Page 32 of The Sun God's Prize
I’ve never quit anything in my life that mattered to me, even some things that didn’t, thanks to the stubbornness I was never allowed to shed.But I do give up, finally, tears running from my eyes into the quiet water, adding my own salty contribution to its warmth.
My fault, she whispers to me.So far away, the dragon’s mind, almost out of reach, too.It’s been days since she spoke to me, and I cling to her as I would have to them if I’d managed to find them again.The kinspark, it wasn’t complete when I drew you here.She sighs, a soft, sad sound.If it helps, Flame, they live, they worry about you, they are relentless in their search of you.
It does, I whisper back to her in the quiet of my mind now softening from her gift.Thank you.I believe her, if only because of Atlas.He’d said something similar, that we had come through a new layer of connection just before I was taken, but that it wasn’t complete.Couldn’t be completed until all three of us gave ourselves fully to one another.
What I wouldn’t do to have that conversation with him again.
I continue to float even when I feel someone disturb the water, knowing I’m no longer alone.At least I’m done weeping, and when whoever it is—though I can guess—stops moving without approaching me, I finally sigh and stand up, water sheeting from me, my hair clinging to my skin, heavy around me.
Brem hovers at the edge of the pool, the uncertain look on her face endearing, far more so than she will ever know, because I’d never tell her.But she’s watching me with hungry eyes that she casts away a moment later, clearing her throat when she speaks in a husky voice.
“I’m not into that either,” she says.
She means the group sex still going on next door, of course, not the quitting I’ve just given in to.There’s no way she could know what I’ve just failed to do.I watch her, feel something stir after all, needing more than anything to fill this void I’m left with.When I drift toward her, she tenses, suddenly anxious.It’s adorable and sweet, and though she looks like she’s ready to bolt, she doesn’t.
Not even when I sink down under the water in front of her, facing her, my lips parting.She watches me with that same hunger layered heavily under with fear that has me pausing, moving slowly, achingly slowly, waiting for her to reject me, giving her every opportunity to say no.
I won’t take her if she doesn’t want it, truly.I simply can’t abide it.
Her lips are soft and firm, and they tremble when I capture them with mine, her mouth opening when she inhales the breath I give her.My tongue traces the tip of hers, sliding deeper, then rising to graze the roof of her mouth.She gasps as I lean closer, letting my lips glide along her jaw, to her ear, teeth nibbling at the flesh of her neck.Brem pants against my shoulder, making no move to touch me in return, or to escape.
“Say you want it,” I whisper.“Or go.”
She groans, a small, hurt sound.“I want you,” she says.
There’s no resistance in her any longer, but I’m expecting a desperate embrace, not the gentle, tentative touch of her hand on my cheek, how she parts her legs when I slide my knee between her thighs.
“Ah,” I say, “you haven’t done this before.”
“No,” she says, small and vulnerable at last, this warrior I call my friend.“I… do you mind?”
“Let me show you what I think,” I say with a low laugh, stroking her softly across her clit.She stares into my eyes as I do, the barest touch all I need to make her inhale.A second stroke has her moaning.She catches the sound as it emerges, but just barely, her cheeks flushed, her body still rigid.
“You handled that giant expertly,” I say, licking the underside of her jaw, biting her earlobe, sliding a finger inside her beneath the water, joining the stroke of her clit with a matching one within.I find the rough patch that has her grasping me at last, head back, again only for a moment.She’s afraid, still, but so trusting, hands tight on my shoulders, returning her gaze to me.I want to ask what brought her to this, how she’s never had a lover, but that conversation can wait.
“I thought I might die,” she croaks.“His thing was so fuckingbig.”
I laugh at that, into her ear, stroking her again as I do, and she rewards me with her own sharp giggle, eyes bright when I shake my head at her.
“A fucking monster,” I say, starting her rhythm, testing it.She’s relaxing a little in one way, I see it, leaning into the steady, soft strokes, but tightening in others, the opening sucking at my fingers as I add a second to the penetration.She thrusts against my hand, abrupt, and gasps when it stirs her further, harder, but I pull back a little.
She deserves a slow burn to ecstasy her first time.
“Have you ever.”Brem stops, shakes her head, frown creasing her forehead.“I knew how because I’ve seen it done, but I didn’t think he’d dothat.”She’s breathless about the result she caused.
Does she mean ejaculate?She’s wondering if I’ve been with a man.So she’s only ever known life with women?But how then is she a virgin?Most of the fighters I know, of any gender, are driven to sex.I keep her distracted by answering as she rocks with the steady pressure I add to the third finger now deep inside her, our eyes locked on one another, my thumb’s slow, silky circles speeding just a little.
“He’d split any woman in half,” I say, “poor bastard.But the asphyxiation, sometimes it triggers orgasm, yes.I’ve known lovers who want to be choked when I fuck them.”I shrug.“You probably gave him the best time he’s had in awhile.”
She catches her breath when I thrust when I say it, soft sob escaping.“What does it feel like?”
“Fucking?”I shrug.“Like this, somewhat, if he knows what he’s doing.”Not all do.“But it depends on how big he is and how well he uses what he has.”I kiss her again, sucking on her lower lip, and she finally kisses me back, hands loosening from their death grip on my shoulders.When the slide slowly down to cup my breasts, I reward her with a faster circling of her clit, kissing her hard now, arm around her waist as I pull her forward, toward me, straddling her hips with my thighs, using my own pussy against the back of my hand to reach deeper, the pressure building in me as it does in her.
She holds onto me, thrusting against me, panting in soft little breaths, desperate for release.She doesn’t know what she needs, but I do, and when she clasps me hard again, a cry escaping her, I hard-stroke the sweet spot inside her while my thumb speeds her into orgasm.
Brem bucks beneath me, crying out, body releasing in that delicious wave, and I ride it, too, rubbing my clit against my own hand, just enough stimulation to come.It’s not the same, and I miss the deep thrust of Atlas, of Zenthris, that fills me so completely, but it will do for now.
And this isn’t about me.It’s about Brem.
