Chapter 8

D ae had scarcely shown him into her room before his mouth was on her again. A surprised squeak was muffled by his lips, then gave way to a laugh when the beads on her mask interfered.

“May I?” he asked, fingers tugging on a strand. “I’ll leave the mask.”

She hesitated, her uncertainty plain. Would he recognize her? Perhaps not tonight, seeing as she knew so few people after only one week of class and she was certain they hadn’t met, but later?

“I won’t hurt you,” he promised.

Dae nibbled at one of his fingers, her unease replaced by a smile. “I didn’t think you would.” She lifted her chin. “Go ahead.”

It was a glib response. In hindsight, she hadn’t been entirely sure what he would do to be rid of the beads. Cut them or something. She was not expecting the flare of light in his fingertips, or how quickly he slid his index finger along the underside of her mask, or the breath of heat that followed the line he drew. He caught the fringe in his other hand as it broke free, depositing the strings on her desk.

It took mere seconds, over before Dae’s gasp faded from the air. She ran her fingers along the mask, felt the smooth, soldered line he had so efficiently melted into place.

A fire mage. One of considerable skill, Magister level, at least, to have worked that bit of magic on a whim, fueled entirely by his own energy for she hadn’t so much as turned up a single candle that he could’ve drawn on for aid. The control on display, for him to manage such a precise line and present no threat of harm to her face. Her face, which had been right there.

A shiver stole over her. Dae stared with a sense of wonder as her masked stranger, the gentlemanly fire mage, came back to stand before her. She wanted to ask his name. She wouldn’t have known it—the only Magister levels and above she’d met so far had been professors. It made her want his name all the more. To have the word in her head, the shape of it on her tongue as she affixed it to memory. A name to go with such blue eyes behind a silver and black mask. One she could fall back on, recall and have it conjure up this strange, beautiful night.

Dae was certain she wouldn’t have another like it. Nothing to compete or compare.

He held the slender vial he’d acquired from the student exchange. Didn’t thrust it at her. Rather, he offered it part way. An unspoken question in the space left between their hands.

It had been a while. Even longer since she’d been free to seek anyone out without the specter of Brint hanging over her. The self-conscious part of her hesitated, put a tremble in her fingers as she reached up. Almost had an apology, excuse, or nervous babble of warning passing her lips.

Almost.

Dae took the vial. Whoever he was, the fire mage desired her. Had already kissed her as if he was a dying man and her lips were life itself. What did it matter if she had no recent experience, or really any when it came to casual sex? The beauty of one night would be no reservations. No embarrassment. Only shared explorations in the moonlight of her room.

And if it was awful, eh, what need did Dae have to visit the Fire Tower anyway?

She drank the contraceptive down and cast the vial aside and tilted her head back, offering her mouth to him again.

His kiss consumed. Seared away the last of her lingering doubts. Replaced the pinprick of nervousness, of worry that she would disappoint, with his undeniable ardor, a mutual feeling that Dae was quick to match.

The kiss lost any veneer of politeness, of elegance. He let his hunger through. Pressed wet lips to her mouth, then the side of her neck. Licked a warm stripe along the column of her throat. Hummed softly, even a bit smugly, when Dae shivered in response.

Her hands went to his belt, feeling in the dark as he kept her head tipped back, lips feathering over her neck. Every touch and, gods, suck of his mouth sent a zing straight to her clit, made her shift against him as she tried to drag his trousers down, the laces loosened but not fully undone.

Chuckling deep in his chest, he cast aside his shirt, fingers curling in the fabric of her bodice.

“Gods all … fucking…” he growled, searching for the fastening.

Dae laughed, showing him the hidden placket at the side. He drew the long garment over her head, chucking it beside the bed. Her breastband followed. The panties went slower, gradually sliding down her legs as he kissed a trail along her thighs. He nipped playfully at the underside of her knee. Pressed a quick kiss to her clit, the sensation making Dae startle. And clench.

She yelped when he picked her up and dumped her rather unceremoniously onto the bed. His body was quick to follow, his mouth hungry as it covered hers again, stifling her moan as he palmed her breasts.

“You’re—” Dae’s breath caught as his lips circled her nipple. Her fingers wrapped in his hair, tugging him up so she could finish her thought. “You’re wearing too many clothes.”

He snorted but drew back and shucked off his trousers and boots. “Impatient.”

“Yes,” she agreed, pulling him over her.

He only kissed her once before he returned to teasing her breasts. Sucking on her nipples so they stiffened, flicking with his tongue until she writhed. Her back arched off the bed as she sought his lips.

He pressed her down and murmured into her ear as his hand trailed lower. He grinned when his exploring fingers parted her folds and found her already wet.

Her hips cuddled against his hand. She took his first finger, clenching as she tried to create more friction. Tried to feel full.

His breath ghosted across her neck in another short laugh. “So impatient.” He slid down again to take one of her nipples into his mouth. A second finger slid into her pussy.

Dae moaned as his fingers began to thrust in earnest. When his thumb caressed her clit, she spasmed, a hoarse scream tumbling past her lips.

“Like that, love?” He went faster, fingers making an audible squelch as they entered. “Sounds like it.”

He stroked her clit again. Dae hissed a breath as her core wound tight, pleasure spiking. Another circle and press of his thumb, the precise curl of his embedded fingers, and Dae was gone. The orgasm had her bucking weakly in his hand, her inner walls fluttering. He rubbed slowly along her front wall, drawing whimpering, shuddery breaths from her as the electric tingles slowed.

When she was finally quiet, he withdrew his fingers, holding them up in admiration. He glanced down at her, arrogance plain upon his face. “I’m that good, eh?”

