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Kit's in meetings. Again. Still. She's surprised how much of her life, after saving her brother and defeating the Crone and returning victorious, now revolves around meetings.
She tries to tell herself that it's a good thing. That this is her finally being able to do something with her title. This is her transforming the role of princess, turning it from a word that itches and chafes at the edges of her into something that feels more like Kit.
This is the third hour of a meeting that was supposed to be about negotiating the distribution of grain, the beginnings of a complex three-way trade offer that would allow for extra forces, better support for their allies. It ends up being an hour of grievances about the price of ore now that Skellin has reduced production, and another two hours of debate about whether the Wyrm is even real. Kit's - trying. Trying to manage her tongue, to not lay into people with sharp words about why it's perfectly alright that Skellin has decreased production. Trying not to get too angry on Elora's behalf, because the Wyrm is real and coming and these nobles are too comfortable to notice.
There are limits to Kit's patience for nonsense. If she has to sit through another minute of well-fed, soft-handed dignitaries bickering she's going to either start a genuine fistfight or crawl out of her own skin.
The block at least has finished, there's meant to be a luncheon (more grievances, this time about society rather than the business of the kingdom) and then a reconvening. Again, ostensibly to finalize the details of the great work they did that morning, but since the morning was nothing but unproductive nonsense she's not sure what there is to finalize.
Kit steps out of the meeting hall the minute it feels even halfway appropriate. There's a band of tension that's been tightening around her forehead all morning, and as soon as she passes over the threshold out of the room, she feels it starts to dissipate. She finds a tray of little sandwiches in the anteroom, tables laid out for luncheon.
Kit eats her fill standing against the wall, trying hard not to look as angry as she feels. She's trying her best but it's hard work, learning to be this new facet of herself. She wishes, for the millionth time, that she had someone around to look to for guidance. Someone not her mother.
She knows what her mother would do. Knows what Princess Kit, Sorsha's perfect daughter would do. She'd sit down, would be gracious with her guests and listen kindly and sweetly to their grievances. She'd smooth things over with just the right turn of phrase, a light joke and a sprinkle of feminine charm to keep everyone agreeable.
(She can hear what her mother would say, if she were here to see her just now: You're not a horse at a trough, Kit. Be sociable.)
There's one duke, part of the delegation from Galladoorn, whose capacity for derailing the simplest of transactions seems to be bottomless. She hears him begin to speak, exclaiming over the sandwiches - also not to his liking - as he leaves the hall. Kit-as-she-is, trying her best, doesn't care one bit what this terrible man thinks of the sandwiches. She fantasizes briefly about dragging him by the ear to work things out in the training ring.
She needs to get out of here.
She takes another sandwich for the road. Eats it, unladylike, as she walks down the stone halls, dips into a back passageway that she knows by heart. It takes her from this wing of the castle and across a servants' passageway that lets her cut through, exiting down near the stables.
It's an old habit, her feet making decisions before her head can catch up with them. Her instinct, as always, is to go find Jade. To pretend she's just escaped some awful obligation Sorsha's put her through - a dress fitting, embroidery lessons, deportment - and sneak down to her safest space.
Kit pauses in the stone archway, just before the door, and sighs. All she really wants is to be alone with Jade. Wants to have their old horses safe in the stables and ready to go for a ride. Wants to head out, find someplace quiet and private and lay face-up in the sun. To rest shoulder to shoulder and talk staring at the sky where it feels like she can say anything.
But Jade's not in the stables anymore. She has her own rooms at the palace, a short walk from Kit's, and these days she spends her time in other parts of the castle. She's got her own work, no longer mucking out stalls and training endlessly to join the Legion. These days, Kit's more likely to find her with Elora and Willow in the library.
Kit opens the door. The sun is warm on her face and the glow of it is instantly calming. The bite of autumn has started to creep into the air at night, but it's midday and glorious. One of the last few warm days before winter. She stops at the stables first, tosses a coin and a quick word to the new girl who works there, a lanky young thing who's all elbows.
The library is cold. It's always cold, and maybe that's by design - Kit recalls someone telling her it was good for the books, but immediately forgot the reason. There's light filtering in from the grand windows, but the glass is all stained or bevelled - that, Kit knows, is for the books - and it barely hints at the glorious day everyone is missing just outside.
Kit finds Jade, head bowed. She's elbow-deep in a pile of carefully-unfurled scrolls, a leather-bound open on her lap and a dozen more stacked precariously on the table in front of her. The soft light from the windows illuminates her from behind, so that she seems to almost glow. Kit's heart does a little flip. She wants to steal her away so badly.
Jade catches her on her approach, keeps her gaze trained on her book as Kit lifts a nearby chair and sets it down as close to Jade as she can manage. "Hey," Kit says. She drapes herself across Jade's side, one arm around Jade's back, her chin on Jade's shoulder. "What are you doing?"
