Amid twisted chaos, p.16
Amid Twisted Chaos, page 16
Lennor’s grin grew. “I’d love to . . . if Astrea’s on standby, just in case.”
Jin waved them off as Astrea promised to hang around, and the two women headed for where Civan and Adi were in deep discussion. Curiosity and amusement bounced between Lennor and Cressida, tangling together as they walked.
“You good?” Jin asked. “You hit the ground pretty hard.”
“I’ve gotten very used to falling down during training.”
Chuckling, Jin slung his arm around Astrea’s shoulders and pulled her into his side. “I still take my fair share of falls when I’m up against those three.”
“Trust me, I know.”
“You know, do you?” he asked. It was the first time in the last couple of days she’d heard that tone, the teasing.
“I watched you enough at the base. I can recall at least a dozen—”
Giving her shoulders a little shake, he said, “Alright, alright. I mean, I said it was my fair share, didn’t I?”
“Are you going to flirt with Az all day, or are you coming out here, Captain?” Adi yelled.
“Shut up!” Jin called back before peering down at Astrea. “What do you think? Should I go kick his ass?”
“I’d like to see you try,” Astrea quipped.
Sweet amusement and approval coated her tongue just before Jin dropped his arm from her shoulders. He jogged toward where Adi stood waiting, arms crossed over his chest.
As Jin ran, Astrea shouted, “I’ll be on standby when you need me!”
He turned over his shoulder and saluted her, then yelped as he dodged a chunk of earth Adi sent his way. Astrea dropped into the grass and let the sun hit her face as she watched. She’d tap back in for the next round, but for now, she’d let the others battle it out.
Chapter 16
The soft sofa under Astrea begged her to sleep, but she couldn’t. Not just because she felt as awful as she did every night, but because Jin and Eliana were talking through theories about his maternal family.
He’d scrounged up a few more documents from the library’s basement after their training session that morning, but that seemed to be the end of the line, at least until he approached Ysabel. Now, they were in Eliana’s sitting room, and the two siblings were all energy despite the late hour.
“I know nothing we’ve found definitively ties my family to that house, but I think it’s safe to assume the Talmaran house my grandfather mentioned in some of his letters has to be the same one the Paragon’s been using,” Jin said.
Astrea nodded sleepily as she leaned back into the sofa. The thought of resting her head on Jin’s shoulder was tempting, but she left a few inches of space between their bodies.
“I think there are really just two explanations for why Ysabel is hiding this,” he continued.
Stifling a yawn, Astrea asked, “And those are?”
“Either she’s completely unaware of where the house was and what her people found in it, and she’s an incompetent ruler—”
“I highly doubt that,” Eliana said, cutting Jin off. She padded from her spot in front of the fireplace to where a handful of her dresses were piled up on one of the armchairs. “Ysabel likes to be involved from what I’ve gathered in the time we’ve been here.”
“Alright, second theory, then,” Jin said as Eliana began sifting through the clothes. “Ysabel already told me that my grandfather secretly married my grandmother, the grand duke’s youngest daughter.” As Eliana dropped one of the gowns and huffed, Jin sighed. “What are you doing, Ellie?”
“Trying to clean up before Nicos returns. I can multitask.”
Jin shook his head. “Anyway, both of my grandparents were ostracized after that, and it brought a lot of shame on the family. If this Paragon connection is new to Ysabel, maybe she’s . . . embarrassed.”
“Embarrassed?” Astrea asked. “Shouldn’t she be concerned?”
“Concerned, sure,” Eliana said, “but these families are also quite concerned about appearances. Just think of all the Helosian nobles I’ve told you about, Az, and the gossip they try to hide from.”
Plenty of gossip traveled around the Helosian court, but an apparent Paragon connection was hardly gossip.
“She’s probably embarrassed she didn’t know,” Jin said. “Embarrassed for her father, too.”
“I thought he was long dead,” Astrea said.
“He is, but that must still feel bad,” he replied. “And she’s probably either trying to figure it out for herself or trying to sweep it under the rug to avoid more issues.”
