A King's Mistress

Dinner

I was burning when I opened my eyes. My skin, I could feel every nerve on fire. My eyes fluttered a little before I ended up squeezing them shut. A sharp breath released from me. It was hard to breathe. My mind was warm, and everything was too hot. It hurt.

"Nasya," A strangled voice spoke to my left. I did not need any Sight to know that it was Aryk. It was like his blood called to mine, the energy always humming when he was near. But even hearing his voice was not going to make my eyes open. I felt it, I felt the heat coming off me. A flare. I groaned as my body lifted slightly, my chest heaving. It was like a rope snapping out into the world; violent and wanting release. My body settled back down as the flare lashed out above me, my eyes snapping open at last to yellowing fire hitting every corner. I blinked to move my eyes to Aryk.

Aryk who stared at me as if life stopped moving. His eyes held relief and pain in them. He was sweating and his skin held a red hue as he leaned his hands above my head. His breath came out fast then slow as he shut his eyes. He was in pain. I let out a groan as I tried to speak. "Aryk." I hoarsely whispered out. My hands found his chest as he was still trying to recover from the burn, the burn I had bestowed upon him. "I am sorry." My breath was still trying to catch up with me as I looked at his face still clenched with pain. My eyes found the ceiling with the scorched marks before staring into Aryk's now open eyes.

"Nasya." His hand reached to my neck before his thumb caressed my cheek. Without thought, I raised myself to meet his lips. His lips which stilled for a moment before relaxing and sighing along with me. I took a shivered breath as his tongue traced my lips to open. My hands found his hair as he pulled me up to sit in front of him.

It was raw and pure between us. Even more so when I grabbed his robes to pull him closer to me, his hands grabbed hold of me with a little more strength and he groaned out loud. My fingers had just traced his blistered skin. The red marks of my fire that scarred him. He took a deep breath; a breath he was holding still as he squeezed his eyes shut. "I am sorry." I said breathlessly.

Aryk's eyes snapped open to look upon me with an intensity that called me to pull forward. Holding his gaze as he brushed my hair out of my face as he leaned in, his head leaning on mine. "You are awake." My lips found his once more. His body suffocating mine as the cloth that covered my bare body fell and his hands found my skin. My body stilled. Aryk leaned back and looked at me with a blazing heat. Again, as he had done many times, his eyes did not move from my face. Did not dare to venture down for a look. No, he was only looking at me. Into me.

Ever slowly, he stood and turned the other way. He grabbed ahold of his robes and held them out for me to grab. My hand reached out and I grabbed the robes and wrapped myself in them. It was then I saw Aryk only wore pants. His back on display, his scarred back. The lashes he had received from merely being alone together. Along with the ones he gained before coming to this castle. I shakily moved off the table I was laid bare on, my legs almost giving out as I walked to him. My fingers found his back. His scars. I felt him stiffen under them.

"I never said how truly sorry I am. That you had to endure such pain again. Because of me." Aryk turned toward me, his hands finding mine. His brown eyes towered over me as I looked up to him in sorrow.

"Don't do that." He whispered. "You never have to apologize to me Nasya." I continued to stare at him. The man from my visions. The man who was bound to me, I felt it; I felt the tether that held us together. It was pulling us together, it was warm, it was life. It was something I dare not speak. I barely knew him. And he I. We could only go as far as to guess what horrors we had been through. And yet... "You are awake."

"I am awake." He let a smile grace his lips as he dipped down to kiss me. It was different than the mere one from when I woke. It was slow, it had a purpose. His hands found my neck and cradled my head. His thumbs brushing my cheeks as his tongue found mine, circling it slow as his hands gripped hold of me tight. I moved back with the slightest of breath.