Chapter 44
ARIEL
A nger brewed in my veins as Vesstan grabbed his luxurious cloak off the floor and walked out. I wanted to go after him—to fight him—but even in my growing rage, I knew there was no point. The damage was done.
And I had proven I wasn’t able to undo it.
Instead, I turned my attention to the males before me, imprisoned in new restraints of sorts, and tried to keep my emotions in check.
“I…” My voice cracked as I uttered that single word. It was all I could do to face them. “I’m so sorry?—”
“Ariel dear,” Shayfer said, stepping forward so I could better see the bruises marring his beautiful face, “your apology is unnecessary—as is the guilt you’re feeling.” He stopped before me and smiled his wicked smile that always evoked one in return. “You know how much I adore accessories. It’s a flattering look for me, don’t you think?”
I choked on a sob, laughter and sadness mixing together to create a rather undignified noise, then threw my arms around him and hugged him tightly. “I prefer you in gold,” I replied as I cried on his shoulder, “but I love you most when you’re alive—and for a while there, I didn’t think you were.”
“You know you should never listen to rumors where I’m involved. Except for flattering ones, of course.”
I pulled away to find a little twinkle in his warm eyes despite our dire circumstances.
“I won’t make that mistake again.”
I looked past him to find Eldrien hovering. “I’m glad you’re all right, too.”
“As am I,” the Minyade leader replied, “but know that if it comes down to the survival of the Aima Kori or my own, I will choose the former every time.”
I released Shayfer and edged past him to the azure-winged male. “I hope it won’t come to that,” I said softly. “We’ll find a way out of this.” He forced a smile for my benefit, and I leaned forward and hugged him. His stiff arms wove beneath my wings and around my back to embrace me.
“She won’t bite, Eldrien,” Shayfer said with a laugh. “Not unless you ask her to, that is…”
“As if you would know,” I countered, pulling away from Eldrien.
“A man can dream, can’t he?” Shayfer’s mischievous look set me at ease for a moment—until my gaze fell upon Hemming lurking just beyond the others. Instead of moving closer, he seemed to be backing away. Shayfer followed my line of sight, and his amusement fell in an instant. “Perhaps, Eldrien, we should go back to our room and see if we can’t think of a way to keep our heads tomorrow.”
“I think that’s a matter for all of us to discuss,” Eldrien replied.
Shayfer let loose a sigh, then took the winged male by the arm to lead him away. “That was my tactful way of suggesting that these two need a moment alone, so you and I should leave them to it.”
“Oh…” Eldrien’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “You’re right. That’s an excellent idea.”
“Which is exactly why I proposed it. Now, shall I enlighten you as to the whole truth behind our arrival in Anemosia?” Shayfer ushered Eldrien out of the room with only a glance over his shoulder at me before he shut the door.
Silence flooded the bedroom as Hemming and I stared at one another, neither of us moving. Whether we were paralyzed by our racing thoughts or overwhelmed by all that had happened, I didn’t know. What I did know was that, with every passing second, the desire to run to him grew nigh unbearable. But his hesitation drove my own, and so the silent standoff remained until I could bear it no longer.
“Hemming…? Hemming, talk to me?—”
“I thought I’d lost you,” he said softly, his voice and gaze equally distant as those words drifted past his lips. “I watched you fall from the sky, and I could do nothing to stop it.” His hollow, empty stare focused on me. “I have never been more terrified in my life.”
“But I’m all right now.”
“You are…but I’m not certain I am, because every time I close my eyes, no matter how fleeting, all I can see is my whole world engulfed in flame, plummeting to her death. I cannot erase the terror I saw in your eyes from my mind, Ariel—cannot escape the sound of you hitting the ground.”
Though he was standing before me, his mind was clearly as trapped in the past as he’d been in that cell when everything had gone so wrong. His beast had managed to escape his physical prison to save me, but Hemming seemed unable to escape the one created by his mind.
I took a few cautious steps toward him, mindful of his fragile state, until I stood only a pace away, trying to break through the haze of memory holding him captive. “You saved me, Hemming,” I said gently, edging closer still. “I am alive because of you .”
My words seemed to snap him back to the present, and his eyes narrowed as he stared me down. “ Not because of me. Because of Vesstan.”
“He might have healed me, but there would not have been any life left to save had you not broken free and killed the dragon.”
His expression softened slightly, but not nearly enough. “There is nothing worse in this life than feeling helpless. Watching you fall—seeing your broken body lying in that bed—it was unbearable.”