She knows what Jade's doing. It's what she's been doing for the past week, what Kit's been helping her with in the evenings when she has energy and time to spare. Elora finally convinced Sorsha to open the palace library and archives, and they've been combing it for details related to the Order, the Wyrm, Kymeria, all of it. It's important work. Jade smiles down at her pages, reaches up to ruffle Kit's hair. "Reading."
"Are you almost done?" Kit asks, despite the obvious evidence to the contrary. Jade sighs. Kit changes tactics. "Come for a ride with me."
"I'm supposed to be helping," Jade says. It's not a no, but it's also not yes.
"Come on," Kit says. She's trying to keep her voice light, the tone playful. But there's a quaver to her voice that makes Jade look up and study her more intensely. She hopes that Jade can see it in her eyes, that Kit's feeling the way she used to. Like the palace is too tight, too small, and the only thing that will settle her is sunshine and open air. "I need to get out of here," Kit adds.
Jade's expression softens. Kit feels suddenly sixteen, stuck in a way she can't fully express, aching to be the person she feels like when she and Jade are alone. She's herself on the night before her wedding, hoping desperately that Jade will run away with her. She's herself now, older and wiser but still asking Jade if she can spare a few hours, heart in her throat. She's all of them at once.
Jade is herself at sixteen, terrified of getting in trouble but so eager to be swept away by Kit's whims. Jade is herself now, older and much less concerned with rules, still happy to give Kit what she wants most. "Just for the afternoon," she says, more of a statement than a question.
"Yes," Kit crows. Then softer, remembering that there are people reading: "I love you."
Jade rolls her eyes. "And if Elora gets after me for not finishing this, you're explaining."
"What am I explaining?" Kit says, already on her feet.
Jade sets her book aside, carefully marks the page. "How you seduced me into slacking off," she says. "That I was an innocent victim."
Kit winks. "Of course. You were helpless to resist my charms."
Jade slides her hand along Kit's back, squeezes her waist before releasing. "Cheeky," she says, fondly.
Kit can't stop smiling as they descend to the stables. The warm sun hitting her face feels like freedom.
They ride. The girl at the stables, Miss Elbows-and-Knees who can't be older than thirteen, has two horses ready for them. She reminds Kit, almost painfully, of Jade when they first met. She's deadly serious about the horses but brilliant with them, won't meet Kit's gaze and addresses Sir Lady Jade with awe in her voice. Something twists in Kit's chest every time they cross paths.
Eclipse and Shadow are gone, lost to time and the hardships of the Uncharted Territories. Kit hasn't been able to bring herself to find another horse that's hers, but the two saddled and ready are perfectly serviceable. Kit promises, very solemnly, to bring them both back in good condition.
Then she catches Jade's grin, the way the sun falls gold across her face, and urges her mount into a brisk walk. They ride down the main road leading away from the palace. It descends straight ahead toward the barrier, swoops left into farmland and villages, right into the forest and wild lands that surround the palace.
Kit turns right, Jade follows.
They ride slowly at first, but there's a stretch coming up that's nice and flat, good sight lines. The perfect spot to let the horses run. "Race you?" she says, grinning.
"To what?" Jade says.
Kit shrugs. "Nothing," she says. "I just want to run."
There's a beat where Jade hesitates, and Kit thinks it's to talk it out. But then Jade's heels are digging in hard and her horse is flying forward, a full length head start before Kit can even react. Kit tries to swear but loses it in a laugh, delighted and surprised all at once. Jade's caught Kit's mood, besting her at her own game, and Kit can't think of a single thing that could be better. She digs her heels in hard and feels her own horse surge into a gallop.
Jade is waiting for her at the end of the straightaway. Her cheeks are flushed and she's grinning. Kit rolls her eyes, as she eases her horse back into a walk. "Now who's cheeky," she says.
Jade winks. "You loved it."
Kit feels butterflies swoop through her stomach, settle low. Of course she did.
They ride down to the base of the cliffs, and Kit looks up as they ride past. Thinks about the hours she spent sparring with Jade on the rocks there. She's tempted to take them up the path, to look out toward the barrier, but - not today. Instead Kit takes them along the base of the cliffs, toward the forest. Walks them along a winding dirt path that splits off into game trails, a maze of different hunting routes that twist through complex, rolling terrain. After a while, Kit catches the gleam of recognition on Jade's face. She knows where they're going.
Kit leads them to one of Airk's favourite spots. It's on lower ground, secluded near the stream that winds through this part of the forest. There's a thicket of trees overgrown with time, trunks curled away from each other and then together, shaped by unknown forces into a little nest just big enough for two. They both dismount, and by the time they've tied and sorted the horses, Jade is grinning again.
