A Mess

A Mess
Mara

We ride for hours.

I shift on my seat, feeling a pull in my tailbone. Thane notices and tightens his hold around my waist, lifting me and placing me on his lap. His thighs aren’t soft, hardened with muscle, but just the change of position offers relief.

As we ride, it’s impossible to ignore just how broken the land still is. The sky is still a darkened red, casting everying in a muted, shadowed light. In some places, the earth looks burned, cracked and dark beneath the horses’ hooves.

Still, the farther we ride, the more I begin to notice little signs of life pushing through it. Patches of green grass spread between blackened dirt, soft shoots reaching toward the sky. Some of the trees are beginning to grow new leaves, tiny and bright against their otherwise bare branches.

I spot a tree heavy with small pieces of fruit. It’s not just branches of the tree that are healed, but all of it. My heart skips a beat in my chest as I take it in. My lips part, and a sudden, but warm wave of magic pulses through me.

My eyes drift over the leaves and, to my surprise, I see the entire grove of green trees behind it. The air smells sweet, a fruit I don’t recognize hanging from the branches.

I gasp as I take it and Thane leans toward me, his chin on my shoulder as his breath fans my skin. “That is all you, my oracle.”

I can’t help the sense of pride that passes through me. An emotional, uplifting feeling flipping my stomach.

Without another word, he guides the horse closer, one arm still wrapped securely around my waist. He reaches up as we pass beneath the branches, his fingers closing around one of the strange fruits. He plucks it easily and brings it down between us.

“What is it?” I ask, eyes wide as I take it in.

“Eat it.”

I take it and turn it over in my hand, studying the soft skin. It looks almost like an orange, except the shape is slightly uneven and the skin is thinner, almost velvety, like a peach.

I take a tentative bite, and juice immediately bursts across my tongue. “Oh.”

It’s absolutely delicious. Sweet and wonderful. Like and orange but rich like a fig. Juice slips from the corner of my mouth and runs down my chin. I lift my hand to wipe it with my fingers.

Thane catches my wrist.

I lift my eyes to his, noting the dark and yet shining notes of gold. His nostrils flare, and I become hyperaware of just how hard his body is beneath mine. How hot his skin is against mine.

“Tha-”

I don’t even get his name out of my lips, my entire body melting as he leans in and licks from the bottom of my neck all the way to the seam of my lips.

He pulls away, eyes oscillating across my face as if wanting to find anything else to lick away. I’m too taken aback to move. Too hot, too wet between my legs to even oppose him doing that again.

His golden eyes linger on my lips before returning to mine. “Make as many messes as you like, my Oracle. I’ll always clean them for you.”

Oh god. I force myself to chew and swallow the piece of fruit I still have in my mouth, knowing my cheeks are as red as a tomato.

A throat clears.

I freeze, but Thane stays as calm as ever, rubbing his thumb across my wrist before letting it go entirely.

I shift my eyes over his shoulder, finding Kaelith.

He sits several yards ahead of us, his horse standing perfectly still in the middle of the path. His red eyes are fixed on us, dark and intense enough to make the warmth in my face flare all over again.

I glance around. Rhydan is staring too. Nerion has one eyebrow raised, his expression somewhere between amusement and curiosity.Even the Queen is looking at us, her lips pressed together as though she’s trying very hard not to smile.

I want to disappear.

Thane, however, seems completely unaffected.

Kaelith’s gaze drops briefly to the fruit in my hand before returning to my face. “Can we get moving?”

“Yes,” Thane answers.

Kaelith holds his gaze for another moment, then he turns his horse forward. Rhydan makes a strangled sound that suspiciously resembles a laugh. Thane’s arm settles securely around my waist again, and I keep the fruit in my hand.

But I don’t take another bite.

By the time we stop for the night, I know what is coming. I’ve been feeling it beneath my skin since the moment Thane licked me.

My magic has been restless since we left the wards, pulsing. It knows I have unfinished business.

We dismount and I finally stretch my body, feeling the breeze of the coming night. I’m still only wearing Thane’s shirt, and while it’s huge on me, it does little to keep me warm.

The Queen and I sit together, sipping water and eating more of the fruit as everyone else makes camp. It doesn’t take them long, obviously efficient at what they do.

Queen Nythera nudges my shoulder, and I turn to where she’s pointing. The largest tent sits at the end of the camp.

“That’s your tent.”

My cheeks heat and my eyes find Thane immediately. He stands several feet away, eyes already fixed on me. The tension in his shoulders sends my heart into a race, my thighs pressed together as my clit pulses to life.

“Go to him,” Nythera says. “He is as desperate as your body is.”

I look at her, eyes wide.

She smiles softly. “Your scent is very sweet. You smell like sugared oranges.”

I breathe in, attempting to douse the feeling of embarrassment that wants to take over. If this is my life, I will have to get used to it. One step at a time.

I rise, wiping the last juices of fruit from my fingers before walking toward Thane. His eyes follow me the entire way. He doesn’t say anything when I reach him. He simply offers me his hand.

His fingers close around mine, and he leads me toward the tent. We step inside and he lets the flap fall shut behind us.

I stop.

The entire back of the tent is missing. It’s wide open, giving us the perfect view of the forest and the mountains. The ground is black, the trees still dead, but the view is astounding.

“Wha-”

I don’t get the question out, Thane’s hands wrapping around my waist as he turns me toward the wooden tub that sits near the open side, in the corner. It’s filled nearly to the brim with steaming water. I can see the heat curl into the air, and I sigh at the sight of it, my muscles aching.

Thane releases my waist, letting his hands run down toward the hem of the shirt I’m wearing. I close my eyes, and he pulls it up over my head. Like an answer to his touch, my skin breaks out into goosebumps, my nipples pebbling.

He doesn’t say anything, but I can tell he’s taking his time, looking over me. I let him, finding his gaze when he walks around to stand in front of me.

His golden eyes flash brightly as they dance over me, hot and needy.