Once the door was closed behind them, he turned to stare at her, eyes ablaze. “You are entirely too reckless. That kind of foolish move could get you killed,” he snapped.
Evony crossed her arms over her chest. “I told you, I’m a trained Amazzi warrior. The day I can’t take out a single armed man, one armed only with a knife at that, will be the day they spread my ashes. I have been training practically since I could walk. And may I point out that you’re the one who wanders around without guards despite being the emperor and knowing there’s a plot against you!” She wanted to hit him for not taking his own safety seriously, to force him to do endless surprise drills the ways she would have with her brother.
He grimaced then glared and took a step closer to her. “This is not about me.”
“It is if there are assassins after you.”
“I am no callow youth, untrained in the art of combat!”
“And neither am I,” she retorted, tossing her head.
He slammed his palms down on either side of her, effectively pinning her against the wall as he leaned forward so there were only inches between them. “If you had seen death as I have, you would not be so cavalier about this.”
She didn’t even flinch. “Do you think death is the exclusive domain of the mainland?”
“You—” he said, voice trembling with emotion, gaze bright as they met hers.
Evony really didn’t know who moved first, all she knew was that one second they were glaring at each other, the next, they had their lips pressed against one another’s.
Galen pressed himself harder against her, almost crushing her between him and the stone. Evony barely noticed, too busy wrapping her arms around his neck so she could kiss him harder. He was doing that delightful thing with his tongue again, exploring her mouth as their lips continued to move against each other.
She wound a hand into his hair, surprised at how much softer it was than it looked, before being distracted by the leg he thrust between hers. The hard muscle of his thigh pressed against where the tingling tug of desire was building and made her wish that she was wearing one of her shorter chitons. It would be so much easier to get out of.
One of his arms wrapped itself around her waist and she found her body being pressed against the harder form of Galen. She could feel her nipples tighten into tiny hard buds, which she knew he had to feel against his chest, as she could feel the hard part of him tightening against her.
His free hand cupped the back of her head as he pressed his lips even harder against her, like he was trying to meld them together through their mouths. Evony shifted her weight slightly, the need she felt starting to reach uncomfortable levels. She couldn’t remember ever needing release this badly. And if this was what Galen could do to her with mostly just his mouth, Evony was more than willing to see what he could do with the rest of him.
The sound of the door opening made both of them jerk their heads away from each other. The movement drew the attention of Balint, who stared at them for a moment. Then he smiled. “Sorry, I’ll let myself out, so you two continue.”
Galen drew away and Evony dropped her arms from him, feeling her cheeks heat up. While they hadn’t been doing anything wrong, being seen... She dropped her gaze to the ground for a moment then glanced at Galen.
He was looking past Balint, a touch of colour to his cheeks that hadn’t been there previously. As she watched, he ran a hand through his hair then coughed. His stare went to hers and she looked down again for a second before meeting his eyes steadily, even though she was sure her cheeks gave everyone a good idea of the state of her. Still, her mild discomfort wasn’t as important as Galen’s safety. “Should I and some of the guards search the palace to see if there are more assassins? Also we should check these rooms in case someone has hidden themselves inside and—”
Balint cut her off with a raised hand. “The guards are already checking the palace and questioning anyone who saw our assassin to see if we can find out how he got in. The roving patrols and stationed guards outside of Galen’s windows mean it’s impossible to get in. And I will be with Galen until we get things settled.”
Evony’s shoulders relaxed. Balint had the easy confidence and movements of an experienced warrior. She doubted anyone intending Galen harm would sneak past him. Between him and the half-dozen guards outside, she didn’t think Galen would be in danger. Not when the guards were trained to deal with assassins. “I should go then,” she said.
Galen nodded. “I will speak with you later.”
As she hurried by Balint, Evony caught the unmistakable wink he gave her before the door closed behind her.
Chapter 15: Moonlit Meeting
Evony shifted over to her side, gaze going to the tiny patch of silver light that had escaped through her room’s curtains. She stared at it for a moment then rolled back onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She willed herself to sleep but was in too much of a jumble to be able to do anything of the sort.
She sighed heavily and sat up. If she couldn’t sleep, she might as well do her best to sort through everything so she could. With a faint groan, she hopped off her bed, put her sandals on, and headed straight out the door, not even bothering to tie her unruly mane back.
Rather than risk waking the other girls up by pacing their tiny hall, Evony headed outside. The air was blessedly cool as she reached the first walkway and headed for the garden she hadn’t yet had a chance to look over, except from the window of her room. With clear skies and the light of the moon, she had no trouble reaching it.
It was hard to identify the plants in the moonlight, but Evony thought they were mostly flowers. She walked a short circuit of the garden before settling on the lip of the fountain and staring up at the full moon. She closed her eyes and let the light wash over her, as if it could illuminate the answers she needed.