"Here?" she says. "And me, all alone with you?"
Kit rubs the back of her neck. "Shut up," she says, doesn't mean it.
"Is my honor about to be besmirched?"
Kit rolls her eyes. "I think I've been besmirching it on a regular basis for a little while, now."
But Jade's already wrapped around her, nuzzling in to the back of Kit's ear. "You couldn't think of anywhere less obvious?"
Kit didn't mean it like that. Or, maybe she did, unintentionally. She'd just been thinking about getting away. Taking Jade someplace private where they could just be them.
Jade's hands are already around her middle, holding her close and tickling at her ribs. Kit brings her hands down to rest on Jade's forearms, fidgets with her shirt sleeves. She doesn't wear bracers every day anymore, it's just soft cloth for Kit's fingers to tangle in. "It's not like that," Kit says.
Jade presses a kiss to the sensitive spot just behind Kit's ear, exhales a slow breath that makes Kit shiver. "What's it like, then?"
"I just needed a break from - being good, all the time." Jade's hands rub up and down Kit's sides, encouraging. "I'm trying so hard, because Elora needs me and you need me and the universe needs me or whatever, but it's exhausting. I just want to - not have to worry about doing the right thing, for a little while."
Jade kisses her neck again. Less suggestive, more supportive. "And?" she prompts.
The rest of Kit's feelings come spilling out. Every single grievance from today's block of meetings and the ones yesterday and the day before and last week. All of her frustration, because she's not used to this, is still figuring out how to be this. Still reconciling her new self with her old self and learning a way to exist in Tir Asleen that doesn't feel like it's choking her.
Jade's hands slide up her shoulders, find the back of her neck. Two strong thumbs dig into the cords of muscle where Kit's shoulders connect to her neck and oh - that's where that band of tension around her head was coming from. "You need a break," Jade says. Her voice is soft and warm, soothing like a caress.
The sound that comes out of Kit is deeply embarrassing, a high-pitched whine of frustration. It makes her sound petulant, like a silly princess upset about the fact that things are too hard. "I know," she says, pushing through. "That's why I want to run away to the woods."
Jade chuckles. Runs her thumbs down the back of Kit's neck and along her shoulders, finds a painfully knotted-up spot that Kit didn't even know was there. Kit hisses with discomfort, and Jade eases up the pressure slightly but keeps rubbing. "Yeah? We're going to live here? In Airk's favourite kissing grove?"
Kit shrugs. "Pretty sure no one will find us."
"Pretty sure when the guards couldn't find your brother this was the first place they checked," Jade says. Presses a kiss to the knot she's finished working out and finds its twin on Kit's other shoulder.
Kit leans into Jade's touch. "I mean. If you think we're going to get found out anyway, we might as well fool around, right?"
Jade's sigh is soft and exasperated. She puts pressure on Kit's shoulders, urging her to a seat on the ground, and kneels behind her. Kit's shirt today is a less obviously expensive rough-woven silk but silk nonetheless, this one with buttons down the front so that she can wear it without a belt. Jade reaches around to flick the top two buttons open, spreading the cloth apart so that she can pull the neckline backward and get better access to Kit's shoulders. "We have rooms for that, you know," she says. Her voice is warm with affection; Kit recognizes the sound of Jade's practicality waging war with her desire.
She understands. It's different now than it was on the road; everything is. Then, stolen kisses against trees were the best they could hope for. If they were seen, there was no consequence, save Elora or Airk teasing them about it. They weren't prominent figures in the great rescue of the prince, they were just - them. Two people, swept up in the heady rush of new love. "Yeah, but - we're already out here," Kit says.
Jade's thumbs release their pressure on Kit's shoulders, caress soft over the back of her neck. She rubs at the back of Kit's head, tousling the hair at her nape the wrong way, shivery-perfect. "What do you need?"
Kit feels those butterflies in her belly shift into something warm and hopeful. It settles her. "You? I think? I don't know," she says. It's not quite true. She does know, but saying it feels like splitting herself open, exposing a messy part of her heart.
Jade undoes another button, spreads Kit's shirt open and slides a hand into the exposed V of skin. Jade touches her, grazes callused fingertips across the sensitive edge of her nipple and Kit gasps. "You don't know?" she says.
Kit exhale comes out as a stutter, catching on her own desire. "I - when I felt like this before, I'd just go find you. And we'd go out, or spar, and I'd feel closer to myself again. I just need that."
Jade's hand stills. There's an uncharacteristic softens to her voice as she says, "Oh. Can you - can you talk about that more?"
"About what?" Kit says. She feels shy, on display in a way she's not sure that she's alright with.
"Like how you used to feel about me."
