11. Tempest
11
TEMPEST
A s the high advisor strode across the room, my gaze was snagged by the Wraithweave gameboard. The game pieces had been lined up in the neutral territory on both sides of the board as if play was about to begin.
On the fae side, I noted the master, a shield standing close by his side, plus five defenders, all cloaked in steely gray.
And on the Nullen side of the board, the high lady stood tall and strong, her dark blue cloak fluttering in a breeze I didn’t feel sweeping through the room. She stared with an empty expression toward the landscape she’d soon have to conquer if she hoped to win it all.
The pieces weren’t alive, of course. Not in the game I’d played with Vexxion or with other riders while sipping wine at the bar.
But here—
Before my eyes, the high lady’s shield appeared in front of her, placing himself between her and the master watching from the other side of the board. She had only three defenders, though more game pieces could be purchased with spoils won in battle. A master could also be added to her team. Some used a strategy that didn’t include one. Most considered it risky not to use the all-powerful master, but each game on any given day could result in either side winning. While vulnerable in certain ways, the high lady also had considerable power of her own.
One of her defenders was dressed in pure white, while the others wore dark blue like her cloak. It differentiated them from the opponent’s steely gray.
I wasn’t sure what to think of the white defender, and I wasn’t given time to study the board any further. The high advisor’s hand smacked onto my shoulder, and he flitted us to the hallway outside Vexxion’s suite. He thrust open the door and shoved me inside, banging it closed behind me. His footsteps stomped away.
Vexxion joined me shortly after that, his body wavering for only a moment after his flit before he stiffened his spine and sent me an odd look. Why did he appear to be guarding himself? Did he think I’d be angry with him about this?
In some ways I was, but what he’d done—what he was still doing—crushed me in a way nothing else ever could.
My walls were gone. I was as open, exposed, and vulnerable as he was.
I’d sat in the chair parked in front of the fireplace, quivering while Ivenrail sucked Vexxion’s power through me like the king was a child and Vexxion an afternoon treat. I’d allowed him to do it, though the vines held me in place. Could I have done anything to protect Vexxion instead of the other way around?
I suspected he’d stood between me and danger many more times than I knew.
Though he’d shown me in more ways than I could count and told me with his touch and the resolve in his eyes, I saw it all clearly—finally.
Vexxion would die for me.
The thought was a shard of ice tearing through my chest. Each pulse of my heart reminded me that his life was the currency he’d willingly spend for mine and without hesitation. My love for him bled with the ugly knowledge that one day, I might wake to find his warmth just an echo within me.
The king isn’t draining bits of energy from all the Nullens taken when the dregs invade the villages, I said, my voice as bleak as my soul. It was a guess on my part, but somehow, I knew.
No. So much pain came through in his one word. It tore through me, exploding out the other side, leaving a hole that would gape forever.
Are the Lieges draining them?
Some. I can’t be everywhere at once.
Exhaustion etched across his skin, and the scars webbing his neck stood out starkly. His white streak of hair blazed in the low light.
Shadows clung to the hollows beneath his eyes like specters. Only the edge of determination in his gaze showed his never-ending strength. His promise to protect me was ironclad, forged with grit and bone-deep resolve.
Forged by his heart .
Drask soared in from the other room and darted over to the perch placed in front of a window. I suspected Vexxion had asked someone to bring it here for my precious pet. Always thinking of how he could make my life better while sparing few thoughts for himself.
Drask pecked at the glass.
“Let him outside,” Vexxion said.
“Something will eat him.”
He strode over to the crow, and they made eye contact. “I told him to remain in the stable with Glim. I promise he’ll be safe.”
“Alright,” I sighed, and he opened the window, letting the bird fly free.
After leaving it cracked for Drask’s return, Vexxion came over and took my hand. I let him lead me to a sofa where we sat side-by-side, our thighs brushing together. We stared at the fire crackling merrily in the fireplace. How could something seem so normal when the world around me was snarling itself into a knot?
My eyes stung with tears again. Back in the king’s living area, I’d struggled to hold them back, because I knew if Vexxion saw them, he’d endanger himself just to have the chance to wipe them away. To kiss them away if I let him.
Now, they flowed. Oh, how they flowed.