“Now you know what it’s like,” I said, attempting to ease him out of the dark place his mind had gone. “Can we call it even and move on?”
His still-harsh expression seemed response enough. “He has a plan for the morning,” he said, his attention switching to the danger awaiting us when the sun rose.
“And we will find a way to survive it—together.”
His eyes slammed shut, and his features twisted with pain at the memories playing over and over in his mind.
I reached over and rested my hand on his stomach. “See me alive ,” I begged him softly. “See me here — now —not how I was in the arena, or how I might be tomorrow.”
He pulled away from me and walked over to stare out the window. “We need to focus,” he said in a stern voice.
“On what, exactly?” Irritation slipped into my tone, but it had no effect on him at all. He just stared out the window at the blackening sky, body coiled.
“You are getting out of here tomorrow. No matter the cost.” The subtext of his words was painfully clear, and my chest seized at the thought.
A fire began to build slowly, stoked by my rising frustration until it was a flaming pyre begging to be let loose. “So, first your wings, then your life, is that it?” I asked, smoke curling past my lips as I spoke.
He looked back over his shoulder. “If need be, yes.”
“Don’t be a fool, Hemming?—”
“Have you not heard anything I’ve just told you?” he yelled, whipping around to face me. One second, he was a stone statue before the window; the next, a wall of desperation inches from my face. “Have you not yet realized that there is nothing left for me in this world if you are not in it? That life itself no longer exists in your absence?” His pale grey eyes implored me to see the truth in his words, but his efforts were unnecessary.
I already knew.
The flames of anger in my chest snuffed out, leaving fire of a different sort emanating from my heart through my body—my whole being. A fire born not of my power or what I was, but carefully built, piece by piece, over the years I’d known Hemming. One just recently sparked to life, but always smoldering. Predetermined.
Fated.
With gentle hands, I captured his cheeks in my hands as I held his stare. “Do you think there’s a life for me without you ?” He reached up to pull my hands away, but I caught his hand and instead pressed it to my chest where my heart raced. “ You are the reason this still beats—figuratively and literally—and I will be damned if I’m going to just let you sacrifice yourself, because all I want is you, Hemming. So I will make this simple: we either leave this place together, or we die by one another’s side. Those are the only terms I will accept.” Before he could object, I leaned in close enough for my lips to brush lightly against his. “And you know how stubborn I can be….” My chest vibrated as a growl of frustration escaped him, but a tiny nip of his bottom lip silenced him. “Besides, if this is to be our final night together, do you really wish to spend it arguing?” I pulled away and retreated a pace or two until I was just out of reach; then I untied the silky sheet wrapped around me and let it fall to the floor.“Or would you rather celebrate just how alive we are at this moment in all sorts of imaginative ways? Because I, for one, do not wish to die without knowing what it feels like to have your naked body pressed to mine. To have you inside of me.”
Seconds passed like hours as Hemming stood deathly still, staring at me. Then the gaze that had been riddled with pain and worry only moments earlier took a seductive turn as it raked over my naked skin. There wasn’t an ounce of indecision left in his focused expression; only a heated intensity that seemed to grow with every breath I took in anticipation.
His low, husky tone betrayed him further as he said my name. “ Ariel …”
“I mean it, Hemming,” I said softly as I inched toward him. “Let what we do in this room right now erase all other memories of tonight from your mind, because I am restored and well and here with you, and that is all that matters in this moment. And this moment is all we’re promised.”
“But this moment is not enough,” he replied as his eyes found mine. “An eternity isn’t enough time for me to spend with you.”
The corners of my mouth turned upward as wicked thoughts crossed my mind. “Then I guess you’d better stop wasting time and make tonight count.”
A very different-sounding growl filled the room as he walked toward me.
Strong hands wrapped around my waist, and he pulled me tight against his body. His soft lips fell upon mine, and even though I could feel his desire for me pressing against my naked stomach, he was gentle at first, teasing me into a frenzy. His tongue breached my mouth as his hands reached for my ass to scoop me up. My legs locked around his waist as he laid me down on the bed. I spread my wings wide, and he broke our deepening kiss to take them in.
I shifted my hips under his, grinding them against the soft fabric of his pants to regain his attention. His eyes shot back to mine immediately. “I thought I told you not to waste any time,” I said, continuing the slow, subtle side-to-side motion beneath him.
In response, his hand slid down between us until it brushed against my core. “I don’t plan to.”
