Chapter 17 Scarlett
SCARLETT
The journey back to Nightingale Castle is different.
There had been tension between Krane and me at breakfast, but that is nothing compared to the unspoken words lingering between us now.
My back is crushed against his chest as his horse carries us deep into the forest—his heartbeat pounds against my shoulder.
One hand grips the reins while the other rests against my stomach, holding me firmly to him.
I relax back against his body as the events of the night play out.
It had been pleasing watching Bram die. After he confirmed my story—that I had no part in Krane’s murder—I was happy to see him meet a painful end.
It was what he deserved after all. The same fate would soon await my father.
I stop myself from getting lost in another revenge fantasy.
There will be time later to make them pay.
For now, I can focus on Krane. We can make up for all the lost time.
I saw it in his eyes after Bram’s confession.
The icy wall of apprehension that once stood before us had melted away in Bram’s chamber.
Our future was certain again. No matter what he looked like, he was my Krane, and we would never be apart again.
There is no place for sadness and betrayal. Not when we both still draw breath. I feel it in his touch as we navigate the uneven terrain. Branches whip overhead as we race through the dark woods. Night air burns my lungs, the faint traces of cinnamon making my heart pound.
Finally, after what feels like hours, the horse trots to a stop outside the crumbling castle.
Krane slides from the animal and lowers me to the ground with two hands on my waist. The grand structure is decomposing with time.
Legend says it was a wedding gift to a queen.
The spirits of the forest had not been pleased with the castle invading their home, so they drove her husband mad.
He killed his whole family before disappearing into the woods, never to be seen again.
I shake myself from the gruesome story. The night air causes goosebumps to break out along my exposed flesh.
The scent of pine is everywhere. The lace sleeves barely cover my arms, and the heavy satin does nothing to ward off the chill.
Krane leads me inside. The statues along the entryway are cracked and covered in thick cobwebs. Inside, the front room is just as deteriorated as the exterior. My hands trail along the bare walls, disrupting decades' worth of dust. Krane lingers behind me.
Reaching the grand staircase, I look up. Leaves fall in from the crumbling roof as the moon glows above. Climbing the first two steps, I pause and turn towards Krane. Our eyes are level with one another. He breathes deeply, green flames casting his face in jagged shadows.
“Are you hungry?”
My stomach feels empty, but it is not food I desire. I simply shake my head no.
“Tired?”
Again, I shake my head, not trusting my voice.
His large hands find their way to my waist. He skims up and down my sides, causing me to sigh. The green flames dim as his mouth turns down. Squeezing the flesh of my hips, his voice is barely above a whisper.
“Can you ever forgive me, Scarlett?” The devastation in his eyes nearly sends me to my knees. “For locking you up, for doubting you, for letting my need for revenge twist the beautiful life we shared.”
Moisture burns my eyes, but I quickly blink it away. My hands cup his face, skimming along the smooth surface of the pumpkin. Tracing each groove, I smile at him.
“There is nothing to forgive.”
Krane shakes his head while dragging me closer.
“I should’ve come for you once I was strong enough.
Taken you from your parents’ home and kept you safe with me.
If you had hurt yourself—died because of me—all the while I was sitting here plotting how to make you hurt just as much as I had…
” He trails off, swallowing thickly. “I never would’ve been able to live with myself.
I don’t know if I can die in this form, but I would’ve tried.
Anything to have been reunited with you. ”
“Never mind that,” I sigh. “We are together now. The past is the past.”
Unease flickers in his eyes. The scent of cinnamon and cloves wraps around me like a blanket. I want to devour him whole—to fuse our bodies together so there is no separating us. His hands pause on my waist.
“How can you still want me? I am a grotesque monster—nothing like the man you once loved.”
My hand leaves his face. I make short work of the buttons of his coat. His breathing turns heavy as I bear his undershirt. Unlacing it, I press my palm against the smooth skin of his chest. The strong beat of his heart travels up my arm and enters my own racing organ.
“You look just the same to me. Your heart and soul are the same. I can feel them both reaching towards mine.”
His hand comes down atop mine. Gently lifting it from his skin, he turns it over. Tracing the faded scar with his thumb, his eyes heat. It's the same one he has along his palm.
