Chapter Twenty-Three

E vienne pricked her palm and extended her hand to unlock the door to her rooms. Orion watched her intently, clearly studying how she wielded this seemingly simple magic. She smirked at him and pushed her door open. He followed her inside, glancing over his shoulder to ensure no one saw them.

They had slipped away from the ball after making a bit of an appearance, dancing twice and splitting up to chat separately with various members of the court. The entire time they spent apart, Evienne could sense where Orion was in the hall. Maybe this idea of Còmhanam wasn’t completely unfounded.

Evienne strode over to her vanity and began to remove her jewelry. Orion stayed just inside the door, watching her with desire coming off him in waves.

“I’ll never understand how you manage having to cut yourself every time you use your magic,” Orion said, watching her intently.

“You get used to it after so many years of practice. Besides, we’re taught to end every casting with a healing spell, so the cuts close before I ever really notice them,” Evienne caught his stare in her mirror and turned to face him. “Will you help me with the laces?”

Orion prowled across the room to stand behind her. She could feel the heat of his body against her bare upper back as the tips of his fingers brushed lightly over her exposed shoulders. She heard him inhale sharply as she leaned back into his touch.

Orion’s fingers found the laces at the back of her dress and began to slowly loosen them. Evienne reveled in his closeness, in the quiet intimacy of this moment. She found herself wondering what it would be like to end every evening like this.

As she felt the dress fully loosen she let it fall to the ground before stepping out of it. She stood before him in nothing but her black lace panties; the dress had a built-in corset, so no other support had been needed. Orion’s gaze traveled the full length of her before coming to rest on her face.

“Evienne, you are the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.” He was breathless. Before she could answer, his hands were cupping her face, his lips pressing to hers in a passionate but reverent kiss. She opened to him, his tongue sweeping in to claim her, and her body ignited with desire for him.

Her hands found the buttons of his pants as he shrugged out of his immaculate jacket and beautiful linen shirt. Soon, they were both bare before each other, a tangle of limbs falling onto the plush rug before Evienne’s fireplace.

The heat of the fire pressed against Evienne’s heated skin while Orion’s cool fingers grazed the underside of her breast. She gasped at the gentleness of the contact and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him into a kiss. They explored each other with languid, hungry touches and tastes, when Evienne decided she didn’t want to wait any longer.

“Orion, please,” Evienne begged in a breathy moan.

“Tell me what you want, love,” Orion whispered in her ear as his fingers worked her most sensitive bundle of nerves. She writhed against the friction he created, his touch driving her closer to release. She let out another moan as he slipped two fingers inside her, the pleasant stretch leaving her wanting more.

“I want you to fill me,” she panted, grinding her hips against him, his fingers buried deep inside her.

“I won’t make you ask twice,” Orion answered, just as breathless. His need for her was a palpable thing; Evienne felt it in her soul.

Orion sat back on his knees, pulling Evienne into a sitting position astride him. She braced her arms on his shoulders, kneeling so she was hovering just above his hard length. Orion placed his hands on her hips and guided her down onto him, inch by inch, letting her adjust to the stretch. He stared into her eyes, and Evienne watched him savor every expression on her face as she took him.

When he was seated to the hilt inside her, Evienne’s head fell back on a moan. Orion groaned and wrapped his arms around her to support her, shifting so that her legs wrapped around his hips. Evienne cried out at the deepening of the sensation at this angle; she felt impossibly full of him, so connected that every thought began and ended with him.

Evienne took a deep breath, feeling this moment burrowing into her very soul. These seconds, minutes, hours, spent with him; she knew these moments would linger in her mind as some of her most cherished memories.

Just as she adjusted to the feel of him so deep inside her, Orion lifted her hips gently and began a slow rocking motion that had her clenching around him. She gasped, feeling every glorious inch as he ground slowly inside her. She looked up at him, his gaze already upon her face, and they stared at each other in awe at all they were feeling together.

Evienne took over the rocking motion, gradually increasing the speed until she could feel her release about to crest. Orion slipped his hand into her hair at the back of her head, tilting her face up to him, and kissed her deeply. Before Evienne realized what was happening, she was seeing…herself?

She stood on the steps at the main entrance to the palace, hair flowing in the autumn breeze, with a pleasant expression on her face. Evienne realized Orion was looking at her from where he sat mounted on his horse, moving toward the palace.