Emotion twists behind Kit's ribs. Oh. She's not the only one of them struggling with Tir Asleen. It's strange for them both, being back. Those old grooves they use to tread are easy to slip back into. Kit tries to say it as often as she can, tries to make sure that Jade knows, over and over, how loved she is. But Kit also knows how it feels for herself: that she could hear Jade say it a hundred times and still want to be reminded once more.
"I used to love watching your hands," she says. "When you'd check a saddle or clean your sword, they always looked so strong and capable."
"Yeah?" Jade says. Takes that strong, capable hand and starts to move it once again.
"I used to try to sneak up on you training. Especially in the summer, when you'd be working out in your shirt sleeves, just a little bit sweaty."
Jade undoes another button on Kit's shirt, opening it up like it's a gift. "I used to think about you all the time," Jade says. "Used to dream about kissing you, and I'd wake up so worried I'd done something wrong."
Kit shakes her head. "Never wrong."
"Can I tell you something silly?" Jade asks. Kit hums her assent. "I used to get jealous of Airk and all his - distractions. I always wanted to fool around with a girl in the forest."
Kit bites her lip. She used to feel the same. Her teasing was always rooted in jealousy, a not insignificant part of her burning at the injustice of the double-standard. Her heart coveting just a slice of the inexplicable freedom to desire that her brother's sex afforded him. "Just any girl?" she asks.
Jade chuckles. Her front is pressed so tightly to Kit's back that she feels the low hum of her laughter. "You," she whispers. "I wanted to fool around with you."
Kit feels her heart flutter, a warm flush of happiness blooming within her. It's not that she couldn't have guessed; they've loved each other for so long. Kit remembers her side of endless blushing conversations making fun of Airk's conquests. The way she'd complained about him sneaking girls into back stairways to kiss girls while staring, idly, at Jade's mouth. The way Jade's agreement always seemed a little flustered - at the time Kit was so sure she was imagining things. There's something about the certainty of Jade saying it now that makes it more real. Kit's loved now and she was loved then and that doesn't make the hard work any easier, but it helps her see what she's working for.
Kit can't hold back from smiling. She feels the way she did when Jade took off ahead of her on the straightaway: exhilarated. Delighted at being surprised by Jade. She leans back, twists in Jade's arms so that she can see her. "Well, now you have me all alone in the forest," Kit says. "What do you want to do?"
Jade grins wide, picks up Kit's half of the private joke and runs with it. "Ravish you, of course," she says.
"Oh, yeah? How exactly do you plan to do that?" Kit turns more fully, angles herself so that her hips are perpendicular to Jade's. She twists her upper half so that they're front to front, lets her gaze fall to Jade's mouth.
Jade eyes drop down, and she ducks her head halfway to a kiss before holding. Lingering, her breath warm against Kit's lips. "With my many knightly charms," she says.
"Many," Kit says, teasing, "That sounds really impressive. Do you have your own sword?"
Jade brushes a lock of hair hanging down at Kit's temple, lifts it away from her face and tucks it back. "I do," she says. "It's really big. Very shiny."
Kit can't suppress a giggle. Their mouths are so near that she feels Jade's answering smile rather than seeing it. Jade waits, holding the spell of the moment. Once she's controlled herself, Kit manages, "Wow. Would you show it to me?"
Jade doesn't dignify that with a verbal reply. Instead, she closes the space between them, pulls Kit into a slow, deliberate kiss. It's everything Kit's needed all day and she lets herself melt into it. Slowly, with the first kiss, then the second, the tension and stress of her morning begin to recede into the background of her thoughts. They're replaced by the gentle buzz of desire in her chest, a throb between her legs.
Jade's hands are still up around Kit's shoulders and she tickles the skin of Kit's nape gently. It sends sparks down Kit's spine, the warm kind that amplify her growing want.
When they finally break apart, Kit is breathless. Jade is watching her, intent and solemn. Kit doesn't think she'll ever tire of seeing that look on Jade's face. Of knowing that she can be the object of that focus, deserving of such care and intensity. Kit opens her mouth to speak, thinking of trying to flirt again, when Jade interrupts.
"On your back," Jade says, somewhere between a request and a command.
It's the best idea Kit's ever heard.
Kit rearranges her legs, stretches them out in front of her so that Jade can climb forward, one knee on the outside of Kit's thigh and the other in the space between them. Jade kisses Kit again, gently, and as she does she leans forward. The extra weight of her body is controlled, and it doesn't overbalance Kit so much as it eases her down, gently settling Kit on her back in the soft grass. When they break apart, Kit opens her eyes and looks up.
There's a canopy of leaves overhead, dense enough to obstruct her view of the sky. It filters the sunlight into something green and beautiful, shifting gently when wind rustles the boughs above. It's beautiful. If Kit were an innocent maiden whisked away here by handsome prince, she'd definitely be impressed.
