Soft, hot, a hint of teeth, and then it was over and Pru was left standing alone and lightheaded as Rhiannon walked toward the Crow’s Nest Chamber of Commerce delegation, getting stares and turning heads along her way.
Later,when Rhiannon took her from behind in her luxurious California king bed, she made Pru watch.
“After all, you did so much of it at the reception…”
On all fours, Pru did indeed watch in the mirror placed on the wall opposite the California king as Rhiannon’s strap-on entered her very slowly, every inch disappearing inside her, making her moan, making her mad. She thought she’d die if Rhiannon pulled out, and then when she did, Pru thought she’ddie anyway. The slow slide of slippery silicone was unbearable and unbearably not enough.
“Please… Please, Rhiannon…”
A low chuckle was her only reply, and then Rhiannon slammed into her, giving her everything in one long, hard thrust.
“You were saying, Prudence?”
Pru wasn’t certain she could even speak, could think at all, all she wanted was more.
“Mmmm… More…”
Another chuckle, and still Rhiannon refused to rush, a slow stroke once again paired with an arm encircling her and those long fingers playfully teasing her clit, barely touching it, barely flicking it.
“I think I will take my time, darling.” Rhiannon lowered her head and Pru felt her mouth on the nape of her neck, kissing, licking, and then just as she was allowing herself to get lost in the tenderness of the sensation, biting, one sharp feral nip of teeth, timed perfectly with another hard thrust, and Prudence’s vision grayed at the edges.
Rhiannon’s free hand delved into her hair and pulled, making her lift her face and watch the two of them, the mirror showing her quite possibly the most decadent sight. Rhiannon didn’t bother getting her fully naked, just throwing her on the bed and shoving her dress up. Her panties were somewhere around her ankles, her neck marked up and already blooming with the peony petals of Rhiannon’s marks. And she was fucked so thoroughly, so blissfully, taking every inch of the toy and looking as pleasured as she has even been in her life.
Surely she should feel something. Embarrassment? Maybe shame? Her very strict evangelical upbringing should be kicking in any second now, telling her she was going to hell.
Except Rhiannon’s fingers in her hair pulled again, lifting her off her hands, bringing them back to front, and Pru watched asher clit was stroked in perfect rhythm with the strap-on grinding into her, hitting her very core, and there was no shame. No guilt. No regret. Yes, Rhiannon would leave. And yes, it would hurt. It would probably destroy her, surely ruin her for any other, but this was worth it. This bliss. This pleasure. This love.
The moment the word crossed her mind, the moment her heart opened and accepted the truth Pru had been hiding from for days, she felt her orgasm approaching like a freight train. Her ears rang, her thighs shook, her mind emptied with acceptance. And as she sensed the first tendrils of her climax take hold, the last thing she saw in the mirror was her eyes shimmering with a light she had never seen before. The light of her power taking over.
21
