Chapter 12
When the first wash of light spilled across the bedchamber, my eyes opened instantly.
For one suspended moment, I lay still, staring at the narrow ribbon slipping through the gap in the curtains and stretching across the ceiling overhead.
Sunlight.
I wasn’t in Dheren anymore.
Lightness unfurled unexpectedly in my chest. After days spent in tunnels and chambers carved deep beneath the earth, where the air had always been stale and still and hot, the sliver of dawn above my head felt like freedom.
I slipped from bed and padded immediately toward the bay window. Gripping the heavy curtains, I didn’t hesitate before tearing them wide open. Aedric groaned from the bed, throwing an arm over his eyes.
Water.
Gods. Water.
Beyond the bay where the castle perched atop sheer cliffs, it stretched farther than I could comprehend, deep blue water rolling beneath the morning light in long, endless swells.
Sunlight caught along their crests like shattered silver, the lingering colors of dawn painting their peaks in soft streaks of rose and gold.
Far in the distance, sea and sky dissolved into one another in a pale haze, the endless expanse uninterrupted.
Nothing had prepared me for this—for the way it made me feel suddenly, impossibly small.
I fumbled with the latch and shoved the window wide.
Wind rushed into the room at once. Cold and salt-heavy, it struck my skin hard enough to steal my breath, whipping loose strands of hair across my face and slipping beneath the thin fabric of my nightdress.
Goosebumps rose instantly along my arms as the chill curled around me, fresh in a way that felt wholly foreign after the staleness of Dheren.
I could taste the brine on my tongue, could feel the sting of the sea air needling my skin.
I leaned into it, welcoming the bite of the wind, filling my eyes and ears with the openness of the world before me.
Far out in the distance, something suddenly erupted from the water. A towering plume of white mist burst skyward.
I jumped, heart thundering. “What in the gods—?”
“Whales.”
Aedric’s voice came groggily from somewhere behind me.
I turned to find him sitting up against the headboard, hair tousled from sleep.
His gaze moved slowly over me—the bare length of my legs beneath the hem of my nightdress, the loose fall of my hair tangled by the wind, the goosebumps pebbling my skin.
Something hungry gleamed briefly in his expression before the corner of his mouth tipped upward.
“Whales,” I breathed, and turned back to the window.
Sure enough, shadows slipped between the swells, difficult to distinguish from the shifting patterns of light across the water. One surfaced properly, dark and immense against the sea before vanishing again beneath the waves.
“They’re enormous!”
“Yes,” Aedric drawled. “That is generally considered one of their defining characteristics.”
I turned just long enough to stick my tongue out at him before facing the view again.
“I take it you’ve never seen an ocean before?”
“No. Never.” I bent farther over the open window, trying to steal a better look. “What a view.”
“Indeed.” Something in his tone told me he wasn’t admiring the sea beyond the window.
I flapped a hand at him. “What’s it called?”
“The Virellan Sea,” he murmured. I heard the rustle of sheets as he climbed from the bed. “This is Half Moon Bay.”
True to its name, the coastline curved in a vast crescent, sweeping away in either direction.
We were perched atop white cliffs that plunged sharply into the restless depths below.
In the distance, at the mouth of the bay, jagged reefs lurked beneath the surface like the spine of some great beast sleeping beneath the waves.
“The bay itself is very dangerous.” His hands settled on either side of my hips as he stepped behind me, his mouth brushing the curve of my neck in featherlight kisses.
A shiver chased down my spine for reasons that had nothing to do with the wind.
“The reefs are difficult to navigate. Treacherous to anyone unfamiliar with these waters. During the Firstborn Wars, Noctharis was nearly impregnable because of them.”
His lips skimmed higher, warm against my skin.
“Ships would wreck before they ever reached the cliffs,” he continued softly. “And those unlucky enough to survive often found themselves stranded on the reefs—only to be dragged back out by the currents when the tide turned.”
“That’s… terrible.” It was becoming increasingly difficult to focus on his words.
His teeth grazed the sensitive skin beneath my ear in answer, and my breath hitched as I tipped my head back.
“You look so beautiful in the morning,” he rumbled.
He turned me to face him and, gentle but unyielding, guided me down onto the cushioned ledge of the window, soft pillows sinking beneath my back. Bracing his hands on either side of me, he bent over and took my mouth, the kiss deep enough to send heat gathering low in my belly.
