Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
DEATH
“Tuoni,” Torben says as he steps out of the hall, his staff in one hand, his spellbook in another. “Is this blizzard your doing?”
He nods at one of the few windows in this damned castle that wasn’t broken during the battle. Snow slams against the thin panes, whirling like a hurricane outside.
I raise my chin. “Sometimes, the weather does what it wants.” Then, I hurry off down the corridor before he has a chance to analyze me any closer.
Truth is, it is my doing. For the last two days, ever since Hanna in her Goddess form arrived, I’ve been doing my best to quell my nerves, but now, I feel it’s a losing game.
I’m anxious .
About going upstairs to my wife and fucking her memory back into her.
Naturally, I can’t tell the old man that, given Hanna is his daughter and all. I also wouldn’t want him to think I’m not the confident, controlling God he thinks I am and knows me to be.
But this storm is a betrayal of my true feelings.
This morning, Hanna took her breakfast in my bedchamber—we have been sleeping in separate quarters. She noted the shattered skull mask in the corner, something I haven’t bothered to clean up. What’s the point in a ruined place like this? But she was curious about my anger. She suggested that perhaps I needed a better place for my emotions to go.
Of course, I only had one thing in mind, and I told her that. There is no use mincing words around Hanna, no matter what version of herself she is. I always got my emotions together, arranged in an order I understood them, through sex and sex alone.
“Alright,” she had said over the cup of coffee she had barely touched. “Tonight then, come to my bedchambers, and perhaps you can make me the wife you need again. If not that, at least it might spare you another broken mask.”
And so, here I am, climbing the stairs to her room, sweat gathered at the back of my neck, feeling as if I’m about to face another battle, this one hewn by sweat and skin, lust and pleasure. One where I want us both to win.
I knock at her door, and she tells me to come in.
I open the door to see Hanna standing by that window again, the blizzard flowing in and covering the room in a thin layer of frost and snow, as well as coating her dress and hair.
“Aren’t you cold?” I ask as I close the door behind me. “You know we can board up the window.”
She shakes her head, her ethereal face lit by the flickering torchlight. “I am perpetually warm. The snow feels nice this evening. Is it too cold for you?”
“Nothing is too cold for me,” I tell her. “I am Death.”
She gives me a small smile and gestures to her dress, one of Louhi’s I haven’t seen her wear yet. It’s dark green and adorned with tiny black skulls from some small rodent with horns. Goat rats, perhaps. It’s a little too macabre for the Hanna I know, but right now, it suits her.
“You look lovely,” I tell her. Especially when she still has a bit of her radiance to temper the darkness, though I must say, it seems to be dimmer than before. That gives me hope. Her humanity is thrumming just beneath her glowing skin.
She raises her brow as if to say, shall we?
I have to wonder what she knows of sex. Surely, she remembers us together if she remembers everything else. Will her body know before her heart does?
I approach her like a young colt, skittish and shy, two things I have never been in my life. I am nervous, actually fucking nervous, about coming on to my wife.
She stares at me from across the room expectantly, her eyes dancing between the molten copper of the new Hanna and the old Hanna, deep brown and warm.
She knows I’m her husband, her king, her lover. She knows our history.
And yet, she still looks at me like I’m a stranger.
I plan to fuck that right out of her.
“Come here,” I command, unfastening the collar of my cloak and letting it fall to the floor. Time to take control.
She stiffens slightly, cold air rushing in through the broken window, but I don’t think her posture changed because of that.
Could she be nervous too? Afraid? She said she doesn’t have those feelings.
This is a good sign, is it not?
“Come here,” I say again, this time with authority. “Kneel before your god.”
She hesitates for a moment, uncertainty in her eyes. But then, she closes the distance between us, her steps measured and cautious, like a wild animal sizing up a predator.
She stops before me, and I stare at the graceful lines of her swan-like neck and see her pulse pounding there, a sight that immediately makes me hard.