He’s also not draining the power of any Nullen brought to Bledmire Court after the Claiming , I said. Is he?
No, he’s not, Vexxion bit out.
Even in this, he’d tried to protect me, withholding the information that could redeem him in my eyes .
Except . . . he said. I’m sorry.
He spoke of Brodine and Reyla. Probably others through the years.
How long have you been letting him take your power instead of theirs? I asked. This was why my friends were drained when others hadn’t been. He wasn’t here to step between them and the king.
From the moment I discovered I could do it.
How old were you?
Ten. I wish I’d learned how to do it sooner.
What, when he was five? You were a child.
Not any longer.
That cratered my heart. This is why you stagger whenever you flit or do anything that takes considerable power. The king has been leaching energy from you for most of your life.
Yes. It’s . . . tiring.
A throb echoed through my chest, a silent keen for the wounds he stoically took to protect others.
How many of the Nullens taken from villages have you saved? I asked.
As many as I could. I’m sorry. He sucked in a breath and released it in a long, heartfelt sigh. I make sure they’re returned to their homes, but I miss some. I wish I could protect everyone. Most are brought here immediately after they’re stolen. The Lieges hold a few back for themselves.
Those are the ones we free from cages.
Yes.
You can’t be everyone’s shield, I barked, though I wasn’t angry with him. I was scorning myself for doubting him for even one moment when all this time . . . All this time, he hadn’t been the villain I made him out to be in my mind.
“Can’t I?”
I turned to face him, my rage with the king gnawing at my bones. “Why didn’t you tell me before we went to the king’s suite?”
His lips curled up on one side as he placed his fingertip on his lips. He removed it and placed it on my mouth, watching my face. My eyes. My very soul as he traced it across my lips in a bitter caress.
Already, sorrow lurked in his sapphire eyes. He expected me to reel back, to scorn him for touching me even this simply.
My hand snapped up to hold his in place, and I spread his fingers and kissed each tip, then his palm.
His gaze locked on mine, and his groan slipped out. With a hint of hesitancy revealed on his face, he took my hands and squeezed them before he gently lifted me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around me.
My eyes throbbed again, and I did nothing to hold back my tears. I wept for everyone the king had hurt.
I wept for Vexxion. How he must’ve struggled not to become the man his father was determined to mold him into.
I didn’t tell you because he had to taste your terror, Vexxion said. Like in the throne room earlier, it had to be real. If he sensed you weren’t frightened, he’d delve into your mind to find out why.
“Vexxion,” I croaked, my face awash with fresh tears.
“I’m sorry.” He dropped his chin onto the top of my head like he used to do when we were in love. It was real and true and heart-rendering. Whenever he’d evaded answering my endless questions and whenever he’d said something I took the wrong way, he’d done it to protect me or someone who didn’t have anyone strong enough to stand by their side. This wasn’t a Wraithweave boardgame. It was a stark, lonely, torturous real life. But he’d placed himself in the shield position for everyone, and I feared he’d sacrifice himself without a qualm if it meant someone else might live.
“You’re not doing this any longer.” Could I hate the king or the fae lords and ladies any more than I did right now? “Not for me.”
He turned me in his arms and braced my shoulders with his palms, staring down into my eyes. I will do anything, and I mean anything , to protect you.
Even sacrifice yourself?
In less than a heartbeat.
I pressed my forehead against his chest. Same.
I will never let you do that.
Tipping my head back, I sniffed and mustered up a glare. You have no more say in this than I do with you.
Fair enough . A wry smile lifted his lips. I’ll have to stay with you all the time to keep you from doing something like that.
I am your companion here for the duration.
Tempest, he growled.
You call me Fury.
You told me not—
I was wrong. I’m your Fury. Always.
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, I swore I could see all the way to his soul. He loved me with a purity I wasn’t sure I deserved .
His mouth crashed down on mine, and I grabbed onto his tunic, holding tight. I’d fought my feelings for this man from the moment I met him. He’d irritated me so much. I’d sworn I hated him at times. But all I could feel for him now was love. In the throne room, I thought he killed any love I could have for him, but now it bloomed inside me again, spreading to my fingers and toes. Even blasting all the way up into the sky. As long as I was with him, we could face the world and come up the victors.
