Chapter 26 The Key To Leaving
After this, a sort of peaceful acceptance enveloped us, we were no longer worried about what the next day would bring. Because, of course, we knew, but neither one of us wanted to spoil what little time we had.
I could tell that he appreciated my subtle hint to embrace the now and he gave me a soft look in return, before wrapping his arms around me and holding me close.
I didn’t know what it truly meant to be his anchor, to be fated.
I didn’t know the depths of it, or what it might hold for our future.
I just knew that right now, this moment, this night, was for us, and I didn’t want anything to taint it.
Because quite honestly, I didn’t want to face tomorrow, and I think he knew it too.
He took my hand after rising to his feet, and gently pulled me up with him, leading me silently toward the tent.
I could feel my nerves start to stir, that nervous excitement bubbling inside me, making my heart flutter and my stomach tighten.
But I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.
Because in truth, I didn’t know if this would be our last night together.
It felt strange walking back into the tent, knowing what it meant this time.
The night before, we had slept next to each other more out of necessity, the small distance between us was deliberate.
It was safe. Until it hadn’t been. Until he had wrapped me in his arms and warmed me, coaxing me to sleep with that teasing voice of his.
We had entered the tent last night with unspoken desire, a pull neither of us had been willing to admit.
But now, there were no restraints, no doubts, no pretending.
We both knew exactly where we stood, and what we wanted.
The air inside the tent felt warmer than it should have been, thick with something that had nothing to do with the fire outside.
His hand lingered at my waist as he closed the entrance behind us, sealing the night away.
For a heartbeat, we stood in silence, our breaths the only sound, shallow and uneven, each one a question waiting for the other to answer.
When he finally reached out, his fingertips brushed along my cheek, tracing the curve of my jaw as if he were memorizing it. My breath caught. The soft light from the lantern flickered over his features, painting him in gold. Here, he was a man torn between power and gentleness.
“Gods, Alexandra, I want you, but if you are tired or sore, then I will…”
I cupped his cheek, silencing him.
“I’m fine… more than fine,” I reassured him after needing to clear my throat. Lust was making it hard to speak.
“Are you sure?” he asked quietly, his voice low and rough, like the words had been dragged from the deepest part of him. I nodded.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
Something in him shifted at that, a tension uncoiling.
His thumb grazed my bottom lip, his eyes fixed on my mouth before he leaned in, closing the space between us.
The kiss started tender, searching, but deepened almost instantly.
His hands moved to cradle my face, then down the line of my neck to my shoulders, drawing me closer until there was no space left between us.
When I felt the steady thrum of his heart against mine, I knew this was not just about desire. It was something far more powerful. Every touch, every sigh, was a confession we couldn’t bring ourselves to speak aloud.
He broke the kiss only long enough to whisper against my lips, “You’re trembling.”
“It’s what you do to me,” I confessed.
His breath hitched, his forehead pressing to mine.
“Then let me make you tremble even more.” And with that, he kissed me again, slower this time, with reverence instead of hunger.
His hands explored with care, mapping every inch of skin he could reach, as if he were learning me by touch alone.
I felt weightless beneath him, wrapped in warmth and the quiet sound of his breath mingling with mine.
The world outside ceased to exist. There was no Rift, no fear, no fate heavy on our shoulders. Only our two souls finding something they hadn’t realized they had been searching for their entire lives.
We lay down on the blankets, and this time, it wasn’t raw and rushed like the desperation that led us earlier.
No, this time it was slow and sensual. The removal of our clothes was more like a private act performed between one another.
We traced lines and contours of our bodies with slow, deliberate fingers.
His own reached my core before dipping in and making me sigh back as a whisper of a breath escaped me.
His sweet words and soft demands of me only added to the maddening and gentle rhythm, and he seemed intent on making me wait for it. It was like he already knew my body so well, and how to bring it pleasure even more.