I melted against him, and when his tongue brushed my lips, I opened for him without thought.
The touch of him sent my mind scattering.
I fumbled clumsily with the knot at the waist of his loose pants, but before I could do much, he pulled away.
A protest rose to my lips—only to die there as he sank to his knees before me.
“Lie back,” he said, voice roughening.
I did as he said, reclining against the cushions as anticipation curled low through me.
His hands slid up my bare thighs, gathering my nightdress higher as he spread my legs wide. A knowing smile curved his mouth before he pressed his lips to the inside of my knee. Then higher.
And higher.
My breath came in shallow pants now, my thoughts already racing treacherously ahead of him as I imagined his mouth finding my center. I gripped his bare shoulders, my fingers digging in as he caught the edge of my undergarments, and just as he began to slide them aside—
A sharp knock split the silence.
Then stillness. Respectful waiting from the other side of the door.
Aedric let out a ragged, irritated breath and lifted his head.
“What?” he barked.
“Are you dressed?” Hamish’s low voice rumbled through the door.
Aedric swore under his breath. When he met my eyes, he let out a long, reluctant sigh before pushing back—to my immense disappointment.
He reached for my robe draped over a nearby chaise and tossed it toward me. Still flushed from the moment before, I pulled it on quickly, cinching the belt tight just as Aedric yanked open the door.
“This better be good,” he nearly growled.
Hamish’s gaze darted past him and landed on me across the room. His expression remained carefully unreadable, though I caught the briefest pause as he took in the robe hastily tied at my waist, the flush in my cheeks, the unmistakable evidence written across my face.
I looked away.
“Calantha,” was all he said to Aedric.
Aedric snapped into motion immediately, dragging on his discarded clothes from the night before with surprising haste.
“I told her I’d send word at dawn,” he muttered to me in explanation, fingers moving quickly over the buttons of his shirt. He nodded toward the window. “And it’s well past dawn.”
“Must you go this very moment?” I asked, unable to keep the whine from my voice.
He paused long enough for his lips to tilt into something wicked before bending low and catching my mouth with his once more. His tongue flicked teasingly against mine, a promise that sent my pulse stumbling all over again, but then he pulled back, his mouth hovering a hair’s breadth away.
“I’ll find you after breakfast.” The look he gave me sent heat coursing through me all over again, full of dark implication—of all the unfinished things waiting for me when he returned.
“Right here,” he added. His finger pressed firmly against the ledge of the bay window beside me, where I still sat. “Exactly how you were. Understood?”
“Understood,” I breathed.
“Good.”
He caught my hand, brushing a quick kiss over my knuckles before straightening. “I'll see you soon.” His gaze settled on Hamish, something hard and unspoken passing between them. “Guard her.”
He strode past the guards stationed in the hallway, a mocking smile tugging at his mouth as he took in their weapons with leisurely disdain. And then he was gone.
Hamish shifted awkwardly beside the door and cleared his throat. “I’ll wait for you outside,” he gruffed, already turning away before I could answer.
Sighing, I turned to latch the window, only for the view beyond to catch me off guard all over again.
My gaze roved over the bay to the city stretching along the coastline.
Noctharis clung to the rocky shelves descending toward the sea, its buildings rising in uneven tiers above one another.
It had been a great city once. Even from here, I could see it.
But time hadn’t been kind—sagging rooftops, weather-worn paint, narrow cobbled streets dulled by the passing centuries.
There was something else, too. Something oddly layered about it. Ancient stone peeked from beneath newer timber, whole sections of the city seeming to have grown over the bones of something older until it became a patchwork of ages.
And then there was the silence.
No voices drifted upward. No merchants crowded the market square. No fishermen hauled in their catches. Boats knocked hollowly together at the docks.
What sort of ruin had the Dark Prince left behind? What had he done to leave scars even centuries couldn’t smooth away?
My gaze drifted toward the door Aedric had disappeared through only moments before, and my heart swelled with pride.
He'd helped free this city. That male—my mate—had liberated an entire Court from the rule of a tyrant. And mere moments ago, he’d been kneeling between my legs, wanting to feast on me.
The thought alone rekindled the warmth he'd left behind, leaving me absurdly eager for his return.