He held me gently, as if he thought I’d break, and that only made the ache in my chest deepen.
When I moaned, he pulled me closer, flush against his chest, wrapping his arms tighter around me. There was no place I’d rather be than with this man. I was angry with myself for thinking he’d betrayed me, though he gave me great cause. He kept asking me to trust him. I’d vowed I would, but at the first test of that vow, I’d believed the worst.
His fingers slid up my back to loosen my hair from the braid. Once freed, he glided his fingertips into the strands and up to the nape of my neck. Wrapping some of the hair around his palm, he used it to angle my head, to deepen our kiss.
My hands were feverish on his shoulders and chest. I couldn’t get close enough to him. Damn clothing was in the way.
His tongue slid across mine, teasing me with a skill I’d never felt before outside of him.
Heat coiled in my belly and glided down, spreading its wings through me and making me melt against him completely .
His taste flooded my mouth, spicy yet sweet.
He groaned and turned to lay me on the sofa, his mouth still locked on mine. He caged me with his arms and his big body. I couldn’t get enough of him. How had I thought I could shove him aside and still possess the ability to breathe?
I clung to him, kissing him harder, turning feral in my desire to be with him completely. I ran my hands along his arms and his chest, caressing every hard ridge and plain, holding onto him as if we’d soon be torn apart.
I wasn’t wrong in that. One wrong move, and this would be over.
He ground his pelvis against mine, rocking against me with a rhythm that would soon make me explode. One simple touch, and I’d give anything to him. My body. My heart. My soul. I was his, and he was mine, and I wasn’t going to let that vow waver again. I’d place my heart in his steady hands, knowing he’d keep it safe from all harm.
Need pulsed through me as he continued to push against me.
When he lifted his head, I clung, mewing, tortured in my desire.
He gave me a crooked smile and that pretty much did me in. I thought I’d lost him, but while we’d wavered on our path, we’d remained on it together.
While he continued to rub against me, rocking into me in a motion older than time, he nuzzled my neck, groaning out my name. He undid the fastenings on the front of my leather tunic, punctuating the release of each one with a hiss and a murmur against my overheated skin .
One button. A kiss. “You’re my Tempest.”
A second button. Another kiss. “My storm.”
A third button. Another kiss. “My everlasting fury.”
The leather tunic undone, he brushed it aside, his fingertips tracing across my quivering skin. He replaced his fingers with his mouth, the heated caress of his tongue on my breast driving me wild. “Nothing and no one is ever stealing you from me.”
Whimpering, I stroked my fingers through his hair, holding him tight against my breast while he sucked. When he nibbled, gently rolling my nipple with his teeth, my gasp rang out. I bowed my spine while tugging him closer. I was drowning in the feelings he brought to the surface. Drowning in everything that made this man mine.
My body was consumed with a need only he would ever satisfy. He’d ruined me for anyone else, and I accepted that, letting it sink deeply until it fused with my soul.
Shooting me a smile, he teased his fingertips across the fastening at the top of my pants. “Show me everything, Fury. I want to feel your passion sear across my palms, hear your cries of pleasure deep in my ears, and suck down the taste when you explode.” He braced my hips with his strong hands. “Can you do that for me? Can you give me everything after all that happened?”
“I’m yours, Vexxion. I always will be.” I said it quietly, but even I could hear the vow I was branding across my heart.
His was as fundamental to me as gravity; invisible yet undeniable—a force grounding me to something real and inescapable, deeper than words spoken. Our love was resolute and unshakable. No force could rip apart what we'd built over the past weeks or today.
He held my face and kissed me again, his mouth demanding and devastating, taking everything I had to offer and drawing more from deep inside me.
In no time, I was lost in his embrace again.
He kissed down my chest and undid my pants, easing them away, following his path with a delicate stroke of his fingers and blazing a trail with his mouth. With a toss, my pants went flying. He’d always undressed me with magic, but . . . I didn’t want to think about why he didn’t do so now. No, I wanted to focus on how wonderful it was to be with him again, how much I needed to give to him, not just take.
He kissed his way to my thighs and urged them apart, crawling between them.
