Page 44 of Drawn into Oblivion

“Oh. Well, after he… When I…” she stuttered, her embarrassment doing a good job of tying her tongue. All she could do was make a sort of flower-blooming motion with her hands.

“Feel pleasure?” Shumei supplied.

“Yes,” Mai whispered, closing her eyes as the heat of her blush made her want to fan her face. “When that happens, my magic behaves strangely. I think it wants something, and it’s agitated for a short time afterward.”

“Wait,” Shumei said, straightening. She looked shocked. “You two haven’t had sex? Together, I mean? I can’t believe Rosuke has waited so long.”

“What do you mean?” Mai fretted.

“Before Vallen’s curse was lifted, his magic and mine did not share pleasure. I hadn’t even known we could, but…” She winced as if troubled and leaned forward again. “Every magic-user’s power is as much a part of them as their heart or their skin. And when two crows give each other pleasure, their magic melds, for lack of a better word.”

“Melds? How?”

“It’s easiest when the pleasure is mutual, and more powerful, in my opinion, when touching as much bare skin as possible. Think of your magic as a metaphysical extension of you. It can become sad, angry, or scared the same as you. It can also become aroused like you. Basically, your magic is sexually frustrated.”

“W-what?”

“Rosuke’s magic must be as well.”

“Why are you surprised he waited?”

“Magic is neither good nor evil. It is neutral. But the personality of every user tints their magic. For some crows, their magic is, like them, indifferent to sex. For others, their power responds readily to pleasure, even seeks it. Rosuke may seem like a carefree man at times, but I’m sure you’re aware by now of how passionate he is, how deeply he feels.”

“Passionate. Yes. Very,” Mai said, nodding.

“His magic is undoubtedly reaching out for you, and when it doesn’t get what it wants, I imagine it’s like a knife slicing him open.”

Mai gasped. “Divine One have mercy.” She recalled how exhausted Rosuke had seemed the last time they’d met, and she almost hunched under the weight of her guilt. “I’ve tried to reciprocate, but I have no experience with giving pleasure. I must have done something wrong.”

“What happened, if I may ask?”

“I t-touched him there,” she said, her embarrassment finding new heights, “but he put me away from him and said he couldn’t endure it. That if I did it anymore, he’d toss me onto my back and, and…” Oh, but she couldn’t say the rest, it had been too explicit.

Shumei sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Rosuke, you idiot.”

“What did he mean by that? Is it painful for a man to be touched there?”

“It sounds as though he didn’t want to overwhelm you, and that touching him would feel so good he’d lose sight of that goal.”

“Overwhelm me?” Mai parroted. “But that’s all he ever does.”

Shumei smiled. “Can you imagine what he’d do if he fully unleashed himself?”

Hardly, though she had tried. They once hadn’t had time for more than a week to see each other, and she had lain in bed thinking of what face he might make if she showed up at his door in the middle of the night. What he might say or do. The fantasy had been more than enough to send her hand into her nightclothes, more than enough to make pleasure roll through her.

“He might eat me?” Mai wondered. “And I don’t know whether or not that’s bad. The looks he sometimes gives me…”

Shumei surprised her by laughing. “As if he’s already thinking of how you taste and feel before he’s even touched you? I’ve seen that look on Vallen’s face countless times, and it’s always led to pleasure. You have nothing to fear from Rosuke.”

Mai nodded, having come to a decision. Though the secret of Rosuke’s curse still needled at her, that the empress would endorse him despite knowing his secret meant a great deal. And admittedly, she did want to know what it would feel like to be eaten whole.

“I promise you won’t regret telling Rosuke you’re ready,” Shumei assured her with another wink. Mai’s stomach flipped. “You do know what happens the first time any woman takes a man, right?” Mai’s cheeks burned and she nodded faintly. “Although I’ve heard—”

A light knock sounded on the door, startling them. Shumei called out as she and Mai stood, and Shumei checked the placement of her headdress.

“The opening ceremony is about to begin,” a deep voice called, no doubt one of the hallway guards. “We are ready to escort you and the elder of Spring.”

“Very well,” Shumei said, folding her hands in front of her.