Bound by Fire and Ash: A Sapphic Romantasy Novel, page 4
I shake my head. At this point, I have nothing left to lose. The result will be the same if they catch me or if I turn myself in.
We enter an enormous laundry room, and the workers freeze when Drakena brings a finger to her lips, signaling them to be quiet. None of them is older than sixteen, and they're probably here to pay their families' debts to the Steel Council. They won't help the guards unless absolutely necessary.
We stop at a hatch, but Drakena opens it easily with a lockpick she found in the laundry room. As if she was born for it.
“Wow, if you ever get tired of killing Steel Council people, you could take up stealing. You'd make a good living,” I joke, more as an attempt to relieve the fear I feel than anything else, though she doesn't seem to find it funny.
“Into the ducts,” she growls, pointing toward a hole in the floor that smells horrible.
“Oh, no, no way am I jumping down there,” I protest.
“Suit yourself; it's our only chance to get out of here.”
“Look, you've been locked in a cell for a long time, and maybe you don't know this, but all the prison's shit goes down there. And when I say shit, I mean it literally, not just food waste, but everything that comes out of the bathrooms too. I'll pass.”
The smell seeping up from below is the worst thing I've seen in my life, and that's saying something, since in recent years my job at the Academy was mainly cleaning.
The sound of multiple boots entering the laundry room pulls me from my thoughts. There's only one door, and it's already controlled by the guards, the only exit is down.
“Move it,” Drakena growls, throwing me through the duct opening.
My heart stops, I close my eyes as I fall, but even if I kept them open, it would be the same. You can't see absolutely anything; it's like the void swallowed me.
“Fucking shit,” I scream when I land in something that's definitely not water.
Then Drakena lands next to me and lets out a laugh when she sees I'm still alive. She grabs my hand and drags me through some kind of sludge that reaches almost to my waist. I prefer not to look, because the things floating in that sludge make me want to vomit way too much.
We continue for a good while through a dark tunnel while a group of about seven rats watch us curiously. Soon, I realize we've left the prison and are entering the bowels of the city. We round a curve, and the tunnel opens to an enormous cistern. Drakena checks the perimeter and then takes me to an area that isn't covered in waste.
“We stay here,” she says in a low voice. “For now.”
“Sooner or later they'll follow this path and find us,” I remind her.
She just shrugs.
“Nobody gets out through the upper part of the city. Our only option is down.”
“You're bleeding.”
She looks at the cut and smiles.
“It's nothing.”
“At least cover it. Blood leaves a trail,” I whisper, looking for some piece of fabric from my cleaning uniform that isn't covered in waste.
“You did good in the prison,” she murmurs, pinning me with her gaze.
“Well, I don't give up easily, but remember we have a deal. I've fulfilled my part; now you can't kill me or do anything to me.”
Drakena smiles. A real smile. And despite the fact that we're both covered in filth, right now it seems like the most beautiful smile I've ever seen.
“In half an hour, as soon as they change the guard at the city gates, we move,” she indicates, pointing north with her chin.
I nod slowly and close my eyes. I'm aware that maybe the worst is coming now.
“Drakena,” I sigh.
“Hmm?”
“You're aware the Steel Council expects me to take you north, right?”
“You told me that in the prison.”
“You're also aware it's a trap. I don't know exactly what they're trying to do, but I'm sure it's a trap,” I insist.
“Then we'll have to find out together, Aeris Velmara,” she responds with a wink and a new smile.
Chapter 10
The city sewers empty into a river that smells like freedom. Well, at least until you realize the kind of things floating in it. Next to us, there's an enormous dead bird with wings spread and eyes open. A little farther, a couple of rats, and I prefer not to ask what's sending bubbles up from below the surface. In any case, compared to the smell of the sewers, this is almost paradise.
“Keep walking, don't stop,” Drakena reminds me almost continuously.
A little after dawn, we reach a shore full of vegetation on the outskirts of the city, and I let myself fall behind some bushes, exhausted. She shows no sign of fatigue, as if she's spent the last few years training instead of in a maximum security prison. She remains standing, scanning the surroundings with those pale eyes that manage to make you tremble every time she pins you with her gaze.
“You've been bitten again,” she announces, pointing toward my leg with her index finger.
I look down, and the area of my calves is painted in a mixture of blood, sweat, and all kinds of filth.
“For some reason, leeches like me. Why don't they bite you?”
Drakena just smiles and starts taking off her clothes slowly to wash herself in a part of the river where at least the water flows.
