Author's note: Smut warning for this chapter – skip if you do not wish to read mature content.
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Sonea could hardly believe the words had left her mouth as soon as they did. Have you ever grown close to a novice during your time as High Lord? Perhaps it was the two glasses of Anuren Dark, or the sensual light, or that the frustration and anxiety that had been building inside her for the past month had finally snapped.
But having asked the suggestive question, partly out of curiosity and partly because she could find no other way of insinuating her desire, she felt something loosen within her. It was almost like her lungs could breathe at full capacity again. There. If he was in any doubt before, now he knows. And this time, I will not be leaving the room without a clear answer.
"No, I have not." Akkarin said, and Sonea's heart raced as his eyes took all of her in, deliberately, seductively. As if to add, but what a delectable suggestion.
Sonea hardly dared to breathe, in case his demeanor may change at any moment into rejection. But Akkarin's eyes, having finished roaming her body, locked on hers directly. The hunger glittering in their black depths was predatory, but self-assured. It resembled the fleeting look she had seen a month ago when she had kissed him. Back then, it had disappeared in a heartbeat behind a cold mask. Now, it was leisurely. "I see," was all Sonea could muster, hoarsely.
Those black eyes narrowed for a moment, and a faraway look entered them, as if Akkarin was remembering something. The hunger in them seemed laced with anger for a second. Then they turned decisive, and made her the focus of their intensity. Sonea was glued to the spot. The twinge of fear that look had inspired in her for months was now only serving to fuel her desire.
Akkarin rose in one swift movement and stepped closer, as if something had been finalised in his mind. "Sonea…"
She had heard her name on his lips countless time before, but this time it sounded like an invitation. When he reached out to stroke her cheek, Sonea felt like his cold fingertips were searing her warm face. When he grasped her chin and stroked her lower lip, looking down at her imposingly, Sonea knew she was lost. "Yes, High Lord?" she breathed.
"I believe we have some unfinished business, don't you?"
The mischevious glint in his eyes turned his quiet words delicious. The force of his grip on her chin made her want to surrender with every fibre of her being to his command. Standing up from the armchair, Sonea felt momentarily dizzy, but whether from the wine or what was happening, she couldn't tell. Then Akkarin bent down to slowly graze his lips across hers, and all questions fled from Sonea's mind.
He took an infuriatingly long time to deepen the kiss. But when he did, holding onto Sonea's chin firmly so she could barely come up for air, it was everything she had imagined, and more. She tasted the Anuren Dark on his tongue, which was teasing hers with a combination of gentleness and force. Sonea's anger at her past month of inner turmoil, at the coldness of their first sexual encounter, began to slip away. Unconsciously, she reached forward with both hands to clutch a fistful of Akkarin's black robes. She needed to steady herself, and to pull him closer.
She felt Akkarin's warm breath in her mouth as he exhaled at her sudden grip, then he chuckled and pulled away slightly. Sonea thought he was going to step away from her, but her responsiveness seemed to have emboldened Akkarin. Suddenly, she felt one of his hands at her waist, pressing her stomach against where – with a jolt of excitement – she could feel his hardness. The other snaked up to the back of her neck and she felt those elegant yet masculine fingers slide through her hair. He curled his hand around the strands and pulled gently, tilting Sonea's head back so that he could descend on her lips again.
The distracting kiss and the slightly painful tug combined into an unbearable sensation. Sonea had never felt so overpowered by her own desires before. But then again, I have never met a man like him.
She returned the kiss with urgency and hunger, and for a while they seemed to battle silently over who was leading whom. Everytime Sonea forced her lips up towards Akkarin's, he pulled her hair to force her head back again, and his half-smiling lips would resume his desired pace. Hungry, to controlled. Fast, then to slow. Deep, then back to tantalisingly light traces of the tongue.
Then Akkarin gripped either side of her waist tighter, slowly walking Sonea back. Strands of his hair had come loose from the black silk ribbon that held it at the nape. She stared, transfixed, as they framed the dark brows that were slightly furrowed. Sonea had seen that frown line appear countless times when he was annoyed or angry; now, it was a frown of potent need, and her knees almost buckled with each step backwards.
