Chapter 35: Chapter 35

AMY

Amy knew where he’d be. She hurried to the training room after leaving the bridge, her thoughts focused on how difficult it would be for Silian to face his father.

~He can say he doesn’t have a father as much as he wants, but seeing the man will be like facing his abuser with no chance at justice.~

That thought brought back deeply repressed memories of her own father. She didn’t have many memories of her family, but the ones that surfaced now made her slow in the hall.

~I get it, Silian. Asshole dads are a tough hand to deal with. But you are not dealing with this alone.~

She came around the corner and saw the training room stood open, the same grunts and metallic impacts she heard the first time she found this room flowed to her, and a smile spread on her face.

~I know he’s pissed off, but this is going to be a sight to remember.~

As she approached, her feet quiet on the metal floors so as not to disturb him, the sounds stopped and only her own pounding heart filled her ears.

She peered around the corner, and her mouth fell open at the sight of Silian crouching in the center of the room, on the mat he’d pinned her to before, his back to her.

He had no shirt on and his arms extended at his sides, two long blades in his hands. The sharp tips rested on the ground, ready, and his quick breaths made the muscles on his back glide beneath his sweat-covered skin.

Around him stood four faceless Prime dolls, their arms morphed into thick, ragged swords held at their sides, waiting.

Amy leaned against the door frame, trying not to make a sound, and watched as he looked around at each doll. Without warning, all four faceless opponents lunged at him at the same time.

She bit her lip with a smile as Silian reacted lightning-quick to the eight razor-sharp arms coming at him from every angle.

She focused on how he moved, his big body bending with ease and speed as he avoided each one of the Prime arms.

As he swung his sword at the attacks, Amy watched with a wide mouth.

The blows he delivered shattered the arms of the dolls, sending plumes of silver dust into the air, only to re-form on the doll’s arm into the same deadly-looking blades.

She swallowed, feeling her own breaths quicken as her heart raced. She let out a faint sigh. ~Oh God, that man is incredible,~ she thought, feeling her face pull into a grin.

Silian jerked his head for a second to the door, and all eight-bladed arms lunged into Silian’s midsection at the same time, like the points of an octagon.

“Silian!” she shouted and ran into the room to help him, but the dolls fell to the ground in a cloud of silver, and Silian turned to her. His skin showed no sign of damage, not even a scratch.

She met his eyes, and he grinned at her.

“I don’t…I saw the Prime dolls stab you?” she said, stepping around him to check his back.

“Amy,” he said, pulling her back in front of him. “What good would a training room be if the trainee didn’t make it out alive?”

Amy shook her head and gave him a soft punch in the solid muscular chest in front of her. “Not funny!” she barked but couldn’t hold back a smile.

She looked into his eyes, and as the blue and red fought for space, her smile fell.

“Silian, I get it. I understand what you’re going through. Take as long as you need, but just remember that I am here for you. In any way you need.

“To talk, or to sit quietly and listen, or just to simply freak out at weird shit like what just happened. So that you know someone cares enough to worry about you.”

Silian dropped his gaze to the ground.

“Amy, I have dealt with my emotions alone my whole life. You will never know how happy it makes me to hear that you are here and willing to help through the difficult times, but…

“I don’t know how to turn to someone in a moment like that. I have always used violence to ease my pain.”

Amy took his hand into hers and when his eyes met hers the blue no longer fought with the red, but rather a deep emerald-green swirled with the blue.

~So much emotion tearing him up inside. I need to do something. Help him, in some way.~

“Silian, the biggest part of a relationship is being there for each other in a time of need. In trusting the other person.

“No matter what is going on, or how angry you are or sad…I will always be here for you. To help you deal with it. In any way I can.”

He smiled. “Thank you, Amy.”

“Now, I may not be able to hold up in a ring with you or match you with a sword, but I do have my own little ways of taking your mind off things,” she said with a smile.

Silian laughed, and as the blue pushed all other emotions away, she caught a scent of intoxicating liquor.

He stepped closer to her and pulled her into his arms, lifting her up against his chest and carried her to the steps in the back of the room. He placed her down on her feet and brought his lips to hers.

Amy broke the kiss, looking into his eyes. “Do we still have time?”

“Yes,” Prime’s voice said, “Another four hours, twelve minutes, and thirty-six seconds.”

Amy stepped back from him.

“Good, then I want it to be special. Give me five minutes, then come find me. And, Prime, no cheating, don’t tell him where I am, he needs to follow the clues,” she said, stepping around him off the steps.

“What clues?” Silian asked, with a frown. Amy turned back to him and with a naughty smile, she pulled her jacket off, lifted it into the air next to her with two fingers, then dropped it to the floor.

She watched Silian’s eyes follow the fabric, then meet hers again, with that same predatory gaze she’d seen before.

“Five minutes,” he said, his voice deep and low. “Prime, begin countdown.”

Amy smiled and turned to run out of the room.

***

“Prime, how much time do I have left?” Amy asked as she checked the temperature of the bath with her hand.

“Fifty-one seconds until Silian comes looking for you,” Prime said.

Amy pulled her hand out of the bath and flicked the bubbles off with her other hand.

She looked down at her naked body and smiled at the thought of Silian following a trail of clothes through the ship.

