Chapter 39 #2
“No. You can’t fix this. I wouldn’t want you to.” He tilted his head and his hair drifted over his shoulder. “I decided long ago that I’d love you in any lifetime, whether you remember me or not.”
My heart faltered, then began beating so hard I was sure he could hear it.
His confession unmade me completely, unraveling every defense I'd built around my heart.
Love in any lifetime—that was his offer.
Not just this version of us, but every possible version.
I pressed my hand to my heart, as if I could hold the feeling there forever. I wished I could.
“I still think you deserve better,” he said, cautiously. “I am death and darkness. There’s not much good left in me. But I’ll be good. For you.”
The devastating tenderness in his declaration broke me further. It was a sweet ache that spread through me like warm honey.
I gazed up at him, studying the sharp angles of his face, the conviction in his eyes, and the way he looked when he was being …mine.
Another door opened inside me, and I stepped forward, closing the space between us.
I held his gaze as his became curious, then it bled into desire when I inched closer and stood on the tips of my toes. I leaned in, slowly, and pressed my lips to his.
It was a soft kiss. The kind reserved for reflection and deep feeling, my way of answering what words couldn't express.
His lips were warm against mine, and for a heartbeat he went perfectly still. As if he couldn't quite believe I'd made the first move.
When I pulled away, his eyes remained closed for a few heartbeats, as if he were committing the kiss to memory.
"Elariya," he whispered, my name sounding like a prayer on his lips.
“Wolfe Nightblade, you are my something good. I'd rather be yours in the dark than belong to anyone else in the light.”
He went rigid, his eyes widening with raw hope mixed with devastating relief. “You…said that to me before.”
My breathing slowed. “I did?”
“You did.”
That had to be a good thing. No, I wasn’t remembering. I was feeling, becoming aligned. “I guess I must truly mean it then.” I smiled back at him.
“I guess so.” His palm curved against my cheek and he ran his thumb across my skin in slow, tender circles. “Enough for today, Ziyka. You need rest.”
“I don’t know if I could sleep yet.”
He pressed his lips. “Well…you like baths. You like baths with scented oils, rose petals, and candles.”
I chuckled. “That sounds exactly like me.”
“Okay, a bath it is.” He crouched down, took my legs and slipped off my shoes, one at a time.
He straightened with a proud smile and swept me up into his arms. I let out a soft gasp of surprise, but my arms instinctively slid around his neck to steady myself.
"I can walk," I protested weakly, though I made no move to ask him to put me down.
"I know, Ziyka," he said, a hint of amusement in his voice. "But I like carrying you."
He carried me across the room and entered a bath chamber that looked like it was carved within a cave. Candles flared to life, illuminating the stone walls and a gentle waterfall streaming down the far side of the chamber.
A dark stone bath tub, that looked more like a small pool, dominated the center of the room. Inside it, rose petals floated across the water's surface, in deep crimson and soft pink creating a tapestry of color.
The air was thick with the scent of lavender and jasmine, the fragrance wrapping around us the closer we got to the bath.
I looked around in awe, allowing myself the moment to take it all in. It was like stepping into a dream.
When we reached the bath, Wolfe lowered me gently.
“Wolfe—”
I was still wearing my wedding dress, but the moment my body sank into the deep, heated water, the dress simply... disappeared. Magic rippled across my skin like silk, and suddenly I was bare beneath the surface, the deep water and floating petals providing a veil that covered my nakedness.
I sighed at the sensation, not just the physical warmth, but the intimacy of it.
To my surprise we both laughed.
"This is perfect," I breathed.
“Good, rest now. Stay in here for as long as you want. Call for me if you need me. I won’t go far.”
“Where are you going?”
“Taming the dragons. It’s been an age since they traveled to the mortal realm. The lack of magic there makes them testy.”
“Okay… I’ll see you later.”
He pressed a hand to my forehead and gazed down at me. “You are safe here with me, Lady Nightblade.”
Lady Nightblade.
I liked that.
The water came up to my shoulders as I settled against the smooth stone, and fragrances grew stronger in the steam that rose around me.
Wolfe moved away and I watched him go, my eyes tracing the line of his broad shoulders that seemed less tense now, as if some invisible weight had finally lifted from them.
The rigid set he'd carried through the ceremony, through our conversations, through all the careful maneuvering was now gone.
He stopped at the door, stood there for a moment and glanced back at me over his shoulder.
“You will remember me,” he said, not as a hope…a promise. As if fate itself had already agreed.
The conviction in his voice settled in my heart.
For a moment, the world stilled around us, and I allowed myself to believe him.
“I will remember you,” I promised, and it felt like truth.
A shadowed smile touched his lips before he turned and walked out the door.