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I slide one hand around her hip and press my fingers to her clitoris. She pushes back into every thrust and tells me when to move faster.

“There,” she says between breaths. “Do that again.”

I laugh against her shoulder. She tightens around me.

I move faster. Her body clenches around my cock, and the bond opens wide. I come deep inside her with my mouth pressed to the wet curve of her neck. I have breath enough only for her name.

Water laps twice against the stone before I withdraw slowly and turn her into my arms. She is warm, wet, and still trembling. I carry her down the pool steps until the water holds us both.

Her head settles beneath my chin.

Beyond the courtyard, the drums continue through the Heartwood.

Vai rests against me on a lower step, with the water at her shoulders and my arm beneath her. A pale flower opens beside her cheek. She touches it, then turns to look at the others spreading along my shoulder.

“I like these.”

“I know.”

“You used to get rid of them.”

“I was trying to look dignified.”

“How did that go?”

She can feel my laughter before she hears it. I kiss her damp forehead.

A petal drifts onto the water. Vai catches it and sends it toward the fig with one small breath. It reaches the stone rim and stays there, turning slowly.

“I’m going to have to tell Asha about this,” she says.

“The pool?”

“Some of it.”

I look down at her. She grins.

“She’ll like you.”

“I hope so.”

“Tovi might ask you to lift something.”

“What sort of thing?”

“A sack. A table. I’ll stop him before it becomes the roof.”

I draw her closer. Her hair is wet against my chest. She has begun to yawn and is trying to hide it against my shoulder.

“We can travel when her letter comes,” I say.

“Yes.”

“Will you show me the lane where you danced?”

She raises her head.

“Yes. And the well, and the place Asha buys the good cakes when she thinks I haven’t noticed.”