Then, she kneels before me, as I instructed, her dark dress spreading out against the scattered snow like a stain, her gaze never leaving my face, and I grow harder still, my cock straining against the flat of my pants. Her copper eyes seem to glow in the flickering torchlight that casts grotesque shadows on the stone walls around us.
I stand before her, feeling powerful and yet also exposed and vulnerable. My heart beats strong with resolution as I reach down and cup her chin, tilting her face upward to meet mine. Our eyes lock, the connection electric between us in a visceral way, as if faint beams of light are connecting her to me.
“You are not just any goddess,” I say softly, my voice a deep rumble that vibrates through my chest. “You are my goddess. There is a difference.”
She swallows visibly, a hint of a shiver running over her shoulders at the possessive tone in my voice. It's been so long since we were husband and wife—just Tuoni and Hanna—but I have to try to bring that back somehow, to remind her of who I am beneath the godly exterior she now sees me in, to remind her of who she is under her own divine facade.
Strangely enough, I can see longing in her eyes, a need for normalcy that might haunt her every thought. But there is also a fierce determination there, a spark of rebellion that makes me both proud and fearful of her. Sometimes, she’s too rebellious for her own good.
“Hanna,” I say softly, running my fingers gently down her cheek and feeling the warmth of her skin beneath my touch. “My little bird. It’s alright. You don’t have to be afraid of anything. I have you.”
She looks down, unable to meet my gaze, but then she surprises me by leaning forward and reaching for the fly of my pants. I stiffen, watching with bated breath as she wraps her hand around my cock, pulling it out into the chilled air and taking me into her mouth.
Oh, fuck.
The sensation is overwhelming, like being hit by a tidal wave. Her lips are soft and warm, her tongue dancing around me in a way that sends shivers down my spine. I reach out and run my fingers through her hair, feeling the silken strands between my fingers as she works her magic on me, making me feel like I’m a God coming undone.
I didn’t expect this. She must know how natural this feels, that she was made to worship me, just as I was made to worship her.
The world around us fades away as we lose ourselves in each other. She hums softly against me, her breath hot and wet as she focuses her attention on the task at hand, sucking me off in the expert way she used to do. I close my eyes and let go of all my worries, feeling only the raw desire coursing through my veins. This is what it means to be human—to feel something so intensely that it consumes everything else. Perhaps my humanity is what’s coming to the surface here, more than hers.
And I will revel in it.
As I continue to lose myself in her, I can barely feel the snow that gathers on my shoulders, nor the cold coming in through the broken window, the blizzard dying down. All that matters is the heat of her mouth enveloping me, the way she sucks and strokes me until I feel like I’m about to burst.
I grip her hair tighter in my hands, making a fist as she moves faster and faster, her eyes wide and wild as she takes me deeper into her mouth, keeping her fiery gaze locked on mine. The sight of her like this—so desperate, so needy—only gives me hope and fuels my own desire.
“That’s it,” I groan, my hips bucking involuntarily as she hits just the right spot. “Oh Gods, Hanna...”
She moans, a low sound vibrating against my cock that sends shivers directly through my shaft and over the rest of my body. It’s not long before I can feel it building up inside me, that rush of heat and energy that threatens to consume me whole. We may be surrounded by ice and snow, but together, we are an inferno.
“I’m going to… Fuck …” I gasp, clutching at her hair as wave after wave of pleasure crashes over me until the tension is razor thin.
And then, it happens. I let out a loud roar as I come, one that shakes the entire room, spilling myself into her waiting mouth. She gulps it all down eagerly, never missing a beat as she continues to suck and stroke me until the very last drop.
When I finally come down from my high, I nearly collapse, unsteady on my feet.
She stares up at me, pulling my spent cock from her mouth, smiling in such a coy way that, for a moment, I think she’s back to being my very naughty wife.
But she still has that distant, alien gleam in her eyes.
And so I know I’m not done with her yet.
I’m going to fuck her back to who she was.
I pull myself together, reclaiming my kingly composure. I know she needs me, and I need her too. We both need to remember who we are to each other.