And the worst part is I look like an idiot, unable to look away from her naked body. All of her is a set of well-defined muscles, but not exaggerated in size. Just perfect. The old scars decorating her skin speak of a life of continuous fighting.
“See something you like?” she jokes, turning around suddenly.
I open my mouth to say something and close it again. I think I turn red to the tips of my ears, and suddenly I remember.
“I have some soap in my right pocket. It's industrial, for prison cleaning, but I think it could work for us,” I announce to cover up.
“Are you serious?”
“Completely serious.”
I throw her the soap and she catches it in the air, despite it being wet and slippery. Still, I'd prefer if she moved away from me a bit to clean herself. I take off my clothes too and get into the water next to her, moving forward slowly with my arms crossed over my chest. Drakena dives under the surface, appears suddenly next to me and smiles, throwing her hair back.
For my part, I scrub my arms and legs while the soap carries away the dirt from my body in brown streams. My hands tremble. It could be from the cold, from the adrenaline, or from the way Drakena looks at me. I'm not very sure.
“You know? I guess I should thank you,” I announce in an attempt to break the silence.
“Why?”
I shrug while I keep soaping myself and try not to focus on her nipples.
“For keeping your promise and not killing me. Now you don't need me anymore, and you know we're headed into a trap. The logical thing would be to get rid of me and run in the opposite direction from where the Steel Council expects you to go.”
She pauses, as if she's considering what I just said.
“Hey, I hope you don't change your mind, about not killing me, I mean,” I rush to explain.
“If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead.”
A silence forms between us. Not uncomfortable, just the sound of the river water moving or the chirping of birds in the distance inside the forest.
Drakena moves closer to me, walks slow, as if she wants to know if I'm going to run away, and stops right in front of me, almost pressed against my body.
“What is it?” I ask, trying not to let it show too much that my breathing has become erratic.
“You're staring at me.”
I let out a snort and roll my eyes, but I can't deny it. She is... perfect wouldn't be the right word, but it comes close enough.
“You're not afraid of me,” she murmurs, completely erasing the distance between us.
“Should I be?”
“Most people are,” she responds, tilting her head slightly, as if our conversation amuses her.
“I'm not like most people.”
Suddenly, she places her hands on my hips and gets so close I feel her breasts against my skin. I'm breathless. Too aware of how much it turns me on to feel the touch of her hard nipples while she releases one hand and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.
I want to say something, anything, but my brain refuses to cooperate, and my knees threaten to melt at any moment.
“You're trembling,” she whispers.
“It's the cold.”
She smiles. Again, that perfect smile. Fuck, she should smile more often, her face changes completely, and I hate how much it makes me want to throw myself at her to devour her mouth.
Shit. I'm lost.
I lean toward her. She doesn't move, just waits. My lips brush hers, soft, softer than I thought possible, and for a fraction of a second, the world stops being shit and just... is.
Suddenly, my head reminds me that I'm facing a psycho killer who just got out of a maximum security prison, and I pull away immediately, breaking the spell.
“I'm not going to be your quick fuck after spending a bunch of years in a cell,” I protest, with a voice firmer than I actually feel. “If you want that, find someone who isn't me.”
Drakena's expression doesn't change. She just tilts her head and shrugs.
“I never considered you a quick fuck just because I haven't had sex in a long time,” she confesses.
I try to roll my eyes, but I don't even manage it.
We stay like this, face to face, dripping, feeling how the river water slides at waist level.
“We better move. We're still not safe,” she announces, making a gesture with her head for us to get out of the water.
Chapter 11
The ancient temple of Nurh'Ael looks nothing like the stories they told us at the Academy. There are no great towers or endless halls. It's just a bunch of columns about to fall and enough shattered statues to set up a cemetery of extinct gods.
Under the moonlight, the cracks and vegetation peeking through the walls look like old scars. Maybe that's why Drakena chose it. Or maybe there was no other plan, just the survival instinct to hide for the night.
We reach the edge of the ruins just as the first patrol deploys its torches through the valley. They're Steel Council guards, professionals, not local guards. They knew we'd pass through here sooner or later.
“You know? If I tell you the Steel Council expects me to take you to the Northern Mountains, you don't have to listen to me. It would have been better to walk in any other direction.”
“I have to go north,” is the only answer I get.
“Well, then we're fucked,” I protest.
She doesn't even respond. She just analyzes the interior of the temple until she grabs me by the wrist and pulls me to drag me to a dark area under some half-fallen arches.
“Do you think they'll come in here?” I whisper.
“Into the temple? Yes.”
“No, shit, here, where we are,” I insist.
