Page 74 of Petals for Deadly Power

She wet her lips as one hand repositioned the covering blanket and her other hand found the rim of her underwear. Her underwear was as wet as her core.

“I wish I could rip that off with my teeth,” Ciaran growled, his metallic hand pumping his length with a tight grip, his other hand clenched in a self-restraining fist.

Her two fingers circled around her clit with the same fast pace as he pumped himself. She would never be brave enough to say it out loud, but Hope wished she could pump him herself. She wished she could suck his beautiful cock until she left him dry.

She looked at him, still dressed in black as he continued the work she was so jealous of. When she lifted her hand, she Took his clothes one by one, the muscles on his arms and legs, on his abdomen and chest, tense and marked as he tilted his head backwards in anticipation.

He groaned, his eyes darkening to a shade of dark blue. “I want to see you, Hope.”

A part of her wanted to stay covered even as she touched herself while admiring him. Another part wanted to stop resisting the urge to remove her cover, to allow him to see her as well.

The bravery won against the shyness, and Hope Took her blanket and her trousers. Ciaran moaned when he saw how wet she was, the shape of her hand pushing against her underwear as she touched herself without pause. The shirt came after, her bare breasts exposed, her peaked nipples hard and begging for touch and taste they wouldn’t get.

“Fuck, Hope,” his voice was hoarse, his pumping harder, faster.

Her head tilted backwards, her eyes half-closing as she gave her clit a hard, painfully enjoyable time. Only then, she Took her underwear away.

Hope opened her legs on the bed, bending her knees, allowing him to see her.Allof her.

She couldn’t be more exposed. She was a forbidden offering to him.

The desire in his heated eyes, on his extremely hard length, on his non-stopping arm, was desperate and raw. His moan met her own. “What I would do to you isn’t of this world.” Dark green sparks and shadows jumped from his clenched fist. “Let me—Just let me try something.”

She needed whatever he wanted to try, and she trusted him fully. He wouldn’t put them and their world at risk. “Be. Careful,” she begged between ragged breaths.

He bit his bottom lip as he wielded shadows from his fingers towards her. Towards her exposed, soaked core. She gasped, begging for them to come faster. The blood-tasting blessed by Llunal was permitted, so why wouldn’t shadow—

Her gasp interrupted all her lines of thought. His shadows wrapped around her hands and pinned them above her head against the headboard. More shadows covered her breasts, pressing them together and pulling her nipples. His hand moved in the air, ordering the movements of the shadows, guiding them to his will, and when the last swirls of darkness arrived, there wasn’t a trace of gentleness in Ciaran’s dark, pleased eyes.

Shadows circled her clit, and the cold touch against her flesh was delightful and unexpected. The way they circled her masterfully was otherworldly. He wielded his satisfying shadows as he pumped, pumped, pumped himself.

Her legs shook with pleasure, her loud moans not stopping, and when she tipped over the edge, he did with her.

They came together, and the world was still whole.

46

Lenna

Bythetimethenavia reached the shore of Orizane, the sun peaked through the horizon, illuminating the black, loose sand of the beach, expanding as far as Lenna could see. Stevian, the oldest courtrade, guided them to his family home. Thank the Fifth, his place was close and big enough to hold them all.

It was only now that she realized also how heartbreakinglyemptyit was.

There hadn’t been a living soul until they arrived, the silence prominent and present. Her footsteps echoed as she stepped into a room full of black wooden furniture.Children’sfurniture. There were two small tables and four small chairs with marks of black pens—or were they shadow stains? Red, green, and yellow wooden blocks were half-piled, half-splayed on the table and the floor.

A knot sat on Lenna’s throat. How many years had those blocks been there, purposely untouched? Untouched, yet cared for. There wasn’t dust anywhere, not even on the frames sitting on a shelf next to a wide piano.

She approached, unable to step away from this invasion of privacy of the man who had been generous with them. The privacy of hisfamily, for in the frames were images of a younger Stevian with dark hair, a beautiful, grinning dark-haired woman ruffling the hair of two small kids. One was older than the other, but neither could be older than five, and they were both laughing. Carved on the black frame, white words read:May the stars not hinder their darkness. May Llunal shade them.

Goosebumps took over her skin as Lenna covered her mouth, keeping her sob as quiet as possible as tears struck down her cheeks.

“No need to cry, Miss Lenna,” his voice sounded from behind her, and she was so overwhelmed by the sudden sadness that she forgot to apologize for being there.

“Are they . . . aren’t they—I’m so sorry.”

Stevian joined her side, his wrinkled finger tracing the face of the woman in the image with a melancholic smile. “My wife lived a long, full life, and is patiently waiting for me in the stars until Llunal claims my end.”

The hand covering Lenna’s mouth became a fist, her knuckles pressing against her lips. “Are they your daughters?”

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