Evony couldn’t deny her growing attraction to Galen, especially not after that afternoon. Just thinking about it brought the beginning tingles of desire to her, which she did her best to ignore for the moment. She knew Galen was first-class stock, smart, strong, and steady, even if she thought he could stand to relax a lot more. Any children they had would do well, she felt, and she knew laying with him would be a pleasure rather than merely a duty.
But the more she got to know him, the more she thought that their arrangement would only make Galen worse. He needed someone by his side, someone who could temper him, who could hold their own against him, and who could help bring back some happiness to his life. And while she hated to admit it, Admina wasn’t capable of filling that role. None of the girls she thought would be able to do it, though Chana came closest. Galen really needed someone who was there for him and not for the empire.
He needed a proper lifemate, not an empress.
Evony sighed and wished Galen wasn’t the Adnuhom. It would make everything so much simpler. She thought he’d like Silvinsula, that the quieter, less demanding lifestyle would suit him better than the nest of vipers that had embedded themselves into court. If you couldn’t even trust those people around you, how were you supposed to ever really feel safe or happy?
The sound of footsteps broke through her thoughts. Evony’s head swivelled in the direction they’d come and she watched as a tall figure walked into the garden. When he moved into the pool of moonlight that filled the centre part, she recognized him by more than the length of his hair. “Galen?” she called softly, hoping not to wake Admina or Paran, whose windows both faced the gardens as well.
She saw him jerk before turning to stare at her for several moments. He slowly approached her, shoulders tense until he was level with her. “Evony,” he said, arms loosening at his sides. “Whatever are you doing out this late?”
Evony shrugged as she looked up at him. “I couldn’t sleep. How about you?”
“I have a similar problem,” he replied.
Neither said anything for a moment. Finally Galen cleared his throat. “May I join you?”
She smiled at that. “It’s your fountain.”
Evony thought she saw one of those upwardly quirked lip half smiles he gave her as Galen settled himself beside her on the stone lip of the fountain. He was so close that Evony could feel the heat of his body fill the shallow space between them, his hand only a few digitus from hers. “What brings you this way?” she asked after the silence had grown between them again.
Galen glanced at her for a moment then turned his face towards the moon. “I could not find sleep, so I thought a walk might tire me enough that it would be easier to find later.”
She nodded, then frowned. “Should you really be out alone after the assassination attempt?”
He snorted slightly. “This is beyond my usual routine, and it is dark enough.”
Evony’s frown deepened momentarily, but she didn’t press him. She supposed he needed time alone sometimes too. And at least he was here with her now, should anyone have followed him. She’d just make sure she walked him back to his rooms in case anyone was lying in wait for him.
Not wanting to bring up heavy subjects when Galen was obviously trying to relax, Evony pointed up at the stars that could be seen overhead. “I heard that there are different names for the stars here on the mainland. What do you call that one?”
Galen looked up then frowned. “Which?”
Evony scooted closer so that her hips touched his and held her arm up again. This time she traced the curves of the constellation, her head tilted back so she could see it. “That one. We call it Mother’s Bow, for it is said to be the bow of the first Amazzi warrior, placed in the sky so that all of us would remember and honour her.”
He followed her finger with his. “Ah. That is the Huntress’s Bow. It is said that the mighty huntress who owned it was beautiful and strong, and drew the gaze of the god of the hunt. He took her as a wife and in bringing her back to his realm in the sky, she dropped her bow where it remains to this day.”
She turned to look at him. “I hadn’t heard that story.”
Galen turned as well, their faces ending up only a few short digitus from one another. For a heartbeat, neither of them moved. Evony opened her mouth to say something, even she wasn’t certain what, but Galen moved quicker.
His hand went to the back of her neck and pulled her the short distance it took for their lips to meet. Like they’d never been interrupted that afternoon, Evony felt her whole body flush and the space between her legs go damp and tingly with the desire rising in her veins. When Galen’s tongue slipped into her mouth, this time she retaliated with her own.
From the way he pressed her more firmly towards him, his other arm moving to snag her waist and draw her even closer to him, Evony thought she hadn’t done too badly for her first attempt at it. One hand gripping the edge of the fountain to keep her balance, Evony used the other to grab a fistful of his shirt so she could pull his lips as tight against hers as she could get them. She had no intention of letting him stop what he was doing any time soon.
Her whole body was tightening, the growing pulse of need making her squeeze her legs together even as her nipples became as stone. With her pulse loud in her ears and her body alive with every sensation, from the feel of Galen’s stubble against her cheeks to the heat of his fingers through the thin material of her chiton, Evony felt like her whole body was alight.
Galen must have felt similarly, because he let out a little guttural sound from deep in his throat, dropping the hand at her neck. Before she knew what was happening, he’d lifted her up from beside him and dropped her right into his lap.
Her legs to either side of him like she was mounting a horse, her hands now gripping the lip of the fountain for balance, Evony couldn’t figure out why he’d thought this was a better position. His lips reclaimed hers and a moment later, she found out why she’d been moved. His hand might have gone back to cradling her neck, but the other had moved down towards her breasts. He cupped one of them and gave it a gentle squeeze, the heat of his palm making her own temperature feel like it was spiking again.
