There was no pain, only the sensation of being stretched.Cillian groaned as he settled fully against me.
I ran my hands over his twitching back muscles, and then he began to move.
The forge filled with my whimpers and his moans.He rocked into me as my body seemed to try to grasp onto what it’d never had before.Soon, I was back to the edge I had been at only moments before, but this time, I knew what to expect.
‘Caris,’ Cillian moaned into my hair.
His hand came between us, rubbing me in time with his thrusts.
My body clenched around him one last time, and then I shattered.Cillian pulled out with a frustrated groan, and I watched him through a pleasured haze as he stroked himself from root to tip.He slumped forward, expelling himself onto my thigh.
I pulled his head to rest on my shoulder, waiting for his breath to return to normal.
‘Stay.Sleep in my bed tonight,’ he mumbled against my shoulder.
I thought about it, but something held me back from saying yes.‘Will you stay in Murus?’If it were our last night together, then I would stay.
He pushed away from me with a noisy exhale.Grabbing a cloth, he cleaned my thigh.
‘I’m going with you to Capita.’He handed me my shirt before pulling his breeches back up.‘I don’t want this moment ruined by an argument, so please leave it,’ he said softly.
‘But Cillian, what if you write down –’
‘Stop, Caris.’
I closed my mouth, realising nothing would change his mind now.
CHAPTER 19
Dinner in Lord Warwick’s private rooms was as awkward as I’d imagined.Every time Torgrin spoke a word to me about our travel plans, Bethel’s eyes would narrow, and her mouth would purse as though she had sucked on a lemon.
Across from me, Ania spent the whole time with her eyes fastened on Atlas’s face, but the moment he looked at her, she would drop her eyes to her soup.
Wolfe had snatched up the chair next to me when we sat down to eat.‘The new foal will be mine to ride one day, and I will call him Dark Knight,’ he informed me.
‘That’s a fearsome name that will suit the black foal very well.’Wolfe beamed at me like I had hung the moon in the sky for him.
Tomas and the curator appeared tipsy from drinking too much of Lord Warwick’s spiced wine.Both men were in an animated conversation, with big hand gestures and loud voices.I stayed away from the wine because the last time I drank alcohol, there was hiccupping and a kiss in the dark.The meal was over, but everyone continued chatting and drinking.
The curator’s hand flapped at me from across the room.‘Ahh, there you are!’he said as if he hadn’t just waved me over to join him.He was wearing the same black robes he wore every day.
‘I just wanted to wish you excellent travels for tomorrow.’There was a red flush to his cheeks.
‘Thank you,’ I said, smiling politely.
‘You look like her, you know?’
‘Who?’I asked, glancing around in confusion.
‘Yes, who indeed?’he said, putting his finger to his lips.
I could sense Lord Warwick watching this strange interaction from across the room.The curator simply patted my arm and shuffled off to the side table to pour himself some more wine.
Wolfe was fast asleep in Atlas’s arms, with his head dangling over the captain’s broad shoulder while he held the eight-year-old child like he weighed absolutely nothing.Tomas was talking enthusiastically about the superiority of the bow as I bid goodnight to him and Atlas.Atlas rolled his eyes at Tomas’s antics, making me chuckle.
I approached Lord Warwick and his daughters as I made to depart, and Bethel’s top lip curled at my approach.Ania and I hugged farewell, and she gave me a despondent smile, her green eyes swimming with tears.I would miss her.We had grown close during my time here, and I felt we had become friends rather than guard and guarded.
Lord Warwick pulled me away from his daughters for a private word.
