Astelion POV
My consciousness returned slowly, drifting up through layers of thick, heavy exhaustion. The first thing I felt was warmth solid, unyielding warmth wrapping around my torso and shielding me from the biting mountain chill outside. I blinked my eyes open, the blurred shapes of the room slowly coming into focus.
I was tucked securely against Kiono's chest, his arms anchoring me to him as if he were afraid I might vanish into the air if he let go. The frantic panic of the timeline and the heavy burden of the upcoming festival softened for a fraction of a second just looking at him. Moving carefully so as not to break the quiet peace of the morning, I reached up and gently brushed a stray lock of hair away from his face. I leaned in, pressing a soft, lingering kiss against his cheek.
Kiono's long eyelashes fluttered, and his blue eyes slowly opened, locking onto mine. But the lazy warmth of sleep vanished from his gaze almost instantly, replaced by a deep, tight look of concern and worry.
"Are you okay, my love?" he asked, his gravelly voice dropping into a low, anxious tone as his hand moved up to cup the side of my neck.
"Yes, I am," I murmured, leaning into his touch, though a faint, throbbing ache still pulsed behind my eyes. "What time did you get back?"
"I got back pretty late," he replied softly, his thumb tracing a soothing circle over my collarbone. "You were fast asleep."
He sat up in the bed, the thick blankets pooling around his waist, and I followed him, propping myself up against the headboard. The moment my mind fully cleared, the sudden realization of the calendar hit me like a physical blow. The festival was now a day away. The palace routine, the kitchen duties, the strict schedule
"Oh no," I gasped, a sudden spike of panic tightening my throat. "I am going to be late."
I threw the covers off, swinging my legs over the edge of the mattress to get out of the bed, but before my feet could touch the cold floor, Kiono reached out. His hand wrapped around my wrist, halting my movement with a gentle but firm pull.
"The palace is empty today," he said quietly.
I paused, turning my head to look back at him, my brow furrowing in deep confusion. "What are you talking about?"
Kiono's gaze dropped down to his own hand, his expression darkening with a somber, heavy weight. "Today is when Castel's parents died. During this time every year, Castel prefers to be locked away to grieve. Even I... he does not want me hanging around. The streets are bare."
A strange, hollow quiet settled over the room. I stared at him, the image of the terrifying king from the courtyard flashing through my mind, replaced suddenly by the ghost of the boy who had lost everything. I slid back into the center of the bed, reaching out to wrap my fingers around his hand, giving it a soft, supportive squeeze.
"It must be hard for him," I said softly, the words tasting complex on my tongue, considering the future I was trying to prevent. "I couldn't imagine the pain he feels."
"Neither can I," Kiono responded, his voice low and distant.
He pulled me into his chest, wrapping his arms around me for a tight, grounding hug. As my chin rested over his shoulder, my eyes wandered past his back, taking in the state of the bedroom for the first time. The quiet intimacy of our conversation shattered as I blinked at the sheer destruction surrounding us.
Books were scattered across the floorboards. A wooden chair lay overturned in the corner, and a small side table was cracked against the wall.
"It looks like a storm blew through here," I muttered, pulling back slightly to look at him.
Kiono looked into my eyes, his expression completely serious, devoid of any exaggeration. "You were that storm. You lost control and chanting."
My breath caught in my throat. I stared at him, a cold dread prickling across my skin as I realized I had absolutely no memory of it.
The time travel.
I thought to myself, a frantic realization locking in. The chronological displacement, the fracturing of my timeline, and the sheer mental toll of containing two different realities were bleeding into my subconscious, forcing my telekinetic currents to lash out while I slept.
Before the panic could consume me, Kiono leaned forward, catching my attention. "After the festival, I will take you to meet my parents."
The reminder of his promise brought a fragile sense of reality back into the room. I pulled back slightly, looking into the devotion in his eyes, and gave him a firm, decisive nod.
The heavy atmosphere of the palace and the impending doom of the timeline dissolved completely as Kiono closed the distance between us. His hand slid into the tangled mass of my hair, tilting my head back as his mouth crashed onto mine.