Needless to say, I was soon gasping for him, and after my release came first by his hands, it then came swiftly after when he once again claimed me. And this time, it didn’t just brand the power of pleasure to my soul, it branded another piece of my heart right along with it.
I soon discovered, this wasn’t just sex, this was making love, and I quickly learned the difference, experiencing both for the first time in the same day.
The next day we woke just like the one before it, the only difference now was that I didn’t have to try and hide how comfortable I was. In fact, I snuggled in closer, making him moan in a contented sigh and pull me tighter into him.
We hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, and the way my body ached this morning was a testament to that.
It was like he had awoken a beast in me and I couldn’t seem to get enough of him!
He even teased me at one point that he had made his own monster, one more voracious and insatiable than his own.
I then teased back, how would he know, because it was the first time he had turned all ‘beastie’.
And so, the playful banter continued, intermixed with sexual acts that filled the forest with screams of pleasure, where laughter then followed as we caught our breaths.
The morning came too soon for both of us, which was why, as we packed up the tent, we did so methodically, with the type of unspoken efficiency I had come to know as daily life at the base in Jerome.
Yet that life seemed like years ago. It had taken me only a few days with Atlas and I found the old me seeping her way back.
We mounted his horse, and I instantly melted back into him.
Something he enjoyed as he continued to whisper in my ear, reminding me of pieces of the night, like dirty little secrets that made me squirm.
His hands often wandered and made me moan against the rocking of his fingers.
In fact, on a few occasions I had to shackle his hand to stop him, reminding him that I felt weird having an orgasm on his poor horse.
His echo of laughter made me chastise him, even if I was grinning myself every time.
But as Acelin began his slow walk back through the forest, I almost wished we would never get there.
“Relax, it’s going to be fine,” he assured me, his lips brushing my ear and making me shudder. I forced the tension from my body, rolling my shoulders and circling my neck as I took a long, steady breath in and let it out slowly.
Once we reached even ground, Acelin became what he truly was, power and grace bound in muscle and magic. Shades of green and brown blurred past as his powerful legs thundered over the trail, leaving deep horseshoe dents in the stone.
Curiosity got the better of me. I leaned forward to watch his movements, but the sight of the mountain trail rushing beneath us in a dizzying grey blur turned my stomach.
We were making good time, and there was no stopping Acelin from reaching our destination. One I started to dread seeing because I knew what it meant.
Our time was running out.
The wind tore past, whipping at my hair and stealing my breath, and I felt the faint hum of tension through the King’s body. His hand tightened slightly on the reins, his eyes scanning the horizon as though danger might still be lurking in the trees we had left behind.
Parts of the trail looked familiar, and if I was right, it would soon open out onto the lower plains. I could already see hints of open land beyond the rock and pine, sunlight flickering through the canopy as we approached the end of the mountain pass.
And soon, the city came into view, and my heart sank at the sight of it.
What had once felt like a place of safety now looked cold and hollow, scarred by everything we had learned and everything that still waited ahead.
I wasn’t sure if Atlas felt the same, but he was just as quiet as I was.
The air between us was heavy with unspoken thoughts, the rhythm of Acelin’s hooves the only sound that dared to exist.
By the time we approached the hotel’s entrance, the familiar stone archway loomed before us, and I was already bracing myself for whatever awaited inside. But nothing could have prepared me for what I saw next.
There, standing just outside the main doors, was Aster, his large hands tangled in Tiff’s hair as he kissed her like the world started and ended with her.
“What the hell?” I muttered under my breath, my voice sharp with disbelief.
The sound of Acelin’s hooves clattering against the paved drive shattered the moment. Both of them jumped apart, Tiff spinning around so fast her hair whipped across her face.
“Tiff?” I called out, my tone a mix of confusion and amusement.
“Alex!” she shouted back, her eyes wide, as if I was the one she hadn’t expected to see. Then, realizing how that must have looked, she stammered, “I came looking for you and… erm… Riley…”