Then he used a thumb to lightly graze one hardened nub.
Evony couldn’t help the tiny noise that escaped around Galen’s tongue as that bolt of feeling shot straight towards her nether regions. Seemingly encouraged, he began to rub first one nipple, then the other, each movement adding to the sum of desire reaching the point of discomfort.
When he broke away from kissing her, the sudden coolness was almost an assault. Opening eyes that she hadn’t realized she’d closed, Evony looked at him, but could only see the top of his head. More cool air greeted her body as he pulled apart the front of her chiton. About to ask what he was doing, she felt the liquid warmth of his mouth close around her nipple.
She cried out softly as his lips, tongue, and teeth did wonderful things to her, even as his thumb and forefinger made certain that her other nipple wasn’t lonely. He switched targets after a moment and Evony was almost overwhelmed. She shifted her weight, desperately wanting to touch herself, to start relieving the overwhelming fire he’d lit inside of her.
Galen had other ideas there too. Evony didn’t notice the disappearance of his hand’s attention until she felt it brushing aside the few hanging folds of her bunched up chiton. One finger slid down and brushed up against the curls of her divide. She didn’t even get a chance to react before it slid down the length of her, drawing a cry from her as she tightened her hold on the fountain.
His clever fingers joined the first and she found herself barely able to hang on as they moved against her, causing sensation to arc through her. The centre of her practically trembled every time his fingers even brushed against it. The pulsating waves of pleasure slowly grew within her, rising like a fierce and quick tide.
Then Galen moved his hand and one of his fingers, eased by the slickness of her desire, slipped inside her. The whole new feeling had her crying out again. And when he moved his finger inside her, she found her whole back arching, only her hands keeping her from falling.
When he added a flick of his thumb against her pleasure point, Evony knew she was lost. It took less than a minute of that exquisite torture to have the whole sea’s worth of pleasure that had been building to cascade down on her, sending ripples through her body that tightened down onto Galen’s finger as she felt like her centre exploded outwards.
He held her through her cry and shivers until her head dropped down onto his shoulder, body gone temporarily weak with spent desire. She let the cool air run over her still feverish body for a moment as she collected herself. She straightened and faced Galen as his arms slid down so that they lay loosely about her waist, a glint to her gaze as she considered her retaliation.
Removing a hand from the lip of the fountain, she reached down and pressed it gently against the raised part of his tunic that she could see even through the mottled shadows that lay between them. She felt him tense and a slight smile came to her face as she contemplated her next move.
Figuring they couldn’t be so very different, she ran her hand up it from the base to the very tip, where she lightly flicked the end as she’d done to herself a number of times. He jerked and cried out, but that was his undoing.
With his arms around her and not braced against the fountain, Galen pitched backwards, his legs rising up and sending Evony falling in the opposite direction. Her backside hit the hard stone that surrounded the fountain while Galen landed with a splash into the fountain.
Evony scrambled to her feet, leaning over to ensure he was all right. She was greeted by the sight of Galen propped up by his elbows, his legs over the edge of the fountain, while his waist and half his chest were submerged in the water. His hair dripped water, more being added to it as drops fell from the upper level of the fountain onto his head. She took one look at him and star
ted laughing.
He stared at her as she wrapped her arms around her sides, fighting for air as the mirth continue to bubble up inside her. Slowly a smile spread across his face, and as tears began to slide down her face, she heard the sound of him chuckling.
That surprised her enough that she was able to quickly calm herself and grin at him as she offered him a hand. “There’s one of my goals achieved,” she said as she helped haul him out of the fountain.
“What do you mean?” he asked as he straightened.
The puddle that swiftly formed under him as he continued to drip had Evony’s lips twitching around laughter as she replied, “Well, you almost never smile, so I really wondered what you sounded like when you laughed.”
“That does not seem like much of a goal,” he said, forehead crinkling.
She giggled a little at that. “Well, with you, I wasn’t certain I was going to reach it.”
Seeing her expression, Galen’s face slowly smoothed out into a smile. He stepped closed to her, but the sound of his wet clothes flapping against him drew his gaze. He sighed. “I had best return to my rooms.”
Evony sighed, a little regretful that they couldn’t continue. “You don’t want to get sick.”
Galen leaned forward and kissed her on lips briefly before he smiled again. “Until next time.”
She flushed a little at that but nodded. He turned and hurried back the way he’d come, leaving a faint trail of water in his wake. Evony shook her head, watching him until he was out of sight. Only then did she turn towards her own rooms.
A yellow flicker of light drew her attention and she frowned, turning towards her window, but it was gone. She studied the area, but guessed it must have been a firefly, or a shooting star. A yawn caught her and Evony realized that she was suddenly very tired. If she didn’t want her morning practice to be worse than it was already going to be, she needed to get to bed as soon as she could.
The Emperor's Arrow Page 14