Sonea gasped in surprise as her hips hit something; she realised he had walked her back towards his desk. Akkarin trapped her between the desk and his body, then began nibbling at her neck. Sonea closed her eyes and reached back to grip something, anything, with her hands – but ended up sliding a pile of paper off the desk. Sonea felt the vibration of Akkarin's chuckle on her neck. He sent out magic to catch the papers in mid-air and sent them to the other end of his desk, never breaking the contact between his lips and Sonea's clavicle. That sound – that sound will drive me insane, she thought shakily.
She let out a quiet, impatient moan, then reached up to grasp the back of Akkarin's neck. She tried to bring his lips lower down to the neckline of her dress.
Akkarin reached up, gently removing Sonea's hand and straightening to his full height. "I see patience isn't my novice's strong suit," he said, teasing but with a hint of authority.
That subtle reminder of his position of power over her brought out Sonea's rebellious streak. Her dark gaze locked with his. Perhaps I should be punished, High Lord. As her bold thought sent a delicious shiver up Sonea's spine, she noticed Akkarin's eyes flash with lust. With a jolt, she realised he had heard her challenge by reading her surface thoughts.
"Indeed you should," Akkarin murmured, the corner of his lips twitching upwards. Sonea gasped in surprise as she felt a bit of magic lift her up and seat her on the desk. An invisible force on her chest nudged her to lie back, while another cushioned her head. In a heartbeat, Akkarin was leaning over her, his lips hungrily finding Sonea's again.
A hand pulled her dress up to her waist, his cold palms warming quickly upon contact with her flaming skin. Her legs parted and wrapped around his waist, the expensive silk of his black robes sensuous against her inner thighs.
She could feel herself begin to moisten between her legs. Akkarin's lips dancing over her neck, she couldn't see what was going on. She looked up at the small globelight above them, the anticipation only making her heart pound faster. Then Sonea felt his thumb rub over the sensitive little piece of flesh she herself would touch on some nights, alone in her room. Her eyelids fluttered shut and she exhaled heavily.
Akkarin switched his kisses to the other side of her neck. Thumb still rubbing her, she felt him insert one long finger inside. It was cold, or maybe her insides were flaming hot. She moved her hips towards the finger.
"I will be deciding that, Sonea," his gravelly voice breathed into her ear. She forced herself to lie still, breasts rising and falling rapidly. More, please, more…
Akkarin slowly inserted a second finger into her. A split second of fear ran up Sonea's back as she realised that one had his dark red ring on it. She felt its coolness inside her, rough and jagged, but Akkarin was careful, and continued rubbing her centre of pleasure with a thumb. The ring's shape and temperature added new sensations to her already aching insides.
Then she felt a third finger slowly being added. Sonea panicked slightly and lifted her head to try and look down. Akkarin's commanding eyes bore into hers. "This will not do. Submit to me, Sonea," his silky voice said.
"S–sorry, High Lord," she stammered.
"And?"
He increased the pressure of his circling thumb. I'm yours, I'm sorry, I'm yours, Sonea thought incoherently, her lower back arching into his thrusting fingers.
–Yes, you're mine, Akkarin sent, a sense of possession touching the edge of her mind.
Sonea shivered, thinking for a moment she had dreamt those gratifying words – then realised they could, of course, mentally communicate through touch.
Akkarin's free hand slid up the front of Sonea's dress to grab her softly by the throat. She could still breathe, but the pressure nudged her head back down onto the desk, and her gaze returned to the ceiling. Not seeing and not knowing what the hand between her legs would do next kept Sonea suspended between desperation and anticipation.
As three of his fingers stretched her, his grip on her throat tightened slightly, and the feeling of utter surrender washing over Sonea only helped lubricate his movements. Every time Akkarin's fingers re-entered her, his thumb brushed over that spot, and he momentarily firmed his chokehold. The pulse in her neck throbbed faster against his palm as the combined effect began to send tremors of delight into her lower belly.
–Please, she sent.
–Please what, Sonea? Akkarin's velvety voice filled her mind, and she couldn't help feeling some satisfaction at the overwhelming desire he let slip past his mental barriers. The exquisite torture of those controlled, slow movements, however, did not change at all.
Sonea had never shared her mind with another in such an intense moment, and the effect was incredible. She was glimpsing, simultaneously, how Akkarin was experiencing his own body's arousal, and how he was feeling her body respond.
