Page 73 of The Duke and the Disciple

“I will.”

“Because I cannot read you, Scholar.” She lifted her gaze to meet his. “And, oh, I’ve tried, but you’re a confounding man.”

Rahn chuckled softly. “Then my efforts have not been in vain.”

“Do you have many regrets in life?”

He wasn’t prepared for the question. And the answer... If he said yes, would she leave it alone? “All men do, if they live long enough.”

“But doyou?”

With a threaded inhale, he nodded slowly. “Yes, I do. What’s this about, Aesylt?”

Her hands twisted in her lap, but her eyes stayed locked on his. “Do you regret agreeing to partner with me? Please... Think about this before you answer. Really consider it.”

“I don’t need to think about it,” he said, though he had been thinking about it, all morning, all afternoon. Between every word he’d offered the woodcrafter who made her the squirrel, something he’d done on a whim but not without careful consideration. Every time he’d made her laugh in the market. When she’d brushed her thumb to the corner of his mouth to clear the smudges, and when he’d done the same for her—how easy and natural it had all felt. It had been his way of sayingnothing has changed. We’re still friends, still partners.“The only thing that would give me regret would be if I saw it in you. If I thought what we’d done—what we are yet to do—was harming you. And I trust you to tell me if that were to happen. Or if it already had.”

Aesylt looked at her hands. “It has not.” She glanced up again, fire dancing in her crystal eyes. “And you should know I will do every last thing on the Reliquary’s list if that’s what it takes. Battlefield and all. There’s nothing out of bounds for me because I trust you. So please don’t... look at me and see the girl you invited to be a disciple a year ago. See me as a woman who is more than ready to rise to the challenge after a year of your tutelage.”

Rahn’s flesh tingled from the force of her intensity, the depth of her stare as she waited for his response. The temptation to read her notes from the day before was so compelling, he’d nearly caved, but it would have grossly violated her trust. She’d told him they were private, for now, and he needed to respect that. “And it’s your choice to continue our efforts, even though we’re bound from sending any of our notes to the Reliquary for now?”

Aesylt pushed up onto her knees and slowly crawled toward him. “When we finally send these notes, I want those stodgy old relics to be in awe of our commitment.”

Rahn lifted his hand to her chin, tilting it. His mouth parted in anticipation of the kiss he hadn’t decided if he should give. “They’ll be expecting us at dinner.”

“No they won’t.” She grinned and rocked back on her heels. “There’s a blizzard coming, and we’re to stay safe... and locked away...” She pitched forward and danced her lips against his. He swallowed a soft moan. “Until morning. So, we can watch the snow fall and wait it out, or we can climb the ladder a little higher and find our own warmth on what looks to be a very, very cold night.”

Rahn cupped her face in his palms and delivered his response as a kiss that had her whispering, “And another with me, and another with me, for the love of the bloody Ancestors.”

Aesylt lay backon the bed as Rahn slowly climbed over her. His erection brushed between her legs, sending blood straight to her head, but that wasn’t the rung they were on. They had to go in order, or it could compromise the entire experiment.

“We go as slow as you need.” Rahn traced his words along her jaw. The way he studied for her hesitation, reading her at every step, almost tricked her into believing it was all real. “If you’re not ready, it may hurt more than it should.”

“You’ll soon see how ready I am,” she purred, feeling recklessly bold as she squirmed to lift her dress. She wished they’d taken it off altogether, for his clothes to be scattered around the celestial room as well, but there was intimacy and there was science.

Her legs fell to the sides, inviting him to direct the next phase.

“Gods,” he whispered, so low she almost didn’t hear him at all. His chest rose and fell, hard and fast, as he first stared and then dipped down to kiss between her legs. Her head rolled back with a silent scream of pleasure as he dragged his tongue along the length of her. “You are ready, aren’t you?”

Aesylt nodded, but he couldn’t see her because he was still nestled betwixt her thighs. Her throat rasped under the skill of his gentle but demanding tongue, her heels digging into the hard mattress as her ass tightened and lifted when an orgasm ripped through her, quick and thunderous. Her scream echoed across the celestial stones, heightening to a shrill whine as he held on.

Finally she pushed on the top of his head, unable to take another moment. Panting, he peeled back and wiped his mouth, watching her. “I thought you might... enjoy beginning with that,” he said between breaths.

“You do know...” She caught her breath, her eyes fluttering briefly closed. “That this means I’ll be returning the favor before the night is ended.”

A grin played at his mouth, one he was visibly attempting to restrain. “Does it?”

Aesylt bit down on her lip, nodding, her breaths still ragged.Maybe we can even climb to the very tippy top of this ladder.“But first...”

His lips screwed together, still trying not to smile. “For the science.”

“Of course, if you don’t get enough information for your notes...”

“We can always do it again...”

“And again.” Aesylt smoothed her hands along her inner thighs. His eyes followed her movements. She brought them to rest where his face had just been, sliding a finger down herself, knowing exactly what it would do to him despite her inexperience in the matter. “I’m not afraid of a little pain, Scholar.”

He blinked hard in visible restraint. “I’ll start with one finger.”

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