Page 13 of The War of Four Winters

He watched me with those amber eyes that saw too much, that had always seen through my pretenses. He nodded once, a silent permission that felt like absolution, though I knew I deserved none.

I turned him over slowly, reverently, using every skill I possessed to transform his scars from marks of pain to pathways of pleasure. My lips followed where my fingers had been, kissing each raised line, each reminder of what I'd done to him. His skin tasted of salt and pine, of night air and something uniquely him that I'd come to crave more than breath itself.

I brushed my fingers across the network of scars once more, then let my hands wander lower, over the curve of his spine, the dip at the small of his back, the firm muscle of his ass. Every inch of him deserved worship. Every part of him was sacred to me now.

"When did you become essential to me?" I wondered aloud. I urged him gently onto his back, needing to see his face, to watch his reactions as I paid homage to his body. "When did duty become desire become... this?"

I moved down his body with deliberate slowness, taking my time to explore every plane and hollow. His collarbones received gentle kisses, the hollow of his throat a lingering press of lips. I traced the contours of his chest with my tongue, savoring the salt of his skin, the slight hitch in his breathing when I found sensitive spots.

His nipples hardened under my attention, drawing tight when I circled them with my tongue, first one, then the other. The sound he made when I gently caught one between my teeth was half gasp, half moan, his back arching to press closer to my mouth.

Lower still, I traveled, following the trail of copper hair down his stomach, pausing to dip my tongue into his navel, to trace the sharp cut of his hip bones. His cock lay hard against his belly, flushed and leaking at the tip, but I bypassed it for now. This wasn't about reaching completion quickly. This was about worship, about showing with touch what words could never adequately express.

I kissed the inside of his thighs, relishing the way they trembled under my lips. The sensitive skin there made him gasp when I used my teeth, leaving marks of devotion that would fade by morning. His hands found my hair, fingers tangling in the strands but not directing, simply holding on as if to anchor himself against the sensations.

Finally, when he was writhing beneath me, breath coming in short pants, I took his cock in my mouth. The taste of him was intoxicating, salt and musk and something uniquely Elindir. I savored him like the rarest wine, using my tongue to trace the sensitive underside, to circle the crown, to dip into the slit at the top where pre-cum gathered.

His fingers tightened in my hair, his thighs tensing as I took him deeper. I hollowed my cheeks, creating the perfect suction as I worked him with my mouth, one hand cradling his balls, gently rolling them between my fingers. I released his balls and reached up to trace patterns across his chest, to brush against his nipples, to feel the racing of his heart beneath my palm.

"Ruith," he gasped, a warning and a plea that I ignored. I had no interest in stopping, in denying myself this act of devotion. I needed to feel him come apart, to know that I had brought him this pleasure after causing him so much pain.

His release took him suddenly, his body arching off the bed as he spilled himself down my throat with a strangled cry of my name. I swallowed every drop, continuing to work him gently through the aftershocks until he tugged me upward.

"Come here," he demanded, voice rough with spent passion. His hands pulled me up his body until we were face to face, his eyes finding mine in the dim light. He kissed me deeply, tasting himself on my tongue, his hands wandering down to find my own hardness. "Let me touch you," he murmured against my lips.

I caught his wrist, bringing his hand to my lips instead. "This was for you," I said softly. "Only you."

His eyebrows dropped into that pouty glare that I adored. “Then give me what I want.”

How could I not relent? I released his hand and let him touch me, though I didn’t deserve it. I let him kiss me, let him own me, body, soul, and heart, let him own my pleasure as he wished until I was coming and moaning his name. And after, I let him hold my face in his hands while we caught our breath, forehead against forehead, bodies still flushed and warm.

"How do I send you into danger, knowing I might lose you forever?" I whispered.

"I'll come back," he said simply, certainty in every word. "I promised."

"How can you be so sure?" The question escaped before I could stop it.

He pressed his lips softly against mine. "Because I have so much to come back for. Trust me, Ruith. As I trust you."

I nodded, and he seemed satisfied enough to let me lay beside him and hold him once more.

Within moments, he had fallen back to sleep, his body warm against mine. But his words remained, echoing in the silence.

Trust me, Ruith. As I trust you.

How had he come to trust me, after everything I'd done? How had the slave found it in his heart to love the master who had ordered him flogged, who had kept him in chains?

I tightened my arm around him, drawing him closer as if I could imprint the feel of him into my very bones. Four days until Captain Yisra's ship arrived. Four days to memorize every detail—the exact shade of his copper hair, the pattern of scars on his back, the way his face softened in sleep. Four days to prepare myself for the hollow ache his absence would leave.

"I do trust you," I whispered, the confession easier now that he slept once more. "I'm just not sure I trust myself to be worthy of your return."

The moon continued its silent journey across the night sky, indifferent to the fears of kings. Eventually, exhaustion claimed me, pulling me down into restless sleep where dreams of breaking bridges and distant fires awaited. But even there, Elindir's words followed me like a talisman against the darkness.

Trust me, Ruith. As I trust you.

I would try. For him. For us. For the future we fought to build together.

Elindir

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