Page 164 of Mountain of Mirrors and Starlight
Aislinn smiled as she shucked off his trousers and guided him back towards her, helping him find her entrance. He slid into her, gasping.
“You’ll… let me know? If I… do anything wrong?”
“Well,” she said, struggling to keep her voice steady, “I can’t exactly lie…”
She tilted herself towards him, taking one of his hands and whispering instructions in his ear as they began the slow, steady climb together. His body was everything she dreamt it would be, but the other parts, the feeling of entanglement, like his skin could reach her soul—how could she possibly have imagined that?
She came again seconds before him, splitting into spiralling, fragmented thoughts, words turned to slush. He’d set her nerves aflame with every tiny, perfect motion, every attention to detail. When he collapsed against her damp breast, his breathing hard and heavy, she didn’t know whether she wanted to ask him to go again or gather him in her arms and never, ever let him go.
CaerwatchedAislinnlyingagainst his chest. Her fingers had not yet left his skin. His own were brushing down her arm, drawing lazy circles on her back, his lips close to her forehead. He wanted to colour every inch of her with his fingertips, memorising every sweet, soft curve of her, every dimple, every line.
He was equally sure that he didn’t want to move, that he wanted to stay pressed against her forever, locked away in this room where time had no meaning. There was something about her that blurred all other thoughts, all other cares and realities. For a moment as steady as the heart beating under hers, he forgot tomorrow.
And then, all too suddenly, he remembered.
“This can’t be it,” she whispered.
“What?”
“I don’t want this to be a one-time thing or a short-term thing. I don’t want it to end when I have to leave.”
Caer inched upwards, only slightly, his heart flickering with hope. Aislinn’s face turned to face him. “What are you saying?” he asked.
“I’m saying… can we try this? Maybe I can bargain with Venus to stay here longer. Perhaps we could strike a diplomatic deal, name me as fae embassador or something. Even if she won’t agree long-term, perhaps I can still visit. Perhaps I can learn to master teleporting. I know it might take you years to master your powers, but so what? I’m going to live forever. Your ageing will be slowed here, too. I think… I think I’d rather wait for you for decades than let you go now.”
Her eyes flickered with something like nerves, like she was certain he was going to say that it was foolish, silly, that it would never work.
He knew there were plenty of reasons why it might not. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t afraid that he’d be holding her back. She deserved more freedom, the chance to be with anyone she wanted,whenevershe wanted. Maybe he deserved that freedom, too. There were thousands of dwarves here, after all, hundreds of people he could be with, freely and easily—
But they weren’t her. No one would ever be her.
Aislinn. Who for some deep, inexplicable reason, wanted him too.
“You mean that?” he asked.
Aislinn sat up, sliding her hands into his and holding his fingers tightly. “I think I mean that more than anything else I have said in my entire life.”
Caer vaulted up, grabbing her and rolling her back into the bed. He kissed her, hard and hot and heavy, his hands sliding down her body.
“Is that a yes?” she asked, trying not to laugh.
“God, yes,” he said. “I wish I couldn’t lie. I wish I could make some kind of vow that I could be held to—”
Aislinn caught his face in her hands. “I will believe whatever you say.”
“I am secretly a unicorn.”
“Very funny.”
“I have my moments.” He rested his head against her, feeling the heat slide out of her. “I’m yours,” he whispered. “For as long as you want me.”
I think I will want you forever and a little bit after that, too.
Aislinn kissed him, which saved him from speaking those words, fearful of shattering the fragility of this moment, as if it would be unable to bear the weight of what he really wanted to say.
They stayed in the room for the next few hours, ringing for food at one point and dining on the bed. They made love again and dozed in the afternoon, a warm tangle of limbs. Aislinn admitted that she was unused to this; she rarely let her lovers stay the night, but she felt like she would fight anyone who wanted to remove Caer from her bed. He blushed at the thought, quite certain he wanted her to stay in his arms forever, preferably naked.
She couldn’t stop touching him. He couldn’t stop touchingher.His fingers went everywhere, his touches long and languid.
