Chapter 22
Arrow
“Leaf… I’m so sorry,” I said between bitter-sweet kisses. “Sorry for everything. I should have been gentle, revered you from the moment I laid eyes on you at the gilt market. Never frightened you. Not once. To atone for my sins, you can lash my body a thousand times a day. Starve me. Beat me. Anything as long as you never stop needing me. To me, you are more precious than gold. More vital than air and lightning. More necessary to life than blood. Let me show you.”
“Yes,” she murmured. “Show me. Please, hurry.”
My wings enfolded her, creating a cocoon that insulated us from the bleakness of Taln. “You are safe with me, little Leaf,” I said, sick with the need to carry my Aldara away from this terrible place. “You’ll always be safe with me. Each tear I shed is a vow to you, a prayer, and a wish that you will return my love forever.”
With a gasp, she wiped moisture from my cheek. Fuck. Since when did I cry?
Even when my family died, I screamed and raged, but shed no tears for their loss.
This was yet another lesson my human had taught me.
To be vulnerable.
To risk rejection, if I must.
Because living without her wasn’t an option.
“Oh, Arrow,” she breathed my name on a soft sigh. “Please don’t worry. Everything will be all right.”
We smiled at each other, tears shimmering in our gazes. Then I kissed her, the taste of salt on her lips the sweetest potion.
I couldn’t decide which part of her to worship next. I wanted all of her. Now. Now and forever.
She cried out as I drew a nipple into my mouth, biting one softly, then the other. A low moan vibrated in her throat as my fangs pierced her flesh, and I drew blood from the side of her breast. Only two small sips. Enough to make her arch off the bed and drag my hips forward with greedy, clutching hands.
Shaking with anticipation, I slid my hand down her body and teased my fingers through her wetness. “Fuck, Leaf. You’re so ready for me.”
She made a broken noise, halfway between a laugh and a groan. “Yes, no more waiting. Please, Arrow.”
“As you wish,” I said, sliding into her heat with one fluid movement.
Finally.
A sense of blissful belonging washed over me. This was home. Wherever she was. As close to her as possible. My love. My Aldara.
She gasped, stroking my back before running her hands over my chest plate, then along my twitching stomach muscles.
“So good,” I said through gritted teeth. “This is all I’ve wanted since I left you in Mydorian… to be with you. To be as close to you as I can get.”
“And now you are. So for the love of dust, get moving before those guards come back.”
With great care, I drew back, then inched forward, the delicious friction testing my control. She writhed gloriously beneath me, urging me to go faster and harder, but I didn’t.
I couldn’t.
First, I had to make sure she understood.
When I found the perfect, slow rhythm that made us sweat, on the verge of losing control, I stroked her body, her cheek, cuffed her neck with all the tenderness my ruthless heart could muster.
“I will protect you always. Never doubt it. From the night I saw you lift that fork to the Sun envoy’s neck in my dining hall, an unbreakable spell was cast. Your spell, my Aldara. At that moment…”
Words failed me, the sight and feel of her warm, wet body, threatening to shatter my resolve.
Raising her hips, I changed the angle slightly. “I… I didn’t know it then, Leaf, but that night I had fallen from the highest mountain peak in the realms, fallen irrevocably in love with you. And since that moment, I swear on the souls of my dead family, all I’ve wanted is to keep you safe. Keep you close. See you smile… preferably at me.”
“Oh, gods,” she moaned as I raised her hips again and thrust higher, sliding against her favorite spot.
“There are no gods, only one goddess and her servant king. We are King Arrowyn and Queen Zali. Arrow and Leaf, bound in bliss for all eternity. Do you believe me, my Aldara? Do you believe that I never failed you? That I never…” I moaned, shuddering helplessly. “Never betrayed you?”
Dark hair fanned over the bedcovers as she shook her head.
“No?” I froze with my hips pressed against her, my cock pulsing deep inside her exquisite velvet warmth. “You don’t believe me? Then I had better stop.” My fingers digging into her flesh, I prayed to the gold that I had the strength to remain still for as long as it took her to surrender.
“Please,” she said, bucking and tugging my shoulders. “Don’t stop.”
“Then tell me your name.”
“Zali.”
“No. The name of your heart.”
“Zali,” my stubborn lioness repeated.
“Say the name I gave you… Leaf . Say it, and I’ll fuck you any way you want.”
She cradled my cheek and smiled into my eyes. “I’m called Leaf. And although I’ve spent a long time hating it, in truth, it’s the name I like best. Given to me by the only male who makes me cry, and burn, and long for him like no other. The only one who knows that I like it hard and very fast.”
I required no further encouragement.
Bracing my hand above her head, I leaned into the work and gave her exactly what she’d asked for—long, hard, punishing strokes that made sweat slick our skin as we groaned and raged and panted together.
“You’re never… leaving… my sight again,” I demanded, perhaps unreasonably.
“But Mydorian. My people.”
“Damn it… Leaf. I—”
“Arrow, please… Don’t think about what’s beyond our control. Not now. Believe that all will be well.”
Then she said my name again and again, an incantation, a spell, and as her muscles coiled tighter and clenched around me, I sank my fangs into her neck over the Aldara mark. She came apart at once, crying out, gripping me tighter. I shuddered hard, pressing my fingers over her mouth to silence her cries.
Sweet, dark blood coated my tongue as her life force slid down my throat. Euphoric, primal hunger rocked me to my core.
Need.
And solace.
