Royal Reboot: Level up, Your Majesty!
Chapter 111x: Your Unholiness [E]

Fingers traced lazy circles across bare skin. They meandered from the nape of Eydis’s neck to the hollow behind her ear.

Barely touching, barely there. 

A sigh whispered out of her, eyelids heavy, lashes fluttering open only to tumble straight into the molten glow of Astra’s crimson eyes. Mischief danced there, the improper kind that had no place near someone called the Virtuous Saintess.

Eydis leaned into the touch, letting Astra’s fingers thread through her hair. 

A laugh followed: soft, silvery, breathtaking. Eydis drank in the shape of that smile, devastatingly beautiful at such an ungodly hour. She wanted to bottle the sound, shelve it beside her most dangerous memories.

“Good afternoon.” Astra kissed her forehead, the bridge of her nose, the seam of both eyelids.

Afternoon? 

“Seems I’m no match for the Saintess.” Eydis said, only to hiss when a deep bruise on her thigh protested. If that was Astra’s virtue, Eydis shuddered to imagine what her sin would feel like.

Astra’s eyes widened in near-panic. Golden radiance pooled over her fingertips.

“Don’t.” Eydis caught her wrist. “I will keep my battle scars. They’re evidence I survived a night with you.”

Astra’s cheeks went pink, scandalous on someone who’d spent hours until dawn wringing curses and confessions from a queen. “Years of… repression make me a little…  excessive.”

“A little?” Eydis’s gaze dipped to the bruises and love bites painting her own skin. The ravens could erase them, yes, but that would require talking to them.

Astra blushed harder, looking genuinely sheepish.

“And repression?” Eydis went on. “Who, exactly, were you repressing for?”

Astra’s confusion gave way to amusement. “It wasn’t someone. It was space. Between me and… everything.” She kissed Eydis softly. “But you’re cute when you’re jealous.”

“That is not polite, saying it that bluntly,” Eydis grumbled, though her mouth twitched.

“No deflection?” Astra tried, truly tried, to smother her laugh and failed gloriously. “You are even lovelier when you are unfiltered. Remind me to exhaust you more often.”

Lovely deserved royal retribution, yet Astra out-manoeuvred her. 

She knelt on the mattress, already wearing a silk robe. Damp strands of silver hair left watery blue blotches on the fabric before she brushed them back, then she swung a thigh over, straddling Eydis.

Eydis registered, belatedly, that she was the only one still naked, and Astra’s gaze made no effort to hide its indulgence. 

She licked her lips, and planted a fresh mark at Eydis’s neck, one that guaranteed a turtleneck would be required if she planned on going anywhere today.

Silk skimmed Eydis’s breasts, a taunt that pulled a sharp breath from deep inside. Astra’s gaze lingered, as if deciding whether to indulge or consume. 

Judging by the darkening red in her eyes, consumption was winning.

To hell with it.

Eydis cupped Astra’s cheeks, drawing her into a kiss that slammed last night’s hunger straight back into the present. She trailed downward, biting the curve of Astra’s shoulder.

A low rumble broke the spell. 

Eydis glared at her own stomach.

Divine Saintess Astra might feed the soul, but Eydis’s mortal flesh demanded something less spiritual.

Astra huffed a breathless laugh. “Brunch?” 

“Brunch,” Eydis agreed, nipping the clavicle once more for good measure. She needed a break, and a plan to punish Astra thoroughly for the state she’d left her in.

They untangled reluctantly. Astra tugged her belt tight, though her eyes said she would rather leave the robe on the floor.

Eydis swallowed.

For one, she agreed with Cerberus. She needed sustenance for the kind of energy she planned to unleash today.

Tomorrow.

And every single day after that.

Eydis showered alone. Her idea. Because if Astra joined, they’d still be in there. She re-emerged wrapped only in Astra’s midnight-blue silk robe, damp curls tumbling down her back. 

As she descended the stairs, the ducted heating carried the buttery scent of garlic and Italian herbs, making her stomach rumble in uncivilised appreciation.

Eydis slid behind the kitchen island and rested her chin on a warm shoulder, just as Astra plated a sizzling prawn. A hand slipped past the robe, kneading one breast lazily.

Astra's grip tightened on the plate. “Eydis,” she warned, “behave.”

“But I am,” Eydis breathed in her scent, tugged the obsidian earring with her teeth, and smiled at the shiver that danced through Astra’s spine.

“I’m being terribly well-behaved. Because when I’m not…” She slipped a thigh between Astra’s calves. “…things get messy.”

Astra gasped, a curse lost in the air as Eydis dragged slow. “S-second warning,” she gritted out.

The plate slipped from Astra’s hand, but Eydis caught it easily, smirking. “By messy, I mean broken plates and wasted food, of course.”

“You.” Astra growled. “If you wish to be—ah—helpful,” she groaned as the teasing fingers rolled, pinched, “then set the table before I throw you on it.”

