Chapter 59
Von
I loved my mate.
I loved her more than anything.
But sometimes her carelessness was like a spark to my veins, dry as tinder—causing an inferno of frustration reducing patience to ash.
Sometimes, her total lack of self-preservation made me want to lock her in a tower, or a cage, or anywhere else she couldn’t put herself in danger.
She was just like every other hero out there—filled with that incessant need to put others before herself.
Well, damn her. Damn her and her selflessness.
Yes, I wanted to find out what had happened to our child, but not at her expense, not if it compromised her safety. There had to be a line, and that was where I drew it. I would allow nothing to harm my wife, not even herself.
I stalked into our designated chamber, Sage trailing leisurely behind me .
My shadows connected to every crevice within the large, dimly lit room, ensuring no dangers awaited us.
I scanned beneath the king-sized bed, behind the window curtains, throughout the bathroom—searching for anything that would have me grabbing Sage and flying her the fuck out of here.
Naia might be going against the empress’s laws, but she was still her sister, and who knew how deep her loyalties ran.
I did not trust the Goddess of Knowledge.
Then again, the list of people I trusted was rather small—and right now, Sage’s spot on it was becoming questionable.
She closed the door behind her.
I ran a hand through my hair in a bid to cool my temper—something which lasted all of one second before I said fuck it , turned, and strode toward her. I grabbed her by the chin and guided her backwards—
Thump. She landed against the door.
“Von . . .” she breathed, her sky-blue eyes flirting with mine.
Her breasts arched up toward me, begging for my undue attention.
Whatever emotion she sensed down the bond from me was off, although it wasn’t necessarily wrong.
There was a part of me that wondered if I could fuck a little common sense into her, although if we looked at our track record, senseless seemed more accurate.
“Do you have any idea how infuriating you are?” I asked, my anger like acid, eating through my restraint.
Her eyes narrowed, her offered chest deflating. “What are you talking about?” she snipped back.
I let out a low, rough, irritated chuckle as I placed my forearm against the door. I arched over her, bathing her in my shadow. “I’m talking about you entertaining the idea of allowing some stranger to cut into you.”
“I’m not just entertaining it,” she growled. “And I know you are an archaic, stubborn old goat, but that’s what a chirurgeon healer does.”
A stubborn old goat? If I wasn’t so frustrated, perhaps I’d find the insult amusing. But now was not the time for that. I tried to reason with her. “What if this is all some big ploy by the Goddess of Knowledge? What if there is something more sinister at play here, something we are missing?”
“She guarded the Creator’s secret about me for millennia. She served him , not her sister. Besides, look at the place she has built, a sanctuary for male scholars. In doing so, she has gone against the empress’s laws.”
I gave her a skeptical look. “Do you always take people at face value?”
“Do you always think the worst of others?”
I snorted.
She tugged her chin from my hand, ducked under my arm, and started for the bathing chamber. The invisible chain between us gave a good yank, our newly mended bond toying with my emotions. I knew she felt it too.
I rubbed my hand over my face, forced a breath of air to and from my lungs, and then stalked after her. She was a walking red cape, and I was the bull, eternally damned to chase after her.
The bathing room was a fair size, consisting of all the usual fixtures—sink, tub, shitter. You get the idea. Immediately, my gaze went to my aggravating, seductive other half. She stood by the circular raised tub, large enough to fit three people, full of hot, steaming water.
She peeled off her tunic and dropped it onto the stone floor. Next to go were her shoes.
I leaned against the wall, watching. “Sage, we need to discuss this.”
“There is nothing to discuss,” she stated as she wiggled out of her pants, allowing them to pool at her feet. She stepped over them, her fingers reaching for the pitiful bit of cloth that covered her sex.
As she stripped it off, I said, “I want to find our child just as much as you do, but there are certain things I will not risk. Your safety is one of them.”
Sage turned toward me, granting me a view of her sexy body.
Her snow-white hair tumbled over her shoulders, framing her beautiful face and plump breasts, surrounded by my ink.
Her perky, pierced nipples were hard and ready, begging for the flick of my tongue or the graze of my teeth.
She had one toe pointed toward the ground, accentuating the length of her leg and the curvature of her hips.
She gestured to herself. “I am a goddess, am I not?”