Then, her vision is filled with Jade. She's smiling down at Kit, her expression soft as she lowers her hips down to rest her weight straddling Kit's thigh. Kit recognizes desire behind her eyes, the edge of intention as her hips make contact, and it warms her from within.
"That's better," Jade says. Kit's first thought is something so absurd that it makes her giggle before she can voice it. She's not laughing at Jade - never at Jade - but she's new to the game of flirtation and still delighting in it. Jade sighs. "What?"
Kit breathes through her giggles, composes herself enough to say, "What about my virtue, Lady Jade?"
Jade giggles back, their shared laughter disappearing into the quiet of the trees. Jade's also the one to pull herself together first, to run her fingertips down Kit's cheek, brush her thumb across Kit's lower lip with an intentionality that makes Kit still. "It's alright," Jade says, completely serious. "I'll be gentle."
Kit can't help herself. She feels her body react, little sparks running across her skin until she shivers with desire. Jade smiles, her thumb still resting tenderly against Kit's mouth.
Kit doesn't think, just operates on instinct. Parts her lips to take the edge of Jade's thumb in her mouth and run her tongue across the sensitive skin. She watches as Jade's eyes flutter closed. "Kit," she sighs. Kit feels Jade's hips shift against her thigh, one quick rut down.
Now it's Kit's turn to grow serious. She tenses the thigh beneath Jade, is gratified with another soft sigh and a roll of Jade's hips. As Jade's hips move, Kit darts her tongue out, wrapping around Jade's thumb to the first joint. She follows with her lips, sucks gently as she swirls her tongue along the edge of Jade's nail, the soft pad of her thumb.
Jade's hips move again, and Kit feels a victorious thrill: she did that. She made Jade feel like that.
She releases Jade's thumb slowly. Jade runs it across Kit's lower lip in a slightly damp caress, then replaces it with her mouth. With Kit on her back Jade has to angle forward, her forearms bookending Kit's head for support, her body pressed close to Kit's front: a thousand points of contact to be aware of. Jade kisses with her whole body, her mouth-chest-hips arching down into Kit, every movement a new pleasurable thing to appreciate. Kit loves this. Loves Jade, loves the weight of her on top, the feeling of being embraced. Kit's desire begins to focus itself into that now-familiar sweetness between her legs, throbbing frissons of sensation that are asking for touch.
Maybe Kit does want to fool around. Maybe that's what she needed all along.
Jade's shirt is loose-cut today. Soft, flowing linen in a delicate pale green, tucked smartly into her trousers. Kit grasps at the back of it, lifting the tails out of Jade's waistband. There's enough space between the cloth and Jade's body for Kit to easily fit both of her arms into Jade's shirt, to run them up the bare skin of Jade's back. She feels Jade smile against her mouth when she wraps her arms around Jade and tugs her closer.
Jade kisses along Kit's jaw, tracing a path to the sensitive spot behind Kit's ear. It's one of Kit's favourite places, and she loves that Jade knows that. Loves Jade using her hand to angle Kit's head to the side, turning Kit so that she can reach. Kit holds still, her heart fluttering with anticipation. Jade's breath is hot against her skin, a hint at what's to come. At the last second, Jade pivots, runs her tongue along the shell of Kit's ear instead.
Kit squirms under Jade, a soft gasp that's not not a whine escaping her.
Jade listens. Licks up against that secret spot, the contact sending shivery-sweet sparks directly to Kit's center. Kit's fingertips dig into Jade's back, curling reflexively as she hums out her delight. Jade works at it again, then again, until Kit is all but melting under her mouth. She whimpers, another wordless request for more.
Jade exhales against the sensitive skin of Kit's neck, says, "I don't want to leave a mark."
"Don't care," Kit sighs. "Leave one."
The thing she won't say - the thing threatening to spill out of her as desire makes her more honest - is that there's a part of her that loves when Jade does. Loves being able to look at herself in the mirror and see the proof of Jade's attention blooming against her skin.
Jade works at that one spot a little more, a gentle scrape of her teeth and then a soft nip that Kit feels shivery-sharp. Kit doesn't know if it'll be enough to leave a mark but she hopes it is. Jade's mouth sets a path further down Kit's body. She kisses along Kit's throat, down the center of her chest and then across. There's a soft spot just below Kit's collarbone, normally covered by her shirt. Not visible, if Jade were to mark her up. Jade works there in earnest, kisses soft-sharp until Kit is whining at the feeling. She's so hot. This is so hot.
Jade moves further into the half-open front of Kit's shirt, her mouth skimming down Kit's upper chest. She takes one nipple into her mouth, laves her tongue around the sensitive peak of it and Kit cries out, high-pitched and breathy. It feels so good that she can hardly stand it. She feels like all she's able to do is react, unfocused, pliant under Jade's mouth.
