A Storm of Flames and Deceit

XXXI. I Refuse

Eris
I'm not sure I could find a man more different than my mother. Helion sits in his luxurious, golden toga, fanned by enchanted palms, being fed grapes by servants dressed in next to nothing. My mother was far from extravagant, but I wonder if she would be happy here. Not just happy by default, by comparison. I wonder if this is where she would belong in another life.
I can tell Nephele is happy here. Maybe she isn't happy in the way someone settles somewhere, but oh gods, her gray eyes were alight with amusement. The extravagance made her laugh, and if she was happy, I couldn't be vexed by a thing.
That is... if Helion would stop flirting with her.
I see the look in her eyes when he does. The smirk she sends in my direction. It humors them both to make me jealous. I'm sure they both think I'm just being territorial, but mother above, if they knew she was my mate?
They would award me for the sheer restraint I have shown in these past two days. By the cauldron, I slept next to her... twice. Twice! And- for the most part- I was able to keep my hands to myself. I was able to keep from bursting into flames.
Maybe that's why my skin feels so hot as of late- like a damn pressure cooker.
"You've never been to a party?" Helion gapes at Nephele. I blink- clearly, I missed the conversation that built up to that. I must've blacked out staring at her again.
"Funny enough, the rats and I thought the cellar didn't have the right acoustics for a revel," she smirks, rolling her eyes. "So no, I've never been to a party."
Helion fumbles. "Were there seriously rats?" He asks, and Neph chuckles sweetly in response, the sound like nectar. "It's no matter. I'm throwing a party tonight."
Nephele's jaw drops the smallest bit. "A party? Was that always the plan?" He seems to have only just decided that.
"Doesn't matter," Helion shakes his head. "Tonight, we party."
"Helion, I'd be remised to not warn my fiancé that your parties aren't exactly for beginners," I say quietly. Helion's parties certainly had a reputation. Orgies. Hard drugs and wines. Promiscuous dancing. Exhibitionists.
Neph braved the crudeness of the Court of Nightmares, but a party with Helion would be something different entirely. Something I'm not sure she understands.
"Good," Nephele smiles in challenge at me. "I never believed in dipping a toe in. Best to just jump."
So be it. When the party scares her limp, I'll be waiting with open arms, ready to say I told you so. I do so love to be right.
...
"You would tell me if I was overdressed, wouldn't you?" She pouts, fumbling with the fabric of her top. "I feel like I'm wearing too much clothing, judging by the people I saw walking in the entrance from my window."
Yes, I saw those people too. I had given her an outfit that was far more conserved than all of them combined, but I could still drool over her. Her outfit came in two pieces: a slinky skirt with a sharp slit up to her hip and a matching top. The top was little more than silky silver fabric, draped over her breasts like rainwater, fastened by slim straps. I'm sweating just looking at her, and the desert weather didn't help.
I laugh dryly. "I'm not letting you out in anything less than this." And this is certainly pushing it for me. We haven't even gone downstairs yet and I'm already fighting every protective urge in my body not to beg her to stay back with me.
She huffs in annoyance, crossing her arms, narrowing her eyes. It's cute when she gets bratty. "You don't let me do anything, Hot Stuff. I wear what I want."
"I buy everything you wear," I retort casually. "So I think I get some say."
"I could always go naked," she offers, shrugging cutely, breezing past me from her quarters. Separate bedrooms tonight. Yeah, I'm in a pissy mood about it. Not to mention her relentless defiance that has me a bit hot and bothered. My cheeks are burning a bit as she turns back, smirking at me. "Coming?"
I groan, wrapping my arm around her shoulders, letting her loop her arms around my waist. "Yeah, yeah," I mutter in her ear. "Just stay close to me tonight, okay?"
"Like a thorn in your side," she replies, smiling up at me sweetly as we walk into the courtyard.
