The First Loss: Vaelor x Elora (Rogue X Ara Book 3)

Chapter 27

When we met Rya and Augustus for breakfast after several days spent in our lust-fueled haze, my cheeks immediately heated, but the meal was fast, their conversation falling into the hum of tavern chatter while I dreamed of Vaelor’s hands and tongue and dirty words.

Goddess, he’d reduced me to nothing more than a wanton mess. No matter where we were, how many times he filled me, loved me, kissed me, my body always craved more.

He was utterly inescapable.

My cheeks burned deeper, and he gripped my leg under the table, rubbing his thumb along my inner thigh, telling me he knew I was aroused. The flush spread down my neck, and I exhaled slowly.

After Rya and Augustus bid us farewell, Vaelor threw a leg over the bench so he straddled it, facing me with an elbow rested on the table.

“You’re a needy little thing, you know that?”

My eyes flashed to him, my mouth opening and closing like a floundering fish. “Me?”

He slid his hand behind my nape as he nuzzled into the crook of my neck to inhale deeper. “Well, it’s not my arousal driving me fucking mad.”

“It is you,” I muttered, nearly unintelligible as he left a trail of kisses down my throat.

“As long as it’s only me,” he whispered, that damned possessive edge back in his tone.

“It’s only ever been you.”

I felt his smile against my skin as he paused for a split second before biting his mark again. My heart pounded, and I clenched my jaw, stifling a moan and gripping the edge of the bench.

When he released his teeth, I shoved at his chest and whispered, “We’re at breakfast for fuck’s sake.”

He didn’t budge an inch. “So?”

“So?” My eyes bulged from my skull. “I don’t think your people want to see their king doing…whatever it is you’re doing.”

He didn’t move, though, not his hands, his mouth, his nearness. The only hint of movement was the curve of his lips as he grinned. I shoved at him again, but he grabbed both my wrists in one of his hands, holding them in my lap under the table, the other still firmly locked around the nape of my neck.

He moved to my ear. “If you try to push me away again, I will bend you over this table and show my people exactly how much I love my mate.”

Heat ripped through me so ferociously, I snapped my thighs together, and he didn’t miss the movement. The bastard never did. He chuckled, his breath tickling my skin.

“Although, maybe you’d rather I just bend you over my knee. I know how much you love that,” he whispered so low, even I could barely hear him.

My chest heaved, but the rest of me remained as still as stone. “I’ve created a monster.”

He laughed this time, a deep, genuine sound. “You freed a monster,” he corrected. “You own a monster. You love a monster. But not created. No, fate did that for you.”

A different warmth spread through me, because he wasn’t wrong. “How can you be two completely different people?”

“What do you mean?”

“How can you be regal and thoughtful and…” My breath hitched when he pressed his lips to the mark again. “And just when you’re around everyone else, then be this when you’re with me?”

“Because this person, this ‘depraved beast’ as you so eloquently put it last night, is yours and yours alone. No one else has ever or will ever see this part of me, but I think you love that, don’t you? Being the only one able to drive me to the brink of insanity?”

I absolutely did. He satisfied every desire I had or ever could have—truly made for me, literally, in every sense.

“Answer me.” His grip tightened around my nape and forced me to look at him.

“Yes.” My voice sounded as breathless as I felt. “Yes, I like owning this part of you. And you, my depraved beast, love knowing I’m yours, don’t you? You like that you’re the only person to have ever tasted me? Touched me? Fucked me?”

I was provoking him, I knew I was, but I couldn’t help it. The flash in his eyes, the wicked tilt of his lips, the tightening hold made it all too tempting, and hell, I had not one ounce of resistance left in my body.

His grip moved to my chin, tilting my face up to him as he scooted impossibly closer. “You’re absolutely right.”

Then, his lips met mine, softer than I expected, sentimental, and my heart melted. My hands found his chest, feeling his heart racing beneath my palm—alive in every way, unrestrained by anything other than his devotion to me.

“I love you,” I whispered against his lips.

He smiled and slid his fingers through my hair. “I love you too, sun ray.”

If my heart swelled anymore, it was going to burst.

“I have somewhere I want to show you. It’s…” He paused and took a deep breath. “No one else at Draig Hearth knows of its existence, but no more secrets. No more lies.”

My heart would definitely burst soon, but I simply nodded. “No more lies.”

“I want you to know every part of me, every inch, every thought.” His gaze moved to my hair as he brushed his fingers through it again. “I want to burn in your flames.”

