“You don’t have the stamina to handle me after a three-month stint,” they say.
I bite their shoulder gently. “Oh, is that what you think?”
Cancassi grinds oh-so-intentionally back against me. “Well, so far, you’ve already cum, and I’d say I’m barely satisfied.”
“Barely!” I scoff.
Cancassi glances at me over their shoulder with a smirk. “So prove me wrong, then. We have all night, after all.”
I lunge forward to catch their lips in a searing kiss, tasting the remnants of me on their tongue. It makes my cock twitch all over again. “Deal.”
The Baths
There are some wounds that magic simply cannot heal. A person who has experienced trauma may experience echoes of that trauma for days, weeks, even years after the event.
Advanced Casting Principles: Corpimancy by Aurelia Laskarsis
AFTER ARLON DISMISSESme, I’m left with an unexpected night to myself. I used to like being alone. Never had a problem with keeping my own company. Yet ever since the Eastern Tower, my own head has been a poor place to be, and I don’t relish the idea of being on my own tonight.
Yet there’s no one I can go to. When I’m collared, Olbric usually spends the night with Cancassi. Galiva is too busy with her duties as apprentice, Alix is tricky to find on a good day, and ever since we got back from our trip, Margeurite and Allis have been keeping each other’s company and no one else’s.
The thought leaves me feeling a little lonely and more than a little aimless. Finally, I drop my collar back in my room and grab a cloak before I head towards the posterior yard. If nothing else, at least a walk will do me good.
The gates are open, but as I step foot on the drawbridge, a familiar voice says, “Where you headed?”
I turn to see Nikolai lounging on a chair in the alcove of the gatehouse, a finger smoothing down the mustache he’s been growingrecently. Ever since the Eastern Tower, members of the Royal Guard have been posted up around the Crux on a regular rotation. With the high tensions in town, they claim it’s for our safety, but we all know the real reason: after Demica’s betrayal at the Eastern Tower, all wizards are being watched.
“Just going for a walk,” I say.
“Where’s your second?” Nik asks, sounding bored.
I roll my eyes. “I need a second just to walk to the woods and back?”
“Yes,” Nik says simply. “You go in groups of two or more when you leave the Crux’s walls.”
I scoff. “That’s horseshit.”
“Look, I didn’t makethatrule.” Nik sighs as if this isn’t the first time he’s gotten called out on this. “Get clearance from Arlon, and I’ll let you out.”
“Arlon’s busy,” I say shortly.
Nik crosses his arms over his chest as he leans further back in his chair. “Sorry, Dom. Then it looks like you’re shit out of luck.”
I roll my eyes before turning back towards the Crux. “Asshole.”
If Nik hears me, he doesn’t respond. But that was my one idea, and I can’t be bothered to come up with another one now that it got shot down. Restless and more than a little annoyed, I head back inside, making a line for the baths. If I’m gonna be bored and lonely, I may as well do it in a hot soak.
With it being so close to dinnertime, the baths are abandoned, and I sigh as I shed my layers before I choose the pool in the back. I suck in a breath as I step into the heat, but as I adjust to the temperature, I can’t stop a groan as I lean my head back against the lip of the pool. I’m so tired that it’s easy to let my eyes slide closed, giving into the urge to doze.
Then, something prickles against my awareness. A prey’s instinct, a feeling like I’m being watched. Unease shivers through me, and I quickly sit upright, eyes flying open to look around the baths.
Steam rises from the various pools, and the warm glow of the light globes gives the whole room a dreamy feel. Light and shadow dance in the gently glowing waters, but my eyes are drawn to a patch of shadow in the pool next to mine. A shadow that seems to condense, tomove.
It rises from the pool, steam wafting from invisible shoulders and arms. Then, the shadowy figure steps towards me. Fear grips tight as the shadow steps into my pool. Water laps against my chest, but I’m frozen to the spot as the figure approaches, leans close. I can almostfeelthe heat of breath against my ear, the weight of a palm resting lightly on my cheek.
And in the water below it, I see the reflection ofsomeone. Someone who isn’t there. Pale skin, auburn hair, distorted by the lapping water.
“Gohome, Dominai.Now.”
