DREAM UPON WAKING

"Take your hand away." Riordan's voice brooked no rebelliousness. "I would see your face."

  She looked at him.

  "You were not too self-conscious to meet my eyes before. Why is that?"

  "I wasn't thinking about my eyes before, my lord."

  He passed a finger along the edge of her hairline, then down her cheek. "I liked it better when you spoke my name."

  Her cheeks flamed even as her heart leapt. "I shouldn't have taken the liberty."

  "You came to my private rooms, naked beneath your cloak, and demanded I make love to you in accordance with an ancient law no one bothers to uphold any longer. You took my cock in your mouth and came with my name on your lips. I think you earned the right to address me by it now."

  She had never felt so naked as she did then, with him still fully clothed beside her. Though her nipples still peaked with arousal, the rest of Noa's body felt warm and languid. Her vagina felt stretched and slightly sore.

  She sat and tried to gather the folds of her cloak back around her.

  "Don't do that. I want to look at you some more."

  She let the garment fall back to the bed beneath her, but gave in to her sudden desire for modesty by pulling her knees to her chest and clasping her hands around her shins.

  "Perhaps I should leave," she said in a soft voice.

  Riordan tilted his head to look at her. "Do you wish to leave with the task unfinished?"

  "No." The boldness of her answer surprised her, but once the word shot from her mouth Noa didn't regret it. "I want to stay with you."

  Forever, she thought, but didn't say. Some faint echo of her thoughts must have reverberated between them, however, because his mouth thinned and his dark eyes sparked. Riordan left the bed and paced in front of the fire for a moment before turning to face her.

  "I give you one more chance to go," he told her. "And you will owe me nothing."

  "No." She shook her head until the pale strands covered her shoulders.

  "Stay and be bound to me forever, is that what you want? For me to hold a piece of your soul until you die?"

  More than anything.

  "You make no protest. I might think you do."

  Noa could only stare at him. The fire outlined his silhouette in gold. With every movement, his cassock swirled around his bare feet. The pulse of his magic crackled along the garment's lines and added bursts of color to the dark cloth.

  His voice was cold when he spoke next. "And if I refuse you? If I send you away? What will you do then?"

  Noa lifted her chin, her heart turning cold. "Would you have me leave? Did I not please you?"

  He turned from her to face the fire, and though his words were pitched low, she had no trouble hearing them. "You please me too much."

  "Then why won't you look at me?"

  "I thought you were a quiet, little mouse." Riordan turned back and pierced her with his eyes. "Seems I was mistaken."

  Noa, emboldened by his admission, smiled. "We are not in the classroom, my… Riordan."

  Ah, she liked the way that sounded. My Riordan, as though he belonged to her. A giggle burbled in her chest and she bit it back. It would not do to laugh right now.

  "Nay, but you have chosen me as your teacher, have you not?"

  "And I am your willing student."

  Noa let her arms fall away from her knees and found the bulk of the pillow behind her back. She allowed it to support her as she let her legs fall open just slightly.

  She watched his face, reveling in the opportunity to do so. So often she'd been too shy to look at him when she thought he might be able to see her watch him. She knew intimately the curve of his ears, the line of his jaw, the strands of his hair and shape of his body…but she'd never been able to indulge herself in complete and utter contemplation of his face.

  His skin was pale in sharp contrast to the ebony of his hair, eyes and brows. His nose was thin, but his mouth full and red. His teeth, when they flashed in a rare smile, were perfectly shaped and white as pearls.

  He wasn't smiling now. His mouth thinned as his eyes raked over her. He focused on the space exposed between her legs. She felt the weight of his gaze there, and she shifted again to flaunt herself.

  He put a hand to his throat. His fingers worked the buttons. His cassock opened like a crimson-lined mouth. He slid it from his shoulders and tossed it to the floor.

  Noa's breath caught in her throat at the sight of him. He was magnificent from his broad shoulders and finely muscled arms down past his trim waist and long, lean legs. The hair tufting under his arms and between his legs was as purely dark as that on his head, while the line of hair on his belly and covering his legs was of a slightly lighter shade.