Leaf’s essence bound our hearts and souls together, and the bond demanded I keep her in my sight at all times. How would I find the strength to walk out of this room and leave her at the fire fae’s mercy?
Determined to extend her pleasure, I cursed against her skin to stop myself from breaking, roaring, and bringing the whole fire kingdom down upon us. My feather glyphs blazed hotter than ever, blood flowing through my veins like a wildfire.
So close to pain, the pleasure was unbearable.
Too fucking good.
I never wanted it to end.
Not yet.
Then beyond my control, a force stronger than lightning quaked from my stomach and spread outward, ricocheting through flesh and bones until I exploded. I squeezed my eyes shut and shook like an avalanche.
Collapsing on top of Leaf, I kissed her neck softly, her lips too hard, and then feather-soft.
“Ouch, your chest plate,” she reminded me, and I lifted my upper body off her.
“Still hate me?” I asked with a grin.
“Yes,” she said, her cheeks blushing the sweet color of desert rose petals.
“Liar.”
She laughed. “Get up, quickly. The guards could come in any moment.” She wriggled out from under me, stood in front of a long mirror, and began repairing her ruined braid.”
“Leave it like that. It will suit the scene we’re playing.”
She nodded and helped me put my clothes to rights as we laughed like mischievous children.
“I take no pleasure in any realm, in any thing without you,” I said, bracing my hands on her hips and peppering kisses on her cheeks. “Food has no flavor. Nightmares besiege me. I haven’t had a moment’s peace since we parted. Does it please you to know you’ve destroyed me, my Leaf?”
“Of course it does.” She grinned and fastened my cloak. “Now, where should I stand? Here? Or should I lie on the bed and cry for the guards’ entertainment?”
“No, I couldn’t bear it.” Without thinking, I took my old cloak from the coat stand and wrapped it around her shoulders, breathing in the precious scent of her—warm, musky human with a hint of jasmine, combined with my own scent. The best smell in the five realms.
She shrugged it off, and it fell on the bed.
“Please, Leaf. I beg you to keep it and think about everything I’ve told you. We’ll speak more tomorrow. Give the cloak back to me then if you must. And tell me that you know I didn’t betray you. Could never betray you.”
“The guards,” she whispered. “Can you do me one favor? Get Ari here. I miss her so much.”
A bolt of jealousy pierced my heart. I brushed a strand of hair from her lips and nodded. “I will do my best.”
Pinching her cheeks hard, she said, “We need to make this look real.”
“Yes, and I’m sorry for this,” I said, tearing her dress so it hung from one shoulder. When she bit her lip, drawing blood, I caught her face in my hands, pressing my forehead to hers. “No, Leaf. You take things too far.”
“They must believe you assaulted me. The ruthless Storm King wouldn’t treat me gently.”
“Those rumors are based on my father’s reputation, not mine. I have never hurt a lover. Never hurt a slave, or a princess, or even a queen. When will you stop thinking the worst of me?”
“I admit I can be a slow learner. You should know that by now, Arrow.” She stood on the tips of her toes and grasped my shoulders. “But I’m finally paying attention. I promise. Call the guards.”
I kissed her one last time, walking her backward toward the bed, then laying her down. “If any of those Fire Court fucks touch you, tell me straight away. They’ll be added to my list of dead men.”
She bounced up off the mattress. “ Dead men ,” she scoffed, as if I’d never killed anyone on her behalf before. She slapped my ass, then ducked behind me so I couldn’t retaliate.
I spun on my heel. “Hey, get back here.”
“Did you forget that you’re powerless in the Sun Realm? You won’t be killing anyone, whether they touch me or not.”
“Won’t I? We’ll see about that.”
“Orion, the orc who helped me board Loligos’s ship. He’s a prisoner, trapped in—”
“I know. We’ll deal with it. Tomorrow morning I have a meeting with Azarn’s counselors and some traders from the Ice realm. After that, I’ll find you.”
“All right,” she said, smiling at me in a sweet, open way. A smile I thought I would never see again. “We desperately need a plan.”
Damn right we did. With my power blocked, getting out of Taln safely wouldn’t be easy. But the Sun Realm’s queen held the key to our escape. The secret conversations I’d had with Estella had revealed she hated Azarn with a fiery passion, which would work to our advantage.
“The night of the last trial, how did you appear invisible in my room?” I asked.
“The serpent fae gave me petals from the blood orchid. I rubbed one on my skin and became temporarily invisible. That’s its power.”
“Good. Keep the rest well-hidden.”
“I will.”
“Will you be at dinner in the hall?” she asked.
“Yes. And it will fucking kill me to ignore you. I love you,” I whispered. “More than you’ll ever understand.”
As I stared at her gap-toothed grin, the City of Taln seemed to turn upside down, the horror shaking out of it, and everything in the realms felt right again. I would gladly spend eternity in the hell realms if it were the price of seeing her smile every day and night for the rest of my life.
I opened the door and shouted for Azarn’s men to return, struggling to suppress my own grin as the word tomorrow spun through my mind, a sweet, unbearable torture.
How would I wait a whole night to touch her again without losing my mind?
A wave of dread surged through me. Fuck. We’d forgotten to talk through our bond.
What if Melaya heard us?
I guessed if he had, I’d know about it soon enough, because Azarn’s mage and his soldiers would be crashing down my door before dawn.
If so, bring it on. I’d never had a fight I didn’t enjoy.
And in all truth, I was dying for a reason to break Melaya’s nose.