Chapter 28
Emmie
For three long days, I have waited. Never venturing far from the Gates' waters in case something happened. Initially, I waited with him. Watching as they cut and sewed him back together. Methodically extracting each drop of poison, bit by bit, until I couldn't take it anymore. I had to leave.
I know they’re mending him down there, my scarred warrior told me as much.
I tried talking to him, but when he spoke, I couldn't hear anything. Eventually, I understood that only spirits can talk with other spirits and that even though we can see each other, it's only because I’m bonded to a Gatekeeper. Or am I one? Something I’ll need Portarius to explain more in depth when he returns. He will return.
The fields are all destroyed. I've only ventured to the far side of the house, which is completely smoke damaged but luckily still intact.
I've been raiding the pantry staples before returning to the waters edge to continue my wait, creating the two spots that I roam between.
One where we entered the water after the Ananea battle, and the other is the end of the jetty.
Both seem like the most logical place to wait.
Most of the time, I will lie where I am right now, on the top step of the jetty, immediately next to the water so I can dip my hand in.
Usually, I feel the touch of the scarred warrior who guided me, cold and soothing as our fingers intertwine.
It's a feeling I can't quite understand, but I just know somewhere deep down that I’m calmer with him.
In all fairness, I'm probably safe with every spirit in the Gate, but there's something different that comes to life when I'm in his presence.
I don't feel as alone when he's with me.
I'm not sure how many hours I've been in this spot when the cool hand I'm touching grips me tighter for just a second.
The water suddenly bursting out of the Gate and raining down on me.
I can't see him clearly, but I know it's the scarred warrior.
His familiar shape floating just beneath the surface.
Smiling from the splash, I'm tempted to step into the water, but I won't. I can't risk distracting the spirits working on Portarius.
The press of cool lips against the back of my hand draws my attention, and I drag my fingers through the tepid water on the off chance his way to signify his farewells was by accident.
But no comfort finds my fingers, and I withdraw my hands from the Gate.
I've been avoiding my rumbling stomach for a few hours now, and seeing that I no longer have someone to sit with, I take the opportunity to return to the cottage.
Maybe I'll start cleaning it as well? Tomorrow. I'll start tomorrow.
??????
The moon flames sit high in the sky. I've been staring at them for the last few hours, unable to sleep.
No matter how many times I fold and remake the blankets I've been using as a makeshift bed, I can't get comfortable.
It's not the jetty or the blankets, though, it's the damn ache in my chest. Like indigestion, but I can't get relief.
What I wouldn't give for some antacids right about now.
I can feel Portarius and the Gates hum. It felt weak for a day or so, but it feels like it's getting stronger every minute.
I rub my hand against my chest to try and ease some of the discomfort, but it only seems to make it worse.
Rolling over, I lie at my usual perch on the step and dangle my fingers into the water, staring into the Gate's depths until my eyes start to play tricks on me, a distant glow coming from the lakebed.
Tilting my head, I sit up. Focusing my eyes as hard as possible because the glow appears to be getting bigger.
I take a tentative step into the water, and then another, moving until I'm waist deep, pausing on the same platform that Portarius did when he brought me through the Gate that very first day.
So I stand here, hoping that this is Portarius coming back to me and not a stranger from Earth.
The glow gets brighter until I can see each spirit zooming past beneath the surface, shadows dancing across my illuminated body.
I place my hand in front of me, submerged in the hope that whoever this is will take hold of mine.
The glow is growing so bright that my eyes are forced to squint against the light, wanting desperately to see, but unable to.
A cool touch tingles across my fingertips, a solid hand easing inside my grasp, and I have to turn my head, unable to bear the light any longer.
The realm goes silent.
No wind, no insects. Nothing other than the panting of my breathing. I face away from the person, noting that the brightness of the glow no longer seeps through my eyelids.
A single finger pulls my chin in their direction, the ache in my chest flooding my system with emotion.
Relief, grief, sadness, loss, and hope, consuming me to the point of breaking.
I keep my eyes closed tight, not opening them in case it reveals the face of a stranger.
Calloused hands cup my face, their thumbs gently caressing my cheeks as tears well and fall from my closed lids.
“Emmie?” A familiar yet new voice says. I can feel my lip start to wobble, barely keeping it together.
“No,” I blubber out, shaking my head at him. Because what if it's not him, what if this was all a cruel destiny to have me fall in love with a monster I can never have?
“Emmie, look at me,” he says tenderly, leaving a series of gentle kisses across my face.
“No… I'm scared.”
My chest hums with activity, but it's the cool, reassuring touch that soothes me.
“Portarius?” I whisper. My voice so soft, that only angels would be able to hear it.
“Look at me, Emmie. You were all I thought of while I healed. Knowing you were waiting for me broke and saved me all at once. It's me, you just need to open your eyes.”
I blink them open, still looking down, when his hand moves to tilt my head.
“Im right here.”
The chest I stare at is the same. Golden brown skin rippling beneath my fingertips as I reach out and touch him. The moon flames are the only light in the sky, and the realm is once again a gentle buzz of activity. The wind blowing with the occasional click of an insect in the distance.
“I missed you so much,” I sob, burrowing my face into Portarius' chest. His hands lift my legs effortlessly, and I throw my arms around his shoulders, smashing my lips to his. Our hands drag and press against each other, making sure every part is whole, but never once breaking our kiss.
Portarius kneels on the jetty, my blankets perfectly spread beneath me as he lays me back.
“I missed you so much,” he rasps, a fevered hunger in his movements as he rips the tattered cotton dress from my body.
My hands claw at his nakedness, pulling him on top of me, and in one swift thrust, he fills me completely.
The burn and stretch of his massive cock makes me feel alive again, with each ridge along his shaft rubbing perfectly against my inner walls.
We are reunited, and everything has returned to where it was meant to be.
Our bond comes alive with each rock of his hips, and I match his speed, thrust for thrust, tears blurring my vision.
Our bodies slap together, alongside cries of pleasure, until I feel my orgasm build, crying out into the night sky when I fall over the edge.
He follows with one more rut of his hips, and I feel the slight pinch of his spina as it enters my womb, opening as he roars his release into the darkness.
Filling me over and over as each tremor of his orgasm rolls through him.
Lowering himself onto his elbows, he looks down at me, his long braid hanging down as I take in this new version of him. The moon flames do not show everything, but there are deep grooves and scars still healing from the attack. A familiar jagged one across his eye.
“You look different? You’re the same still … but different.” I state, not expecting a response to my thoughts.
“I merged spirits when healing. There was a soldier who held your hand while I was away. I offered him the honour.”
Gasping, my brow dips. “You mean my scarred warrior is part of you now?”
“Yes, my sweet Emmie,” he says, leaning down to kiss me while we remain locked together, our bodies glistening with sweat.
“We are eternal because we merge with the spirits of the Gate. I have much to teach you, but know your soldier continues to watch over you as part of me and the spirits who came before him.”
The pinch of his spina retracting causes us both to look down as Portarius sits back on his haunches, watching our combined cum rush from inside me. He spreads my knees wide, looking at my pussy like a long lost friend.
“Prepare yourself, I need to eat your cunt.” He's so matter of fact, I almost don't hear it when he whispers, “I've missed your sweet nectar,” before dragging his tongue from my ass to my clit, and I'm lost to ecstasy.