Rivelin’s pace quickened, and his primal groan captured my breath and held it in my throat. I curled my fingers against the anvil, my nails scraping the steel, as that delicious pleasure built inside me once more. I wanted to hold on, I wanted to feel his cock inside me for hours more, but it felt too good. Every single thrust brought me closer to the brink of combustion.
“Let go, Daella,” Rivelin said as his fingers dug into my skin. “Come for me.”
He plunged his cock inside me once more, releasing his own grip on his pleasure. As his groans filled my ears, everything within me shattered. I came even harder than I had before, and wave after wave of intoxicating heat flowed through me. I couldn’t breathe or think or even feel anything other than Rivelin and the way he held on to me as I shuddered against him.
When the internal flames finally died, I slowly breathed and released my grip on the steel. Soot stained the anvil in the shape of my hands.
23
DAELLA
“G ood morning.” Rivelin’s voice cut through my dreamless sleep, and I awoke curled against his chest, my hip cushioned by a blanket that hadn’t been there when I’d fallen asleep on the workshop floor. Another blanket was draped across my body, soft against my bare skin.
Memories of the night before rushed through my mind, and my cheeks heated. I didn’t regret one moment of it, but…what did we do now? Did we discuss what had happened between us? Or did we ignore it and return to how things had been before? I’d fought battles against Draugr, and had dispatched monstrous trolls twice my size, but I was lost on how to navigate this.
Almost certainly, this had been one night of hazy lust and nothing more.
Rivelin seemed to note my silence, and he slowly extracted himself from our makeshift bed on the floor. He ran his fingers through his mussed hair, his jaw tightening. I opened my mouth to say something, but I didn’t know what. I’d never been in this situation before.
“Thank you for the nice time. I, ah, should get dressed.” As soon as I spoke them, I instantly regretted my words. They sounded so distant and hollow, so devoid of warmth. But what else was I to say?
“Of course.” He held the blanket around his waist while he gathered his clothes, avoiding my eyes. “Best get up, then. We have a few pieces to finish up before the Fildur Trial ends tonight.”
And that was that.
A wkward silence supplanted the blissful routine of the past few days. Rivelin and I moved carefully around each other, like a dance where neither party was allowed to touch. Any time I got close, he found something else to busy himself with, even if it was rustling some papers on his worktable. When it was clear we were mostly done with our preparation and he didn’t need my help anymore, I excused myself to take a bath before tonight’s event.
I hated how unstrung I felt, like I was a pool of tangled ribbons with no beginning or end. Truly, I needed to get it together. I still had a few weeks left here, and that was only if I couldn’t find a way to stay permanently. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my time in Wyndale on constant edge just because I didn’t know how to act around a man who’d seen me naked.
Easier said than done.
After a long soak in the saltwater tub, I felt a bit more like myself. I’d gone round and round the situation in my mind, and I’d decided I could just pretend we were friends who had gotten carried away. Good friends. Affectionate friends. But still, friends. And if I thought of him as nothing but a friend, I might not stammer and blush every time I looked at him.
Still, when I stepped into the living room after brushing out my hair and donning a violet silk dress with a slit to my mid-thigh, I was almost struck speechless by the sight of him. He wore a finely tailored tunic with looping silver threads forming an intricate elven pattern along the V-neck collar, which also had the added effect of exhibiting his chiseled physique. Wet strands of his hair curled around his tipped ears, and droplets of water clung to his skin. He must have taken a bath after I did, while I was getting dressed. The idea of him naked in the tub only moments after I had been…
His eyes heated as he stared at me. “You look beautiful.”
“I…” I looked down at the ground.
“I see. Are you ready to go? I want to get this spectacularly boring evening over with,” he said curtly, dousing any hope we might regain our footing here.
“Rivelin.”
“Daella.”
I blew out a breath. “Can we…start acting normal again?”
“Are we not acting normal?”
“You’re being a bit of a grump.”
That had been the wrong thing to say. His expression darkened almost instantly. “This is who I am. Is that a problem?”
I sighed. “Thank you for the compliment. You look nice, too.”
“You’re welcome. For the compliment and the sex, though it appears you’d like neither of those things from me.”
“Is that what this is? You regret last night?”
He raised his brow. “You tell me.”
“No.” I crossed the room to stand before him and almost instantly wanted to take it back. Not because I wanted to avoid him, or because I regretted anything at all. But because being near him made my nerves tangle in my belly. It was hard to think straight around him. “I’ve never done this before. Couldn’t you tell last night?”
The corners of his lips tipped up. “Are you telling me I’m the only man who has ever explored those exceptional curves?”
I let out a nervous laugh. “Don’t get cocky.”
“No, I couldn’t tell.” He tucked a wayward strand of hair behind my ear and brushed his lips across mine. “You were incredible.”
I fisted his tunic in my hands and tugged him closer, relishing in the feel of his skin against mine and the rising steam that never failed to burn between us. I could get lost in that kiss, could forget about the Midsummer Games and spend the rest of the night exploring every inch of his skin.
But not now. Tonight’s festivities were far too important to miss.
He groaned as he pulled back, a sound that sent a delicious thrill down my spine. “Keep this moment in mind. We’ll revisit it when we get home tonight.”
My heart pounded. “I hope that’s a promise.”
He tucked a finger beneath my chin. “Oh, it most certainly is.”
I n the hills just beyond the village, spectators had sprawled across the grass on checkered blankets, and several tables had been carried over from the square. The caravans and stalls had followed, including Lilia’s Traveling Tavern where the atmosphere had taken on a very boisterous nature. Booming laughter drifted on the light wind that rustled the flowing skirt around my legs. Beside me, Rivelin carried the majestic dragon sculpture he’d been toiling over for the past several days. I’d helped as best I could with the larger pieces of the structure—the tail and the head—but the delicate, artistic wings and teeth had needed a practiced hand.
Several oohs and ahhs followed us as we approached the stage, where the others were already waiting. Gregor was nowhere to be seen, of course, though that did little to calm the pit of nerves in my stomach. He would be angrier than ever now, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he retaliated. Tonight would be the perfect moment to make his move against us, smashing Rivelin’s dragon into broken bits.