“If I learned anything from Saros’s tendency to avoid things,” Astrea mumbled, “it’s that avoiding things doesn’t actually prevent those issues from coming up.”
“You just need to talk to her,” Eliana said.
“We need to talk to her, Ellie. She’s your family too, in a way.”
“Yes, well . . . When do you want to confront her? That ought to be quite the conversation.”
“Tomorrow. I’d like to get this sorted out as soon as possible. I’ll bring all the documents so she knows what we’ve found.”
Eliana nodded and stopped fiddling with the dresses. She’d barely done anything to tidy them up. “How about at breakfast? She invited me anyway.”
“Breakfast it is.”
The door opened with a quiet creak. Nicos strolled in, a bundle of long, rolled papers under his arm. He glanced between the three of them. “What’s going on?” As his attention shifted back to Eliana, he sighed. “You still haven’t cleaned up?”
“We were busy talking about Jin’s maternal family,” Eliana said.
“What happened to multitasking, Ellie?” Jin teased.
“Oh, hush.” She smiled up at Nicos. “You spoke with the commander?”
He nodded. “I did.”
“Good.”
“About what?” Jin asked.
“Just ensuring you’re going to have as much extra security as promised,” Nicos said.
“You think she wouldn’t give us security?” Jin’s question was more directed at Eliana than Nicos.
Eliana shrugged. “I just wanted to be sure.”
Astrea rubbed her eyes and tried stifling another yawn. It wasn’t that late. She usually had a bit more energy than this.
“Sleepy?” Jin asked.
“No, you’re just boring.”
“Ouch.” Chuckling, he patted her thigh a few times. His hand lingered there, making sparks dance through her belly. “Alright. Ellie, finish cleaning your room. Az, you’re going to bed.”
“Who made you the boss?” Eliana asked.
Jin stood, then offered his hand to Astrea and helped her to her feet. “I’m fairly certain that being your older brother makes me the boss.”
“Well then who made you the boss of Az?”
“Maybe she likes it, El,” Nicos said. His aura immediately flared with magenta embarrassment. “Skies, sorry Az, I didn’t mean—”
Eliana’s cackle cut him off. Even Astrea couldn’t help but laugh. She’d never heard Nicos make such a comment before, and the fact that his whole face was as red as a tomato only made it funnier.
“We’ll just . . . get out of your hair,” Jin mumbled. “Goodnight.”
Even when they got into the hallway and shut Eliana’s door, amusement and embarrassment tangled together and reached for Astrea. She couldn’t help but be a little satisfied at Jin’s obvious shyness now, too. It was cute.
It didn’t disappear even when they were alone in their room and getting ready for bed. Astrea washed up first, moving through her routine quickly. Jin went in next, and the whole time he was in the bathroom, a hint of embarrassment crept through the walls.
“Nicos’s comment bothered you that much?” Astrea asked as he walked back into the bedroom.
Jin’s ears turned red. “I’m not bothered.”
“I beg to differ.”
“I’m not bothered. Just . . .”
“Just what?”
“Just . . .” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t want you to feel like I’m trying to order you around.”
Astrea headed for the wardrobe and began unbuttoning her blouse. “To be fair, you can get a bit bossy.”
Worry whispered over her skin. “I do?”
“Yes.”
“Sorry, I don’t want to—”
“But to be even fairer,” she continued, “I don’t mind.” Astrea slipped the garment off her shoulders, then hung it up in the wardrobe and began unzipping her skirt.
“You yelled at me in Sezia for telling you what to do.”
“That was different. You weren’t being nice about it.”
“Oh, so you only like when I’m ‘nice’ bossy?”
“Exactly.”
In actuality, Astrea didn’t mind Jin taking the lead in a lot of scenarios . . . at least, she didn’t mind him taking the lead in the situations they found themselves in lately. He certainly had more experience leading missions than she did. She’d defer to his judgment on those issues any day, and it wasn’t like he was rigid when he was taking charge. She’d seen enough of his interactions with his team at the old base to know that was true.