“I doubt it. This is the crypt of Kharis-Mûr, it's a cursed place. Legend says whoever dares enter it will suffer the most painful of deaths,” she responds, shrugging, as if it's the most natural thing in the world.
“Well, you're not giving me much hope.”
“Quiet,” she orders, placing two fingers on my lips.
I hear the guards' footsteps at the temple entrance. Their voices. And my heart beats so hard I'm almost sure they can hear it from their position. I'm terrified.
Drakena pulls me and positions me sitting between her legs, with my back pressed to her torso, covering my mouth while reminding me not to make any noise.
The footsteps are getting closer and closer.
As if to make sure I don't make any movement, she holds me tight, pressing her cheek against mine.
“We'll be fine,” she whispers in my ear.
The light from one of the torches passes so close to us that my heart stops.
“Check that area,” orders the one who seems to be in charge.
“There? No way. You know what that is, right? Nobody in their right mind would go into that crypt. It's cursed,” the guard protests.
“We're talking about Drakena of Virelmar. Nothing about her is normal. Get in!” he insists.
“Well, let the ancient spirits or demons or whatever's in there take care of her, if she's stupid enough to go in.”
I don't move. I don't breathe.
I can feel every inch of Drakena pressed against me: the heat of her body on my back, the pressure of her thighs on my legs, the rhythm of her breathing, so steady it almost calms me.
“There's no more danger,” she murmurs with her lips pressed to my earlobe.
I don't respond.
“You're trembling,” she hisses, caressing my neck while sliding her nose along my cheek as if she intends to smell my fear. Or my arousal.
A choked sigh escapes me when I feel her right hand coil around my throat, though without squeezing.
“You're not going to kill me, right?” I gasp.
“Don't be an idiot. Killing you isn't exactly what I intend to do,” she admits in whispers while caressing my neck, making me tremble.
She moves her hand up slightly until she places it on my jaw and makes me turn. She pins me with those gray eyes, smiles and then kisses me.
No preamble, no hesitation, just a possessive, dominant kiss, as if she's been waiting her whole life to do it. It's an almost desperate kiss, as if she expects us to perish at any moment for desecrating a cursed crypt.
“Shit! We're not going to die from that curse, are we?” I ask, pulling away from her abruptly.
“Don't say stupid shit, Aeris Velmara,” is the only answer I get before she gently places me on the ground and leans over me.
The next thing I know, my fingers are tangled in her hair while she caresses my nipples.
“I want you to be completely sure,” she mutters, pulling back slightly to look into my eyes.
“Don't you dare stop,” I gasp as I feel the pressure of her thigh against my sex.
She kisses me again, and I respond by pulling at her shirt, revealing absolutely perfect breasts. I place my hands on her waist, pushing her up slightly to kiss them. Drakena moans, a soft, sensual moan, while she slips her hand between my legs and caresses the inside of my thighs, passing dangerously close to my sex, but without actually touching it.
“You're too dangerous,” I murmur, hardening her nipple between my lips.
Before I can realize it, we're both completely naked, legs open, the wetness of her sex on mine, creating a wonderful friction that makes me moan with each of her movements.
She bites my chin gently before sliding two of her fingers inside me, curving them perfectly while caressing my clit with her thumb.
I moan, forgetting for a moment that we were recently surrounded by Steel Council guards, not caring about anything except the pleasure Drakena is giving me. She takes me to the edge relentlessly, as if she's capable of sensing the rhythm or the exact pressure I need at each moment, until I have to bend my fingers and bite them to keep from screaming, saying her name between gasps while I have a wonderful orgasm.
“Fuck, I can't believe it,” I sigh, bringing my hands to my head.
Drakena smiles, but continues with her fingers inside me, as if she wants to feel every spasm of pleasure in them before bringing them to her mouth and sucking them when my body relaxes.
“Did you like it?”
“What do you think?” I ask while kissing her lips. “Now, there's something I've wanted to do since I saw you naked in the river this morning,” I confess, making her turn and sliding down between her legs.
I can't help but let out a sigh when I see the wetness glistening on her sex. I lick it gently, making her back tense when she feels my tongue. I look up while kissing her clit, watching her close her eyes and bite her lower lip with pleasure. She tangles her fingers in my hair, rubbing against my mouth, fast, hard, seeking an orgasm as if it's the last thing she'll do in her life.
I dig my nails into her ass while I lick her sex, and she screams as if she wants to wake the ancient spirits of the crypt. Her body trembles under my lips. It's something wild, urgent, but every second seems wonderful to me.
Her legs tense, and suddenly she goes very still, relaxed, with slight spasms of pleasure every time I give her a little kiss on her clit.
