“Ihatethis. I hate feeling like… like she is the enemy. She is my best friend! She saved my life. She—”
“She is still that person,” I interrupted her soothingly. “And I believe you can reason with her.”
Amira snorted, but she reached over to rest her hand on my leather forearm guard to assure me that the sound of derision was not directed at me but at the situation. “You do not knowher.”
“Perhaps, but I knowyou,” I insisted as I clasped her hand and threaded our fingers together.
At first I thought it was merely the habit of removing anyone’s hand from my forearm, but I realized quickly that I’d simply wanted to offer her comfort. I was awed by the realization as I watched her slender digits entwine with my scarred and calloused ones.
Riordan released her face so Amira could turn to look down too, staring at my thumb as it lightly traced hers. Although I was focused on her, I could not help noticing that his fingers were now gently kneading her thighs.
“You really think I could make her listen?” she asked, raising those stunning amber eyes to look at me with a bid for my honesty.
“Yes,” I answered without hesitation, then cleared my throat to compose myself. “Although I may be biased.”
“Biased?” she blurted in surprise and then glanced at Riordan who watched the two of us as if he did not want to miss a second of our interaction. “You have always been my biggest critic, so I was kind of hoping that your endorsement meant something! Like if evenyouthought that I could talk to her, then it must be true,” she admitted with a smirk that attempted to downplay her statements. But I did not need to be bonded to her to sense the underlying twinge of regret in her voice.
I untangled our hands and reached for her impulsively, my heart screaming for me not to let her continue on with such horrible misconceptions. My conscience flayed me with the knowledge that it was my poisoned words that were spoken to her as if she were a mirror that had made her think like this. And before my mind had quite caught up to the gut reaction, my hand was cradling her face and bringing her astonished eyes to mine.
“I would prefer you use my honesty as your compass, rather than my loathing. And you do know it was never reallyyouthatI hated but… myself, right?” I verified.
“In theory,” she said slowly, her eyes searching mine. “Although that doesn’t make me feel better, Orion.”
“I will never forgive myself for—”
She reached up to take my hand on her face and words seemed to fail me as I watched her hold it steady so she could turn her head and kiss my palm.
“I have forgiven you,” she swore as she raised her eyes to mine again and rested my scarred knuckles against that soft-as-satin mouth. “Now you must forgive yourself.”
Perhaps it was the sexual tension from that morning still lingering at the ready to be reignited with the smallest of provocations. But what had started out as a soothing caress was starting to feel like much more.
My mind cast toward the bond with Riordan who read the wordless question in my mind, and he leaned forward to kiss her thighs. Her soft inhale seemed to make the fine hairs all over my body stand on end.
“Riordan,” she protested in a gasp and glanced at me in embarrassment and concern. She released my hand and threaded her fingers in his hair to stop him teasing her because she didn’t want to make me feel uncomfortable. She could not have known I was the one who prodded Riordan on whether I had imagined the tension.
Riordan gave the softest groan when she tugged on his hair a little harder, and I could almost feel the delicious sound in my lower stomach.
I know you are hesitant to indulge her yourself but… Perhaps you want to watch me?Riordan suggested.
I could not formulate any kind of intelligent response, but he was able to glean my agreement from the jumble of intrigue in my mind.
“It is alright,” he told Amira who was still squirming in uncertainty. “He wants to watch you come for me.”
Amira stilled instantly, her chest suddenly rising and fallingwith rapid breaths as her eyes darted to me as if to ensure this was true. Whatever she saw in my expression made her pupils blow so suddenly it was mesmerizing.
“You do?” she asked tentatively, pulse leaping wildly as she waited for my answer.
“If you are comfortable with it,” I maintained with an amused glance at Riordan whose hands still swept up her legs under her dress.
“Yes,” she choked out, and then cleared her throat as if embarrassed. “But… we should talk about what you—”
Amira broke off with a groan that had my cock jerking to immediate attention as Riordan reached his destination between her legs. I had to resist a desperate urge to stroke myself as I watched myskiámove his hand in a familiar rhythm under her skirt.
“We can talk about it later,” I told the writhing witch. The last thing I wanted to think or talk about just then was my own self-hatred.
Amira gripped the arms of her chair and widened her legs for Riordan while her head tipped back in ecstasy. She was usually so composed that it was mesmerizing to see her overcome with pleasure. She was always so sweet and gentle that I would have expected her to be shy or reserved with me there. But the moment that she had my permission to indulge herself, she succumbed to Riordan unabashedly. She was much more sensual and responsive than I could have ever anticipated from someone sogood. And I liked that duality a lot. I loved the contradiction of her gentle kindness and the promise of a woman who was not ashamed of her desires. Watching the way she moved so shamelessly against his hand in desperation for release, and listening to her unrestrained moans, I knew she would be enthusiastic and confident. And the thought of all the possibilities that her self-assured sensuality could open up for us was almost too much.
Riordan began slowly gathering the fabric of her skirt. Hegradually exposed her long slender legs until her hem lay across the tops of her thighs and barely concealed where he was still working his fingers inside her.
