MYTH
Myth took a deep breath and knocked on the door louder than she meant to, need and nerves making her hand heavy. The key was hot in her palm so this was the right place, but it felt too familiar to use it. She banged on the door again before she lost her courage.
The door opened, and Norrix stood in front of her. He wore only a towel low on his hips. He had another towel on his head, rubbing it to dry his hair. Norrix's damp skin glowed, and a drop of water slid from his shoulder down his chest. Shocked at herself, Myth realized she wanted to taste it. She licked her lips.
"Ember I thought we agreed—" Norrix draped the towel over his shoulder. "You're here. I was hoping you would come."
Myth dropped her eyes from the water sliding across so much bare skin to the carpet, but found herself focused on his bare feet. There were drops of water there too. He had strong feet with long toes. She raised her eyes to his calves and thighs. The towel did little to hide an erection. Of course he was expecting Ember. Norrix was planning to use his vessel. How did he treat Ember? Like the men treated witches or like an Esne?
An unfamiliar, bitter sensation roiled in her stomach as she wondered if Ember liked being with Norrix. Ember didn't seem scared of Norrix, but people thought Myth wasn't afraid of Iqiohr either. Ember talked back to the men but she wore clothes that hid even her face from view. Maybe they weren't nice to her and she had to hide the damage that way. Maybe she just wasn't broken yet. Myth hoped Ember got away before that happened and wished she was strong like Ember.
"Are you all right?" Norrix opened the door wider, extending an arm to invite her in.
Her gaze swept over Norrix's stomach, so bumpy with muscles. She clenched her hands at her sides to avoid reaching out to touch the ridges. Above his muscles his chest was flat, but his arms and shoulders curved. She wanted so badly to touch Norrix and for him to touch her. This was dangerous. Iqiohr would skin Norrix and make her watch.
"Hello?"
Eyes flying past his lips, formed into a smile, she met his eyes. He was laughing at her. Amused at her desperation. She flushed, feeling the heat flow from her middle all the way to her face. Clearing her throat she found her voice. "I need the knife you won at the auction. I can't go home without it. Please. I'll do anything."
His eyes darkened and he leaned forward, so close his breath tickled her ear. "Anything?" He made the word have three slow syllables that made her shiver. "Tell me your name."
How did he know she had a name? She'd never said it to anyone. Her mother had used their telepathy to tell her stories. It was the only way to keep their sanity as they lived in the mage's world. Myth and her mother had both been born into it, Myth's grandmother Lore captured when she was a girl, along with her mother Saga.
"My name is Myth." Why had she told him her name? The names of all the women in her family were closely guarded secrets, never uttered aloud. She, and they, were only ever called Esne.
"Myth."
She'd thought his voice was dangerous before, but when he said her name not only did more parts of her awaken, she needed more. She ached for him in places and ways she never had for Iqiohr.
Myth nodded and scooted past him into the room before she could change her mind. "I know you're ready to use your vessel, but you can use me instead. You can do what you want. I'll... I'll be good for whatever you like." Would he beat her? Maybe he would give her a scar that let her mind go somewhere else when she looked at it. The pain would be worth retrieving the knife, but Iqiohr would see the marks on her body and punish her when she returned to Aztlan. No, she had to hope whatever Norrix did to her didn't leave any proof behind.
Her breathing picked up, her blood ran fast and hot in her veins. On the verge of a panic attack, pulse pounding, she turned to examine the room. She'd never done this with anyone other than Iqiohr before, but all the men in Aztlan seemed to like it even if the women didn't, and she needed the knife. She could do this. She had to, so she could go home before Iqiohr found out she had lost it, or what she had to do to get it back.
Myth walked to the dining room table and bent over it. Pulling her dress up to expose herself, she closed her eyes and hoped it would be quick.
Behind her Norrix took a deep breath and closed the door.
Myth waited, gaze averted. She might have to do this, but she didn't have to watch him. She wouldn't look at him, this man she was so drawn to. If Iqiohr even suspected she thought of someone other than him, he would punish her. She realized she was trembling and forced herself to stop, but still flinched when Norrix touched her hip. His fingers felt cool, but heat surged under her skin. She tensed in anticipation of the slimy, cold gel to make her numb. Mages used it to prevent witches who didn't give them magic from feeling pleasure.
Instead her dress was pulled down. Her hopes plummeted with the hemline. He didn't want her and she didn't have anything else to offer him.
Fingers wrapped around her arm, lifting her up and turning her to face Norrix. She kept her eyes closed, not wanting to see the handsome face of the man who had just destroyed her life.
"What was that?" Norrix sounded furious. She knew this mood. She wouldn't get anything from him now. He took a deep breath and blew it out. When he spoke again his voice was gentled. He held a hand to her chin and tipped her face up. "Myth?"
