Chapter 197 — Shen, Alone

Kael left after breakfast to meet the north-turn crew. Water was still gathering beneath the second flat stone, and the workers intended to lift the next two slabs far enough to see how much of the lower seam remained wet. Kael fastened his wrist guard near the entrance while Shen wrapped a midday portion for him.

“Do not let them cover the seam before you check it,” Shen said.

“I won’t.”

Kael tucked the food into his carrying wrap. Nia held the entrance screen when he stepped close.

“You’ll be back for the evening meal?”

“Yes.”

He bent and kissed her temple, then rested one hand briefly at Shen’s shoulder before crossing into the corridor. Nia lowered the screen after him.

Pale morning light filtered through the upper vent cuts and lay across the work board in narrow bands. Farther down the corridor, someone was knocking grit from a pair of boots against stone, and a woman called for him to stop doing it beside her clean drying cloth. The answer came back too low for Nia to catch.

Behind her, Shen said, “The dried mushrooms should soften enough by midday.”

A covered bowl sat near the preparation board where Shen had put the dried winter mushrooms into clean water earlier. His gaze had already shifted toward the knife rack.

“Shen.”

He looked over as Nia crossed the room. She caught his wrist before he reached the knife and pulled him toward her, kissing him beside the work board. His free hand came to her waist at once. His fingers tightened, his tail shifted across the floor, and his mouth deepened the kiss while a pale coil slid around the backs of her calves.

Nia moved closer and kissed him again. Shen’s breath caught against her mouth, and she kept going until his tail rose from her calves to her thighs and his hand tightened at her waist. When he started to turn her away from the work board, she broke the kiss and pressed a palm to his chest.

Nia walked him backward through the bedroom cloth. Shen followed until the backs of his knees touched the bed.

“Sit.”

He looked at her for one beat, then sat on the edge of the bed. Nia stepped between his knees while Shen put his hands on the bedding and watched her loosen the narrow cord holding his pale hair back. She drew it free, set it on the low shelf, and ran both hands through the loose strands before bending to kiss him again.

This time she kept him where he was while she opened the ties of his shirt. Shen lifted his arms when she pushed the cloth from his shoulders, and the shirt landed on the low stool beside the bed. Nia spread her palms over his shoulders and chest, feeling his breathing change under her hands.

His hands started toward her waist. Nia shook her head once.

“Stay.”

The silver in his eyes sharpened, but his hands returned to the bedding. Nia loosened her own shoulder fastening while he watched, then opened the ties at her waist. The dress slipped down her arms and pooled at her feet. Nia stepped out of it, leaving the cloth beside the bed, and moved close again.

She loosened the tie at Shen’s waist. He lifted his hips when she tugged, and Nia drew the cloth free and set it beside his shirt on the stool.

Shen’s tail slid around her hips. Nia climbed onto his lap, and the first contact pulled a rough breath from him. She kissed the corner of his mouth, then his jaw, then the place beneath his ear where she could feel his pulse jump.

Her hand moved down his chest and stomach. When she wrapped her fingers around him, Shen’s breath stopped. Nia stroked him slowly and felt the muscles in his thighs tighten beneath her. His hands stayed planted beside him, but his tail drew her closer against him with each pass of her hand.

“Nia.”

His voice had roughened enough that Nia felt the sound against her mouth when she kissed him again. She shifted higher on her knees and guided him against herself. His hands finally left the bedding, one settling at her hip and the other spreading against the middle of her back as Nia lowered herself onto him.

The first stretch made her stop. Shen went still beneath her, his tail braced under her hips while she rested her forehead against his and breathed until the tension eased. She lowered herself farther, and his mouth opened against her cheek.

When she settled fully onto him, a deep shudder moved through his body. Nia stayed there for several breaths with his hands warm against her and his tail firm beneath her thighs. Then she lifted slightly and sank onto him again.

Shen closed his eyes as she repeated the movement, slowly at first, until she found a rhythm that let her feel every part of him. She braced one hand on his shoulder and used the other to sweep his loose hair away from where it had caught between them. Shen bent to kiss her chest while she moved, his mouth lingering there as the muscles beneath her hands grew tighter.

Each time she lowered herself, his thighs tensed as if he wanted to meet her. Each time, he held still. Nia slid her fingers into his hair and lifted his head.

“Look at me.”

His eyes opened, and she moved again while he watched her. The sound that left him was low and unsteady.