  His penis stood only half-erect, but under her perusal it rose to nearly meet his belly. Noa took in the sight hungrily as his balls tightened and relaxed. His erection pulsed a little as it lengthened, and she felt an answering throb in the place he'd earlier stretched her.

  "You've always been one of my brightest students."

  "I never believed you noticed me before." Noa leaned back further on the pillows. She touched her breasts lightly then ran her hands down to the slight curve of her belly. She ventured no further. The touch of her hand would be a sad substitute for Riordan's.

  He crawled up the bed toward her. He kissed the inside of her calf, paused to press his lips on her inner thigh, passed over the juncture of her womanhood and slid his tongue across her belly. He moved his mouth first to one breast, then the other, suckling briefly at each nipple while she writhed beneath him.

  "That is so sweet," she murmured as warmth burst inside her.

  Then his face was before hers, and his weight rested along the length of her. Noa froze, shy again. Riordan's gaze didn't waver as his nose brushed hers lightly.

  Then, at last, he kissed her. His mouth was warm and full as he slanted it along hers. She'd never been kissed before, preferring not even to participate in that level of sanctioned experimentation among the other students at Somnus Keep. She'd been saving herself for him.

  She sighed and her lips parted. Riordan slid his tongue inside her mouth. He stroked her with its velvety softness, slowly in, then out, in a rhythm she ached for him to repeat with other parts.

  "Let me hear you say my name," he whispered.

  "Riordan."

  "Noa," he whispered back against her lips.

  His mouth left hers and she gave a whimper of protest that quickly turned to a gasp of pleasure when he found the sensitive spot beneath her ear. He gathered a handful of hair and pulled it up to further expose her neck to his questing mouth. Riordan nipped at her. "Stay still."

  She could not obey. Every touch had her squirming against him. His hardness pressed her belly, hot like a brand.

  Riordan slid his mouth along her shoulder and again to her breasts. This time he paid them more attention. He took one firm globe in his hand and sucked the nipple until it stood up in his mouth. He painted moistness on her breast with his tongue then blew on the heated flesh left behind. The combination of heat and chill made her wriggle all the more.

  Riordan bent to Noa's other breast and lavished the same attention on it as he had the first. His hands still caught in her waist-length hair, and he held her so tightly in place she could no longer arch beneath him.

  "Stay still, I said." His command was firm but not cruel.

  "If it pleases you," Noa managed to say. Her voice sounded husky and low, not like her normal voice at all.

  She wondered if he might move lower again and the thought of it made her feel faint. He came to her mouth again and captured it. His chest crushed hers, and for a moment, she felt truly light-headed, until he released her hair and rested his weight on his palms, one on either side of her.

  His scent filled Noa's nostrils, her lungs. She breathed his breath and felt him become part of her, and she exalted in it.

  "Are you ready?" he asked.

  She nodded her assent, though, just as suddenly, ne
rvousness assailed her.

  "Don't worry, Noa," Riordan said. " 'Twill hurt for but a moment."

  She couldn't imagine a pain worse than she expected to feel when she had to leave him when this night ended. "I am ready, Riordan."

  Her slickness aided his entrance. He did not have a gentle nature; she'd known that and loved him despite that. So it didn't shock her when he took no time to ease his way inside her, but instead plunged in directly to the root of his cock.

  Noa bit her lip to prevent the cry that rose in her throat. Riordan hushed her with kisses, soft and tender, and he didn't move. In a moment the pain faded and was replaced with a pleasant sense of fullness.

  "It is done," Riordan said. "The barrier to the high magic is broken for you."

  Noa searched inside herself for a sign they were joined. She felt no different in his presence than she ever had. If being joined meant she sensed him with every breath, then she'd joined with him long ago.

  He moved. Pleasure ebbed and flowed along her breasts, between her legs. Noa slipped her arms around his back and held him closer. His skin was smooth and warm beneath her fingers.