She didn't know how he wanted to use his vessel. Myth opened her eyes. "I... I was ready and waiting for you."
"No, you weren't. You weren't even close to ready."
"I'm sorry. Do you not have the gel?"
"Gel? What gel?"
"So I don't feel anything."
Norrix's jaw clenched and his eyes changed to completely black. He released her arm and stepped away from her, like she disgusted him.
Tears threatened to spill, and she widened her eyes to keep them in. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I don't know how to be your vessel. I know you already have a vessel you share with the other man, I saw you holding her hand. I will try to be as pleasing as that one. Just tell me what you want me to do!" Her pulse raced and her voice rose in pitch. There was another way Iqiohr used her, a way she liked less because there was no numbing gel and she felt all of it. But she had to make Norrix happy or he'd never give her the knife. She fell to her knees and locked her hands behind her head.
"What the—" All Norrix's muscles stretched and grew tight, making him seem bigger and become something dangerous. The towel flashed more thigh at her as Norrix paced and ran his hands through his hair. A growl rumbled from his chest. "Stand up."
He sounded like the ferocious wolf that ate girls and grandmothers. Maybe wolves were real and not just in stories. Trembling, Myth rose to her feet. Arms wound around herself, she stared at the floor and tried to be small.
Norrix's breath burst from him all at once. "I'm scaring you. I'm sorry. I don't want you to be frightened of me. You of all people need never fear me." His body relaxed, the tension bleeding away. He smiled. It was a nice smile that made his eyes lose the black color. "Ember is a friend of mine. That's all. Stryx and I don't have, use, or share... vessels. Ember is Stryx's Draga, like you are mine. He would never hurt her, like I would never hurt you."
Draga sounded like another word for Esne. Women still belonged to men. And she'd seen what men did to them. Myth swallowed hard. "What do you call what you do to your Dragăs?"
Norrix moved faster than she could see. One second he was across the room from her, the next his arms were around her, pulling her to him. She kept her arms wrapped around herself, but he pressed one hand to her head so her cheek lay against his chest. His heart beat under her ear.
"Love. We love our Dragăs."
Bewildered, Myth gaped. Love was common in the stories her mother shared with her, but she'd never heard a man talk about it before. The love she knew about from stories was nothing like how men treated women.
"The physical part of that is called sex, fucking, making love, or screwing. But Myth, what happens to you is called rape. It shouldn't happen to anyone."
Now she understood. He knew she was used, damaged. Of course he didn't want her. She wished she knew what Iqiohr wanted the knife for so she could find something else for him to use. Iqiohr thought she didn't have magic, that she could only have children who would have magic. But Myth did. It was bound to hide it, so Iqiohr couldn't steal it from her. If she used it she couldn't ever hide it again. If she used it to find a replacement that worked better maybe he would forgive her for losing the knife.
"The polite thing to do is probably get dressed, but I'm afraid if I leave the room you'll disappear." Norrix released her from his embrace but tugged her behind him over to a sofa. "Sit here and talk with me. Please."
She settled next to him on the couch, but he didn't let her go. His strong fingers stroked her hand, thumb rubbing back and forth over her wrist where her pulse couldn't decide to beat faster or calm under his touch. Her skin tingled and heated.
"You don't need to fear me, Myth. I will not hurt you."
"What do you want from me?"
"Everything." His deep voice made this word have four syllables that made her shiver. "All of you. And I want to offer you everything and all of me in return."
That sounded like love in the stories she knew. Was it possible outside Aztlan there were men like the ones in the fairy tales?
"Ask me for anything. Except for the knife. I already know that's what you're here for. Ask me for something else and I will do it."
Anything? It was hard to think when Norrix touched her. His bare leg pressed against hers, his thumb still drew dizzying circles on her wrist. She wanted him to touch her more. An ache she'd never felt before made her want to squeeze her thighs together. Iqiohr wasn't here. He wouldn't know what she did in this room. It might be her only chance to make part of a story real. "I want a kiss." She rushed the words out. "Kiss me like in a story." Myth closed her eyes and waited, wanting to remember every second of her first, and probably only, kiss.
But Norrix didn't kiss her. She flushed, mortified at the rejection. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have—"
"Myth."
He kept saying her name. Her name. Something in her tummy fluttered when he said it in his deep voice. She opened her eyes. Norrix's eyes were all black, but they weren't scary this time. His black eyes made her feel tingly, like he was eating her with them.
He shifted to face her. "I need to know what kind of story."
"What kind?" She blinked. "A story like...like my mother told me. With a prince and a princess."
His voice was deeper, more growly. "There are lots of stories and lots of kinds of kisses. Are those the only kinds of stories you know?"
Feeling inadequate she nodded.
"Okay. A kiss from a prince to his princess then."
