Page 10 of The Fires of Longest Night
She steps closer, her stocky breadth seeming to block out the entire rest of the world and slides a hand under Nissa’s braids and around the back of her neck. Nissa’s heart pounds like it might break her chest as Ria wraps an arm around her waist and draws her close.
“But you…” Nissa can’t take her eyes from Ria’s steady gaze. It drops to her mouth, and her lips part, a split second before Ria kisses her.
This kiss is sweet; tender even. Despite this, the swoop of desire in Nissa’s gut seems to tingle out to her extremities. She slides one arm around Ria’s neck, a hand into the cropped hair at the back of her head. The other still holds the lantern loosely in her grip. Ria pulls back just a tiny bit, enough for a hair’s breadth to open between their mouths.
“Goddess, Nissa,” Ria breathes in wonder.
And then Nissa pulls her closer, their mouths meet and this kiss—this kiss is an entirely other world.
Ria’s tongue curls into her mouth, her hand behind Nissa’s neck turning her face up so that she might kiss her more deeply, and Nissa nearly weeps with the desire that blossoms from her gut. She moans deep in her throat, and Ria echoes the sound, then breaks the kiss abruptly.
“Goddess, Nissa,” she says again, almost panting. “I… I had no idea…”
“I think it’s probably as well we waited for this,” Nissa whispers, similarly awestruck. “But now…”
She gives her head a little shake, turns to plant the lantern firmly into the soft earth, and then turns back, sliding both arms around Ria’s neck and pulling her close, her mouth determinedly closing on Nissa’s.
When they next part, they’re both breathing heavily. Ria looks dazed, and Nissa smiles helplessly at her. All she wants is to bear Ria down into the dirt, right here, right now, and slide her hands beneath her clothes.
“I…” Ria shakes her head as if to clear it. A couple spirals out of the darkness, carrying a lantern, and her mouth twitches in irritation. “I have a question for you.” She bends, wincing only a little, and picks up the lantern. “But come with me.”
The drumming is echoing in the trees around them as Ria leads a wending way through the trees. Shadowy figures are still beating out the rhythm along the bare paths, the lanterns glimmering like dancing glow worms in the darkness. It is beautiful, the tiny sparkling lights an echo of the thick swathe of stars in the skies occasionally visible through the treetops.
“Here,” Ria says, and she bends to thrust the lantern’s stick into the dirt once more. She holds out her hands to Nissa, who takes them, charmed and wondering what the next step in Ria’s plan is. Ria swings her into a series of well-known steps, echoes of those they’ve been performing around the fire with the rest of the encampment for months now.
Nissa laughs, the sound resonating off the trees, until Ria slows, drawing her closer, then spins her swiftly. Nissa’s breath gasps out as her back strikes a tree, and then Ria’s mouth is on hers, teeth grazing her lips, her body pressed tight against Nissa’s. Nissa’s heart swells as the kiss deepens, and she whimpers in the back of her throat.
Ria slides a well-muscled thigh between Nissa’s legs and Nissa’s breath turns ragged. The pressure against her heated core makes her eyelids flutter, pleasure setting her body resonating. Ria presses her tongue against Nissa’s neck, drawing slowly upward until she reaches the spot that makes Nissa gasp and turn her face up towards the stars, clutching at Ria’s arms. And then she scores her teeth against that point, kissing open-mouthed against her skin, until Nissa shudders, the feelings cascading through her too much to bear.
“I want you, Nissa. I want so much of you it feels…” Ria gives a short laugh, then ducks closer, nuzzling against her neck. “Nissa, I want the honor of leaping the Longest Night flames with you,” she murmurs into her ear.
Nissa shivers again, barely able to understand the words. Ria draws a slow breath, and Nissa can feel it tug against the fine hairs of her neck. Her heart beats hard, and somehow it feels like fate is stitching her to this moment.
“And if you will, I want you to choose which of those flames you wish to leap with me.” Ria draws back to meet Nissa’s gaze, to see if she understands, and her expression is somehow both confident and hopeful. Ria’s thigh between her legs presses tight and Nissa’s eyes flutter shut again.
“I—I don’t… I can’t,” Nissa tries to speak, to find the words adequate to the anguish of feeling her duty pull against her desire. Uncertainty makes Ria’s brow twitch into a brief frown. “No wait, I… wait.” She pulls Ria closer, burying her face in the curve of shoulder to neck.
Nissa forces herself to think. Her father can want whatever he likes, but he does not get to make this decision for her. And right now, her body feels like it is formed of longing, shaped by desire for this woman. She gulps, forcing herself to caution, despite the veritable tempest flooding through her.
“I will leap the eventide flames with you. And let me sleep on the thought of the daylight flames,” she whispers against Ria’s neck.
Ria chuckles softly into her hair. “Oh, Nissa. Do you really think that if we leap the eventide flames there will be any sleep in our night?”
Nissa smiles against her neck, then nips gently at the skin of her neck. “You were injured today, love. Will you even have the stamina?”
She feels more than hears Ria’s laughter. “I think that I am going to wring such pleasure out of your body, Nissa, that I will only stop when you tell me to.”
Nissa grins, then hesitates. The forest has darkened, their lantern casting a glowing circle in the shadows.
“It looks like they’re already leaping the flames,” she says in a rush. “We should hurry!”
And so they hasten hand in hand back through the dark forest to where the encampment fire glimmers between the trees.
CHAPTER 7
RIA
Joy makes Ria’s heart beat like a drum as they hurry towards the fire. The queue of people waiting to jump the eventide flames together is trailing down to the last couple. The clustered clan around the rough hearth are swaying and singing, a drum still pounding into the darkness. She refuses to think beyond tonight.