We stoodhand in hand in front of a mansion, old but well maintained, beautiful in an ancient, secret-holding kind of way.

The sun set behind it, casting the dark house in its glowing embers as we strolled closer.

“Why are we…” I started but stopped when a mammoth of a man stepped from the massive door, his body framed on either side by blood-red wings. My heart lurched, and I tightened my hold on Vaelor’s hand.

I might not know much about Fae, but I did know the only Fae with wings were Draigs, and Draigs were…mean, for lack of a better word.

My feet slowed before planting where they were. Vaelor took a step or two before realizing and turning back to me.

He gave my hand a quick squeeze. “Do you trust me?”

My gaze slid from Vaelor to the Draig and back. “More than anyone.”

He ate the distance between us, cupped my jaw to tilt my face to his, and whispered, “Then trust I would never take you anywhere, to meet anyone who could hurt you.”

I nodded, despite the fear still swirling in my gut. He grinned, revealing endearingly crooked teeth, and kissed my lips once, twice, three times, and I melted slightly in his hold.

“Are you here to introduce me or force me to watch you fornicate on my lawn?”

I gasped, yanking back from Vaelor with wide eyes and burning cheeks. Vaelor’s mouth pressed into a tight line as he glanced over to the Draig, who was much closer now. I stepped into Vaelor’s side, and he wrapped an arm around my waist.

“Do you want to meet Elora, or did you want me to severe your head from your shoulders?” Vaelor replied, and my face whipped to him, mouth agape.

“And how would you manage that? I’d swallow you whole before you had the chance.”

My stomach twisted as my eyes flitted back to the Draig standing directly in front of us, and I pressed farther into Vaelor’s side.

I knew Draigs could shift into dragons, but I didn’t expect their normal Fae size to also be so large. Vaelor wasn’t much shorter, maybe an inch or two, but the Draig was wide and burly—like perhaps he could swallow us both without having to shift into his beast at all.

I decidedly had no interest in seeing how large that beast was.

“Well, at least then I could fry you from the inside.”

Why are we here again? I’m going to faint.

My gaze darted back and forth between the two of them, my heart pounding, but then the Draig cracked a smile. Vaelor mirrored it before they relaxed and sank into easy laughter. I let lose a small breath, but when they both looked to me, I stopped breathing all together.

“This is Drakyth Draki.” Vaelor motioned to the Draig who grinned and stuck a hand out.

I stepped forward to shake his hand, but Vaelor’s grip tightened on my waist, anchoring me against him.

Vaelor’s gaze fell to his extended hand, and Drakyth’s skin lit silver as Vaelor’s irises glowed with sizzling energy. Lifting to meet his dark gaze, Vaelor slid his own hand in and shook Drakyth’s. “That wasn’t an empty threat.”

I sucked in a sharp breath. I’m going to faint, Vaelor.

Drakyth’s mouth tilted up in a mischievous smirk as he looked to me. “He’s possessive. I didn’t expect that.”

As the shock subsided, I stifled my smile, but there wasn’t a thing I could do about the flush spreading up my neck. I…liked that. I liked that I made Vaelor, the tightly leashed, regal, kind man, feral.

“Don’t touch Elora. Understood.” Drakyth stepped back with his hands up in front of him.

I didn’t know what came over me, but I stepped forward and grabbed Drakyth’s hand, giving it a firm shake. “Nice to meet you.”

Drakyth winked before he jerked his hand back like I’d burned him and leapt off the ground with a thrust of his wings. I gasped and staggered back a step but understood quickly when a bolt of lightning struck the ground exactly where Drakyth had stood.

I screamed, my mouth hanging open wider than it ever had as I swiveled on my heel toward Vaelor. “Are you mad? You could have killed him—or me!”

“It wouldn’t have hit you,” he said, lethally calm. He held my gaze as he stepped closer, and I craned my neck to look up at him when he invaded my space.

My ass was going to regret this later. I could nearly feel the sting of his palm already—which only made my core burn. I shifted on my feet and crossed my arms.

“If you don’t want others to die at your hand, then don’t touch them.”

My breath left me. “You…You…”

He grinned, his eyes heated, molten silver. “Cat got your tongue, love?”

“You would’ve electrocuted him, because I shook his hand?”

He shrugged and looped an arm around my shoulders, swiveling me toward the front door. “It would take a lot more than a lightning strike to kill him.”