KIt's aware of the fact that she's digging her nails into Jade's back a little too sharp, tries to correct it in between sighs. She makes a conscious effort to angle her fingertips flatter, to drag the edges of them gently along either side of Jade's spine. She hits one particular spot that feels good, knows it because Jade's mouth stills and she feels Jade shiver in her arms. Jade's hips shift, deliciously eager against her leg.
"Love you," Jade sighs out against the underside of Kit's breast. "Love kissing you."
She pauses in her work, and Kit has a terrible thought: that this might be as far as they go. Kit's aching wet, her whole body alive with interest, and if she doesn't finish she thinks she might die. "Don't stop though," she says, tries to keep the whine out of her voice. "Please?"
"Kit," Jade says. Kit can feel her squirm, the apex of her thighs grinding against Kit's leg. Kit thinks about how delicious that would be if they were both undressed. Imagines a smear of Jade's wetness gleaming against her skin and has to bite back a moan. "We're in the woods."
"Just - touch me?" Kit says. She doesn't have a cogent argument. All she has is her hands on Jade's body and what feels like a bottomless well of wanting within her.
"Someone could see," Jade says. "They're going to send for you."
Kit whimpers. "Please, I need -" she starts, pauses. "Please touch me."
Jade doesn't reply with words, but her hands find the fastening of Kit's trousers and that's more than answer enough. Kit does her best not to squirm with impatience while Jade works at them. There's not enough room for Jade to take Kit's pants off without repositioning, but once the fastenings are undone Jade can hike them a little ways down Kit's thighs. It's enough space for her to fit her whole hand inside, with enough purchase to slip up against the slickness between Kit's legs.
Kit is wet in a way that she can feel, her cunt heavy and slick with every movement, aching for contact. When Jade's fingers touch her for the first time they almost slide into her. Her hand slips, sudden delicious pressure against Kit's entrance, before she corrects it and continues her previous well-controlled path. Jade gasps, rises up to look down at Kit. There's a reverent appreciation in her expression, and the timbre of her voice curls around Kit's heart as she says, "All that for me?"
Kit nods. "And your knightly charms."
Jade smiles, but doesn't lose her sense of seriousness. She watches Kit's face as she drags her fingertips up, pulls heavy slick around Kit's clit. Kit has to bite down hard on her lip to keep from crying out too loud, manages to keep to a tense whimper. "It's alright," Jade says. "You can make noise if you need."
Kit pulls Jade down so that she's closer, so that Kit can rest her head against Jade's shoulder. With the next slow circle of Jade's fingertips around her clit, Kit drowns a loud moan into the soft front of Jade's shirt.
Jade drags her fingers across Kit's clit, again and again, each touch more overwhelming than the last. Kit's so sensitive, so worked up from the tease of Jade's mouth and hands, from the gentle thrill of the fact that they're doing this out here instead of the warm security of either of their beds. Kit feels her inner walls clench, flex like an answering reply to the feel of Jade rubbing her off.
Jade doesn't have quite enough room to go deeper but she tries, slips her hand so that the heel of it is resting firm against Kit's clit and her fingertips are pressed against Kit's entrance. Kit tries her best to rock down onto them, aching to be filled up, fucked the way that only Jade knows how to fuck her. Jade manages an inch or two, slipping in just far enough to be a tease, but Kit can feel the way that Jade's hand has to strain against the fabric of her trousers, prevented from going further.
They both settle for Jade's fingers slick and firm on her clit. Jade runs her fingers over the sensitive spot over and over again. Works until Kit is whining and squirming and then undone, her finish hitting fast and hard as she comes against Jade's hand. She pulls Jade's shoulders down, digs her nails into Jade's back and buries a loud, stuttering moan against Jade's chest.
Jade works her until she's sated, lets the flat of her hand bring out the last gentle shudders of Kit's release. "Fuck," Kit hisses as she comes down, breathes herself back into her body.
She relaxes her grip on Jade's back, notices as they separate slightly that there's a damp spot from where she's been sighing into Jade's shirt. She feels so much better. The knot of tension building between her shoulders has melted away entirely, replaced in her awareness by Jade's fingertips pulling the last frissons of sweetness out of her. "Good?" Jade asks, breathlessly.
Kit closes her eyes, sinks back into the grass. "Perfect."
Kit gives herself a moment more to catch her breath. As the rush of her climax fades from her awareness she notices the slow grind of Jade's pelvis rocking against her thigh. Kit's still fuzzy but she has just enough presence of mind to flirt, to ask, "You going to finish like that?"
Jade huffs, and her voice is small and shy in the most delicious way when she says, "Maybe."
Kit's heart feels so full. That Jade is taking such good care of her. That taking care of Kit turns Jade on like that. "How can I help?" she asks.
Jade whimpers, and the sound is matched by her hips, another slow hump that clearly feels good. She buries her face in the curve between Kit's neck and shoulder. "Can you talk to me?"