  Riordan gave a small twist of his hips that ground his pubis into hers with a delicious burst of pleasure. His penis slid in and out of her slickness. Noa curved her heels over the back of his calves while her hands found the lightly furred mounds of his buttocks.

  Faster, she urged him with her mouth, hands and hips. Her body forced her to action—her mind would have had the moment last without cease so she could remain in Riordan's arms.

  He buried his face in the crook of her neck and ceased his thrusting. With a slow, steady movement he slipped his arms beneath Noa's back and rolled her over. So smooth and skilled was the motion she ended atop him, still impaled on his length.

  The new position rocked her forward. Her sensitized clitoris brushed against the flat plane of his belly as she leaned forward at his urging. Their mouths met again. The curtain of her hair fell around them, shielding them. Hiding them from everything else.

  If only we could stay hidden away forever, Noa thought.

  The light from the fire shone through the veil of her hair and cast it in shades of orange and red. Shadows fell on the angles of Riordan's face, highlighting the spots she bent to kiss.

  They rocked together. His hands found her hips and clasped her, but Riordan no longer guided Noa's pace. An urge inside her set the rise and fall, the twist of her pubis against his, the brush of her breasts against his chest.

  She splintered and broke inside again, this time with a cry so loud it seemed to make the very walls ring. Noa threw back her head, helpless to stop riding him. Not wanting to stop.

  Her climax burst through her. She gripped his sides, and his hiss of pain only made her squeeze harder.

  Riordan met her thrust for thrust. A line of sweat had broken out on his brow. His hands bruised the flesh at her hips, but Noa didn't wince, didn't care. She felt nothing but the splendor of his cock thrusting inside her, and her own bursting orgasm.

  After a moment, she realized he was muttering softly to himself.

  "Thebasile trah nagem," he whispered. "Ganme raht."

  "A containment spell?" She questioned. She ran her fingertips along the line of his jaw, then down to tangle briefly in the silk of his hair. "Riordan, are you all right?"

  "My sweet, some of the stories you've heard about me are true." He pulsed inside her, briefly, and began to awake her again. "I've not made love in nigh on six harvests. If I would serve you properly, I must…contain myself."

  Noa arched a little and felt him throb again inside her. She twisted her hips, amazed she should feel the beginnings of arousal again so shortly after being so completely fulfilled. She put her hands on his chest and caressed his nipples.

  "Riordan, don't hurt yourself on my account."

  He laughed, and she laughed with him. Her love for him burst through her in that moment, so bright she thought for certain it must shine out of her every pore, impossible not to see. She loved him so much, now more than ever that they could laugh together during such intimacy.

  "Ah, love, the pleasure will be that much more intense because of the little bit of pain I must endure to reach it."

  He'd called her love. A casual endearment…or more? Noa put the thought from her mind. She had one night with him. Let tomorrow come and bring with it what it might—tonight she would not ponder overmuch.

  She waved a hand over his face and released a tendril of her magic to caress him. Already she felt the change within her. Spells for which she'd had to work hard now rose to her fingertips with the briefest of thoughts. She lifted her palm and formed an orb of power within it, pulsing the same golden pink as her aura had been earlier.

  Riordan raised his own palm revealing his own orb, larger than hers and of a dark, steely gray edged with crimson. With his eyes on hers, Riordan took Noa's hand and pressed them together. Their orbs co-mingled and became one. Their fingers linked. The single orb broke beneath the pressure of their palms and its energy crackled along their arms.

  Riordan did not let go of her hand and kept his fingers locked with hers. With his other hand, he lifted hers to his mouth and kissed the palm, then pressed her hand down to the skin over his heart. It thumped beneath her fingers, the throb of its rhythm echoed with that of his penis still inside her.

  "I have waited a very long time," Riordan whispered.

  "Surely you could have had your pick—" she began, but the shake of his head stopped her.

  Riordan's voice was serious. "No, Noa. I have been waiting for you."

  He thrust inside her as he spoke, and Noa moaned. "Riordan?"