I walk over to the bed and sit, my half-hard cock visible as I pull down my pants, discarding the rest of my clothes. Her eyes widen at the sight. I must admit, admiration from a Goddess feels like nothing else.
“Take off that dress,” I tell her, my voice strong and authoritative.
She stands before me, her eyes fastened to mine as she slowly undoes the clasp of her dress. The fabric falls away from her body, revealing a sight more beautiful than any painting I’ve ever seen. Her skin is flawless, like a golden statue smoothed by the eons, and she glitters under the snow that pours into the room.
I watch as she stands naked before me, her body a masterpiece of muscle and curves. She is so much more than just a woman—she is a Goddess, an otherworldly being who has somehow found her way into my life again, and I am determined to make sure she never leaves again. Not because she can’t, but because she won’t want to, because she’ll realize how much she loves me.
Gods, please, let her remember she loves me.
I beckon her toward me and then lie back on the bed, cock jutting straight up at the ready, twitching with each breath. She hesitates then climbs onto the bed, straddling my thighs and positioning herself above me.
“Your gloves,” she says. I barely hear her, instead concentrating on the sight of my cock jerking in front of her cunt. “Can you take them off?”
I swallow hard. Part of me is wary, fearful that with her in her Goddess state, I might not be allowed to touch her.
“I am the prophecy,” she reminds me, reaching for my hands. Before I can protest, she’s yanking off one glove, her fingers wrapped around my bare skin.
Nothing happens except that I melt at her touch.
She gives me a quick smile, relieved, maybe proud, and removes the other glove.
I reach out and caress her hips, feeling the warmth of her skin against my fingers. I’ve missed this so much. She shivers under my touch, but it’s not from the cold; it’s from desire—raw, unbridled desire.
I’m getting through to her, I know I am.
Her eyes lock with mine as she lifts her hips, firmly gripping the base of my cock before she lowers herself onto me. The sensation is intense, almost overwhelming, as she takes me inch by inch. She leans forward, adjusting her position, and her breasts brush against my chest, nipples hard as ice, her hips moving in a slow, rhythmic dance that builds between us.
I can’t help but moan, deep and long, unable to put what I’m feeling into words of any kind.
I reach up and wrap my arms around her, pulling her close. She is so fucking warm , inside and out. The feel of her body against mine is as if we are two halves of a whole, fused in the most potent of ways.
As we move together, my hips jerking up to meet hers, I can feel the raw heat building inside me once again, a fire that threatens to consume us both. Her eyes stay focused on mine, her expression one of utter concentration and lust. She’s as determined as I am.
Her movements become more urgent now, her hips bucking against me, and I realize she’s not just trying to make me come. She wants to come too. The bed rocks, and the room is filled with both the blizzard intensifying again, snow blowing over us, and the sounds of our passion, the soft moans of pleasure, the slapping sound of skin against skin, the ragged breath that signals how close I am to the edge.
“Oh fuck, Hanna,” I murmur, my voice hoarse with desire. “You are…you are everything to me.”
She gasps at my words, her eyes flashing with desire and something else—a spark of recognition, perhaps? A sign she remembers who I am to her?
Either way, it only fuels my passion further, driving me onwards as I thrust into her, feeling the heady heat of her body enveloping me.
“I need you,” I whisper gruffly. “I need you like I need air to breathe.”
She moans in response, arching her back and pressing herself against me. She leans down, her hands gripping my shoulders, her nails digging into my skin. The sensation is so intense, it’s almost overwhelming—like a storm of unsaid words and pent-up lust battering both of us.
“Give it to me,” she whispers, a fierce determination glinting in her eyes. “I want to feel it all.”
“As you wish,” I grunt.
And with that, I let go—I give myself to her completely, my hands a vice on her hips as I rock her back and forth on my cock, fingers digging deep, each movement more aggressive than the last as I seek to connect with her on a deeper level and pull her out of her divinity. The world around us fades, leaving only the two of us, lost in each other’s embrace, wrought with determination.