Kit's still - they're new. They've done this enough that it's familiar but they're still in the first wobbly months of transitioning from friends to more than that. Despite that newness, Kit's already learned that when she verbalizes her fantasies, it does something to Jade. Jade's sensitive to words in a way that Kit isn't, and with each time together Kit's grown more comfortable whispering low into Jade's ear.
Kit flexes her thigh, scratches the sensitive spots along Jade's spine. "Did touching me make you wet?"
Jade whines, hisses, "Yes."
"Is that why you're humping me like that? Because you got all wet about me?"
"Fuck, Kit," she says. She's got a pace going now, rocking broad circles that are slowly beginning to crescendo.
"Are you close? Are you going to come all over my leg?"
Jade's hips stutter, just for a moment, and then she changes her pace. Goes from grinding in broad strokes to faster and smaller, rocking down against the muscle that Kit is tensing. Kit uses her foot to get support, bends her knee to create a firmer surface for Jade to press on. Jade sighs again, whimpers, "Kit."
Her voice sounds strained, almost frantic. "I want to see you finish," Kit croons, the hands on Jade's back rubbing soft and comforting. "I can hear you ready to come, I bet you're so hot down there."
Jade cries out, shivers for a moment, frozen, and then keeps going. "More," she huffs.
Kit's walls flutter, sympathetic, her own desire warming again at the sight of Jade about to come undone for her. She rocks just a little, moving her leg in concert with the rhythm of Jade's hips. "Gonna be so pretty when you finish," she whispers. "I can't wait to see."
Jade whimpers again, higher-pitched. Kit means it, she can't wait to see Jade come. Her hands itch with how badly she wants to undress her. Wants to have Jade naked on the grass, wants to slide her tongue into Jade's slick heat with the gentle burble of the stream in her ears. Wants to make Jade cry out like they're somewhere truly remote, where no one could possibly hear.
Kit registers, vaguely, the sound of hoofbeats in the distance. Because the thing is, they're not in the remote wilderness. They're in the well-maintained royal forest, less than an hour's ride from the castle. Kit picks up on it but Jade doesn't. She's preoccupied, her back arched, her whole body weight resting with the apex of her balanced on Kit's thigh.
Jade whines, whispers, "I'm gonna -"
"Can't wait," Kit sighs. Focuses on keeping her voice relaxed, letting Jade have her finish. "Want you to come all over me."
"I'm gonna -" Jade sighs again, trying to find more words. But then she stills, eyes closed, mouth falling open. Kit watches as Jade's climax overtakes her, as she goes from ecstatic stillness to moaning. Her hips stutter out an irregular rhythm as she shivers against Kit's body. Kit keeps her thigh flexed, tries to help her work out every last moment of pleasure before Jade slumps down onto Kit, clearly sated.
"That was so hot," Kit sighs.
Jade chuckles, her face buried in Kit's shoulder, shy again. "Was it?"
"Yes," Kit huffs, awestruck. Then she hears it again: hoofbeats, louder.
Kit tenses, and Jade picks up on her tension, whispers, "What?"
"I thought I heard -" Kit starts. But then the hoofbeats are loud enough for both of them to hear, the clear sound of a horse easing from a fast trot to a walk. There's a rustle of leaves, the sound of a rider dismounting.
Then a familiar voice groaning: "Ugh, I didn't need to see that."
Kit looks over her shoulder to see Airk. "What are you doing here, beloved brother?"
Airk's got his eyes averted already, and he puts his hand over them for dramatic effect. "Being traumatized by the sight of Jade's hand up my sister, apparently."
"She's not up me, why are you such a little -"
"Honestly, Airk," Jade says, exasperated, still breathless in her afterglow.
Airk talks over them both, "I don't need to hear more -"
"You went out of your way to find us - "
"Yeah, I didn't think you were going to have your tits out -"
Kit growls out her frustration. They're so much closer now than they ever were before, but Airk still has the uncanny ability to push all Kit's buttons at once when he wants to. Jade's still on top of her, a comforting weight that at least cools the worst of Kit's exasperation as Kit fixes her shirt fronts, covers herself. "Airk, seriously," she says. "Why are you here?"
Jade eases off of Kit, sits in front so that Kit has a bit of a shield to attend to her buttons, fasten her trousers. Airk sighs, long and dramatic. "One of the dukes is having a meltdown that you ditched the afternoon," he says. "Mom was going to send the palace guard out to fetch you."
The implication there is that Airk offered to go instead. That Airk, in the prickliest, most dramatic way possible, was trying to shield them from the guards seeing anything they shouldn't, to spare Kit and Jade from another round of palace gossip. Kit feels her anger soften and dissipate. "Which duke?" she asks.
