I went to her, slid inside her, and started to move my hips. Vesma seemed a little unsure, her hardened exterior replaced by an almost nervous aura. She bit her lip as I picked up the pace, and she let out a quiet moan that reached a crescendo as I thrust deeper.
Unlike Faryn, she didn’t tell me exactly how to pleasure her, and I had to guess her desires from her unspoken gestures. Vesma’s lovemaking was almost the opposite of the way she Augmented, and it was only her fervent kisses that communicated her satisfaction.
Minutes extended to hours as I uncovered this softer side of Vesma.
As our fourth session of the night drew to a close, my whole body tingled with pleasure. I was sure I couldn’t last much longer, but I held on as I lingered in the moment and enjoyed each exquisite sensation.
Vesma shuddered and cried out in delight as a huge grin split her face. She flung her arms around me and kept moving. She pressed her lips against mine and kissed me fiercely as her breasts pressed against my chest and her hands tangled in my hair.
My muscles suddenly tightened as I climaxed, and she let out a laugh. I groaned and felt my whole body grow limp.
“Much better than fighting in the cold,” I said once I’d caught my breath.
“It’ll do.” She grinned, climbed off me, and laid on the rug in front of the fire. I laid down beside her, and after a long day of training, the evening’s activities had used up the last of my energy. Heavy eyes started to sink, and I straightened up before I drifted off inside Master Kyu’s office.
“We should go,” I said.
“We should.” Vesma pulled me back to her and kissed me deeply. “You know this doesn’t mean I won’t get stronger than you, right?”
“I understand,” I said with a smile.
“I know you and Faryn also share something.”
I nodded. “We do. Is that a problem?”
“Of course, not. I’m happy to share a man like you. For a little while, at least. Maybe Faryn and I could spar, and the winner gets to have you to herself?”
“I’d rather you didn’t fight. Maybe we could work something else out?”
“Maybe,” Vesma said with a nod.
I wasn’t sure how I’d juggle two women, but there was bound to be some way to make it work. Faryn and I didn’t exactly have a permanent relationship, and we’d never even discussed what exactly was happening between us. I couldn’t imagine she’d have a problem sharing me. Vesma, on the other hand, clearly intended for this to become something stable. Hell, I wouldn’t mind, but I couldn’t choose between her and Faryn.
But that was a problem for another day.
I kissed Vesma a final time and left Kyu’s study behind.
I slipped into my bunk a few minutes before curfew ended and immediately drifted into a restful sleep. I woke just before sunrise and ensured no one else had arisen before I retrieved the Sundered Heart. As soon as I touched the weapon’s hand, Nydarth spoke.
“Ethan, my sweet man, are you ready?”
“You’re going to show me my prize?”
“The time has come. I’m ready to train you, Ethan.”
I’d half-wondered whether Nydarth’s gift would be another sex-filled dream, but this would be even better.
I walked to the dojo as initiates filtered in and out of the barracks and prepared themselves for the day. Most of the other initiates would be busy with their studies, so I wasn’t surprised when I entered the dojo and found it empty and silent.
I knelt in the center of the room, and my knees sank into the the mat and pressed against the wooden floor. Even with walls to keep out the worst of the weather, I could see my breath frosting as it left my body, the sight illuminated by the flicker of flaming torches.
Nydarth’s sword lay in front of me. The etching of the dragon glowed red and matched the torchlight shining on the edge of the blade. There was something uncanny about the sword—not just that light that seemed to shine from within but the way it sat in the world, as if it had carved out a space for itself but didn’t quite fit. A sword that belonged here and yet didn’t.
“Before we start, I need some answers,” I said.
“Oh, my dear.” Nydarth’s voice so perfectly evoked her stunning dream body that it sent a shiver up my spine. “Of course, you do. Ask away.”
“You reached out to me in my world, didn’t you?” I thought back to the day when I had crossed over.
“Oh, yes.”
“The things you did... They didn’t seem quite real, but they worked. Did that actually happen, or was it just another dream you planted in my head?”
“Planted in your head, indeed! You make it sound so sinister, but there’s nothing you and I have done, inside your head or outside of it, that wasn’t as much your choice as it was mine. If you didn’t want it, all you had to do was say.”
“That’s not what I mean. Now, tell me: what happened on Earth… was it real?”
“As real as rain, my sweet, and just as able to send a chill through you.”
“So, you moved from the Seven Realms to my world, and then, back again?”
“Ah, I see.”
There was a moment of quiet. Outside, the wind was blowing hard against the walls of the guild house, rattling shutters and shaking loose roof tiles. Rutmonlir had predicted that a thaw would start tomorrow, but if he was right, then the thaw was in no rush.
“You want things to be simple,” Nydarth said. “For me to be in this world or that, one place or another. But that isn’t what I am. I am woman and dragon. I am fire made flesh and I am the ghost within the sword. I am in the Seven Realms and that without ever traveling between the
