Chapter 37 #2
If you’re reading this, that means I went to the underrealm.
It’s likely Valeen will follow me if she finds where I’ve gone.
Varlett’s ring became a problem. It was life or death for Val.
I’ll return to the land of the living as quickly as I can, but I thought the High King would want to know his Palenor is vulnerable.
~Hel
P.S. If I die, you better not touch my wife again. I’ll come back to haunt you and this time I won’t be so nice.
Thane growled, crumpled the letter and tossed the note into the roaring fire.
That bastard was always doing something reckless and dragging Valeen along with him.
Surprisingly, he didn’t have the overwhelming urge to go after her, to save her like he used to.
Before this would have consumed his every thought.
But she wasn’t his responsibility. It really wasn’t his duty to protect her anymore. It was Hel’s.
His jaw ached from clenching it so tight, and every muscle in his body seemed wound up, but that was from many things.
And how in the realms would taking Varlett to the underrealm rid them of the problem? And when did it become so urgent he had to go now?
A quiet knock on the door irritated him even more. “What?” he snapped. If it was Ronan with any other news than good, he was going to knock him out. Then when he came to, they could talk. Huffing and puffing, he stalked to the door and threw it open.
Katana blinked several times and seemed to shrink in on herself. “I can come back.” Her voice was soft and timid.
He felt his own face fall and the stiffness in his shoulders loosened.
“Katana,” he said, surprised to see her.
He didn’t think she’d want to see him for a while after what he did.
He didn’t want to have to kill those shifters in front of her.
He didn’t want to subject her to violence like that.
She’d been through enough of it. “Is everything alright?”
“I… uh… I was worried about you.”
His brows furrowed and he leaned his bare shoulder against the doorframe. “Worried about me?”
“I should have listened to you when you said it was a bad idea. I sided with the queen to go into the shop and then you had to… I hope you are not angry with me.”
He rubbed his chin, confused by her reaction. Why would she blame herself? Then it hit him, she was probably used to taking the blame from Atlanta. “I’m not angry with you at all. What happened wasn’t your fault. It just happened.”
“But I should have listened to you. We should have gone back and those dragon guards would not have approached you and you would not have had to kill them.”
“I will never blame you for anything. I killed those dragon shifters because I needed to. It’s the way of this wretched world.”
“How do you not feel bad about it?”
“I just don’t. They would have hurt you. They put their disgusting hands on you. That’s all the reason I needed.”
“Oh.” She pulled her gaze away and he thought he saw the beginning of a smile.
He pushed off the frame and opened his door further. “Would you like to come in?”
Without a word, she whisked past him then turned. She took in several deep breaths, making her chest heave up and down in a distracting way. “I changed my mind.”
He scratched the side of his head. “About wanting to come in? You’re free to go whenever.”
“No,” she said softly. “About your… offer.” She pushed the shoulder straps of her dress off and it fell in a heap around her ankles, leaving her completely bare in front of him. “One night and no promises.”
His heart seemed to jump into his throat, and he quickly closed the door so no one passing by in the hallway might see her.
He pressed his back against it and slowly drank her in.
The fire from the hearth and the candelabra on the dresser next to her lit her up enough to see every curve.
It felt wrong and positively right. At the thought of touching her, he shivered.
“No promises for tomorrow?”
She sauntered forward. “The only promise I want is that you will forget about everything outside this room and focus on me tonight and promise you will not regret it in the morning.”
He swallowed hard. He wanted this. Wanted her. “Katana, I…”
“No one has ever stood up for me the way you do, and you do not ask for anything in return.” She pressed her hand to his bare chest and looked up at him. “I do not need your heart, Thane.”
He picked her up by the back of her thighs and wrapped her legs around his hips. “Alright, Katana, I’ll make you those promises. Tonight, there is only you.”
Her lips crashed into his and he set her on the silk-covered bed.
The morning light peeked through the window and the heat of the sun wasn’t the only thing warming Thane this morning.
A soft, luscious body lay draped across his torso, blonde hair spread across his chest. Her quiet breath brushed across his skin, making him think of how she breathed his name while trembling the previous night.
She giggled when he kissed above her navel and gasped, gripping his shoulders when his lips traveled below it.
The sound of her quiet moans haunted him now.
The way she arched into him, wrapping her thighs tighter around his waist and how surprised she was that her pleasure started to peak.
She asked him not to stop until she cried out, and he didn’t.
If anyone deserved to be pleased, to be cherished and worshiped, it was her.
This goddess who’d been beaten and disparaged and treated the way no one should ever be.
It amazed him still that she kept that light in her, and even if the darkness took her sometimes, she came back with a smile.
With a blush and a soft kiss, she’d confessed it was rare that she ever felt that and always thought something was wrong with her.
After she said that, he made sure she hit that pleasure point three times more.
The sound of her losing herself, and that he was the reason for it, was enough to make him climb into ecstasy with her.
There wasn’t anything wrong with her. It was her asshole of a partner.
Thane found his fingers absently running along her back as he stared up at the ceiling. One night of passion. That was all.
No promises for a relationship.
No love.
No more.
She pushed her hair out of her face, then lifted her head, blinking slowly and smiling. She turned to the window, shielding her eyes from the light. “It’s morning already?”