Helion's palace sits on a desert oasis, probably one of the only water reserves for miles and miles. The party takes place along the water's edge, countless servers floating around with every sort of drug imaginable. Luckily, Neph is smart enough not to even ask about trying the dangerous looking powders and mushrooms.
She does, however, look curious about a tray of small bags of herbs. Begrudgingly, I flag down the server, plucking a bag of something I think she'd enjoy. I pick a small bag of lavender and various green herbs, knowing she'll appreciate the aroma as much as she appreciates the high. I take a rolling leaf, and tug her towards an unoccupied lounge chair, admiring the curious look in her eyes.
She slides into my lap, watching my fingers as they dump the herbs onto the leaf, centering the stems and shrubs and lavender. She absentmindedly plays with my hair as she watches me roll the leaf into a blunt, licking the edge to seal it in. I raise a brow at her. "You're not going to ask me what this is?"
She shakes her head, meeting my eyes with a smile. "I trust you."
Damnit if I don't swell with the admission.
"Good," I say, taking her face in my hand, dropping my voice to a whisper. "Now open up."
She looks a little dazed, but she complies, letting me slip the blunt between her pretty lips, closing her teeth around the end gently. I pull my hand away, snapping my fingers, letting a flame come to my fingertips. "Now inhale," I tell her, and she does. I smile, noting the aroused look in her eyes to be bossed around. Interesting. I could already tell she liked to be dominant, but I didn't know she was aroused by submission as well. My skin feels a little hotter at the possibilities, but I try not to get ahead of myself. "Exhale."
She does, her breath tickling my throat. I light the tip of her blunt, pulling my hands to her waist to hold her. "Inhale," I tell her again. She takes a drag, her eyes going a bit wide as the end of her blunt smolders. "Exhale."
She does, pulling the blunt from her lips, coughing into her fist quietly. I laugh under my breath, taking the blunt and taking a very long drag. "What do you think?" I ask her, smirking as she takes the blunt back from me.
"I think," she says sharply, taking a more experienced drag. No coughing, though her watering eyes suggest that she might be holding it back. "It's an acquired taste."
I smile, letting her have the rest of the blunt. She knows her body, and I trust her to stop when she needs to. I didn't grab her anything particularly strong, anyway.
Helion glides over, walking on air, I'm sure. On his arm is a person wearing a completely sheer gown, they're hair and makeup completely flawless, they're beard blanketing the lower part of their face. On Helion's other arm is a woman with short blonde hair and a nearly nonexistent outfit. Hell would freeze over before I'd let Neph wear something out in public like that. It isn't even a matter of trust or a matter of keeping her safe. I know she can take care of herself. I just don't want anyone else to... look at her. I don't want anyone else to look at her as I do.
I understand it's entirely irrational, but I get a pass on being ridiculous and unreasonable because she is my mate. And I can be jealous, if I want.
"I see you two found my garden stash," Helion smirks, looking over the pair of us. "What do we think?"
"It smells good," Neph hums, taking a whiff of the lavender in the air. I wonder if she feels it making her high yet. I remember my first time getting high. I was completely fine until it struck me like lightning, and suddenly colors had voices and shapes talked.
Helion chuckles into the blonde beside him. Neph seems to notice Helion's company for the first time, notices how sparsely they dress in garments of white and gold. Then, as if all at once, she notices how scandalous the party is. Even in the darkness, so many people walked around completely naked. I could feel her skin heat under the desert breeze.
"Looks like you two bagged the perfect seat for the show," Helion smirks, his eyes flicking towards the oasis. I follow his gaze. I hadn't noticed the massive bed arising from the waters until now, but I know it can't mean anything good. I glance at Nephele whose eyes have gone even wider because even her innocent gaze knows what a bed in this context means.
"We can go whenever you want," I murmur into her ear, so quiet only she can hear as Helion takes his companions somewhere else to sit. "Just say the words."