“You are.”
“Then what do I have to fear?” she asked as she placed her hand over her crescent moon tattoo. Slowly, she trailed her hand between her breasts and down the length of her torso, luring my attention along with it, all the way down to her sex. “Besides, you can heal me when it’s done.”
“You are not very sneaky,” I murmured, unable to pull my eyes away from her poorly deceptive hand.
“That doesn’t mean it isn’t working.”
She wasn’t wrong.
Slowly, she stepped back until her heel thumped lightly against the tub. With her eyes on mine, she lowered herself onto the ledge. She slid her legs open, showing me her glistening sex, sleek and swollen. Ready for me.
My cock pressed against my leathers, creating a prominent bulge.
This female.
“I showed you mine,” she spoke sensually. Her gaze lowered. “Now show me yours.” She bit her bottom lip, her breath picking up.
“Turn around first,” I directed her, my voice as wicked as the game she was playing.
She gave me a confused look before she stood and turned around.
“Bend over, Kitten. Present that pretty ass of yours,” I purred.
Sage did as I asked, spreading her hands on the tub as she bent over for me. My cock throbbed even harder at the sight of her. Casually, I strolled toward her, the heels of my boots scuffing the floor as I approached. I ran my hand over her bottom, feeling her smooth skin. So soft, so supple . . .
What a shame it belonged to such a naughty brat.
I gave her a good spank.
“Von!” she snarled as she jerked upright, spinning toward me, fire shooting from her eyes, although the flavor of her passion on my tongue spoke otherwise. She reached for her stinging bottom, but I grabbed hold of her arm, stopping her.
“Oh no, Little Goddess,” I snarled softly as I lowered my face to hers.
“You go ahead and feel that wee sting, and while you do, imagine the torment I will feel while you are being cut into, while I am forced to sit there and feel your emotions, feel your suffering. What you feel now is nothing compared to what you are asking me to endure. What you have made me endure.”
“I never forced you to endure anything. You chose to be with me.” Her words came out in frustrated growls.
“You’re right. Which means I will do everything within my power to ensure I do not lose you again.
” Something sinister began to lurk beneath the surface of my skin.
It licked at my vision, tainting it with a black film.
With a lethal calmness, I vowed to her, “I will end the realms before I let that happen.”
I meant every word.
She peered into my eyes, her eyebrows weaving together. “If it were to come to that, my life over countless others, I would want you to do right by them.”
“Oh, my love, when will you learn? When it comes to your safety, I will stop at nothing to protect you. I would reduce the realms to bone and blood, eviscerating it all, just to ensure no one could harm you.” I let her arm go, so I could slide my hand up it, my cool rings gliding along her heated flesh.
My other hand latched onto her bottom, tugging her into me.
“I am a selfish, selfish god, and there is only one thing I want. Well, maybe two. ”
I could hear her heart quicken its beat.
“The first?” she asked, licking her pretty pink lips.
“You.”
She breathed the word in as if it were oxygen. “And the second?”
I cupped her chin, hovering my thumb over her lips. She opened them, and I dipped it inside her wet, warm mouth. “I want this infuriating mouth to find something better to do than argue with me.”
She sucked on my thumb, tongue swirling around it, cheeks hollowing, eyes locked on mine. My leather pants groaned, my straining cock pushing the seams to their limits.
“Exactly.” I pulled my thumb from her mouth and smeared her saliva against her lips. I lowered my face to hers and ran my tongue along her bottom lip, slowly tasting her. A throaty growl of pleasure came from me. “Absolutely divine.”
My hand settled against her neck, my thumb brushing over her pulse, feeling her blood pressure spiking the second my lips found hers. I kissed her with purpose, reminding her whose fist was clenching the chains wrapped around her soul.
There was so much I wanted from her. It didn’t matter how many times I fucked her—my need to taste her, to take her, in every way possible, was unrelenting.
There was a way I could have her in more than one way.
I had never introduced this possibility to her in the past, but ever since I saw her reaction to my shadow forms when I had them crawling toward the seer, it made me wonder . . .
I turned her face to the side, kissing my way to her ear. A grin pierced my lips as I whispered in her ear, “Actually, I have one more thing I want.”
“What?” she asked.