He winked at her before putting his fingers in his mouth. His eyes fluttered closed, a guttural, gratified sound rumbling at the back of his throat. Any indignation Dae might’ve felt at his teasing melted at the sound. At the look on his face, both when he marveled at her taste and when he stared down at her, wonder and hunger in his eyes.

His erection bobbed with anticipation, nudged her thigh. Dae’s chest shook with a quiet laugh as she reached for him. “More?”

“Can you?” he murmured, hand skimming across her legs.

Dae nodded. “It’s just … been a while.”

He stared at her for a moment, gave a quick shake of his head, and huffed as if in disbelief, maybe a little contempt. “That’s a damned crime,” he growled.

Dae agreed. Especially if this was the kind of attention she’d been missing out on. The attempts at romance with Brint had died out long ago, dropping from sporadic to nothing for the last few years. She’d forgotten what it felt like to be desired. Perhaps she’d never known at all. Not like this.

Dae watched as he coated himself with lubricant from the nondescript bottle he’d bought at the mercantile, and let him draw her to the side of the bed so he could stand. She spread her legs so he could settle between them, trying to watch as his length nosed in. Her breath caught at the stretch.

He paused. “Yes?”

Her fingers tangled in her hair, fanning out across the bed. “Yes. It’s just—gods, don’t let this go to your head—it’s just a little big, okay?”

He smirked, rolling his pelvis in a short circle so that his tip disappeared inside before sliding out. Grinned with teeth at her gasp. “Big, eh?”

“A li-little.” Dae moaned as he slowly, yet without pause, thrust in until his hips were flush against her.

His answering laugh had a predatory quality.

Dae cried out as he thrust again, her legs wrapping around his waist. She held on, angled herself up. Goddess. He was big. Filled her so completely. Satisfied something deep in her brain, in her core. The slapping of skin as he repeatedly bumped the backs of her thighs, the wet sound of his cock sucking in and out. Dae reveled in it. Squeezed him, felt a heady sort of pleasure when he groaned in response.

His large hands cupped her ass, lifted her even more, let his cock nudge a spot that made her whimper. It turned her cry to a shriek when his pace increased. Her legs shook, ankles locked together behind his back. She pulled him closer, fingers leaving her hair to clutch at his arms.

Then he reached forward, taking her clit between his fingers. As she sucked in a breath, he gave it a squeeze.

Dae’s cry was a hoarse, shattered sound as she came. Her body quivered, jerked against him as her inner walls contracted. He cursed, thrusting gone erratic, before he stiffened. A grunt was followed by a pulse of his cock, liquid heat filling her. He rolled his pelvis with slow, shallow movements, careful not to dislodge while ensuring she wrung him out.

“That was…” A laugh bubbled out of her and grew into a giggle when her movement made him groan. She propped herself up on her elbows, gave him a lopsided smile. She squeezed him again and felt her own smug satisfaction at the way he closed his eyes behind the mask. The way his jaw trembled with a shaky breath.

His eyes opened and snapped onto her.

Dae’s mind could barely keep up as he slid back out, swept her legs down, and flipped her onto her stomach. Then his cock was back at her entrance, and he slid balls deep in a single push. She muffled her scream in the bedcovers and gasped for breath as he drove into her, his cock rubbing against the still-sensitive inner walls in an entirely new way. Intense, almost too much.

His frantic pace finally gave out, a long, low groan spilling from his lips as he collapsed across her back. His cock bobbed weakly inside her, spent.

For a moment, only their panting filled the room. Then he propped himself up on one arm, sparing Dae his weight as he flopped onto his back. She let herself roll over and ended up tucking against his side. She hadn’t meant to go that far, was only going to lie next to him rather than plastered tight like a limpet. But his arm dropped over her shoulders, and she let it stay.

It was so comfortable, so sweet. Dae would’ve been lying if she said the concerns that he’d fuck and run hadn’t crossed her mind. That this surreal night would have a more practical, pedestrian end.

They didn’t speak, content to lie together. Exhaustion made her drowsy. She sighed, shifting to give her arm more space, and made a comical, part sheepish and part dismayed sound.

“I’m kind of … dripping … you,” she said in answer to his half-asleep grunt.

Her admission startled a bark of laughter from him. He pressed the heel of his hand to his eyes. Groaned. “Don’t say—fuck. I don’t have anything left.”

“Good. I think I’d pass out if we went again.”

He lumbered from the bed, found a spare cloth in the tiny washroom attached to her room. They cleaned up in relative silence, the unspoken question of what came next lying heavy upon the air.

Dae absently touched her mask. Their identities were still intact. As her fingers skimmed the perfectly soldered line he’d made when eliminating the beads, a smile spread across her face. She’d hoped the night would be enjoyable—and it had been, several times over—but she hadn’t expected to feel so light. That tonight would be fun. If tonight was to be one of a kind, then why not enjoy it in full? Or at least put the offer out there. If he declined, she wouldn’t begrudge his choice. She’d already gotten so much more than she’d ever thought that first kiss would bring.

“Stay,” she murmured. His eyes widened behind his mask, so she gently added, “Just until morning. It’s the middle of the night.”

He hesitated, eyes leaving her to fix on the door, then the wall clock. When his gaze finally returned to her, there was something like … resolve, perhaps, in his expression. Dae couldn’t be sure, and sleepiness made it a struggle to keep her eyes open.

She leaned her head against his arm as they settled into bed. Not quite cuddling, not the awkward distance of strangers.

“You really are a prince,” she murmured, stroking his mask. “Came to my rescue.”

His laugh had a wry edge. “Not really.”

“Mhmm.” Dae leaned over, pressed a chaste kiss to his lips before rolling onto her side. “Goodnight,” she said.

She fell asleep with his warm presence at her side.