Drakyth hit him with his shoulder. “Doesn’t mean it wouldn’t have hurt, dick.” Leaning around Vaelor, Drakyth pretended to whisper as he said, “Don’t worry, El. I don’t mind helping you provoke him. That was the first time I’ve ever seen him lose control. Ever.”

“El?” Vaelor asked.

“El, Ellie, Elora.” Drakyth waved his hand through the air. “Does it truly matter?”

“El is fine,” I said in a rush, stifling the laugh bubbling up. When Vaelor glared down at me, I closed my eyes, biting my lip, my form shaking. Drakyth’s snort echoed from the other side of Vaelor, and we both burst into laughter. “I like Drakyth.”

“I’ll kill him,” Vaelor seethed.

Drakyth wheezed, bending over and bracing himself on his knees, breathless. I started to wait on him, but Vaelor pulled me forward toward the house.

Drakyth waved a hand for us to go on. “I like you, too, El. Goddess, I’m just glad I found a way under his skin of steel.”

When we entered through the front door, I nudged Vaelor’s side. “Skin of steel, hmm?”

His hand found my backside as he led me toward a room off to the left. “You’re going to wish you had skin of steel when we get to our room later.”

My eyes widened, and I bit my tongue as the flush spread over my entire body, my heart thumping wildly.

“Although, I’m fairly certain you’ll get exactly what you wanted from that interaction.”

I didn’t have time to consider his words before a man around my age stood from the chair he sat in. With tanned skin, rusty red eyes, and black hair, he looked to be related to Drakyth, but he turned to Vaelor and said, “Father!”

“Father?” I mumbled under my breath.

This was the time, I knew it. My eyes were actually going to fall out of my head, or my jaw would hit the floor, or my heart would leap from my chest. Something was bound to happen from the icy wave of shock that poured over me. I blinked rapidly as the man strode across the room with a smug grin. Just before he threw his arms around Vaelor, Vaelor stuck a hand out and stopped the man by placing a hand over his face, holding him at arm’s length.

“What is wrong with you two today?” Vaelor ran his free hand through his hair and turned to me.

The other man knocked Vaelor’s hand away and threw a single arm over his shoulders before looking at me. “Did I give you a good scare?”

“You gave me something.” I rested a hand over my racing heart before asking Vaelor, “So, you don’t have a son?”

“No, love.” His eyes cut to the man hanging on his side. “I don’t have a son.”

“You having a child wouldn’t have bothered me. I mean, you’re like a million years old.” The man and I both chuckled while Vaelor only cracked a smile. “It would have bothered me more that you kept him a secret all this time. Well, you having a child who looks to be my age would be…strange.”

I internally winced—or maybe not so internally, as they both laughed.

The man, Goddess bless him, reached out and patted me on the shoulder. “Aw, it’d be like having a brother.”

I froze, my eyes flashing to Vaelor’s to find his sharp focus on my shoulder. He reached forward and wrenched the man’s hand off by his wrist—albeit much more gently than with Drakyth.

“Don’t,” was all Vaelor said.

I sighed. “So, anyone want to introduce us?”

“This is Adonis, Drakyth’s grandson, but we just call him Adon.” Vaelor motioned to Adon, who bowed dramatically.

He tipped his face up with a shit-eating grin. “At your service, milady.”

I curtsied, holding back laughs. “Nice to meet you.”

Vaelor let out a long breath and plopped down on a couch, legs spread with one arm thrown over the back. I sat at his side, and he wrapped that arm over my shoulders.

Adon sat on a stool across from us and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, hands clasped. “You’re the first person Vaelor has brought here for a visit.”

He’d said no one from Draig Hearth knew about this place, but that still caught me off guard. I looked between the two of them, and Vaelor nodded.

“Where is here?” I asked, turning back to Adon.

His smile turned genuine, then, sentimental. “The Sanctuary.”

They spent the next hour explaining it all, starting with how Vaelor found Adon and the eleven other children. It branched from there, and the letter system was created. Everything was hush hush and word of mouth. They were sure the villages suspected, but no one ever asked, and he never told. All correspondence was burned, and not a single person in Vaelor’s life knew about this place, not even Fauna.

I thought if one person knew, it’d be her, since she was involved in the creation of Puer Mortis. She was the one who stored and provided the necessary vials of blood from the creature of night, but apparently not. Even his friends in Canyon weren’t privy to the secrets of the Sanctuary. Everyone he loved was kept in the dark, because he feared that one day, someone would be rescued, and the abuser would grow angry enough to retaliate.