“All I’ve been able to think about is tasting you again,” he mumbled against my overheated flesh. “I didn’t think I ever would. I was sure you’d reject me. I gave you more than good cause.”
“I should’ve believed in you. Trusted you.”
“I know why you didn’t. I don’t blame you one bit.”
“From now on, I will. Nothing is going to tear us apart. This I swear.” Maybe I was a fool to trust him again so quickly. Reyla would tell me I was. Brodine for sure.
But if I didn’t extend a hand to him, I wouldn’t survive what was coming. I felt this in my bones.
So I was the fool. If trusting him—loving him—was my downfall, I accepted that.
The fates help me .
“That’s all I need to hear.” He licked from my opening to my clit, then paused there, flicking his tongue back and forth across it.
I gasped, my body melting into the cushions, melting because of him.
His mouth ignited me, sending flames licking across my bones and heat roaring through my veins. He glided his tongue down to my saturated entrance, where he plunged it inside.
“Mine,” he snarled. “All mine.”
Vexxion.
I’m going to make you come, and then I’m going to do it again. I have to . . . His growl rang out, and he didn’t finish the thought.
His silver threads exploded from his skin and snapped back, some stroking my clit, others my breasts, while a few joined his tongue, thrusting inside me. White-hot desire blasted through me, and I swore the ground beneath us rumbled.
There’s nothing about you I don’t adore , he said.
Not even my impulsiveness?
It’s to be treasured. He plunged his fingers inside me while dragging his tongue back up to my clit. He greedily sucked on it, groaning while he did it.
How about when I insist on always being armed?
I want to protect you, but I respect you even more for your need to protect yourself. His muffled moan rang out, and he moved his fingers faster. You’re strong enough to handle anything. I just want to be by your side when you do it.
I didn’t think I could love him more than I did in this instant .
He curled his tongue around my clit, then sucked it into his hot mouth. I crave you all the time.
His fingers moved faster.
I bucked up to meet his thrusts, dissolving into a whimpering wreck. I was going to let loose and everyone within the castle was going to know that this man had given me pleasure, that he’d loved my body so completely, I’d be satisfied for the rest of my days.
When you walk into a room, he said. I want to grin like a silly fool. He coiled his fingers deep within me, dragging them in and out, stroking the spot inside that made fire sear across my soul. I want to shout to the world and the fates and anyone who’ll listen that you’re mine.
He slid a hand beneath my hips, tipping me up as an offering for his mouth, his hand, and his silver threads.
And when you look at me, your gaze soft and tender, I want to drop to my knees and beg you to love me.
I do. I’ll love you forever.
Then come for me. Give me all of you and more, Fury.
At that, a powerful orgasm rocked through me, shooting me out in all directions, only to snap me back into place within the shelter of this man’s arms.
He brought me back down to myself with steady flicks of his tongue and his fingers still moving slowly inside me. Then he rocked back onto his heels and gazed into my eyes. The hunger on his face . . . His need. It struck a matching craving within me.
I expected him to magic off his clothing and either take us to the bed or claim me right here in front of the fire. But his head tilted, and a frown of dismay cratered his face. The adoration left his gaze in a flash, replaced by sorrow tainted with rage. “I have to go. I’m sorry.”
I sat up. “He’s called for the recently taken Nullens.”
He nodded.
How could I let him go? No, how could I do anything to hold him back when he had to do this?
We were both being ripped asunder, and there wasn’t anything we could do about it. Not yet.
He braced himself over me and gave me the sweetest kiss. “Wait up for me?”
“ Vexxion .” My eyes burned, but I held my tears back. My love was going into battle. How could I cry when he was the one who was being forced to make the ultimate sacrifice?
“We’re going to end this,” I said.
“We are. Soon.”
His bands of silver wrapped around him, encasing him, blocking him from everyone’s view except mine, though I still didn’t know why.
“I love you. Come back to me,” was all I said.
He reached through his threads and cupped my face, gazing deeply into my eyes. “I love you, Fury. Always.”
Then he flitted from my arms.
I dropped back onto the sofa, curled into a ball, and sobbed.
We were stealing slices of time from the very fates themselves. I feared that one day soon they’d demand a price.
He’d watched his mother die before his eyes.
I needed to make sure he wasn’t forced to watch while the king killed me.