Chapter 601: A Covenant in Frost and Flame
Chapter 601: A Covenant in Frost and Flame
Her hands slid up my chest to my shoulders. My hands found her waist. The silk was thin enough that I could feel the heat of her skin through the fabric. She pressed herself against me with a desperation that had nothing to do with performance and everything to do with genuine need.
The Nectar of Devotion worked its magic. Her gasp vibrated against my lips. Her body arched into mine. Her fingers dug into my shoulders hard enough to leave marks.
"That feeling," she breathed against my mouth. "That’s the amplification?"
"Yes."
"It’s incredible."
"So I’ve been told."
She laughed and kissed me harder. Her tongue slid past my lips. Her hips pressed forward. I could feel every curve of her body through the crimson silk. The softness of her breasts against my chest. The warmth of her thighs brushing mine.
The pendant was so cold it burned.
The pendant pulsed against my chest like a second heartbeat. Cold and accusing. A constant reminder that somewhere in New Vein, curled up in her bed with that crystalline teardrop pressed against her skin, Natalia was watching. Feeling everything I felt. Every spike of arousal. Every flutter of anticipation. Every treacherous thought that crossed my mind as another woman’s body pressed against mine.
She knew exactly what was happening three hundred miles away in a private room overlooking the city.
I should stop.
I knew I should stop. The rational part of my brain—the cold, calculating predator that had gotten me this far—was screaming at me to pump the brakes. To remember the promises I’d made. The bonds I’d forged. The woman who had given me everything and asked only for my loyalty in return.
But Reyna pulled back just enough to look at me, and every rational thought dissolved like morning frost.
Her eyes had gone dark with want. Pupils blown wide. That careful mask of "La Sirena" stripped away completely, leaving nothing but raw, desperate hunger in its place. Her lips were swollen from kissing, flushed a deeper red than any lipstick could achieve. Her breathing came in shallow gasps that made her chest rise and fall in a rhythm that demanded attention.
The straps of her crimson dress had slipped down her shoulders. Not far—just an inch or two—but enough to reveal the delicate architecture of her collarbones. The smooth expanse of caramel skin that seemed to glow in the dim light. The promise of what lay beneath.
"Come back to my room."
"Reyna—"
"I’m not asking for forever. I’m not asking for promises. I’m asking for tonight." Her hands found my face. Cupped my jaw with surprising gentleness. "You’ve spent your whole life hiding what you really are. So have I. Tonight we don’t have to hide from each other."
Every rational thought in my head was screaming warnings. Natalia. The pendant. The mounting complications. The fact that I already had five women who would be absolutely justified in murdering me if I added a sixth to the list of people I’d slept with.
But Reyna was looking at me with eyes that had never looked at anyone else this way.
And I was weak.
Magnificently, spectacularly, catastrophically weak.
"Okay."
Her smile was worth whatever was coming.
We left through the restaurant’s back entrance. Took a service elevator that required a security code Reyna entered without hesitation. The Olympus Rising compound was three blocks away. Close enough to walk. Far enough that the cold night air did nothing to cool the heat building between us.
She held my hand the entire way.
The compound’s lobby was empty at this hour. Security cameras everywhere but Reyna moved through blind spots with the expertise of someone who’d mapped every angle. We took a private elevator to a floor that wasn’t listed on the public directory.
Her suite was larger than mine. More personal. Training equipment in one corner. Books stacked haphazardly on shelves. Posters from pre-Rupture anime on the walls. The kind of space that looked like someone actually lived there.
"Lock the door," she said.
I locked the door.
She walked to the center of the room and turned to face me. Her fingers found the zipper at her back. Pulled it down with agonizing slowness. The crimson silk slid from her shoulders. Pooled at her feet.
Underneath she wore nothing but black lace that left very little to imagination.
Her body was everything the dress had promised. Athletic but soft in all the right places. Breasts that filled the lace bra to overflowing. A waist that curved into hips designed to drive men insane. Legs that went on forever and ended in feet that had already stepped out of the discarded dress.
"Your turn."
My shirt was on the floor before she finished speaking.
She walked toward me. Each step deliberate. Each sway of her hips intentional. She stopped close enough that I could feel her breath on my chest. Her hands traced the muscles the System had been building since manifestation. Followed the lines of my abs. Stopped at the waistband of my pants.
"You’ve been hiding more than abilities."
"Clothes are a good disguise."
"They really are." Her fingers worked my belt. Unbuttoned my pants. Pushed them down my hips. "Much better than expected."
"Should I be offended?"
"You should be flattered." She pressed herself against me. Skin to skin. Her breasts soft against my chest. Her hips cradled against mine. "I’ve seen a lot of bodies. Yours is impressive."
I pulled her closer. Let my hands explore the terrain of her back. The curve of her spine. The swell of her ass beneath the black lace. She arched into my touch with a sound that went straight to places below my waist.
"The bed," she breathed.
We moved together. Fell onto sheets that smelled like her perfume. She landed on top of me. Straddled my hips. Ground down against the evidence of exactly how much I wanted her.
"The pendant," I managed. "Natalia can feel—"
"Good." Reyna’s smile was pure mischief. "Let her watch."
She reached behind her back. Unclasped her bra. Let it fall away.
Her breasts were perfect. Full and heavy with nipples already hard from anticipation. They swayed as she leaned down to kiss me again. Pressed against my chest with a softness that made thinking impossible.
The pendant burned so cold it felt like frostbite.
Natalia was absolutely going to murder me.
But Reyna was moving above me. Making sounds that echoed off the walls. Reaching for my boxers with fingers that trembled with need.
"I want you inside me."
"Reyna—"
"Now."
Her hand found me. Wrapped around me. Stroked with an expertise that scattered every thought in my head.
"Now," she repeated.
She shifted her hips. Pulled her panties aside. Positioned herself above me.
Our eyes met.
Green against whatever color mine were in the candlelight from the decorative flames she’d lit without me noticing.
"Last chance to stop," she whispered.
"I don’t want to stop."
"Good."