He let go of her neck and began lazily kissing and nuzzling the top of her breasts. Sonea's breathing grew ragged as she flexed and relaxed herself around Akkarin's hand, trying to keep his fingers inside for longer. Akkarin's half-smile returned. Sonea was beginning to notice that despite his demand for submission, he looked pleased every time she let her need show.
A loose strand of his long black hair brushed across her face like a caress. Please don't make me wait any longer, she thought desperately. I've been waiting since that night.
Akkarin's breathing sped up at her plea, his desperation now growing to match hers. He withdrew his fingers, and Sonea gasped as his ring brushed against a spot inside her on the way out. Akkarin parted his own robes and freed his member from his silk trousers, guiding himself between Sonea's legs. Then he slowly, carefully, entered her. Closing her eyes in satisfaction, Sonea felt, for the second time, the sensation of being stretched by his comfortable size. But this time, she was naturally ready for him, and she hoped against hope that, this time, he would not stop.
Akkarin's hands found her wrists, and pressed them down onto the desk on either side of her face. He leaned his weight on his hands, pinning Sonea's arms so she couldn't move. "Open your eyes," he demanded, his predatory gaze meeting hers. Small beads of sweat had formed on his forehead. She breathed in his musky, masculine scent, and a hint of the Anuren Dark. Akkarin withdrew then thrust back inside her warm, pulsating body.
Her mind, linked to Akkarin's, was a cacophony of sensation. She didn't know whose pleasure she was feeling, his or her own. All she could do was keep him close in a vice-like grip with her inner thighs as he rocked into her again and again. Akkarin's heavy breathing, the pleasurable ache somewhere inside her as his strokes got harder, and how he was leaning his weight on her wrists all combined into an unbearable tension sizzling up and down her body.
–You. Are. Mine, Akkarin sent again mentally, entering her to the hilt with each word. Hearing the imposing voice echo in her mind was the final straw.
Yes, yes, Sonea thought incoherently, as her lower body trembled uncontrollably, her back arching painfully high of its own accord.
Her release rumbled within her like rolling waves, growing more intense as her wrists strained against his grip. Akkarin thurst into her body one last time as she tensed, then exhaled sharply, finding his own release. His black eyes locked on Sonea's flushed face.
For a moment they remained still, chests heaving, both trying to catch their breath. Then Akkarin slowly let go of Sonea's wrists, which were pink where he had gripped them. She shakily lowered her legs from his waist and raised herself onto her forearms, her heart pounding in her ears. Akkarin smiled and bent down to kiss her softly, a hand going to her lower back to help Sonea sit up on the desk.
They were almost eye-level that way. Sonea wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled his throat, breathing in his scent as their inhales and exhales steadied. Akkarin gently pulled back so that that could share a softer, slower, sated kiss.
As he stepped away and re-tied the sash of his robes, Sonea suddenly felt a little exposed. She pushed herself off the desk and pulled her dress back down. But then Akkarin held out a hand, his eyes glinting with gratification. Sonea smiled shyly and walked forward into his embrace. She rested her cheek on his chest and he lowered his chin onto the top of her head.
I can't believe it. I don't know how I've found myself here, but I'd rather be nowhere else, Sonea thought. A mere hour ago, what had just occurred had been a fantasy she hadn't even fully dared entertain. An hour ago, she hadn't even known her feelings were reciprocated.
A pleasant exhaustion swept over her. Akkarin seemed to sense it mentally and stepped out of the embrace with a half-smile and a pointed glance at the door. Hands linked, they headed out into the dark, silent corridor. Akkarin directed his small globelight ahead of them.
As they reached her bedroom door, Sonea reluctantly unlinked her fingers from Akkarin's – but he firmly caught them in his own once more. Sonea looked up into his eyes with a puzzled smile. The dim light could be misleading, but she thought she caught an inscrutable emotion in the set of his eyebrows.
Wordlessly, he led the way down to the next door, his hand bringing Sonea along. His bedroom. Sonea looked up with apprehensive eyes, but Akkarin's half-smile was all the encouragement she needed to step through the door.
Moments later, as she lay in his bed, warm under the covers, she gazed at his resting face next to hers. Sonea could not even begin to process the emotions she was feeling, but as her heavy eyelids began to close, a powerful sense of contentment and safety overwhelmed her. Wondering when she had last felt that way was her final waking thought.