She glances at me, immediately averting her eyes. Was she being... shy? Neph is never shy. I'm not sure how to react. "I want to stay," she whispers, settling deeper into my lap, her thigh rubbing against my dick. I bite my lip, nodding as I discretely suck in a breath. She doesn't seem to outwardly notice her effect on me, my fingers tightening on her thigh as she returns her attention to the bed. At least whatever show Helion has planned will likely excuse my erection.
It's all so theatrical. The lights simmer. The harp player begins to strum something sensual, nearly a lullaby, Neph sagging against me, relaxing as she continues to smoke her joint. Next, a man and woman wade through the knee deep water towards the bed, hand and hand, completely naked. Neph gasps softly, holding closer to me, likely out of a place of pure shock. It was so easy to see her as experienced given how deadly her flirtation was to me, but at times, I forget how truly innocent she is.
The man lifts the woman onto the bed gently, stepping between her legs. At eye level now, their lips meet, slow and sensual, his hands gripping her ass, not dissimilar to how I'm gripping Neph's waist. My thoughts turn intrusive then. I begin to imagine the woman has Neph's long braids, her lightning strike body, her storm gray eyes. I begin to imagine that the man has my red, floppy hair. My freckled skin.
I begin to imagine the couple on the bed is us.
The man pushes the woman back onto her elbows, working his mouth down her throat. I could just see my self biting at Neph's collarbone, my palms working up to her breasts. I'd bite the hard buds of her nipples then, and I wouldn't be gentle until I'd suck and kiss away the hurt to the melody of her moans.
Her hips would be just as restless, squirming and rubbing against the mattress, legs spread and looking for friction. I'd make her wait. I'd take my time, letting that throb build inside of her until she could hardly contain herself.
Then I'd push her down roughly on her back. I'd climb on top of her and cage her in my knees, and mother above, I'd look into her eyes. I'd look into her eyes as I licked my fingers, sliding them between her thighs.
She would gasp in surprise, bucking against my hand so suddenly that I'd have to push her hips down, and I'd be a smug son of a bitch about it. She'd probably swear at me with that filthy mouth of hers. When I finally would manage to redirect my attention from her mouth back to her thighs, my throat would tighten a bit at how she glistens for me.
But it wouldn't be enough. I'd spread her wetness across her folds and openings and sensitive skin. My fingers would light a fire on her flesh as they pulled and swirled the wetness, her toes curling. Her chest would heave, the rise and fall of her breasts as she took a cleansing breath to center herself. I wouldn't give her time to recover.
No, I would swipe my tongue up her center then. I'd make her groan and swear and whine and cry out for me, and I wouldn't stop until she called my name out with her release.
My vision falls when another feminine frame steps into the Oasis, a brunette sauntering towards the bed. She climbs onto the bed, meeting the woman's lips passionately, slipping between the couple. The man doesn't look at all dismayed, kissing the brunette's throat hotly, and the girl on the true bottom looks like she's having the best time of her life as both the man and woman grab a breast each, massaging and working it up.
I glance at Neph, wondering if she's mortified, but I should've known better. My mate is so adventurous. She doesn't look upon the display in horror or embarrassment. No, she swallows her breath, her teeth sinking into her lip, her legs crossing over one another. My mate wasn't horrified.
She was aroused.
Initially, I react on pure primal instinct, jealous out of my mind that anyone else could get her off. But as I take a minute to evaluate, I begin to wonder if she's thinking of me. Her eyes are glued on the performers, but her hands are on me. Her fingers lace through my hair absentmindedly, and her other hand slowly traces the swell of my bicep.
Or maybe it's all wishful thinking.
I decide it doesn't matter. I decide I want her to feel aroused, feel reckless, feel alive.
I want her to feel everything.
And I'm return I refuse.
I refuse to shackle her more than I already have. I refuse to hold her back. And I refuse to make her accommodate for my deep attraction to her.
Nephele has lived enough of her life under the control of dishonorable men, and above all, I refuse to be one of them.