Airk shrugs, runs a hand through his hair. It's starting to grow out, just enough that there's something to run his fingers through, and he can't get enough of it. "The moustachey one who won't stop complaining."
Kit sighs. "He's the worst."
Airk rolls his eyes. "Yeah, well, making out in the woods isn't going to make him any easier to deal with."
"No," Kit grumbles. "But it'll keep me from hitting him the next time he tells me how quaint we are in Tir Asleen."
That, at least, garners a genuine laugh from Airk. "Fair."
"You can look now," Kit says. He takes his hand away from his eyes to regard her. Kit can imagine what he sees: her shirt and trousers hastily rearranged, dry bits of leaf and grass sticking to her shoulders, her hair, despite her cursory efforts to tidy herself. Her hair is still tousled, and she's sure there's still a warmth in her cheeks visible from the exertion of her dalliance.
Airk gives her a crooked grin. Kit feels herself tense, preparing for the joke that has to be coming. All he says is, "You know, you used to give me so much shit for chasing girls."
"And?"
Airk shrugs. "It's just really fun to be on the other side of it, that's all." He gestures to his own neck, rubs the skin just behind his ear. "You've got a little something -"
Kit claps her hand to her neck, to what must be an extremely visible mark if Airk can clock it from this far away. "Alright, well. Can we have a minute or are you just going to stare at us?"
Airk smiles again, unbothered. "Nah, I'll be over here. I could use the time to think of a few more jokes."
He turns away, leads his horse back to where Kit and Jade's mounts are tied. Kit turns back to Jade, who ducks her head right down to Kit's shoulder.
"You alright?" Kit asks. As much as Airk's teasing makes her prickle, when it comes down to it she doesn't mind being caught. Doesn't mind if her actions draw arched eyebrows or whispered comments, after years of practice. But Jade minds, Kit knows. Jade has always been so private with her heart, with everything, and that's the way she prefers it.
Jade sighs against the side of Kit's neck. "I'm glad I wasn't -" she says, and Kit can hear the little twist of embarrassment in her voice. "It's good that we were both finished," she says.
Kit rubs her back, through her shirt this time. "It was worth it for me," she says.
Jade sighs out a soft laugh. "Me too," she says.
"Yeah?" Kit asks, allowing a bit of that flirtatious tone to creep back into her voice.
"Don't be smug."
Now it's Kit's turn to laugh. "But you like me smug."
Jade lifts her head, regards Kit. Her mouth opens to say something in reply, but then her eyes drop to the side of Kit's neck and instead she says, "Oh, your neck."
Kit reaches up, touches. It's not sore, but Kit's had plenty of marks that bloom deep purple without hurting. "Is it bad?" she asks.
Jade has the decency to look a little sheepish. "I'd sit with the duke on your other side."
Kit feels her cheeks warm. "Still worth it," she says. She should get back. She knows she should get back, but her feet don't want to move. "Are you sure I have to go back? We can't just keep riding, forever?"
Jade runs soft hands through Kit's hair, both for comfort and to shake out the last stray blades of grass. "You can do this," she says.
Kit lets her eyes flutter closed at the feel of Jade's hands. "Love you," she says. "Say more about that."
Jade's hands keep working, nails scratching gently across Kit's scalp. "You're patient, and smart, and good at dealing with stupid nobles."
Kit sighs. "Not like Sorsha."
Jade's hands finish their path through Kit's hair. She presses her knuckles to Kit's chin, lifting it until their eyes meet. "Don't be like your mum," she says. "Be like you. Tell him he's being a stroppy little man child."
Kit laughs at the thought. "Can I see you after?"
"I promised Elora I'd help," Jade says. "Can I steal you away to the library?"
A part of Kit rebels at the idea of more work. She quiets it with the memory of the last time she helped Jade and Elora in the library: Jade tucked into an overstuffed armchair, Kit reading on the floor beside her, leaning against her legs. "Yeah, I'd love that," she says, means it.
Airk's voice floats toward them from the edge of the clearing. "If you two have started fucking again I swear -"
"Airk," Jade says, exasperated, before Kit can react. "We're coming."
"Yeah, I bet," Airk says, and Kit can't suppress a giggle at the double-entendre she walked into.
"We sure it was a good idea to rescue him?" Jade grumbles.
Kit laughs, holds Jade's hand as they walk back toward the horses.
The ride back is faster, Airk pushing the pace to keep them from lingering. They make it to the open field, the straightaway before the castle, in almost no time at all. Kit catches Jade's eye, Airk's next. "Race to the end?" she says.
Before either of them can reply, she's digging in her heels. Feels her horse engage, the surge of power as they take off together, the wind whipping at her hair. Behind her, she can hear Airk's whoop of delight as he pushes his horse forward, Jade's laughter. Maybe she can do this after all.