  "The first time I saw you, you stood in a patch of sunlight shining through the window of the library on what was otherwise a gray and dreary winter day. The sun lit up your hair like spun gold and shone in your amazing eyes. You were still a maid at ten and six, though most of your classmates had already chosen their ahavataram. You moved out of the sunlight and back to your books, and I felt my heart crack a little at the loss of such a lovely sight."

  He thrust again, smoothly, and the hand that had moved hers to his chest now crept between them. His thumb pressed a counterpoint to the movement of his hips. As he slid deeper inside her, he slid against her swollen bud, and when he pulled out, he pressed again, so the pressure on her clitoris was constant.

  "The second time I saw you, you passed me in the hallway as I was on my way to teach a class. You were laughing, your teeth like shining pearls against the blushing rose of your lips, and I envied the boy who had made you smile. Me! Riordan de Cimmerian, master of the high magic, Instructor Primus of Magical Theory and Practice, jealous of a pimply faced schoolboy?"

  His hand squeezed hers. His heart thumped in his chest. His cock stretched her, his thumb stroked her, his gaze held her.

  "It." Another thrust. "Was." A roll of his hips. "Intolerable." A final tweak of her clitoris had her gasping his name.

  "When it came time to have you as a student in my classroom, I had to force myself to ignore you, Noa."

  Riordan's breath had become as ragged as her own. His pace quickened. Noa rocked with him, her climax building more slowly this time but no less exquisitely.

  "I feared you would take one look into my eyes and see the truth I could not bear to lay before you. You were right when you said I was afraid of intimacy. Afraid to bare my soul to someone who could see my sins and the cruelties I've committed from arrogance and ignorance, and judge me for them. It never mattered before, you see."

  "I knew none of this," Noa whispered.

  Their linked fingers glowed with the force of their mingling magic.

  "When you came to me tonight," Riordan said, "I wanted to send you away, not because I held you in contempt, but because I have loved you from afar for so long, Noa, I was afraid I would lose that. I would lose you. You would take what you needed from me, and leave. Not even the tithe would be enough to keep you close to m
e."

  "You won't lose me, Riordan." Noa threw back her head as the first wave of another orgasm rippled through her. 'Twas calmer, this time, gentle. Small, perfect spasms of bliss. "I know who you are. I've watched you, too, and heard the tales. I believe what I see for myself, and not what others tell me."

  "Tell me again why you chose me," he asked.

  Noa bent her head to meet his gaze. "Because I love you."

  At her words, his hips jerked. A stifled cry burst from his lips. His cock throbbed inside her.

  "I love you," she repeated. "I've loved you for so long, Riordan, I can't tell you when it started. I only know it will not end."

  His back arched. "Noa!"

  His cock erupted inside her, and she along with it. They surged together, and the bright, shining light of their magic surrounded them in its glow. Bands of color—gold and gray, pink and red—hummed around them.

  The full force of the high magic burst through Noa along with her orgasm. The firelight sounded like music, the rustle of the sheets smelled like the ocean, and her name coming from Riordan's lips looked like the dawn.

  Their words of love joined in front of her, twisted and became shimmering motes that disappeared into the orb formed above their clasped hands. Noa felt them go, felt them enter her palm and knew Riordan felt the same. He cried her name again, hoarsely, and thrust one last time.

  Slowly, as though drifting through water, Noa slid down to rest her head on his chest. Riordan rolled over gently until they faced each other, side by side. She tucked her head beneath his chin. He put his arms around her and held her close. The pattern of their breathing meshed until the rise and fall of his chest matched hers.

  "I am honored you chose me," Riordan said quietly.

  "As if I could chose any other?" Noa ran her hand over his hip then rested it on his thigh.

  "I love you, Noa."

  She lifted her head to look at him. "And I love you, Riordan de Cimmerian, Instructor Primus of Magical Theory and Practice, most powerful magicreator in Somnus Keep."

  Riordan smiled. "It sounds most impressive coming from your mouth."

  She kissed his mouth. "Perhaps later you'll prove to me I should be so impressed."