Last, he would find her black lacy underwear hanging on the bathroom door, thanks to a small hook Prime made for her.

She frowned. “Um, Prime?” she asked.

“Yes, Amy?”

“Can you ~not~ be here when he finds me?”

“If you wish for me to cease all my functions in this room, I will not be able to keep the water in the bath warm, and the bubbles will begin to dissipate.”

Amy shook her head. ~That’s what’s supposed to happen~.

“It’s fine, I just don’t feel comfortable with you watching.”

“I am always watching, Amy. That is my function.”

Amy sighed. “Not this time, Prime. Please?”

“As you wish,” Prime said, and a moment later, the lights turned off and the gentle yellow glow of the candles filled the room.

She heard the door to her quarters open and climbed into the bath, lowering herself into the steaming hot water and waited.

She tried to listen to the sounds beyond the bathroom door, and when she heard Silian’s deep laugh, she smiled as her heart raced. ~I hope he likes this.~

He knocked gently on the door, and she called out for him to come in. When the door slid open, she looked up to gauge his reaction, but saw his smile fall into an open-mouthed expression. ~Does that mean he likes it?~

“What is this?” he asked, gesturing at the room.

“Lesson…nine, I think. It’s called seduction. I’m hoping that you see everything,” she said, trailing a finger down her neck, “and like it.”

He stepped into the bathroom. “You did this for me?”

She watched him look around at the bright-red petals laying all over the bathroom, the thirty-something candles lit around the room, and the silver ice bucket next to her. He smiled and met her eyes.

“Of course, I did. Sometimes, the best way to release your anger is to take a quiet moment with someone you love. To be close to each other, and to share the weight of it,” she said, sitting up.

She felt the bubbles on her chest slide down, and it captured his gaze.

“Just remember this when I get upset. Sometimes a little pampering can make all the difference, and it doesn’t have to happen only when the other person is upset.

“You can do it just to show how much you care. Why don’t you join me? The water won’t be warm forever.”

“Amy, if ever I forget to tell you, or I don’t have the chance, remember that you are the most amazing woman I have ever met.

“And no matter how my life turns out, know that you are the only one who ever held my hearts in your hands,” he said, and with one swift move, his shirt lay on the floor.

She leaned against the edge of the large spa bath, and grabbed the glass of champagne she poured earlier. She took a sip of the sweet champagne as she watched him kick off his boots.

As his hands moved to his waist, she looked into his blue eyes and slowly licked the rim of the glass as he removed his pants and undergarments.

Her eyes drifted lower, and she saw with satisfaction that he was already half aroused.

As he went to sit facing her in the bath, she shook her head. “Face that way.” She pointed, putting her drink down.

He frowned but did as she asked. As he lowered his large frame into the bath, the water rose and spilled over the edge.

“Prime, clean that up,” he said, and Amy knelt before leaning into him, her breasts pressed against the skin of his back as her fingers danced across his broad chest.

“She’s not here,” she whispered into his ear before taking the end of his earlobe into her mouth for a moment. “It’s just you...and me.”

“I...see,” he said. “What happens now?”

She curled her hand back from his chest up to his shoulders, using more pressure to massage the muscles. “Pampering,” she whispered as he gave a sigh of contentment, “until you can’t take it anymore.”

She used her cupped hands to wet his hair before grabbing the bottle of shampoo Prime made for her and squirted a small amount onto his dark hair.

~So that’s what moonflower smells like. I like it.~

She rubbed it in, getting a lather before using the tips of her fingers to gently massage his scalp.

“That feels great,” he murmured.

“Good,” she replied. She continued it for a minute before rinsing his hair clean.

She returned to the massage, running her fingers over his toned arms before curling her hands to place her fingertips against his sides.

All the while, she could smell the sweet heady scent of him and felt the hollowed butterflies inside her.

“I just want you to relax and enjoy this,” she said huskily as one of her hands drifted forward. “Just close your eyes and let me take care of you.”

With a soft touch, she gripped him, barely able to get her hand all the way around it as she kissed the skin on his back. “Just let yourself go to the sensations,” she whispered as he groaned softly.

She stroked him with one hand, removing the other from the bath to silently take an ice cube from the bucket and put it in her mouth.

As she moved her hand, she kissed him on the back again, letting the ice cube touch his skin. His back stiffened in shock, and she felt an echo in her grip before he relaxed into it.

As she continued her movements, her own breathing grew heavier, feeling him respond to the way she touched him and feeling the rising heat inside her.

She couldn’t take much more of this herself, despite her desire to see him lose control.

She let go and slid back in the huge bath, getting to her feet and stepping around him. His eyes locked onto hers as she stepped between his knees.

The bubbles were now gone, and she could see the entirety of him under the water, and she swallowed the remaining ice cube and bit her lip, thinking of what it would feel like.

“This seems very one-sided,” Silian said, looking up at her.

She looked back at his eyes to see the hunger in his gaze, and her breath caught at the look, feeling the burn inside her intensify.

She stood naked and glistening in front of him, the water only up to her knees, and as his eyes drifted lower, she cleared her throat. “What did you have in mind?”

“Lesson three,” he said, moving his large hands to part her thighs as he stared up from his sitting position. She closed her eyes and curled one hand into his hair.

~I like that lesson.~