No sooner had those words passed his lips than his finger dipped inside of me. I bit back the moan determined to escape, which only seemed to fuel him further. His mouth was upon mine again, but this time there was no pretense; no attempt to restrain himself. He was claiming what he’d long thought his with every kiss, every lick, every bite. That flash of uncontained lust I’d seen from him the previous night had been fully unleashed, and everything about it made my body burn for him even more.
My scales emerged with every excruciatingly slow pump of his finger. Their warm red and orange glow lit the room and warmed my skin, but Hemming was unfazed. His cool lips carved an icy trail down my neck until his teeth grazed my nipple. His tongue sizzled as it made lazy circles around the sensitive flesh until it was taut, begging to be touched. I arched my back as a desperate sound erupted from deep inside me. In response, he sucked it inside his mouth and teased it with his tongue until I fisted my hands in his hair and held on tight as the pressure between my legs grew.
“ Hemming ,” I breathed. “I need you…”
He pulled himself away from my breast long enough to see the desperation in my eyes.
His darkened in response.
Without a word, he lifted off me and stood on the bed to tower over me. His hands moved to the waist of his pants, and I watched with rapt attention as his fingers worked quickly to undo them. In an attempt to tease me, he let them fall open slowly and worked them down just enough for me to see the sharp cut of the muscles on his stomach and hips. I sat up and tucked my legs under me to kneel before him.
“You look like you’re having some trouble with these,” I said, grabbing hold of his pants. With a sharp tug, they fell down to his ankles, exposing all of him to me.
And there was much to take in.
I took the length of him in my hand, and he sucked in a breath through his teeth as his head fell back. “Ariel,” he whispered, my name little more than a raspy breath on his lips. His hands locked in my hair as I drew him closer.
“I think I like having this kind of power over you,” I murmured as my hand stroked along that soft, cool skin. “I see why you enjoyed it so much last night.”
“Is that what this is?” he asked, gripping me harder. “A game of power?”
“Maybe…”
He looked down and locked eyes with me. “Then maybe I should play harder.”
The hands twisted in my hair released and captured me under my arms before I even realized what he was doing. He launched me into the air and caught me around the waist. Our hips were aligned perfectly, and I felt the tip of him throbbing against my core. Heat rushed between my legs, and all I could think about was him digging his fingers into my hips and driving his cock inside of me.
Instead, he hesitated for a moment and stared deep into my eyes. “There has never been nor will ever be anyone else for me in this world, Ariel. I need you to know that.”
“I know,” I said softly, “because there has never been nor will ever be anyone else for me either.”
The rumble of approval that echoed through him reverberated into me as he slowly pushed himself inside of me. I gasped as sensation overwhelmed me, and I held on tight as he slowly filled me, then withdrew to do it again. I clung to him as he thrust in deep, using my legs to leverage myself against him in the most delicious way.
Without breaking his rhythm, he laid me back down on the bed and buried himself so deep that a desperate mewling sound escaped me.
“Hemming,” I pleaded, wanting more of him. “Please…”
That steady pace quickened. “I think I like it when you beg,” he replied as he nipped my neck. “Say it again.”
“ Please… ”
A ragged growl ripped from his throat as he worked harder still, driving me into a frenzy from which I knew I’d never recover. There was no way I’d ever be able to get enough of him after that night.
His body went tense as his climax neared, and I was right there with him, trying to hold on while my body demanded release. Unable to contain it any longer, my body exploded inside, and I cried his name over and over as the pleasure overwhelmed me. With a final thrust, his head flew back as his own release racked his body, and I clenched my legs around him tighter.
Breath coming in ragged gasps, his head lolled forward, and he looked at me in a way he never had before. “This is what I saw the night of the eclipse,” he said.
“What?”
“The magic that took me that night,” he explained. “This is what it showed me.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Me naked beneath you?”
“Yes.”
“And you thought right now was the moment to tell me?”
He smiled at my playful mocking. “Apparently. But that’s not all I saw.” He leaned down until his lips pressed against mine, kissing me softly. Sweetly. “First, it showed me our past and present— then you sprawled out naked beneath me.”
“So that would have been our future when you saw it?”
“A piece of it.”
“Wait…” I said, a tiny jolt of fear shooting through me, “...does that mean that this is the end?”
“I do not know the answer to that, little dragon, but what I do know is that it doesn’t matter, because not even death can keep us apart. I will always find you, in this world or any other. That is the true measure of fated love. You are mine—for this eternity and any others to follow.”
Surprisingly, I found comfort in his words.
And as he rolled into position beside me, careful of my wings as he tucked me in close, I realized that he was right. Whatever we would face in the morning, it would not be the end of us. Because our love was a fated thing even the gods couldn’t destroy.