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"Heard that!" Wraythe called from the bathroom.
"Wasn't a no," Ela yelled back
"And some of us have class, so don't even think about it," Wraythe told him.
"Shit," I grumbled. "And I have cooking tonight. Ok, let me up. The last thing I need to do is ruin today by being late again."
"I'll get your clothes," Talin offered.
And yet, as soon as I was out of the bed, Ela reached over to catch Talin's arm, preventing him from following me. From the corner of my eye, I saw Talin turn in surprise, and Ela leaned in to kiss him. It was perfect. It was everything I hadn't known I'd needed.
In truth, it felt like we were finally back to normal, and there was no way I'd let anything else try to pull us apart again.
Chapter 39
Nariana
After that, I began to feel a little more in control. My gut wanted to blame it on that kiss Talin and Ela had shared in our bed. My brain said it had to do with Ela accepting who he was. My heart was convinced that it was knowing Zeal cared. I figured the reality was probably a lot more divine.
Zeal's brother had kissed me. Will was the God of Ambition, and I currently felt like nothing could stop me. No, I wasn't looking forward to the upcoming session with Tishlie, but it wouldn'tstopme. I didn't even care when Oryll had tried to make me look stupid in Eroticism this morning. And now, the man was making another attempt in our Sexual Orientation class. Strangely, that panic I always felt when I became the center of attention was gone.
"Nariana," Oryll said, making every person in the room turn to where I was sitting, "this is your last chance to back out."
"Of the session?" I asked.
"Yes," he all but purred, his eyes glinting like his victory was in sight. "I heard about the room your mentor booked for you. Did you think I wouldn't be informed about my students?"
"Oh, last night?" I asked. "Yeah, I was curious how to tie the ropes onto those generic bed frames. Ela was happy to show me." I flicked both brows up, taunting the man intentionally. "I think I'm starting to get the hang of this dominant thing."
"You mean submissive," he corrected.
"No, Priest Oryll, I don't." Leaning back in my chair, I could feel my lips curl into a smug smile. "See, your problem is that you assume that BDSM means only dominants and submissives. Now, I don't know what kind of sex life you have, but mine's a little more diverse. So you know, I can do the submission thing, but it doesn't really get me off. Doesn't get my partner off either. We're more into the S and M side of that acronym."
"And yet you don't look like you've been studying masochism," he countered.
"Oh, me?" I made a display of gasping in horror. "Certainly not. Ela's the sadist. Like I said, I've been practicing the dominance role, so I can direct him with the submissive masochist. It's a lot sexier than I expected. Works well for us, too. What? Not what you expected?" Then I lifted my chin. "Keep fucking trying, Oryll. I won't break."
"With that man as your partner, you will," he snapped.
"No, we'll break someone else. We're partners. We worktogether. What part of that is confusing?"
"She's not wrong," Ela admitted. "I mean, watching her get my mentor all hot and bothered? Mm, that made it even more fun."
"Enough!" Oryll snapped, thrusting his hand at the side. "For the rest of you, your assignments are here. Nari, you, Eladehl, and Tishlie will be in the first round. That's early afternoon, so I hope you didn't have plans for the weekend. You'll be busy the first day, and likely recovering for the second."
My heart paused when I heard the time, and my eyes jumped to Talin out of habit. He just shook his head and mouthed, "Cancelled," at me.
Which meant he'd already expected this and had let Maela know that I wouldn't make our lunch date. Still, I needed to talk to Amerlee about it. So the moment Oryll released the class, I told Ela that I'd stop there before heading to kitchen duty. Naturally, he and Wraythe insisted on walking with me and Talin made it clear he was still my shadow.
Technically, Amerlee was my mentor for the Path of the Body. Jamik, her guardian, was my mentor for the Path of Protection. Their friend, Saval, was mentoring me for the other Paths, because as not only a Priestess of the Word, but also one of the top primary instructors, she had a good grasp of the necessary duties. That meant no one questioned my friendship with Amerlee, her partner, or their guardians. We were more than that, though.
Amerlee was the closest thing I'd ever had to a mother. I even called Jamik "Dad" half the time. Shalsa and Irila were family, and while I wasn't quite as close to them, I still knew I could go to them about anything. That was why I wasn't worried about who would answer when I knocked on the door.
It took a bit, and when the door cracked open, it was Jamik on the other side. His eyes widened in surprise, then he shut the door in my face without another word. I heard a woman giggle - and it wasn't Amerlee. A few seconds later, he opened the door again, cleared his throat, and invited me inside. He was also wearing nothing but his pants.
"And that's my cue to go home," Ela said, grabbing Wraythe to drag him that way as well.
Talin just chuckled as he followed me into their suite. Sure enough, the main room was a mess. Pillows were on the floor, one of the couches was pushed just enough off center to be noticeable, and Jamik was oddly alone. Doing my best not to laugh because I'd clearly interrupted them, I walked over, picked up a throw pillow and tossed it back onto the couch.
