His fingers trailed down my front, my waist, until they hitched up my robes and drew down my undergarments. I drewhim closer with a leg around his waist.
He pressed into me, just as I wanted. I gasped, my hips seeking more of the delicious friction, and then his fingers were on my thigh. His shadows kept me supported so I could wind both my legs around his waist, letting my knees fall open for his questing fingers.
He slid his fingers higher, even as his shadows brushed against my breasts, teasing my nipples and making me moan against him as he drew closer and closer to where we both ached to feel him—
The wind lifted, and the moon came out from behind the clouds. Dario cursed as bits of him went incorporeal, his fingers fading away from my thighs, even as his mouth stayed latched onto my collarbone.
I let out a groan of frustration, and Dario laughed. “Don’t worry, priestess,” he said lightly. “It only means that we have to get…creative.”
I looked up at him. His figure was dappled in the moonlight so that only his face was visible to me, while his right arm, hips, and legs had gone insubstantial.
He leaned closer to me, his hot breath in my ear as he loosened the shadows at my wrists. He brought my hand down, his shadows intertwining with my fingers, guiding my hand lower and lower until my fingers and his shadows sank into my wet heat.
He groaned at the first touch, as did I.
“Do you—do you feel that through your shadows?” I panted.
His answer thrilled me. “Yes,” he hissed, nipping at the flesh of my neck.
More shadows burst from his left side to pull my robes apart, and his hungry mouth latched onto a nipple, while a tendril of shadow teased the other, making me buck and cry out, pressing my fingers—and his shadows—deeper inside me.
He shuddered against me, and a smirk curved my lips. It felt good to know that he was as affected by our embrace as I was.
His shadows began to gently guide my fingers, dipping in and out of my body, while he used his left hand to tease the little nub at my entrance that had me gasping and trying to force my hand deeper inside me as I jerked my hips on my fingers, trying desperately to increase the friction.
“And now I’m jealous of your fingers,” he murmured with a laugh. He pulled my hand out and lifted it to his mouth, smirking as I groaned when he licked my fingers clean, his hot tongue caressing my hand. His left hand crept down to my entrance, teasing me as he swirled his fingertips in little circles, winding me higher and higher with each stroke.
“I wonder, can you take all of me?” he mused, just before he slid two fingers inside me, even as his shadows teased me further apart to slip inside as well, hard and firm. When one pulled out, the other thrust in, setting up a rhythm that kept me gasping and off-kilter, before surprising me when both shadow and hand thrust inside at once, stuffing me full and making me let out a gasping moan.
My hands clenched on air and my head fell back against the tree. I saw stars, both from the bruise and the depth of his fingers stroking inside me.
I panted, getting wound tighter and tighter, my breath sparking in my lungs as his shadows surrounded me—flicking my nipples, pinching my breasts, thrusting into my body in time with his thick fingers as he made pleasure spark in my veins, glowing brighter and brighter—
I came with a cry, feeling like someone had let off fireworks under my skin. Dario mashed his mouth to mine messily, drinking in my moans of pleasure and my gasps of release.
When we finally drew apart, breathless and unsteady, he looked down at me, his gaze soft and tender, filled with a quiet,unbreakable promise.
“No matter what, I’m on your side, Elena,” he said softly. “I swear it.”
I believed him.
And for the first time, I felt a glimmer of hope amidst the shadows.
Chapter 18: Dario
We walked toward the city of Solaris, our steps muffled by our magic.
The time had come to confront the Elders.
The city was quiet in the dead of night, the only sound the faint rustle of wind through the banners that lined the stone buildings, emblazoned with the golden sun sigils of her god. I had left a reluctant Meryn behind in my forest, unwilling to risk her safety again.
Elena walked a step ahead of me, her movements sure and graceful, her presence a soft, pulsing light against the darkened cityscape.
After our interlude in the forest, there was a strange new peace between us, a silence of shared sighs and remembered intimacies.
Every so often, Elena walked ahead of me, and I found myself staring at the curve of her cheek as she turned her head, the swing of her hip, arrested by the way her golden hair shone with its own brilliance.
We stopped near the city’s edge, and Elena motioned for me to stop, her voice barely a whisper as she spoke.
