A wooden sign with a duck painted in yellow swung in the gentle night breeze. The rest of the street was empty, so no one noticed us as we continued moving towards it.
We had retrieved our packs from the smuggler’s tunnel before heading to the house that John had told us about. Tiredness rolled over me. Due to the detour to Paige’s place, we were now far into the night. And I had also walked a good portion of the Valdan Road this morning because of Callan’s stunt with the horse.
While running a discreet hand over my neck, I glanced over at him. My throat didn’t even hurt. I hated to admit it but the bastard was actually really skilled at choking people. But it pissed me off that he had decided to demonstrate it on me.
I knew that I could have gotten away with it. He hadn’t realized that I had sent him there on purpose until I had practically donned the victory like a gleaming mask. But I had wanted him to know that it was me. Narrowing my eyes, I dragged my gaze from him and back to the door we stopped at. And I would get him back for the choking.
Callan lifted his fist and pounded on the door.
For a few moments, nothing happened. Then a light bloomed in the upstairs window. I tracked it through the windows as it moved down towards the front door. Keys rattled. I shifted my palms closer as the door was pushed open.
A man with brown eyes full of suspicion poked his head out. “Yes?”
“We need a place to stay tonight,” Callan said.
“Sorry, we’re full.”
“John sent us.”
He paused. Shifting his gaze between the two of us, he sucked his teeth while considering in silence. I raised my eyebrows expectantly.
“We are full,” he said at last. “Well, almost. We’ve got one room left.”
“We’ll take it.”
“Come on in then.”
Callan slipped the innkeeper some cash while he passed him and walked towards the stairs at the end of the hall. I followed as well. Behind me, the door clicked as the brown-eyed man locked it behind us again.
“Top of the stairs,” he said. “Last room on the left.”
Giving him a nod over my shoulder, I followed Callan up the stairs. The hallway was dark when we reached the landing, but there was just enough light from the candle downstairs to help us navigate it. I adjusted the straps on my pack as I walked down the corridor. There was a key already waiting in the door when we reached it, so Callan just turned it and then pushed the door open.
Another dark room met us.
While I closed the door and locked it behind us, Callan lit the oil lamp that was waiting on the side table. Light bloomed inside the room. Turning back from the door, I swept my gaze over the sparsely furnished space.
All it contained were the side table with the oil lamp and an empty trunk.
And one bed.
It was a double bed. But still, it was one bed. And I sure as hell wouldn’t be sharing it with that bastard.
“You can take the floor,” I announced as I strode forward. “I’ll be taking the bed.”
Callan snorted. “Oh I don’t think so.”
“I am not sharing a bed with you.”
“Then you take the floor.”
Stopping next to the bed, I turned back to face him. He was standing two strides away, his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised in challenge. Light from the oil lamp danced over his annoyingly attractive features.
I raised my chin and flashed him a cold smile, answering his challenge. “Make me.”
“Oh I could.”
Glittering green magic materialized between my hands as I slammed my palms together.
A ball of force magic took me in the chest. I flew the final two steps to the wall and crashed into it with a loud bang. Landing on my knees, I touched my hands together again and shot a cloud of poison at Callan. He had been advancing across the floor, but the green mist hit him in the face before he could block it. While gasping in a strangled breath, he leveled a force blade at me. I increased the strength of the poison.
Callan went down on one knee, his arm shaking slightly as he pressed the force blade against my neck while he continued choking on my poison. The pressure against my throat grew until I was certain he would draw blood soon. I added even more lethal poison to the cloud.
His other knee hit the floorboards with a thud, but the blade stayed at my throat.
Someone banged their fist against the wall on my right. “Quiet down!”
We stared at each other for another second. Then I let the green mist dissipate at the same time as Callan made his force blade disappear. He sucked in a deep breath while I reached up and rubbed my tender neck.
“Unless you want to wake the whole inn as we battle it out,” he began and then raised his eyebrows as he paused, waiting for me to argue. When I didn’t say anything, he finished, “We share the bed.”
“Fine,” I ground out.
Stalking back to the bed, I sat down and began unlacing my boots. My feet throbbed after being trapped inside these shoes for almost a full twenty-four hours that had involved walking a good portion of the Valdan Road. I rolled my ankles while Callan moved towards the other side of the bed. The mattress shifted underneath me as he sat down.
I stood up and walked over to the oil lamp. While he was still unlacing his boots, I extinguished it and then walked back to the bed with only faint moonlight from the window to guide me. Callan growled a curse at me.
With a satisfied smirk on my face, I climbed into bed. Lying on my back, I stared up at the ceiling while Callan finished with his boots. A distressed creak came from the bed as he lay down and repositioned his muscled body across it, making the mattress dip towards the middle. Annoyance rippled through me as I realized that he took up more than half of it.
Pushing it out, I closed my eyes and tried to get comfortable enough to sleep. My body was exhausted, but my mind was still spinning at full speed. How was I supposed to make it all the way to the ball, that was still something like ten days away, when all I wanted to do every second of every day was to cut Callan Blackwell’s heart from his chest?
Deep rhythmic breaths came from the force mage.
He’s already asleep?
I carefully sat up. The hard lines of Callan’s face were smooth and his chest rose and fell steadily.