Her own breathing had lost any useful rhythm. Each descent pulled a tighter pressure low through her belly. She leaned back and let the broad coil at her waist take some of her weight, then sank down again and felt the pressure sharpen. Shen’s hand shifted from her back to her side, and Nia took it and placed it over her breast.

His thumb moved over her carefully at first. Nia rocked against him and felt his hand tighten.

“Again.”

He touched her more firmly, and her head tipped back. Shen leaned forward as far as her position allowed and kissed her throat. His breathing was rough now, warming her skin between kisses. When she rose again, his hips moved beneath her before he stopped himself.

Nia slowed when her thighs started to burn. Shen’s hands tightened at her waist, and his tail shifted higher beneath her, taking more of her weight. She used the support to lift herself again while his eyes stayed on her. By the third slow descent, his jaw had tightened and his next breath broke before he could smooth it.

She felt his hips move again and lowered herself until she was seated fully on him. Nia rolled her hips once, slow and close, and another rough breath left him. His forehead dropped to her shoulder, his tail tightening around her waist, and Nia kissed the side of his head before lifting his face.

“Now.”

Shen pulled her down as his hips rose to meet her. Nia gasped and caught his shoulders. He moved harder the next time, his breathing no longer measured. His tail held her at the hips while she moved with him, meeting him as the bed shifted beneath their combined weight. Shen’s loose hair dragged over her arms and chest, and his mouth found hers only after missing once.

The small loss of precision sent heat through her. She kissed him harder, and Shen made a broken sound into her mouth as his pace changed again.

The pressure low in Nia’s body broke into sharper waves with every movement. She pressed closer, one arm around his shoulders and the other hand buried in his hair. Shen said her name against her throat, then shifted his tail beneath her and lifted her enough to change the angle. The next movement sent pleasure through her so sharply that her whole body clenched around him.

Nia cried out against his shoulder and held on while the release moved through her. Shen’s hands tightened at her hips, and the rhythm broke completely. He buried his face against her neck. His body tightened beneath hers and shuddered. The broad length of his tail drew her flush against him until the shudder passed, then eased beneath her.

His arms came around her a moment later, one hand moving slowly along her back while he stayed folded against her.

For a while, Nia stayed in his lap with her cheek against his hair. His heartbeat remained fast beneath her palm. Sweat cooled along Nia’s shoulders while their breathing settled, and one of Shen’s pale strands stuck across the damp skin above her breast. She peeled it loose and tucked it back with the rest. He watched her fingers do it, still too winded to restore the neatness he usually managed almost without thinking.

When Nia lifted her head, his hair still lay over both shoulders and across one side of his face. She brushed it away from his cheek, and he turned to kiss her palm.

Nia smiled. Shen’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

His tail tightened around her hips, and Nia kissed him once, softer now.

“You can let me go enough to lie down.”

The coil loosened, and they shifted together. Shen steadied her as she eased off him, then pulled the fur over her when she lay back against the bedding. He settled beside her and reached toward the edge of the bed.

Nia closed a hand around his forearm. “Where are you going?”

“Water.”

“No.”

He looked at her, and Nia sat up.

“I’m getting it.”

“You do not need to.”

“I know.”

She reached for her dress where it lay beside the bed. Her legs felt pleasantly unsteady when she stood, which made Shen start to rise. Nia put one hand against his shoulder and pressed him back down before pulling the dress over herself and fastening only the upper tie.

At the washing side, Nia washed her hands, rinsed the small basin, and filled it with fresh water. She carried it back with a drying cloth. Shen washed and dried his hands while she went for two drinking cups, then she returned with both filled from the covered water vessel.

His hair was still loose around his shoulders. Nia handed him a cup and climbed back beside him with her own, leaning into his shoulder. A loose section of hair slid toward the rim when he drank, and she caught it before it touched the water. She gathered the pale strands and laid them over his far shoulder, combing them once with her fingers.

“You should leave it loose more often.”

“It catches against my hands when I cook.”

“We do not have to start the broth yet.”

His mouth softened. Nia drank her water while someone outside the household dragged a load through the corridor and scraped wood against stone at the turn. A second voice told him to lift the back before he marked the wall again. The scraping stopped, followed by a muttered answer Nia could not make out.

Shen’s tail slid beneath the fur and curled around her ankle. Nia rested her cup against her knee.

“The mushrooms are still soaking.”

“We can leave them there until we finish the water.”

Nia leaned farther into his side, tucked another loose strand of pale hair behind his shoulder, and lifted her cup again.