“Breathtaking.” Orion’s voice filtered through Evienne’s mind. She must be seeing his memory of the day they met.

Evienne felt, or rather Orion must have felt, a jolting intuitive pull as he neared her in the courtyard that day. “I must be near her,” the thought, overwhelming in certainty, came unbidden. She felt his shock, denial, surprise, confusion—all in a swirling torrent. In the next heartbeat, she was back in her own mind, Orion still deep inside her. No more than a second had passed from when her vision began.

She blinked as Orion’s lips left hers, and she looked up into his perfect face and smiled. He smiled back and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “I want to feel you coming on my cock, my love; can you do that for me?”

He reached between their bodies and began to knead her clit in a firm, rolling motion, and she cried out, pleasure flaring through her. He kept stroking until her orgasm crashed over her. His cock was buried so deep, and he had stilled inside her, so they both felt every pulse of her release. Orion tensed, moaning her name as he followed her to completion.

Evienne felt the pressure inside her increasing, just as it had before, but she knew now what was happening. She had never considered the possibility, but now that she was faced with it, the fact that Orion’s magic had woken in response to her, his Tuanadair nature taking over to lock himself inside her, she found it incredibly erotic and deeply meaningful.

His knot expanded fully, sealing their bodies together. Evienne’s nails pressed into the expanse of Orion’s back as she fought to catch her breath. He caught her chin in his fingers, tilting her face to him, and the corner of his mouth pulled up as he stared at her. She shifted slightly to lean her head against his shoulder, and the small movement made Orion moan. She felt him fill her again, and her own release found her once more at the sensation.

Orion gently turned them and laid them on their sides, facing each other with their legs still entangled. He brushed Evienne’s sweat-damp hair from her brow, observing her with what appeared to be reverence. She smiled at him then, and took his hand in hers, squeezing gently.

“Orion, I believe there are two things we should discuss,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“What’s on your mind, love?” He answered, holding her close to him as he remained locked in place inside her.

“First, I think I should tell you something about my magic that I’ve never told anyone…” she trailed off, feeling overwhelmed at how vulnerable she was about to make herself to him. She had to tell him though, after she had invaded his privacy just now. “I can do more than blood magic, and I don’t know how or why,” she said with a small sigh.

Orion’s brow furrowed slightly as he listened intently, not rushing her but leaving space for her to continue when she was ready. After a moment, she went on, “Sometimes, when I touch people, it feels like I’m thrown into their memories. I never control what I see it’s always a shock when it happens, but no time passes no matter how long the memory is that I see.”

She searched Orion’s face for any fear or disgust and found only gentle curiosity, and maybe a bit of concern.So she went on, “It…well it happened just now. With you,” she said with a bit of a wince. She didn’t take lightly what an invasion it was to see someone’s memories without permission.

“Oh really?” Orion looked more interested than upset. “What did you see?”

“You aren’t angry?” Evienne said, uncertainty lacing her words.

“No, love. All my secrets are yours to take should you wish it.” Orion smiled as he spoke, and pressed a kiss to her brow. She shifted as she felt the pressure in her core decreasing, a gasp escaping her lips as Orion withdrew.

“I saw the first moment you saw me when you arrived in Ichorna,” she breathed, looking anywhere but into Orion’s eyes. “I heard your thoughts.”

Orion pulled her closer so their bodies were fully wrapped in each other. “I am glad you saw; now you can be sure of me when I tell you there was a pull for me from the very second I beheld you.”

Evienne had felt the fire between them, had been intrigued by Orion since she met him, but she had not expected him—or anyone for that matter—to say such things to her. She planned to keep an open mind, but Orion had her falling for him faster than she thought possible.

“Like I said, I don’t understand this part of my magic. I’ve never had to use blood to power the spell, not that there even is one really…it just happens when I’m least expecting it.”

“Well, love, it sounds like you have some studying to do to see if anyone has recorded similar magical abilities here in Ichorna,” Orion said with a smirk.

“Yes, I suppose that’s a good place to start. Like I said, I’ve never told anyone, and I’ve honestly been a bit afraid of what I would find if I looked into it,” Evienne admitted.

“What was the other thing you wanted to discuss? You said two things,” Orion asked as he stood to collect a towel from the bathing room.

Evienne sat up and took a deep breath. She took the towel he offered when he returned and looked up at him.

“I think you should try to shift.”