Page 117 of Tides of Shadows

We trained for a long while. I let her touch the memories, but shut them quickly, building barriers again and again. We worked until I was weary of both memories and magic. My head throbbed, but Minerva looked pleased.

“Enough for today,” she said at last. “I see my daughter-in-law has been giving you a hard time. Cunning as a snow fox. And you probably don’t even know why she hates you so much.”

I glanced at her with curiosity. She rose and pointed toward the terrace. We stepped outside together, gazing over the lands around Durminas.

“Old times,” she began softly. “Was Cassandra a good choice for my son? Hard to say. She was sensible, ambitious and loyal. She bore me two grandchildren and never stained the Cavareth name. But was she his love? No. Nicolas chose with reason. Our Family held less power in those years, and hers was wealthy nobles. The alliance served us well.”

She paused, looking toward the gray mountains.

“But Cassandra never forgot to whom Nicolas’s heart truly belonged.” She turned to me. “Nicolas loved your mother, Sarah Veymaris. You resemble her as water mirrors the moon. When Cassandra saw you, she must have seen ghosts of the past. Don’t worry about her. She will play her games. She’ll try to bend Aidenar to her will. But he has already chosen.” She looked at me with a faint glint of joy in her eyes. “Now run. I must rest.”

I hadn’t seen Aidenar all day. He hadn’t shown up for dinner either. Minerva said he’d gone to check on the mines and would return late.

I returned to my chambers alone. I shed the heavy gown and stood in a thin slip. My body could finally breathe.

“I could return to this view every night,” I heard behind me.

I startled. Aidenar stood at the balcony entrance, wearing that shameless smile of his.

“What are you doing here?! Can’t you come in like a normal person?”

“I have just come back,” he said calmly. “I didn’t want to draw attention.”

“How did you get in?”

“That’s my secret. It’s better if you don’t know everything,” he responded with a smug face.

“You’re impossible. Aren’t you tired? It’s late.”

“You make it impossible for me to rest.” He stepped closer, his voice turning lower. He stopped so near that I felt his breath upon my skin. “I can’t stop thinking about you. I’ve only had a tiny taste of you, but I know I need more. And that’s why I came.”

Chapter

36

Before I could say anything, Aidenar lifted me from the floor. His arms were strong and sure, and the warmth of his hands bled through the thin cloth of my slip, setting my skin aflame. He carried me to the bed and laid me upon its edge, gentle, yet with such intensity in his gaze. He leaned over me, and his mouth found mine in a heated, unhurried kiss. His hands began to wander down my body, brushing over my breasts, my waist, my hips. Each touch was a spark that woke a deeper fire within me.

He drew back all at once. I looked up at him, breathless and bewildered. He walked around the bed and halted at its foot, facing my parted legs. Before I could form a single word, he caught my thighs and pulled me in one swift motion to the very edge. He sank to his knees on the cold stone floor, his silver eyes gleaming in the dim light, as if he saw something in me I didn’t yet understand.

“Aidenar, what are you doing?” I asked, startled. My voice trembled, betraying the storm that raged within me.

“What your body wanted me to do for a very long time,” he murmured, his lips brushing the inside of my thigh, soft and almost reverent. His hands stroked my legs in slow, deliberate paths, as if he wished to learn every inch of my skin by heart.

“Aidenar, but…” I began, seeking words, but he silenced me, pressing his thumb to my lips.

“Hush,” he whispered, his voice like a warm wind curling around me. “Tonight I want to watch you come. I want to see you fall apart for me.”

His words sent another shiver through my body. He slipped his thumb between my lips, and I, scarcely aware of myself, began to lick and suck at it softly. A fierce light flared in his eyes. I saw arousal, but also something more, something that looked like a triumph. Slowly he withdrew his thumb and, without breaking our gaze, let his hand travel downward until it reached the heat between my thighs. He began to caress me there in slow, circling strokes that made my hips move of their own will. With his other hand he drew down the neckline of my slip, exposing my breasts. His fingers closed around them, teasing my nipples until my body felt as though it burned from within.

I had never known such a sensation. My skin seemed to glow with it, and where his touch lingered, a deep, aching sweetness gathered. When his mouth descended to taste me, I could scarcely breathe. At first his kisses were light, then firmer, more demanding, until my thoughts scattered. He watched me with those silver eyes, full of dark satisfaction, as though every tremor, every quiet sound he drew from me belonged to him alone.

His fingers slid inside me, moving with a steady, knowing rhythm, so precise that my body arched of its own accord. I caught his hair in my hand, tugging lightly, unable to hold back the soft moans that slipped from my lips. My eyes closed as a wave of heat spread through me, growing stronger, harder to contain with each breath.

“Aiden…” I whispered, yet I could not find the rest of the words. My body was like a rising tide, ready to break upon the shore.

He only tightened his grip on my breast, and his movements became more insistent. He moved up, his face coming close to mine while his fingers continued their relentless rhythm, drawing me to the very edge.

“I want to hear you moan,” he breathed in my ear, his voice like a sweet, poisonous draught. “I want that sound. It belongs to me. Only to me.”