“This was the happiest night of my life. I’d never seen anyone as beautiful as you in your white frock.” Fiery eyes trace the planes of my face. “It seems impossible for you to look even lovelier tonight.”
I thread our fingers together. His hand is nearly double the size of mine. I curl our palms together and lean forward, trapping our hands against both of our hearts.
“We can be together again, just like we were that night.” Krane sucks in a breath as my breasts pillow between us. “There is no one here to stop us. No finite amount of time we have to fight against. It is just you and me now. Alone.”
“That’s all I’ve ever wanted, Scar.”
My forehead presses against the cool, waxy surface of the pumpkin. The love I feel for him is reflected in his dancing flames.
“Then let us not be apart any longer.”
Without another word, Krane scoops me up under my knees and hauls me against him. I giggle as he rushes us up the grand staircase. His steps slow as we push into my bedroom. The sheets and pillows have been refreshed. Depositing me atop the soft mattress, I stare up at him.
Krane is quite the foreboding figure. Taller than he was as a human and stronger, too. His pumpkin head seeps with fire. It is sentient, twisting with each emotion playing across his face. He shakes his head, looking away from me.
“I am hideous, Scarlett. I will give you pleasure, but my needs can be forgotten. I wouldn’t subject you to such a thing.”
The self-loathing in his eyes breaks my heart.
How can he say that about himself? Yes, he looks different.
A pumpkin for a head and gray skin are not exactly normal.
However, he is not unappealing. His appearance took some getting used to, but now that I have, I see him for who he is.
I welcome him in any form. This is better than never having him again.
Rising up, I grip the lapels of his coat and pull him down on top of me.
His weight is more than before, but the feel of his body atop mine is familiar.
I revel in it. Spreading my legs as wide as my gown will allow, I welcome him closer to my body.
If he reaches under my skirts, he can determine for himself just how badly I want him.
The wetness coating my thighs is more than enough evidence.
“You will deny me no part of yourself,” I say. “I want all of you, just as you are.”
With no more words needed on the matter, I seal our mouths together.
The firm skin of the pumpkin is shocking at first. The flames I had kissed before had molded to my mouth.
After a moment, the pumpkin does the same.
It fits perfectly to my lips and feels as though I am kissing warm, thick skin. Small miracles.
His tongue licks into my mouth, and I groan. It wrestles with mine for a moment before I give in. Over and over, he tastes me, my hips rising to rub against him. He groans into my mouth, yanking me forward on the bed.
Making quick work of my laces, after all, he is an expert at removing my clothes, my white gown hangs from me.
Together, our hands knock as we remove it from my body.
The only clothing that remains is a pair of simple white stockings.
I moan as Krane’s fingers hook into them, gently dragging them down my legs and pressing kisses to my pink knees.
He falls on top of me with a groan. There is a feverishness to his mouth that is new.
A primal edge that gives way to his desperate touch.
As a human, my couplings with Krane were more than pleasurable, but he was simply a man then.
Now he is part creature. With all his other human urges done away with, his desire has run rampant, taken to animalistic peaks.
I rub my wetness against the front of his tenting trousers.
I want to see more of him—desirous for him to be as naked as I am.
My hands go to his coat, pushing it off his shoulders and untucking his white shirt.
I toss it aside. Gray skin covered in a menagerie of bumps greets my eyes—his heart-shaped birthmark dances on his flesh. I gently trace it, and Krane moans.
His mouth descends down my chest. Stopping at my left breast, he wraps his lips around my hard nipples. My head pushes back against the soft mattress.
“Krane,” I sigh.
Flames lick along my skin, causing goosebumps to break out along my flesh. He releases my breast with a pop, eyes glowing with lust.
“You taste sweeter than ever, Scar.”
I grind myself against him as he gives my other nipple the same treatment.
His other hand skims down my stomach before stopping between my thighs.
I groan as he traces a long finger up my slit.
Coating his fingers in my arousal, he gently tucks one into my entrance.
My teeth clench together. His fingers are larger, spearing into me deeper than ever before. Stars dance in my vision.