“And being bossy in this room isn’t exactly a bad thing,” she added for good measure. Teasing him was fun, and the gentle warmth spreading over her skin suggested Jin liked it, too.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Astrea slipped her skirt off, then returned it to its spot in the wardrobe. She was about to unhook her brassiere when warm fingers brushed hers.
“Let me.” Jin’s voice was low. Tart lust and that steady heat wrapped around Astrea, both of them almost lazy as they joined the fatigue rolling off Jin in waves.
“What happened to sleep?” she asked as he pushed the straps off her shoulders.
“How do you know I’m thinking about more than sleep?”
“Hm, I wonder . . .”
His chuckle rumbled pleasantly in her bones. Jin finished unhooking the back of the garment, then pushed it the rest of the way off. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her loosely against his body. After pressing a kiss to the back of her head, he asked, “Do you want to sleep?”
Astrea turned in his arms, her bare breasts brushing against his silk shirt. “I just said I like you taking charge in here, and now you’re asking if I want to sleep?”
He laughed again, his hands roaming from her shoulders down to grab her ass. “A good boss still asks what other people want.”
“Oh, lovely, lessons in management. Just what I wanted tonight.”
Leaning down, Jin nipped at her neck. “Bed. Now.”
“But what about my lesson?”
“I’ll teach you anything you want if you get in that bed and take your bloomers off.”
“What a deal,” she teased as she slipped just out of his reach.
Astrea’s body barely hit the bed when Jin started shucking his clothes off. Shirt, trousers, undergarments, all gone before Astrea could even take her bloomers off. She was tired, but Jin’s lust burned around the room in shades of raspberry and pink, and she couldn’t get enough. Her muscles were already taut with anticipation.
“What happened to bloomers off?” Jin chided as he strode toward the bed, body on full display.
“You’ve hardly given me any time.”
“Then allow me to help.” He hooked his thumbs into the waistband of her bloomers and pulled them down to her knees, then off fully, and chucked them onto the floor. Astrea sucked in a sharp breath as Jin kissed her belly, then left a trail of kisses up her sternum. His fingers drifted down between her legs. “That’s better.”
“Fuck,” Astrea whispered, her head falling back as Jin stroked her in smooth, gentle motions. The pads of his fingers warmed with his magic, and Astrea swore again.
“Yeah?” he asked, warm pride rolling over Astrea’s skin.
She pulled his face toward hers. As their lips met, Jin slid one finger into her entrance, then another. She moaned into his mouth, drawing out more of that pride. It blistered her skin in the best way. Astrea’s hips bucked up.
Jin hummed, then pulled away. “Get on top,” he murmured against her mouth. After one more kiss, he rolled onto his back.
Astrea pushed up on her arm, then steadied herself as she straddled Jin’s lap. His thick erection pointed toward his abdomen, and Astrea was about to line it up with herself when Jin grabbed her hips.
“No.” He tugged her toward him. “Up here.” When she hesitated, he asked, “Too bossy?”
“What? No. I’m scared I’ll fall,” she admitted. “My legs hurt from earlier.”
“Skies damned Adi,” Jin murmured. “Hold the headboard. I won’t let you fall.” His heavy eyelids obscured most of his beautiful gold irises, but the raspberry vibrating around him was all the confirmation Astrea needed.
She moved up slowly, gripping the headboard but holding her hips high above Jin’s face. He laughed and tugged them down. Astrea gasped as his tongue pressed into her, then again as he held her hips in place. She squirmed, but that only made him hold her tighter. Jin moaned, the vibrations traveling up into her belly. When his fingers penetrated her again, Astrea’s head tilted back. The tension in her thighs built, and it had absolutely nothing to do with training earlier in the day.
Astrea ground against his face. She gripped the headboard tighter. Part of her thought to draw this out, to prolong the feeling as long as she could, but she had no control. Pleasure washed over her in quick, short waves, there for a few heartbeats and then gone. Jin kissed the inside of her thigh and released his tight hold.
