Chapter 48 #2
I chuckled at that. I cupped her chin and brought my mouth close to hers. “Hmm, I wonder what other noises I can get you to make.”
Her lips parted, her tongue sharpened with a clever remark. Before she could speak, my lips laid claim to hers. I kissed her slowly, wickedly, deeply. Ensuring she knew who her owner was. Her keeper. Her protector. Her provider.
Hers.
When I pulled back, I cocked my head to the side. “ Were you going to say something, darling?”
“That was a dirty trick,” she quipped, although she didn’t look the least bit sad about it.
“Lucky for you, I have an arsenal of them.”
“Please . . . feel free to use them anytime.”
I brushed my thumb across her bottom lip. “I intend to.” Fingers sliding from her jaw, I found her hand and raised her palm to my mouth, placing a gentle kiss against the soft flesh.
As I did that, she asked, “Did the dream bring back any memories for you?”
“No, it didn’t.”
“And what are your thoughts on the whole . . . shifting into a dragon thing?”
“I don’t really know what to make of it, but apparently, at one point, I could.”
“Perhaps you will be able to again.”
“Perhaps,” I said, wondering if it were possible. I had only recently been able to tap into my giant form. Would my dragon form soon follow? Perhaps one was a step to another? Time would tell. My gaze met hers. “Have you recovered any other memories of your life here or mine?”
“I have. Can I show you through the bond?”
I nodded. “You can.”
Making herself comfortable, she nestled against my chest and then granted me access to all of it—
Together, we walked through the past.
Sage showed me the memories of her and Artemesia as they grew up together.
She showed me the day when she was taken from her family’s summer home, traded to the empress in exchange for the protection of her people.
She showed me how the empress had planned to use her to find out what my weakness was.
One memory I found particularly endearing, of when I had fought in the arena and she threw a glass of wine at my face then stormed off. My feisty female.
Then, her memories shifted to more recent ones, spanning from the moment she was pulled from the Miyakai river, which, to her, had felt as if it were waterless, something I found rather interesting.
It did indeed have water flowing through it.
I wondered if it was because her soul had been disconnected from her vessel, and so she had been unable to feel it.
Memories moving forward, she showed me what happened between then and the moment she saw me, flying for her, with the empress’s winged horse riders gaining behind her.
When we returned to the present, I held her in my arms for a long, long while.
After some time passed, she poked her head up and said, “There’s something that has been bothering me.”
“What is it?” I asked softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“In the past, the empress wanted me to find your weakness so she could use it against you and win the War of the Creators. But then, she sent me to the Three Realms, to retrieve your soul. Why would she want to get rid of you and then go to such extraordinary lengths to get you back? ”
I thought it over for a moment, combing through the memories she had just shown me. Until I stopped on one—of when Sage’s soul and her body were still disconnected.
“The empress said I was . . . the key,” I said, showing her the memory through the bond.
“The key to what, though?” Confusion drew her brows together. Then, they lifted. She jerked upright, eyes stretching wide. “What if it’s because you were able to shift into a dragon?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, sitting up. I tossed an arm over my bent knee, my gaze fixed on her.
“Artemesia told me that dragons were wiped out during the empress’s war. She had their bodies taken to Avolonia because she wanted to recreate the species, but she never succeeded. What if she thinks you are the key to making them again?”
My eyes flicked back and forth. What Sage was saying made sense, but . . . I finished the thought out loud. “Why would the empress care so much about making more dragons?”
“Artemesia said something about . . . Oh, how did she phrase it . . .” Sage chewed her bottom lip.
A sliver of jealousy wedged its way into me—I should be the one doing the biting right now.
Releasing it, she continued, drawing my attention back to the conversation.
“She said something to the extent of because the empress was unable to create dragons, it was a failure that some were starting to take note of. Perhaps she thinks that if she can create more dragons, it will secure her reign for longer? ”
I mulled it over. “It’s plausible.”
A light knock came at our door, followed by Harper’s muffled voice. “Are you two up? Artemesia called a meeting in her room.”
“We’ll be right there,” Sage responded over her shoulder, throwing her voice. She turned to me. “We’ll discuss this later.” Then, she had the audacity to start to get up.
I snaked an arm around her torso and pulled her back against me. “Yeah, no. You are not leaving the bed yet.”
“Von,” she laughed as I flipped her onto her back.
I propped myself over her, my arms falling on either side of her body, caging her in. “I’m starving.”
She ran her fingers up my forearm. “I’m sure there’s some food downstairs—”
“I don’t want mortal food.” I raked my gaze over her. “I hunger for you , wife.”
“Oh . . . oh,” she whispered, heat licking at her cheeks. Her eyes shifted down to my chest, the soft pads of her fingers gliding over the crescent moon tattoo. Drawing a breath, her lashes lifted, and her gaze returned to mine. “So you intend to eat me after all?”
“Mind. Body. Soul. Every inch of you,” I promised her. I moved to the bottom of the bed, my gaze never losing hers. I stood, my hands locked around her ankles, and I dragged her down until her bottom reached the end of the bed.
She didn’t fight me, no—willingly, she gave herself to me.
My knees met the floor, and I draped her legs over my shoulders, one at a time.
Her sex was slick with arousal. My mouth watered.
“Do you enjoy getting on your knees for me, Death?” she asked, propping herself up on her elbows, a toying smile gracing her lips.
“Do you enjoy having your cunt licked, Life?”
She swallowed, then admitted, “I do.”
“Then you have your answer.” I lowered my mouth to her clit, my tongue swirling around it, and she let out a small whimper.
I laved her sensitive bud, playing and licking until I couldn’t take it anymore.
Lowering my mouth to her center, I ran my tongue along her slit, a deep, primal, satisfactory growl emitting from my chest.
Just like a fucking apple .
Dark desire overtaking me, I slid my tongue into her core.
The taste of her exploded across my taste buds, and my grip turned crushing against her legs.
My veins swelled, filling with immense power as I feasted.
I could feel the wood floor beneath me giving way, the walls around us disappearing, until my focus was solely on her, and hers on me.
I ate her until she was screaming and coming undone on my tongue, flooding my mouth with her decadent release.
“Mmm,” a husky moan, born from somewhere deep, emitted from me.
Perhaps there was a bit of dragon in me after all.