Holyfreakinggods.
I was on the edge of release. It was building like a cyclone inside of me. Just when I was about to tip over the edge, Yael lifted his head and pulled his hand back. I was panting when he slid higher and settled between my legs, ridding himself of his pants.
“Good girl, Willa-toy.”
I wanted to yell at him, because he had deprived me of the pleasure that was supposed to be mine. Then he shifted forward, sliding his length inside of me. I shattered around him, unable to stop when I was already so close.
Yael grinned down at me. “That’s one.”
Of course the competitive bastard would want to keep track. Already, my body was tightening in anticipation of ‘two’.
He started to move, slowly at first, drawing out my first release, and then with more speed. After a few clicks, he shifted his position, placing his hands under me again, lifting me up for a better angle. He was so much deeper this way, and I let out a low moan as the strong sensations built within me again. A slow, steady, deep build. I could feel tingles from the top of my head, all the way to my toes. My nails bit into his shoulders as I held on, Yael’s eyes as green as I’d ever seen them as they captured me in their glow.
“Come for me, Willa,” he ordered, his lips moving to mine.
Unable to deny his command, I exploded, my body moving with his, and he let out a low groan, his tongue tangling with mine, my mouth absorbing the way he called my name.
“Two,” he murmured against my mouth.
I was starting to wonder if I would survive three. My breathing was harsh and I couldn’t feel my legs, but I was certainly willing to give it a shot. Yael’s smile was wicked as he pulled back, clearly having read my thoughts. His pace picked up, and I tightened my legs around him. My body was tender from the last orgasm, but soon need built within me again. He shifted back a little, before he reached down between our bodies and pressed a finger against the sensitive part of my centre.
“Three, Willa-toy,” he ordered again.
I was helpless to deny him. The force of my next orgasm had my head spinning, and dizziness pressing in on me. Yael stole my focus then with those gem-like eyes of his, whispering my name as he too found release.
I struggled to bring air into my lungs as we lay together, our bodies tangled, until our breathing had slowed. Yael’s touch turned gentle, running along my body soothingly. When he finally pulled from me, we drifted back into the water, staying very close together. There was a satisfied glint in Yael’s green eyes, and I was starting to suspect I might be addicted to swimming. The same way he was addicted to winning. He grinned, picking up on that thought, before a loud pounding on the door broke through our moment.
“Time’s up!” a muffled voice shouted.
“Shit,” Yael muttered, quickly moving to the ledge and pulling himself out. He reached for me, tugging me to the side of the pool, and then he started pulling his wet clothes back on. “I think Trickery got everyone to leave before, somehow, but the illusion must have worn off by now.”
“Three clicks!” the voice shouted again. This time, I recognised it as Siret’s.
My eyes went wide, flying to the door, and then I was scrambling out of the water and looking for my clothes. Obviously, I didn’t care about the Abcurses seeing me naked, but Cyrus was another story. I managed to wrangle my way into the sodding material just as the door flew open. The other Abcurses strode through. Siret glanced at me, the right corner of his lip twitching. His eyes were laughing, but the others all appeared serious. Cyrus followed them, looking mad as hell.
“Why the fuck are you two wet?” he snapped. “Tell me that whole illusion trick wasn’t just so that you two fools could go swimming?”
“What’s wrong with swimming?” I asked.
“We were in the middle of something.” Cyrus threw his hands up, beginning to pace on the spot, his eyes flicking between Yael and me. “You almost incinerated the entire mountain. You burnt a god and overpowered his natural healing reflexes. Those are the reasons we were all in this room. And you use Trickery to send me out of the room so that you can go swimming? This is …” he was shaking his head, his hand flying out with a sharp, frustrated motion. A long, deep crack fissured through the entire length of the stone wall. I stumbled back a step. I might have had some kind of crazy ability with god-fire, but I couldn’t go up against Cyrus.
I took another step back as the Abcurses all tensed, closing in around me. I was stepping backwards, sure, but that didn’t mean I was backing down. I would never back down, not even against a Neutral. Mostly because I didn’t really understand what the Neutral power could do, and there was a lot of bravery to be found in stupidity. I was happily ignorant of all the ways that Cyrus would be able to successfully torture me.
“You don’t understand this,” I finally said, indicating the five bodies now forming a solid wall between us. “You don’t understand what it’s like to be going about your life and then suddenly you’re not yourself anymore. You’re one part of a whole and nothing makes sense unless you’re with the other parts of your whole. So I’m sorry that we had to kick you out of the room, but I hurt one of them. I hurt a part of myself. I needed to fix it.”
“And,” Yael added, his voice a little darker than mine, “if you try to come between us and Willa one more time, this little alliance we have going on is broken. Finished. You might be the Neutral, but she belongs to us and we belong to her—no amount of power is going to stop us from protecting that.”
“I think we’re done here,” Coen declared, apparently not willing to wait for Cyrus’s response.
He turned, holding his hand out to me. I linked my fingers through his and we walked to the door, all six of us spilling into the corridor beyond.
“Wait.” Cyrus moved after us, filling up the doorway, his eyes on me. “I have no interest in breaking up your group. There’s something about this stubborn loyalty you all have for each other that I respect, even though the rest of it makes me want to shove one of Death’s knives into my eyeball. I’m sorry I overreacted. Even so, you need to be punished for what you did. If I don’t punish you, it will only draw the attention of the other gods. That is not something you want. You will report back to me at first light without Abil’s sons. Am I understood?”
I didn’t wait for the Abcurses to start another fight, I just nodded quickly and drew Coen away, knowing that the others would follow.
“We need to find Emmy,” I muttered, as soon as we were out of hearing range.
“Ten disks she’s waiting in your room,” Rome grunted.
“Twenty disks she’s around the corner,” Aros countered.
“Thirty she’s—” Siret started, but he was cut off as we rounded the corner and a flurry of blond hair attacked my face, arms wrenching me away from Coen.
“Stop. Doing. Things. That. Give. Me. Chest-pains,” Emmy ordered, each word punctuated by a too-painful squeeze.
I thought she was hugging me, but when she drew back, there was a coat wrapped around my shoulders. Apparently, I had been hugging her and she had only been trying to give me a coat. She must have been squeezing me to let me know that she wanted to be released. For some reason, I found that funny. A giggle slipped past my lips, and Emmy cut herself off mid-chastisement, her eyes narrowing dangerously on my face.
“I’ve decided that we need new sister rules,” she told me, folding her arms over her chest.
“Uh…” Rome shifted nervously behind me. “Should we maybe … go … somewhere else?”
“No,” four other voices all argued, before Aros added: “That’s up to Willa.”