Her cries fill the room, her body tensing and relaxing in rhythm with our movements. It’s not long before I can feel the tension building inside her too—a rush of energy that threatens to consume us.
But before it can, the urge to be in control takes over.
Some things never change.
I grab her by the waist and pull her off me, dragging her down onto the bed, deftly flipping her over onto her stomach and straddling her from behind. I gather her wrists behind her back and push her head into the pillow, my aching cock pressed against her ass.
“Do you remember this?” I ask gruffly. “Do you remember, my little bird, when I would come into your room at night and fuck you? You were waiting for me, and I never even took off my mask. I had my way with you time and time again, and you would let me because you wanted it, you wanted me, even though you hated me at the same time. You wanted it because you knew I was your destiny. You knew I was your king.” I tug at her hair and pull up her head so my lips are at her ear. “Do you want to know what that felt like? Here and now?”
“Yes,” she cries out softly, a whimper more than anything, and I grin at the sound, shoving her head back down as I push her thighs apart with my knee and ready my cock at her entrance.
“I didn’t quite catch that,” I tease.
“Yes,” she moans, her voice muffled in the pillow. “I want to know. Show me. Make me remember.”
I can feel the heat of her body against me, her wetness coating the tip of my cock as I position myself at her cunt. Her hips buck involuntarily, her body begging for me to take her, to fill her up in the way only I can.
“Then tell me to fuck you. Mean it ,” I growl.
“Fuck me like you did before,” she moans, her voice a mix of longing and desperation, no longer sounding distant and cold, but like she’s here . “Make me remember who I am.”
I nod, my heart pounding in my chest. This was the Hanna I knew—bold, passionate, desperate for me. My cock throbs at the thought of claiming her this way, just like old times.
I squeeze the base of my shaft, feeling the slickness of her desire as I push forward. She gasps, her body arching beneath me as I slowly sink into her.
Fuck, she’s tighter than ever.
“Yes,” she moans, writhing beneath me. “That’s it. Fuck me like you mean it.”
I raise my brows at her language. She’s so close now, I can smell it.
I begin to move within her, my thrusts slow and deliberate at first, her ass jiggling with each push, but building in intensity as we both grow more feverish with desire. Her moans fill the room, mingling with the sounds of our bodies slapping together.
“Tuoni,” she cries out, gripping the sheets tightly as I thrust harder into her. “More, please.”
Fuck.
She’s a wicked little Goddess, isn’t she?
And so, I give her more. My rhythm becomes more frantic, each thrust more powerful than the last as I drive myself into her with renewed fervor. Her cries grow louder, more urgent, and I know she’s close to release, close to her old self.
I lean down, my lips brushing against her ear as I whisper gruffly, “You want it, you want me, and that’s all that matters now. Let go of everything else and just feel this.”
Her body responds to my words, her muscles tensing and relaxing in perfect sync with my movements. Her moans become more fervent, her knuckles white as she grips the sheets, and I think I might just fuck her straight through the bed.
“Oh, Gods,” she cries out again into the pillow, her voice a mix of ecstasy and desperation. “Oh, yes, Tuoni. Please, don’t stop.”
But I have no intention of stopping. My thrusts become wilder, more feral as I drive myself deeper into her. Her body bucks beneath me, matching my rhythm perfectly as we begin to move as one. Sweat spills off my body, splashing onto her, melting the snowflakes that have gathered on her back.
“Ah!” she cries out again, her muscles tightening around me as she nears her release. “Please.”
And that’s all it takes—the utterly raw and deeply human sound of her voice, the feel of her body around me, all the passion and desire we had been denying ourselves for so long coming to a head in this one, fiery moment.
“Fuck!” I roar, my orgasm surging through me like a raging fire as I thrust into her deep and hard. My body trembles above hers, every muscle strained as I come, every fiber of my being focused on this one perfect moment between us.
She comes too, her cries piercing the air, her limbs convulsing and shuddering beneath me. Her walls squeeze my cock harder and harder, making me lose my breath, my mind .
And yet, through the spinning throes of my release, all I need to know is if I brought her back.