“Good?” he asked.
Astrea nodded breathlessly as she rolled off to one side of the bed. “Do you want me to su—”
“No.” Jin gripped her face and kissed her, the taste of her own sex heavy on his breath. “I want to be buried so deep inside you that I can’t tell where I end and you begin, alright?”
“Yeah,” she whispered, her insides burning.
As he climbed on top of her, Astrea spread her legs. He slid into her with a satisfied hum. “Fuck, Az. You’re soaked.”
“What did you expect?”
He laughed and leaned down, kissing her again. Astrea opened her mouth to his, just enough that he could bite her lower lip. Pleasure jolted through Astrea again and again, in perfect time with Jin’s thrusts. His mouth wandered down to her throat, where he sucked on the delicate skin near the base of her neck.
“You’re going to make me come again,” Astrea whispered. She was overloaded in the best way, her whole body sensitive. “Too fast.”
Jin sat up a little and pushed her legs back, then settled them over his shoulders. He thrust into her again. “Good.” He pressed his thumb right into her clit and began rubbing small, smooth circles. But his hand pulled away, and he said, “Touch yourself.”
“You’re taking this bossy thing very seriously.”
“I thought you liked it.”
“I do.”
Astrea’s right hand slid down between their bodies, pressing into the spot Jin had just been touching. Approval and pride, lust and desire—they rained down on her like a Kalamian thunderstorm. She grabbed Jin’s arm with her free hand, trying to focus on the way his muscles flexed under her touch. He hit the right spot over and over again. She couldn’t think. She could barely make her own fingers keep moving.
“Come on, Az,” Jin murmured. “Let go.”
Her back arched. Her face warmed. And she was lost. Astrea’s whole body trembled, and Jin followed her right over the edge.
Slowly, Jin lowered Astrea’s legs, pulled out of her, and rolled onto his back. All the desire once swirling around the room disappeared, replaced by that soft, familiar warmth and fatigue.
“You alright?” she whispered as she snuggled closer to him.
He kissed the top of her head. “Very much so.”
They lay in silence for a while, wrapped around each other. Astrea ran her fingers through Jin’s curls, and he drew patterns on her back. But finally, Jin made both of them get up to clean up for a second time.
Astrea had just spit out her mouthwash when Jin asked, “How would you feel about taking a bath?”
“I never take baths.”
“Why not?”
“I hate how quickly the water gets cold.”
“I can keep it warm.”
Astrea met his soft gaze in the mirror. “Why?”
“Why can I keep it warm?”
“No, why take a bath? I thought we were going to bed.”
“It’ll be good for your legs. And mine. I’m beat after training earlier, too.”
Astrea wasn’t so sure that was his real reason. But she still agreed, and once the tub was sufficiently full, she climbed in with Jin. She settled between his legs and leaned her back against his chest. The hot water did feel good on her sore muscles. So did Jin’s arms wrapped around her shoulders.
The deeper she sank into the tub, though, and the longer they sat there, Astrea’s mind began to wander. “Should we be doing this?”
“Doing what?” Jin asked.
“This . . .” She gestured to the water. “What if they come now?”
Jin was silent for a moment, but understanding brushed over her skin, delicate like butterfly wings. “The Paragon, you mean.”
“Yes.” Astrea sometimes worried about that while doing other things that left her, for the most part, vulnerable. Showers. Sleeping, of course. Sex. Here, in this bath.
“Well.” Jin sighed. “I suppose I could fight them naked, though I’ve never had to do that before.” Despite herself, Astrea laughed. He kissed the back of her head. “We can only be so vigilant. We still have to live.”
“I know,” she whispered.
Even as Jin held her closer, that familiar rope tightened around Astrea’s heart. It squeezed and squeezed, making tears spring to her eyes. Why did her mind have to go there now? She’d just been having fun. She’d just felt so good, if only for a short while. She’d almost felt like her old self again.
Why couldn’t her mind let her have this one night? Astrea sucked in a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
