Bastial Frenzy (The Rhythm of Rivalry: Book 4) (35 page)

Cleve laughed with everyone else while Alex smirked at her.

Rek stood next. “Thank you for the offer, Effie. It’s been far too long since I drank socially.”

“But?” Effie said with a smile.

“But I must head back to the castle tomorrow morning, and there’s a lot I need to discuss with Vithos and Reela.”

They came to their feet. Cleve stood with her, and she hugged him. Everyone started saying their goodbyes.

Reela kissed his cheek. When they parted, she lightly brushed her hand across the hair hanging down his forehead. “You could use a shower.”

“I was about to do that. Will you be speaking with Rek and Vithos late into the night?”

“Probably.”

Reela and her brothers stayed in the dining hall while everyone else walked back. Effie had her arm around Alex’s. “If we’re the only ones celebrating, let’s do it at your house so we don’t keep Cleve and Steffen awake.” She turned to look at Cleve. “Breakfast early tomorrow?”

“Alright.”

“I’m happy you’re back,” Alex said to Cleve. “With the Krepps coming any day now, you’ll need to catch up quickly.”

Effie scoffed. “Let’s not bring up the war right now.”

“Sorry, Eff.”

“Gabby misses you, Effie,” Steffen said with a hushed tone.

“I’m sure she does.” Her arm came off Alex’s. “Wait, did you see her?”

“Today, yes. After I visited Cleve, I jogged through Raywhite Forest to Oakshen.” Steffen looked over his shoulder. “Don’t tell Terren.”

“Breaking the rules for love,” Effie teased. “So unlike you.”

Then there was just the sound of their feet rustling the dirt.

Effie sighed loudly. “I miss her too, actually. She’s doing well?”

“Very. I think you’ll be surprised the next time you speak with her. I was at first.”

“Why?”

“She’s been reading in all her spare time and participating in discussions of the war at Oakshen’s chamber hall. She might even know more than I do about Kyrro’s history, the Krepps, and Tenred. Today she told me that many people believe Tegry isn’t going to sign the treaty.”

That stopped Alex. “Why not?” Anger made his words forceful.

“Do you know about Welson’s attack on one of Tegry’s ships? It happened a while ago, when both kings were exploring the islands around Ovira.”

“I’ve heard about it,” Alex said. “Tegry’s nephew was captaining the ship.”

Cleve had heard the same thing from Welson himself.

“There are some who believe it wasn’t Tegry’s nephew but his son.”

Effie’s dark hair was bouncing back and forth as she shook her head. “But that would mean Tegry lay with his brother’s wife.”

“That’s what some history books suggest.”

“I don’t see why this makes a difference about whether he would sign the treaty,” Cleve said.

“I hadn’t heard any of this, so I’m just reciting what Gabby told me,” Steffen said. “But I do know that Tegry has no son. I can’t say whether it’s because his wife is no longer capable of birthing a child or Tegry doesn’t have the proper seed. He has two daughters, but no heir to his throne. His brother and his brother’s wife were killed, probably poisoned by assassins. There’ve been many deaths both in Kyrro and Tenred because of spies and poison. It’s for this reason that Welson has claimed he doesn’t wish to take a wife or have a child until he knows they’ll be safe. If all of this is true, it means Welson is responsible for the death of Tegry’s only son. Some even go further to say Tegry had loved his brother’s wife, who was also killed at what seems to be Welson’s doing. This would help explain why Tegry has been so desperate to kill Welson.”

Cleve was surprised to find he was worried about Welson’s meeting with Tegry. “How much of this do you think Welson knows?”

“I’m sure he’s heard of all of it,” Steffen said. “But he probably doesn’t believe much of it’s more than rumors.”

“It probably is rumors.” Effie spoke through a yawn. “Sounds ridiculous to me.”

Steffen shrugged. “Let’s hope so.”

Cleve’s worries about Welson were long gone by the time he was clean and resting under his warm sheets. He realized it was the first in a long time that he looked forward to the next day.

He’d already fallen asleep when someone gently kissing his cheek woke him. He knew it was Reela before he even opened his eyes.

“I wish I could say I was just intending to kiss you and sleep here without waking you,” she said, sliding her long legs beneath his covers and then pressing herself against him. “But truthfully, I wanted you to wake up.”

A tired grumble leaked out of him accidentally as he turned and put his arm over her. “I’m glad you did. Was it nice being with both Rek and Vithos?”

“Very, but a different kind of nice than this.” She kissed his forehead and then played with his hair.

Like every other student bed in the Academy, Cleve’s was snug for two people. He could imagine Effie and her sister lying beside each other with plenty of room, but it wasn’t the same for him and Reela. He welcomed the proximity, though, enjoying the smell of her hair.

“Did Effie ask you what happened when we spent the night together?” Cleve asked.

“Of course.”

“So you told her that…”

“We didn’t lie together? No.” She caressed his ear and ran her hand through his hair, creating a pleasure powerful enough to make him forget pain ever existed. “Let her be curious,” she whispered. “Whatever we do together has nothing to do with anyone else. And it never should.”

Cleve felt the same way. He gently kissed her welcoming lips. Then he closed his eyes and let his body completely rest with his next breath, his arm draped over Reela as they faced each other. He was ready for sleep.

But then his eyes opened on their own for another glimpse at her face. Her brilliant green eyes were still open, bright just from the light of the moon. Her lips and body called to him.

He kissed her again, this time more forcefully. Inadvertently, his hand came to her injured cheek.

She twisted and grabbed his hand. “That hurts.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. My damn scar. I hate it so much.”

He moved the hair away from her face.

“Don’t.” She turned to her other side. “Don’t stare at it. It’s hideous.”