He smiled. “You said, ‘it’s’.”
“I suppose I’m picking up on how you all speak.” Pushing herself up to her knees, she sat back and stretched her arms overhead, showing off her lovely body with a level of comfort that made him smile wider. “I’m so hungry. You left me famished.”
He chuckled, desperately wanting to pull her back onto his chest. She slid off the bed and he stared at her perfect bare ass as she walked across the room to pick up her silk dress. Maker, just looking at her seemed to set him aflame.
“Thank you, Thane. I needed to feel… desired. I needed someone to show me what lovemaking could be and,” she grinned, “you are very good.”
His cheeks warmed, and he slipped out of the blankets and wrapped the sheet around his waist. “I needed that too. To feel wanted.” After being crushed months ago by the elf he thought he’d spend forever with, it was everything he could have wanted.
She wasn’t just a quick lay to fill a void.
He could have found that with just about any female.
“Why do you hide yourself from me?” she asked and seemed to be purely curious. “I’ve seen all that you are. Even had you in my mouth.”
Gods, and how good her mouth felt too. Lifting a shoulder, he leaned against the bedpost. “I guess I’m just not as comfortable as you are with my own nakedness. Although I could look at yours all day.”
She giggled. “Every bit of you is lovely, and I’m glad I was able to experience it.” She winked then quickly made her way to the door and gripped the handle.
“You’re leaving already?”
“It is morning, is it not? We said one night. And we are going back to Palenor today. I need to gather my things.” Everything came out rushed, even her breath, and he couldn’t help but think she wanted to get away from him.
A slow sinking weight in his chest made him rub the spot, as if it could make it go away.
“Yes,” he said, and swallowed to wet his dry throat.
She pulled the door open, and he nearly choked.
“Katana, you’re not dressed. Someone could see you.
” He hurried over and pulled the sheet from his waist and draped it around her.
“And I don’t want anyone seeing you like that but me.
” With her gaze lifted to his, his heart beat faster.
That was not part of their agreement. Anyone could see her naked if she wanted.
They weren’t in a relationship. There was no commitment.
“I was not thinking. I do not normally walk around other people’s homes undressed.” She tugged the sheet off and pushed it back into his arms, then slipped her dress overhead. “See you at breakfast?”
“I’ll stop by your room when I’m dressed.”
“Alright.”
When the door closed behind her, he wanted to vomit.
He did not regret their night, but did she?
She couldn’t have run out of here faster.
He dressed quicker than he ever had before and tied his hair back without bothering to run a comb through it.
But as he raised his fist to knock on the door, he paused.
Was he being too overbearing? She probably wasn’t ready yet.
“Thane,” Piper called, stepping out of her room down the hall.
“Hi, Piper.”
“Are we leaving?”
“After I finalize this alliance.”
She pressed her lips together nervously and sighed. “Thane…”
“What?” He really did not want to have to kill the royal family to get this done, but his duty was to his people, and to make sure the council did not kill Valeen again.
He wouldn’t let it happen, and it didn’t matter who had to die as long as she and his brother did not.
“Did Ronan say something? They’re not going to agree, are they? Shit .”
Piper suddenly broke into a huge grin and lightly punched his shoulder.
“Got you! No, they definitely agreed. Ronan told me last night. We have our alliance with the dragons, Thane. Taking them to their homeworld did it! They will come when they’re called.
We’re going to win this war. We’re going to save Palenor. ”
“Truly?”
“Yes!”
“And what about you and Ronan?”
She lifted her shoulder, and he could tell she was trying to hide disappointment.
“I don’t know, Thane. He’s been different than I thought.
I thought he would want to move forward, but in a way, I think he’s lost interest. I know you wanted me to help with the alliance, but I don’t know if he will marry me. ”
“That’s not it.”
“Did he say something to you?”
“I told him he couldn’t be with you until the war was over.”
She scowled. “Why would you do that?”
“King Drake threatened your life if he married you… dragons don’t typically mate outside their race, and he is a prince. They are particular about their bloodline, especially the Drakonans.”
“Oh,” she breathed, and looked away, a flush staining her cheeks. “I didn’t… I don’t know why I didn’t think about that.”
“But Ronan wants to be with you. In fact, he wants to marry you. It just can’t be now, otherwise, it could jeopardize the alliance. If the king tries to hurt you, I’ll have to kill him.”
“He told you he wants to marry me?” she started to smile. “Even if… I can’t let him give up anything for me. If his parents don’t approve, they could cut him off.”
“Worry about that later. For now, I need to make a binding pact with the king and queen so they can’t back out.” He pointed at Katana’s door. “Will you wait for her and go with her to breakfast? Tell her I’m sorry but I had to leave.”
“Of course.” Piper suddenly began to study him from the top of his head to his boots and leaned in a little closer. “You smell like her.”
Thane glanced down as if he could see her scent. “I do?”
Piper chuckled. “Yeah, Thane, you do.”
He turned on his heel. “I better hurry. The king and queen are probably waiting.”
“Thane.” Piper narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice, “Did you… Maker, you did,” she accused. “You slept with her, didn’t you?”
Thane kept walking and couldn’t help but smile. “Find me downstairs.” Now all he needed was the dragons to sign a magic-binding contract. Things were finally looking up.