“Tempting.” Eydis eased back with a wink. “I shall plate the table. Only because I cannot wait to taste… your cooking.”

Astra’s eyebrow arched. “Charming.”

“Glad you think so.” 

Astra brought the dishes into the dining alcove, where sunlight streamed through tall, multi-paned windows. The glow softened as it filtered through the greenhouse leaves outside, and condensation fogged the view.

Private enough, Eydis mused, smirking.

Astra set down generous plates beside two mugs of steaming coffee. “Seafood linguine. And that face says you’re up to something unforgivable.”

Eydis rested her cheek on one palm, grinning. “Unforgivable? Don’t tempt me, Your Holiness.”

Astra raised an eyebrow but didn’t push. They ate in comfortable silence. Eydis’s movements, however, lacked their usual grace; she shifted, winced, sat straighter than necessary. 

Astra noticed. 

At last the pasta was gone, mugs empty. Eydis rinsed hers, filled it with iced water, and felt Astra’s crimson gaze tracking every step.

“Astra, I am fine,” she said, leaning against the counter. “You can stop looking like I’ve been through a war.”

“I can still heal you.”

“I’m rather fond of the evidence.” Eydis drained the glass, thunked it on the counter and crossed to Astra in three steps. She settled onto Astra’s lap, silk robe already threatening to fall off her shoulders.

Astra blinked, breath caught.

“If you insist on using your power…” Eydis looped her arms round Astra’s neck. “…perhaps direct it elsewhere.”

“Where, precisely?”

“Heal my ego. Because that pasta was thoughtful, but I remain ravenous for dessert.”

“Dessert?” Astra didn’t wait for an answer. She yanked the robe open, letting the silk fall around Eydis’s waist.

Gold light painted her bare skin honey. The sudden exposure stole a tiny gasp from Eydis’s throat. She curled a knuckle under Astra’s chin, tilting it up. 

“If you disliked me wearing your clothes, you could have asked.”

Astra leaned back just far enough to admire her. Eydis felt the scorch of that gaze and held her breath while those hands slid to the dimples above her hips and tugged the silk free.

“You promised to leave them on the floor,” Astra murmured. She drove her thigh forward, grinding Eydis down. 

A raw moan ripped free. Eydis’s hips jolted, then settled into an instinctive rhythm that glazed Astra’s leg with need.

“I like you in my clothes.” Astra’s smirk was pure sin. “But I prefer you out of them.” 

Eyes locked on Eydis’s, she sealed her mouth around a nipple, tongue teasing before sucking slowly. She dragged out each pull, then nipped, teeth scraping. 

A hot current arched through Eydis’s spine. Her head tipped back, nails marking Astra’s shoulders. 

If she surrendered now, she would drown, and her plan would dissolve in pleasure. 

So she fought. 

Eydis rocked harder against the sleek thigh until Astra’s breathing roughened. Bliss surged through her, but she forced herself to move past it.

Drawing a breath, she skimmed Astra’s throat, felt the wild pulse, then followed the satin’s curve downward until her hand brushed soaked lace.

“I should warn you,” Eydis whispered, “wearing something this scandalous carries a price.”

Two fingers slipped beneath the waistband. Velvet heat swallowed her knuckles. She pressed in, agonisingly slow, letting Astra feel every incremental push.

A hoarse gasp tore from Astra. Hot silk tightened around Eydis’s fingers as she curled them in shallow thrusts. “I’m not delicate with things I want too badly.”

The whimper that followed begged her to make good on the threat.

She withdrew and lifted her hand, parting her fingers so gold lit the glistening strands between them. Seeing Astra undone in full daylight felt deliciously forbidden.

Astra clearly did not realise the chaos she caused. That required correction.

“Care for a taste?” She brushed the slick across Astra’s lips. “Know what you do to me.” The words slipped out on a shaky sigh.

Colour rushed to Astra’s cheeks, yet her mouth opened. She sucked the fingers greedily, tongue swirling. A quick, punishing bite at the tip dragged a groan from Eydis.

“That’s…” Eydis breathed, heart stuttering, “exactly the response I wanted.” 

She thumbed Astra’s lips apart and stole the flavour from her tongue. Astra moaned, unprepared for the invasion.

Fisting the hem of the robe, Eydis hauled her upright, spun them, and drove Astra’s hips against the table. Crockery rattled, cutlery clattered to the floor. Pressing in behind, she peeled the robe from slender shoulders and kissed from nape to spine before bending Astra forward until her torso rested on the wood.

Behind the tall windows the greenhouse leaves stirred, casting dapples across porcelain skin that begged to be marked.

Astra’s palms flattened, then curled to fists. “Don’t stare, Eydis,” she panted, voice wrecked.

“Oh, but I am.” Eydis grinned against her spine. “See, I have a sharp memory. But some works of art demand a deeper appreciation.”

She nudged Astra’s thighs apart, lifted the hem of the robe and froze.

A dark blue G-string.

Eydis’d never understood the point of something so flimsy, so brazen, so utterly useless.