Very gently, I touched my palms together. Green mist appeared in my palm. For a couple of minutes, I sat there, debating whether or not to kill the bastard right now and just get it over with. I could probably find a way to finish this mission on my own. Especially now that I knew about the smuggler’s tunnel.
Indecision flitted through me.
In the end, I just blew out a soft sigh and let my poison magic fade as I lay back down again.
“Good choice.”
I whipped my head towards Callan. He cracked open one eye and smirked at me. The damn bastard had been awake?
Turning my gaze back to the ceiling, I clenched my jaw in irritation. I wanted to do something to wipe that smirk off his face and completely throw him off his game. There had to be something that…
A sudden idea struck me. Oh, of course.
With a wicked grin on my lips, I reached down and unbuttoned my pants. The mattress shifted as I shimmied out of my dark pants and tossed them to the floor.
“What the hell are you doing?” Callan grumbled next to me.
Instead of answering him, I drew my hands down my stomach and then towards my underwear. Moving the fabric to the side, I trailed my fingers over my clit. A small moan fell from my lips.
“I said, what the hell are you doing?” Callan repeated, but this time there was a dark edge to his voice.
I continued to ignore him. Closing my eyes, I rubbed my clit with practiced moves for a little while longer before pushing a finger inside me. Another moan rolled out of my throat. I added another finger.
While continuing to apply friction to my clit, I started pumping my fingers in and out.
“Audrey,” Callan growled, a warning note in his voice.
My eyes were still closed, but it didn’t matter because I already knew what his face would look like if I opened them. With a slight smirk tugging at my lips, I continued pleasuring myself.
The mattress dipped next to me. I ignored it. My chest heaved as I kept pumping my fingers and moving my thumb in circles. Tension built inside me. I let out a muffled groan. This was as far as I always got, but I could probably keep up the nice feeling a little while longer. If this didn’t throw Callan off his game, I didn’t know what would.
Strong fingers wrapped around my wrist and yanked my hand away. I jerked up in shock, but Callan rolled over, straddling me and pinning my other hand underneath his knee while still keeping his grip on the other. His eyes were dark with desire as he leaned down over me.
“If you’re going to do it,” he began, his voice rough, “at least do it properly.”
Releasing my wrist, he scooted backwards and grabbed my thighs. Surprise still rang inside my head, so I just watched as he spread my legs wide and shifted his position so that he knelt between them. I propped myself up on my elbows and frowned at him, but he just leaned forward and planted a hand on my chest. After shoving me back down against the mattress, he reached down and moved aside the thin fabric of my underwear.
A thrill coursed through me as his fingers brushed my sensitive skin.
At this point, I had to admit that I was curious. What could he possibly accomplish with his hands that I couldn’t with my own? After all, it was my body. I knew it better than anyone. And besides, it wasn’t as if it was the first time a man had tried to replicate the act. None of them ever knew what they were doing.
He drew his fingers down over my clit. I shifted my hips at the friction, but again, there was nothing special about it. Callan removed his hand.
While still lying back against the mattress, I raised my head to look at him. There was a wicked grin on his lips. He touched his palms together. I was just about to question what the hell he thought he was doing, when he moved his right hand back to my center.
A gasp tore from my throat.
Force magic was wrapped around his fingers and he made it vibrate as he pressed his fingers to my clit.
I sucked in a breath. Gripping the sheets hard, I arched my back and tried to shift my hips away. Callan’s other hand shot out. Taking my hip in a firm grip, he held me steady against the mattress while his force magic continued vibrating.
I let out a groan from deep within my chest as a wave built inside me. Callan shifted his fingers slightly and I threw my head back, gasping out a desperate moan as the pulsing vibrations hit just the right spot.
Tension kept building inside me to a height I hadn’t even thought was possible. I squirmed against Callan’s grip on my hip as my mind threatened to fracture from the building desire. His fingers dug into my skin as he forced my body back against the mattress.
My chest heaved. I clenched and unclenched my hands, gripping the sheets hard, as I was pushed to an impossible edge. The vibrations pulsed against my clit until I thought I would lose my mind. That edge moved closer. A pitiful moan tore from my throat. Callan increased the strength of the vibrations.
I sucked in a shuddering breath as pleasure suddenly exploded inside me. It coursed through my body, making my legs shake and my vision flash white. Pleading groans spilled from my lips as my inner walls trembled. Callan kept the vibrations going, prolonging the wave while I moaned incoherently.
When the last of the tremors had passed, my whole body just slumped down against the mattress while heat radiated from my flushed cheeks. My heart pounded in my chest. I felt lightheaded. Staring up at the ceiling, I tried to piece my scattered brain back together.
What the hell had just happened? That explosion… that tidal wave of pleasure… I had never felt anything like that before in my entire life. It was intoxicating. The final tremors had only just passed, but I already wanted to feel it again.
Callan shifted my underwear back into place before returning to his side of the bed. The wooden frame creaked as he lay back down next to me. Tilting my head, I watched the side of his face.
A smug smile curled his lips.
“I was right.” He let out a dark chuckle. “You’d really never had an orgasm before.”
If this was what an orgasm felt like, then he was right.
I watched the satisfaction evident on his face.
And now, Callan bloody Blackwell was the first person to ever make me feel something that I desperately wanted to experience again.
Turning my head back, I stared up into the ceiling.
Fuck.
