When I raised an eyebrow, Lara shook her head. “She’s good at this stuff, Ember. She’s got a lot of Cognoscenti in her. Amazing intuition.”
“I’m also a hacker and a certified genius,” Briony said proudly. “Rhiannon gave me a test yesterday.”
“You aresixteen,” I said, panic mounting in me.
Lara reached out to take my hand. “This is better for her than what happened to the rest of us when we were sixteen, isn’t it?”
She knew the memories of what it had been like to be a human teenager were too dark to ruminate on for long. The world had been different, but not so different that Briony wouldn’t experience the same thing on her own. Suppressing our natural talents had harmed all of us. At least Briony was with us.
“You are not coming with us to the Gallery,” I said, keepingmy voice as firm as possible and thinking fast. “You’ll have to stay with a grownup.”
Briony rolled her eyes. “You sound just like Ares. He said some miracle worker named Eli is going to watch me.”
That was good. Eli Cabot was trustworthy, and despite how unsure I was about how Ares felt about me, I was certain I could trust him with Briony’s safety. “Fine,” I finally said. “Let’s talk about explosives.”
CHAPTER 35
ARES
THE MORNING OF THE GALA
Ember came to bed late,but at least she’d come to bed with me. I sensed that something had gone wrong between us, but I couldn’t say what it was. The movers had come and gone, taking most of the Maere’s personal things the day before. The tension between us had been mounting ever since. I’d stayed up half the night, listening to her toss and turn, before finally falling into a deep slumber in the wee hours of morning. I must have fallen asleep about the same time, because I didn’t remember the sun rising.
When I woke, it was well after ten, and the apartment was quiet, everyone still deep in slumber. We’d agreed to get as much sleep as we could; after all, everything hinged on tonight. Maybe that was the problem. Perhaps Ember sensed that I expected too much. I stared at a hairline crack in the plaster ceiling, wondering what seismic shift over the years had caused it.
“I canfeelyou thinking,” Ember whispered.
I turned onto my side. She faced away from me. Lightly, afraid she did not want my touch, I reached out to touch her shoulder. We were just inches apart, but this morning it felt like miles.
She leaned into me immediately, her back resting against my chest. Relief flooded me, her sigh transforming into the softest moan as her buttocks met my morning erection. She reached back to take the hand that rested on her shoulder, bringing it first to her breast.
Ember moaned again as I gently squeezed the place she brought my hand, her legs tangling with mine, hips angling precisely, until the head of my cock was fitted at her entrance. “Ember,” I murmured.
“Shhh,” she hushed me. “You’ll wake them.”
She dragged my hand down her ribcage, lower until my hand splayed across the silky skin on her belly. Ember was lean, but softer than I might have expected, a gentle curve, rather than flat, sculpted abs. It was a delicious surprise the first time I’d seen her naked, and a true pleasure every time since.
I teased her with my cock, pressing it into her wet slit, but not further. She arched against me, trying to take in more of me, but I refused to oblige her. I felt her frustration shudder through her and she flipped over, pushing me flat onto the bed as she straddled me in one quick movement.
Whenever she used her immortal speed or strength, it made me so hard I couldn’t concentrate. And as she sank down on my cock, taking me in one smooth stroke, her naked body glorious in the gray light of morning, I’d never wanted her so much. She closed her eyes, leaning back to touch her clit as she moved on me.
I wanted to tell her I loved her.
Wanted to tell her that maybe I’d loved her for years and hadn’t known it. But the words would not come. I pulled her down towards me, onto all fours, so that she had to look me straight in the face.
“Look at me,” I whispered as she slid on and off my cock.
Her eyes met mine and fire lashed through my veins, my balls tightening with anticipation. Her walls clenched around me as she panted, her mouth falling open so that I could see herwet tongue. She ground her clit against me, milking every bit of tight friction and pleasure she could from me.
I slid my hands down her back until I had two firm handfuls of her ass cheeks and then pulled myself deeper into her. She was about to moan, so I captured her mouth with mine, kissing her as deep as I fucked her.
There was nothing like this in the world. It wasn’t that our movements were new, or particularly creative. It was her, all her. We had human lifetimes’ worth of history between us, and all of it should have kept us from wanting this. But it didn’t. I had never wanted something like this for myself. I’d made the mistake of thinking that love—romantic love, at least—was not meant for me.
But here it was, blooming inside me like the flowers I’d always loved so much. And yet, I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. If it was too soon, if she didn’t love me the way I did her… I just couldn’t know that today of all days.
Her movements took on a frenzied pace, her fingers winding through my hair as her tongue tangled with mine. The two of us were desperate, too many conflicting emotions racing through us. She shuddered against me, her back bowing as she raised up slightly, then pulled herself harder against me, her mouth falling open in a silent scream that sent me right over the edge behind her.
When her body finally stilled, I stroked her back, kissing her again. The way she returned my kiss was sad, as though she were saying goodbye. “What’s wrong?”
