Page 61 of Daughter of the Darkened City

Because Enid would run. She could see the discomfort around her brothers. She remembered the expression after they’d had sex in the river. The silence on their trek to the gate.

But so what if she bled out? Avenay thought she’d let Enid drain her dry if it meant even a moment of this bliss with her.

Which was a startling realization. She barely recognized herself. Enid said the thrall wasn’t real, but what else could this be? She felt feverish, insane. Desperate and needy.

She didn’t reply to Enid; she just kissed her again. Enid didn’t ask more about it. Instead, she gave herself over to Avenay’s ministrations, quietly moaning in her ear, her hands coming up Avenay’s skirt and looping under her panties, finding that sweet spot and slowly caressing.

“You’re so wet for me,” Enid said.

Avenay licked up her neck and Enid pushed harder into her, the pressure making her pant with desperation. In another moment, she felt something else, Enid’s tail, enter her and she let out a gasp. She gripped Enid’s horn tighter, bringing her other hand to Enid’s blouse, finding her nipples and swirling around them. The moan Enid let out made Avenay tighten, her pleasure swelling.

“That’s it, good girl. I want you to come for me,” Enid cooed. She flicked and pulsed her fingers, pressing her tail in deeper, making Avenay arch against the wall, pressing on that spot that made her dizzy and panting. Her body tingled from the pleasure of it and her body tightened even more as she came to that precipice.

“I want to feel you come on my hands, Little Bird.” Enid pulsed her fingers, taking a bite of Avenay’s neck, and with that, she came so hard she bit down on Enid’s shoulder to muffle her cry.

A satisfied smirk spread across Enid’s face and Avenay pushed forward, pressing Enid on the opposite wall. The smirk turned to surprise, and Avenay unbuttoned Enid’s trousers, her fingers finding her apex.

She pressed softly, making generous circles before dipping inside her. Enid groaned and Avenay’s cunt throbbed from the sound, her orgasm still rippling through her. Enid rolled her hips against Avenay’s palm, the sight of her moving, her head thrown back, long neck exposed imprinting in Avenay’s mind. She wanted to remember every sound, every look, every single part of this coupling.

Enid’s movements were harried as Avenay reached up, rubbing her horns. Her head dipped to Enid’s breast and she licked her nipples over the shirt. Enid’s breath caught, her body going stiff before she toppled over Avenay, holding tightly as her pussy throbbed around Avenay’s fingers.

“Avie, Avie, Avie,” she muttered like a prayer, peppering Avenay’s neck with kisses.

They stayed like that for a moment, letting the bliss wash over them. When Enid pulled back, Avenay expected to see regret there. All she saw was a question she didn’t have an answer to. She wouldn’t lie again. But she didn’t want to give this up. Not yet. She didn’t want to make Enid bolt.

So she took Enid’s hand,and led her out of the alley, as if her heart wasn’t melting and reforming into something that included Enid’s.

Chapter 24: Enid

The air was cool the next morning as Enid made her way to the temple for training with Hevena. Her brothers insisted on coming, even though she’d told them they didn’t need to be there. She didn’t know how to tell them she preferred their absence, as it would make her less nervous about messing up. Still, there was no fighting with Dryston when he was acting like a mother hen.

“So,” Dryston said as they walked. “You and Avenay.”

Enid sighed. “What about it?”

“You’re nesting,” Kaemon said, his tone more gleeful than she would like.

She pursed her lips, holding back the denial waiting there. Shewasnesting. At the market, she’d had to pull back from buying Avenay everything she looked at. The drive to impress her and show her what she could offer was all-consuming. Then they’d done that in the alley…

Fuck.

That had been the most amazing sexual experience of her life. Not the first time she’d fucked in an alleyway behind some bushes, nor the most interesting location she’d ever done it, but somehow it had been the most erotic. The time in the river had been no different, and even though they hadn’t shared a room that night, she had almost tied herself down to keep her from going to Avenay’s room and ensuring neither of them slept a wink.

She had to stay focused. So much was riding on her being able to perform the ritual and breaking the wards on Evolis.

But the mating frenzy was going to drive her to insanity. Even though she still hadn’t talked to Avenay about it. Each time she asked what it was, Avenay pointedly avoided answering.

Enid tried to ignore that piercing sting of rejection and the fear that followed.

What if Avenay could never return her feelings?

Enid shook her head, refusing to answer her brother’s line of questioning when they came to their destination.

The temple was a wall of interlocking gray stones that sloped up into a dome at the top. Circular, stained glass windows lined the front, each a different phase of the moon. She stepped into the temple courtyard at the same moment that Onora came from the opposite direction. Onora stopped abruptly, hand flying to the hilt of the dagger on her hip, eyes slits pointed toward Dryston before she continued to the doors.

“A simple ‘thank you’ would suffice,” Dryston growled.

She halted again, turning on her heel and shooting him a glare. “For what?”

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