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Chapter 53
Talin
As the night wore on, Cormak began to smile more, but Kaidan played a little less. The boy got slower and slower until he started yawning. That was when his father called it a night. He made his apologies to Rolena, asking if he could see her again. She asked for his address - which made Cormak sputter. He gave it though, and then he all but carried his son back to the Temple of Intuition.
Nari walked with him part of the way, but when he reached the back door, the man paused. "Go spend the rest of the night with your friends, Priestess." Then he smiled. "I honestly had an enjoyable time, but I know the way home from here. There's no reason for you to leave early simply because my boy's worn out."
Nari bent over to see Kaidan. "You have your bear and your sword?"
"Uh huh," he agreed.
So she handed him her cloth sword. "I think you should take this one too. Then you can make your father play with you a bit."
His eyes got big. "Are you sure?"
"I am. Thank you for playing with me tonight, Kaidan." She stood back up. "Have a good evening, Cormak. It was my pleasure to meet you tonight."
Cormak leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Good night, Nari."
We stood there and watched him guide his son up the stairs at the back of the temple, and then they were gone. Nari let out a relieved sigh, then wrapped her arm around my waist. I curled mine around her shoulders, holding her against my side. For some reason, that session felt more fulfilling than any she'd ever done before. There had been no sex, and she hadn't even pulled him into a deep conversation, and yet she'd managed to relieve so much of his stress by just being herself.
"You're an amazing priestess. You know that, right?" I asked.
She smiled. "I just try to imagine how I'd feel if I was in their shoes," she admitted. "He's scared, he's desperate, and he feels like he has no control. That man loves his son, though. All he needed was an excuse to enjoy himself, and we gave him plenty."
"Yeah." I kissed the top of her head. "So, Ela and Rolena should be getting silly soon. You want to go help with that, play a few more games, or something else?"
"Something else," she decided. "I think I'm going to have this sexy man walk me home after a long day on my feet. I think we're going to take our time about it, and maybe he'll even kiss on me a little."
Then she stepped back and flashed me a wicked little grin before turning toward the Temptation side of the grassy area. Yep, I followed. The music was still playing, adding a soft ambiance over here. The sounds of laughter were getting a little louder, and the crowd had shifted from families to adults.
When I caught up to Nari, I wrapped my arms around her waist from the back, leaning in to kiss her neck. "I saw you talking to your brother. He was showing you his arm. Going to tell me about that?"
"He saw Merci," she admitted. "You saw Bode. I saw Zeal wandering around and caught a flash of Savi. Will was hovering around the games at one point." She chuckled. "That's why I had Cormak play. Will was standing right beside me saying the kid deserved a real prize."
"What about Charisma?" I asked, naming the only god she hadn't mentioned yet.
Nari shrugged. "I've never met her, but there were a few women who could've been her. I honestly think they were all in that crowd, mingling and having as much fun as they could. This is a break from their isolation. A way for them to feel involved again, and while a few can be seen, most can't."
"Zeal, Merci, and Bode seem ok," I said, catching her hand so I could move beside her. "And I think Zeal was showing off a bit."
"Mm." She tugged on my fingers, making me turn so I was partly facing her while we walked. "I think Bode isn't as strong as you think. You can see him, and I can, but who else?"
"We'll have to find out," I decided.
"Tomorrow," she said, turning to push me up against a tree.
Then my beautiful desire leaned in, holding me there, and kissed me. My hands found her waist, tugging her a little closer. People were only a few dozen feet away, and anyone could walk on this side of the tree instead of that one. I also didn't care. My fingers slipped into her hair, loving the feel of it loose and tumbling around us.
"You are giving me very bad ideas, priestess," I teased. "The weather's just nice enough that I wouldn't even feel bad about lifting your skirts in the shadows."
She giggled softly. "Oh, is that so?" Then she reached down to cup my balls, sliding her palm higher while pressing just enough to wake my dick up.
I groaned, pressing into her touch. "Did that man get you all worked up?" Then I caught her wrist, making her stroke me again. "Or are you just teasing me, beautiful?"
She dropped her other hand and began toying with my belt. "You want to see?"
But I stopped her. "Yes, although this is the wrong tree." Tipping my head, I made her look away from the festivities. "That corner between the Temples of Ambition and Temptation is pretty dark."
