She aggressively mangled my pelt. I had a difficult time not groaning with pleasure.
“What if you slipped?” she said.
I have four legs. I can hang on with at least one.
Fallon slid off my body, dragging the bag and blankets unnecessarily hard across my back.
No other complaints?I shook out my fur, spattering her with snow. She would have to take off layers if they were wet. My lupine laugh puffed out and she glared. This was more fun than playing catch with squirrels.
“That’s all I can think of for now. I’ll let you know if I come up with anything else once my heart leaves my mouth.”
She looked around the stone room and it afforded me a chance to see it with fresh eyes.
“What is this place?” She kept her hands at her sides.
I inhaled to read its story before I shifted, dressing in the spare clothes. An osprey had made a nest and raised chicks here last breeding season. After they flew the nest, the temple had absorbed the raw materials and the chick who died, as was its custom. That wasn’t what she was asking and would probably freak Fallonout. Magic didn’t act like that in the rest of the Harrowlands.
“Old Magic gifted us this. It’s as close to a temple as will ever contain something so elemental. Nothing will hurt you here.”
Less polished than any temple she had been to, the two rooms and the well that made up the sanctuary weren’t quite natural either. More like Old Magic had scooped out a raw space in the rock with bare hands and left time to polish it.
She touched the walls with a reverence that expanded my heart. The Old Magic filled my eyes with the future memory of her dressed in the traditional sheer collar of moth thread, embroidered wisteria flowers picked out with gold, silver, and void berry-dyed thread. The trail of a train brushed over the stones with the sound of petals falling. Winter blooms made a crown on her head, tumbling down her back in a bounty far outmatched by the rich shine of her chocolate hair and even brighter eyes.
“Will it be mad if we rest here?” She broke into my fever dream.
The space faded back to the winter night. I blinked away the dizziness, my heart still beating fast, my hands clenching on nothing.
“You’re thinking of the Godds. Old Magic just is. It doesn’t care about that stuff. A temple is the same as a cave, which is the same as the stars inthe sky.”
The other room held a small store of tinder and logs, along with a few supplies. I spread out the blankets in the main chamber and started a fire as Honey removed more layers than I could have hoped.
I waved her over to get warm before the blaze and I think she reacted before our new awkwardness crept in. She snuggled between my legs and I draped over her back, chin on her shoulder before she thought too hard.
True happiness existed right here, surrounding her like we had done countless times with our friends. Since we were almost the same height, I was always a breath away from touching her lips, licking her neck. There was no escaping her apple and cinnamon scent. I wondered if she would taste of it too. But it wasn’t quite the way it used to be. Our same ease weighed with the hunger that now sat between us, sharpening its teeth. The glow of wanting her, the pure need to press my hips to her generous ass, made me shiver.
“Are you hurt from that fall?” Her tone fell short of sarcastic.
No. I was dying and it felt so good.
“Just cold. Someone is sucking up all my heat.” I gritted my teeth against the image of her sucking other things.
Her light chuckle made me drip into my loose pants. All that fabric preserved a small amount of my modesty. I couldn’t be sorry for it because as Fallon relaxed againstme, the bond expanded. Just enough for a bit of my lust to slip through.
Her breathing grew heavy. “What are we doing?”
Fallon’s musky scent told me what we should be doing. My nails bit into my palms. The bond opened a little wider for her lust to echo back. It tasted delicious.
“We're watching the sunrise.” That was partially true. A greater part of me reached through the bond to touch her in ways I wouldn’t let my hands. They fisted at my sides, scooping the dirt of the temple into my grip.
“Can you get it to go any faster?”
I licked my lips and she heard it by the way she exhaled. Fallon leaned further back into my chest. I threaded through her body, pulling at her from the inside, seeping between her legs. I didn’t know if I would do this right, but the need to pleasure her was too great. I wanted her turned to jelly.
“When you control the sun, let me know. I’ll open a shrine to you.” I would anyway, and pray on my knees to her every day.
Her clit, her nipples, called for me as I reached through the bond. She felt it because her heart raced in her chest and her legs clenched together.
“Dec, where are your hands?”