Until now.

The thin silk line vanishing between bare curves was a silent challenge.

She accepted without hesitation.

Her palms traced the perfect swell of Astra’s backside, thumbs sliding beneath and up, parting just enough to brush teasing pressure against fever-hot flesh.

Astra jerked. “This position,” she gasped, “is vul—”

“—Visually striking,” Eydis finished, dropping to her knees.

Astra groaned and tried to look back. “You cannot be serious. Eydis—”

“This tiny mole, did you ever notice?” Eydis pressed a kiss to the crease where thigh met pelvis. “Perhaps not, but I have.”

Astra shuddered, her answer lost in a moan.

Eydis caught the lace in her teeth and tugged it aside, baring glistening flesh flushed rose.

“I’ve been thinking about it since last night.” Dark amber eyes traced every tremor. “I never imagined myself insatiable.” 

She licked along the exposed skin, silky flesh giving beneath her mouth. “Then you made that sound, and now I want everything.”

“For the love of—just… stop monol—”

Another flick silenced Astra, landing precisely on the swollen nerve and sending shockwaves through her frame.

Eydis parted the soaked heat with one hand, greedy to memorise every detail. With the other she slid two fingers inside, pressing deep, savouring the velvet squeeze. She withdrew, then filled the ache with a slow plunge of tongue.

Astra’s thighs tensed, instinctively pulling Eydis closer. She swore, lifting her hips, and groaned again when Eydis pressed in harder, her nose brushing as she breathed her in.

But Eydis wanted the full view.

She stood, lifted Astra onto the table and crushed their mouths together. Breathless against her lips she asked, “Tell me what you want.”

Astra looked close to ruin, her face flushed, chest heaving, eyes dark with need. 

“You will not survive the list,” she warned, guiding Eydis’s hand down until it touched fire. Her head fell back, teeth trapping a moan.

“I will survive,” Eydis meant it as a tease, yet the words died in a gasp when Astra rolled her hips, her clit dragging across Eydis’s palm.

And she was throbbing.

“Fuck,” Eydis breathed, but Astra was already pulling her in. She kissed Eydis like she needed inside, tongue sliding deep, again and again, until Eydis had no idea where the moan came from, hers or Astra’s.

So much for the Virtuous Saintess. 

Another slow roll smeared slickness across Eydis’s palm, the robe bunching at Astra’s waist. Eydis’s gaze dropped to the rise and fall of her chest, hypnotised, she teased, “Your unholiness, this borders on heresy.” 

Her fingers skipped upward to cup a flushed breast. “Use your mouth, not…” Her gaze dipped, then climbed back.

Conflict flickered in Astra’s expression, pride warring with need. Astra clamped her fingers round Eydis’s wrist.

“Then here is the choice.” Her voice dropped. “You fuck me now, or watch me show just how unholy a saintess can be.”

Eydis strangled a groan. She drove her fingers in hard, unrelenting. Each thrust punched a sharper cry. Astra arched as pleasure slammed through her.

One arm looped Astra’s waist, holding her while she shattered, nails digging into Eydis’s shoulders.

When breathing steadied, Astra leaned close, licking her own taste from Eydis’s chin to her lips. She kissed her deeply, sucking Eydis’s tongue into her mouth like vengeance, reclaiming what was hers.

Heat detonated under Eydis’s ribs. She broke the kiss, panting. “You are trouble.”

“So are you.” Astra’s knuckles grazed the slick between Eydis thighs, asking.

Eydis tangled one hand in silver hair, the other tugging the sash loose. Astra’s robe joined hers on the floor. “You’ll have your turn,” she promised, eyes glittering. “Later.”

She kissed her again, then drove her fingers deep, fast, curling to strike that spot. “Right now, I want to watch you fall.”

Astra’s hips jerked; her mouth parted, then broke open in a cry.

“But don’t worry, darling, I’ll be gentle.” Soft endearments slipped from Eydis’s lips while her hand kept a merciless rhythm. Wet heat pulsed around her hand, slick overflowing her wrist.

“I mean,” she whispered, brushing Astra’s ear, “I’ll watch you gently.”

Astra came apart, shivering against her hold, the table creaking beneath her.

“Mine,” Eydis said softly, not meaning to say it aloud, but she didn’t take it back. Already, she was hungry for the replay.

A slow smile curved her lips as her hands traced the line of Astra’s spine, then slid down to grip her hips.

Today revenge could marinate a little longer. 

“You should know, Your Holiness, the Queen of Shadows kneels to no one.” Eydis dipped lower, trailing open-mouthed kisses down Astra’s trembling body.

She coaxed Astra’s thighs open. Her dark amber gaze flicked up, locking with Astra’s just as her lips hovered where heat pulsed, bare, wet, and wanting.

“Well… perhaps one exception.”

Astra’s breath hitched. A curse fell from her lips, already breaking.

“Your turn will come, just not yet.”

Not before I ruin you again.