It was better if they didn’t know, safer.

“But you told me?” I asked.

Vaelor paused, his expression torn. His fingers discreetly found the pulse on the hollow of my throat, and he stared for longer than normal. Counting, I realized. “I want you in every part of my life. I want you to know me. No secrets. No lies.”

I rested my hand overtop his and pulled it to my mouth, giving him a light kiss on the palm. “No secrets.”

Vaelor had an entire second life outside his role as king—or rather, he took his role as king above and beyond. His people were his to protect, and he meant it with every fiber of his being.

“How many people have you rescued?” I asked Vaelor.

“It all started with this asshole. I’d had the idea for a while, but Drak didn’t agree until I brought Adon here. The damned kid gave me a run for my money, though. Made me chase him all over Rainsmyre.” Adon grinned again, his form shaking with laughter, but his eyes showed fondness. Vaelor might not be his father, but Adon sure respected him as one. “How many years have we been doing this?”

Adon answered without a second thought. “Nine.”

“Nine years,” Vaelor repeated. He tilted his head, his eyes lifting to the ceiling as he mulled over numbers in his head. “They don’t all stay for obvious reasons. Children do, but adults eventually leave when they feel ready. Everyone but this one. He’s stuck to us like a parasite.” Even as Vaelor said the words, his affection was clear, and it warmed my heart to see him this way.

I would love to see him with our own child one day.

My smile slid from my face, and I cleared my throat, shoving that very sudden, very random thought from my head.

“That’s not a number.” I nudged his side with my elbow.

Vaelor glanced at Adon. “Perhaps near one hundred, give or take?”

“One hundred and twelve.” Adon nodded once, beaming. “And not a single one has returned to whatever situation led them here.”

A mother and two children, young girls with short hair, entered through the front door. One girl carried a basket of daffodils, while the other carried a basket of pastries. The woman glanced in our direction and stilled before a broad grin stretched across her face.

But then, three more children entered behind them, all younger than her two daughters, each one carrying their own basket of flowers. They tugged at the woman’s dress, and she sank to her knees, wrapping her arms around them all.

“Are we ready for treats?” She wiggled her brows at them, and they squealed and took off running toward what I assumed was the kitchen.

She dipped her head to Vaelor, and he returned the greeting before she turned and followed the children.

I couldn’t pull my gaze from where they’d stood. My eyes burned, my throat tight, holding back tears with all my might. If Godrick hadn’t found me, would I have ended up here? Or somewhere like it?

Goddess, I hoped so.

“This is…” My hand found Vaelor’s and gripped it tight. “Everything, my love. You are everything.”

A single tear slipped past my lashes, and I released a shaky laugh, quickly wiping it away. He slid his fingers into my hair and rested his forehead on mine. His scent filled my lungs, leather and warmth and sea storms.

Everything about him, from his hands to his smile to his heart to his scent, felt safe, and he was exactly that—safe, for me and all of his people.

Ravaryn was beyond blessed to have him as a king, but I knew in my bones I was more blessed than any. Fate might be a fickle thing, but it seemed she smiled on me, and I would never, ever stop thanking my lucky stars for Vaelor Wrynwood.

Adon cleared his throat at the same moment Drakyth walked in. I giggled, pulling back, as Vaelor hurled a pillow at him. Adon flung back off the stool with a loud thump and a grunt, and Drakyth howled with laughter once again. Vaelor joined him this time, and I covered my mouth with my hand, watching the three of them with a chest full of mirth.

Perhaps Vaelor didn’t need a friend all those years ago.

Perhaps it was me who needed him.

Or perhaps we needed each other to fill the gaps we couldn’t reach, to hear words not fit for any other’s ears, to stitch wounds we didn’t cause, to smile and laugh and hold, to understand deeply, thoroughly, completely.

Perhaps our souls saw their counterparts in the other, and we were only a matter of when, not if.

We were fated, written in the stars, across time.

Infinite.

This feeling, so large and all-consuming, was infinite, everlasting and bottomless, warm and bright—a star. I held a star in my chest where my heart should have been.

I rubbed at my sternum absentmindedly with one hand while my other quickly wiped away a stray tear that slipped past my lashes.

No, not just any star.

Vaelor Wrynwood, my best friend, my love, my everything, plucked the sun from the sky and placed it in my chest “to accompany my eyes,” as he once said.