The kiss was hot, sudden, and instantly passionate, a desperate claim that wiped the lingering chill from the air.
He pulled me flat against the mattress, his heavy body hovering over mine as his hands traced the hem of the oversized linen shirt I wore. Kiono knew exactly what he was doing, his movements deliberate, unhurried, and dripping with a raw, unfiltered desire that made my skin burn. His mouth left mine, tracing a path of wet, heavy kisses down the column of my throat, his teeth dragging lightly against my sensitive skin to leave deep, dark hickeys that marked me as his. I gasped, my fingers locking into his shoulders as his hands slid down to cup my breasts through the thin fabric, his thumbs flicking over my nipples until they hardened under his touch. He leaned down, taking one peak into his mouth, sucking firmly, his tongue swirling around the sensitive bud while his other hand slid lower, down the curve of my hip.
A soft whimper escaped my lips as he slicked his fingers, guiding his hand between my thighs. He began his foreplay with an perfect rhythm, his long fingers finding my heat, slipping inside me while his thumb worked the aching center of my pleasure. I arched my spine off the bed, the friction driving a sharp, breathless moan from my throat. I needed him to be in me. But he wasn't done breaking me down. He pulled away, dragging my body down the mattress until he could roll me over onto my stomach. Kiono moved behind me, his hands gripping my hips to lift me onto my hands and knees, and he leaned down, spreading me open. The warm, wet friction of his tongue against my clit was intense and completely uninhibited, his wet strokes driving me to the brink within minutes.
Before I could shatter, he pulled back, the heat of his bare skin pressing against my backside. He guided himself to my entrance, pushing inside me in one deep, unyielding stroke that filled me completely.
It took my breath away. My toes curled, my back arched, my hands digging into the sheets. We moved into a slow at first into a fast rhythmic pace in the position, the slap of skin echoing against the ruined walls of the room. Every thrust was deep and calculated, Kiono guiding my hips with his hands, his breath ragged against my ear. The intense angle drove me over the edge first, my vision going white as my walls clamped around him, my first orgasm ripping through my body in waves.
He didn't stop. He rolled us onto our sides, keeping his length buried inside me as he pulled my top leg over his hip, taking me sideways with slow, grinding thrusts that built a different, deeper kind of friction. "Kiono!" I cried out his name, my hands clutching at his back as he sucked on my neck, leaving another dark mark while he ran his fingers through my hair. The shifting angle caught me again, the buildup so intense that my second orgasm crashed through me before the first had even fully faded.
Kiono let out a low, guttural growl, his grip tightening as he pulled me upright, shifting his weight so he was flat on his back and pulling me on top of him. I straddled his lap, his hands still resting on my waist, guiding my movements as I began to ride him. The control was intoxicating, but he wouldn't let me dictate the pace for long, his hips arched upward to meet every downward stroke, pushing deeper and deeper until my core throbbed with an unbearable heat. The sheer depth of him triggered my third orgasm, my head dropping back as I shook against him.
He caught me, his hands lifting my body effortlessly as he stood up from the bed, keeping our bodies locked together. He pinned me against the solid wood of the wall, my legs wrapped securely around his waist as he supported my weight with his arms. Standing there, the gravity of his thrusts was completely overwhelming. He drove into me with an unpolished, force, his mouth devouring mine to swallow my screams. The intense, suspended friction sent me over the edge for the fourth time, my body convulsing completely around him.
The contraction of my release finally broke his control. Kiono let out a deep, ragged groan against my mouth, his posture locking as he delivered two final, powerful thrusts, unloading his first cum deep inside me, his body shaking with the force of his release.
He held me against the wall for a long, breathless minute, both of us panting, our skin slick with sweat in the cool air of the mountain house. Slowly, he let my feet slide back to the floorboards, though his arms remained wrapped tightly around my waist, his forehead resting against mine as our heartbeats thundered in unison. The panic of the past, the threat of the future, and the chaos of the kingdom were entirely locked outside the door. Here, in the quiet wreckage, there was only him.