“It’s really not that bad on you.”

“Yeah, in the dark.”

“It’s not that dark in here. I can easily see the green in your eyes.”

She rolled to her back and turned her head to look at him. Her eyes ran up and down his face, from his lips to his hair and back again. “You ever still worry about me using psyche on you?”

“No.”

She moved so she was snuggled into his side, her head on his shoulder. “Tell me what you’re thinking,” she whispered.

“I was remembering how I always wanted to tell you how beautiful you are, but I thought my feelings were from psyche. I’d never met someone like you.”

“You still feel this way about me?”

“More than ever. Although there was a pain I felt when I was near you before.”

“Pain? Why?”

“It was like standing in the cold with the sight of a warm fire just in front of me, but I couldn’t feel its warmth because I couldn’t let myself get close. So I stayed back, freezing and miserable even though all I could think about was getting close to the fire.” He kissed her. “But now I can without being burned.”

They let their hands take over the conversation. Reela ran her long fingers beneath his shirt and traced circles on his bare chest. His hand enjoyed the curve of her waist. Everywhere he looked along her body, he found beauty. Her eyes were hypnotic and seductive. Her lips were plump and delicious.

He wanted to feel all of her, her smooth legs, her flared hips, the swell of her full bosom, her slender neck, her sharp chin that was a stunning contrast to the softness of the rest of her body. She molded herself to him as they kissed, and his hands told her how much he desired her.

“I’ve never met anyone like you,” Reela said. “I don’t feel I even deserve you.”

Cleve scoffed. If anyone was undeserving of the other, it was him. “If it wasn’t for you, I would’ve left for Goldram still frightened toward my feelings for you. This never would’ve happened.”

She smiled. “I suppose I did win you over.” She kissed him soundly and smiled with satisfaction.

“You’ve helped me grow in ways I don’t think you even understand,” Cleve admitted.

Her smile flattened, her eyes falling down to his lips. She looked expectant.

“You’re not going to respond?” Cleve asked.

“Not when I’m waiting for you to kiss me.” She licked her lips in preparation.

He threw off the sheets and rolled her beneath him, settling into the kiss. When their lips parted, he nuzzled her neck, her shoulder, and just beneath the top edge of her sleeping gown.

“Even when you’re not kissing me, you still make me feel this way,” she said, reaching beneath his shirt to trace his abs with her nails.

“What way?”

“Like I’m hungry to be close to you. To touch you. Kiss you.”

“I didn’t even know girls could feel that way.”

She brought her hand to his cheek in a light slap. She held it there as she grinned in a way that made it clear his remark was absurd. “Stop speaking, you’re ruining it.”

He pressed her into the mattress and took her mouth again in what soon became an intimate dance of lips and tongues. As their passion grew, he positioned himself where his urges were telling him to go, closing all the distance between their bodies. Her hands fisted in his hair. She let out a moan and moved her hips in rhythm with his.

Then Reela wrapped her long fingers around his biceps and squeezed hard. As they continued to move together, waves of pleasure rippled through them.

She tried to yank off his shirt. It got caught around his shoulders, and he practically ripped it in his hurry to remove it. She ran her nails up his back and her mouth along his neck. Suddenly he couldn’t stop himself from pushing against her even harder. His hands kneaded her breasts through her gown. He knew where this was going if he didn’t stop himself, and it took all his willpower to let her go and prop himself back up on his forearms.

He stared into her eyes. She looked right back into his, moving her fingers from his temples to his hair. She lightly tugged him down, and he felt drawn to her again as if he could hear her thoughts.

She wanted more of him, just as he wanted more of her.

She slid out from beneath him, quickly sitting up and kissing him. They undressed each other in a hurry, tossing their clothes every which way.

He paused, allowing his eyes a chance to drink in the beauty of her body. Then he purposefully moved over her again as she ran her fingers lightly from his chest down to his stomach, then surprised him by going even lower.

She stretched forward to kiss his lips as she explored him, the touch of her hand sending his heart racing wildly as his desire for her chased every other thought from his mind. Slowly they came together, Reela using her hand to guide him.

Everything that happened between them, Cleve knew he would never forget. The moans, pants, and whispers. The way she threw back her head and shut her eyes tightly. How she clawed at his back and arms. Everything she did made him want her even more.

The only thing better was when they were sated and she draped her bare leg over him, laying her head on his chest, seemingly lulled by the beating of his heart. He was on the verge of sleep when he heard her whisper.

“Cleve.”

He looked into the depths of her emerald eyes. They were glistening as if she was about to cry. He felt ready to melt no matter what she said.

“Never leave without me again.”

Suddenly, he had new strength and more desire. He didn’t know where it came from, but he wasn’t going to stop it. He kissed her fiercely as he tucked her beneath him. She eagerly welcomed him into her body again.

He paused to let her catch her breath and then began to move. She grabbed his hair and opened her mouth as if screaming in silence.

Sometime during the night, he awakened when Reela sighed and snuggled into his warmth. He was exhausted. Part of him worried she was going to touch him in a way that would make him need her again, while another part of him encouraged the idea.

Only then did he realize he’d never responded to her words.

“I didn’t even know I could feel this way,” Cleve said.

She brushed her hand against his cheek. “Are you saying what I think you are?”

He kissed her as his hand glided down her back. She’d become sweaty from all their passion, as had he.

“Yes,” he answered. “I want you to come with me wherever I go.”

Expecting sleep to take him before his next breath, he was surprised when Reela began to kiss him hungrily. She slid her leg over him to climb on top.

He was about to tell her he was too tired, but then she started using her lips and tongue in a way that aroused him so completely that he was ready for her once again.