Chapter 26
Aurora
“Th-Theron,” she whimpered.
“Yes, my little fairy. I’m here. You’re safe.”
Aurora pressed her face into his sweat-slicked chest and breathed in his scent. He groaned at the contact. Slowly, so slowly, she came back down to earth.
“Th-Theron…you…to me…”
“Mmm. And you did so well.”
“I…what did you…”
Her head spun as the enormity of what had just happened hit her.
“Sometimes, when you fully submit, you reach a place of euphoria. But it’s like being drunk. I couldn’t be certain you would have the presence of mind to say your word, so I ended our play a little earlier than I’d intended. I hope you’re not too disappointed.”
She shook her head, face blazing.
“What else could you have possibly done to me?” she asked, nearly hysterical with embarrassment.
“I suppose you’ll never know…unless you ask me nicely to put you through another performance,” he hummed happily.
His teasing only made it worse. Aurora had become so desperate she’d begged him to make a spectacle of her.
She’d bared herself in front of Altanus.
She’d splayed her legs herself and pleaded for Theron to fill her with monstrous dildos for the whole city to see—and hear!
Oh goddess, she didn’t think she’d been quiet.
And somewhere out there, a priestess had sold him a set of toys so big she’d considered Aurora quite adventurous.
A tortured little moan of bone-deep mortification escaped her lips. Aurora gripped great fistfuls of her hair and used it to cover her flaming face as she curled up on herself.
I’m the greatest fool in Trisia. How could I have agreed to that?!
“Aurora?” Theron asked, half amused, half genuinely concerned.
“In front of the whole city,” she wailed. “What have I done?”
Theron laughed, wrapping her in his arms.
“Shall I soothe your fears, my love?”
“You can’t,” she moaned.
“No one saw you.”
“You can’t know that.”
“I can. And I do. I had Leukos shroud the whole balcony in an illusion. As far as Altanus knows, your balcony has been unused all day.”
“He’s back?”
“Just this morning.”
“Wait! Then…Leukos…he…oh goddess, I’ll never be able to face him again.”
“Never fear, my love. I made him cast it long before your performance began. Though I can’t promise no one heard you. That was quite the scream, after all.”
“You absolute beast of a man!” she cried, indignant.
He laughed, pulling her closer.
“How was your orgasm, my love?”
Transcendent. Euphoric. Mind-shattering. She didn’t think anything would ever feel so good again.
“It was…really good.”
“So grudging with your praise.” He played with her hair.
She blushed, hiding her face against his collarbone. Shame scalded her.
“Fine it was…the best orgasm I’ve ever had in my entire life, and I’m fairly certain nothing else will ever compare.”
He hummed happily as he stroked her back.
“And did you enjoy your first taste of public spectacle?”
Aurora nodded. She had, much to her surprise.
“H-how did you know I would?”
“I didn’t. But the closer to the light you got, the more aroused you became.”
“How could you tell?”
Theron tucked a finger under her chin and raised her head so their eyes could meet. He quirked a brow.
“You’d have better luck doubling your height than hiding your expressions.”
“I can hide my expressions,” she grouched.
He shook his head, smiling.
“You would be, bar none, the very worst actress in all of Trisia. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.”
“Rude.”
“Honest.”
“Hmmm.” She narrowed her eyes at him and reached down to his straining erection. “And how well can you hide your expressions, my king?”
He sucked in a breath, his eyes going wide. With lightning speed, he quickly grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands away. Aurora smiled in triumph.
“It seems you’ll be competing with me for the title of worst actor in Trisia.”
“Do not think—for a single moment—that just because I can pleasure you into oblivion and beyond with a straight face, that I am not affected by the mess I make of you. Or that I will allow you to toy with me when I have other plans for you,” he growled.
A frisson of anticipation rolled through her. The rite.
“I’m ready for those plans if you are,” she said.
He stilled, his gaze assessing her.
“Are you certain?” he asked softly. “There’s no going back.”
“But Aureum—”
He shook his head.
“Is this something you want?”
“I thought you said there was no denying an elder god?”
He swallowed.
“I would defy a god if you asked it of me. What I refuse to do is force you into a life you do not want.”
Oh.
He really did love her, didn’t he? Then he deserved the truth.
“I don’t know if I’ll be a good queen, Theron.
Politics is…not my strong suit,” she chuckled.
“And if I’m being honest, I’m a little scared.
But I remember how miserable it felt when I thought madness would stop me from standing at your side.
And…I remember how it felt like home when I touched the monolith.
I think…I think as long as you’re by my side, come what may, then that’s what I want most. And I really do want to be your queen.
Not because of a god, or for power, or anything else, but because I love you.
I want to be…” She swallowed, her heart pounding, daring to meet his stunned gaze.
“I want to be by your side. In all things. In this lifetime. In the next. Until the stars fade and the Tapestry unravels.”
“Do you mean that?” he asked, seeming almost afraid to hope.
“Yes. Every word.” She put her palm over his racing heart.
For a moment in time, he simply gazed into her eyes, testing the sincerity there. Then he cupped the back of her head.
“That’s the first time you’ve said you love me,” he said, a broad grin making his eyes sparkle.
She returned his smile. Then she would have to say it more often.
“I love you, Theron.”
“And I love you, Aurora.” His voice deepened as he pulled her in for a searing kiss.
There was no conqueror or conquest in this kiss.
No games. Just the sincerest expression of love their lips and tongues could convey.
Aurora melted into that kiss, lost herself in Theron, in the happiness bubbling inside her.
This is what she’d dreamed of when she’d discovered Theron was her fated all those months ago.
This connection. This soul-deep entanglement.
It was the intoxicating, cozy warmth to Passion’s fire.
It felt like no matter what came next, her heart was safe in his hands.
When they broke apart to catch their breaths, her heart fluttered in her chest. His eyes were hooded, darkened with equal measures love and awe.
Aurora drowned in that gaze, wishing she could spend the rest of her days in that very look—and knowing she would willingly chase it across the Tapestry, no matter what else Fate threw her way.
“What are you thinking, my love?” he asked.
“That no matter how cruel Fate has been, I would face it all again, a hundred times over, knowing that I would get to be here, with you, like this.”
He blinked at her, stunned.
“Did…I say something wrong?” she asked.
He ducked his head, burying it between her breasts.
“Give me a moment,” he murmured.
Aurora petted his hair, wondering what it was she’d said that made him act this way, and then she spotted it—the tips of his ears were distinctly reddened. She only just managed to stifle her gasp.
“Are you blushing?”
“No.”
“Truly?” she asked, unable to stop her grin as she tucked a strand of deep crimson hair behind his ear. Which had most definitely reddened, despite his protest.
“You can’t say such things and…expect me to remain unmoved.”
“Are you moved, Theron?” she asked gently.
“Deeply.”
They lay there for a time, she running her fingers through the thick, wavy silk of his long hair, and he with his face pressed into her chest, his breath and beard tickling her skin. It was unexpectedly peaceful.
“You have my heart. You have my body. My soul is as much mine as yours,” he said, raising his head to meet her gaze. “Are you ready to share my crown, Aurora?”
“Yes, Theron. I’m ready.”
He swept her up and off her feet, a dazzling smile on his face as he strode from the bed through her rooms and towards the outer door.
“Wait! You can’t mean to walk through the halls in the nude,” Aurora gasped.
“I do and I will.”
“But—”
“No one is to lay eyes upon us from this moment until we emerge from the inner sanctuary.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t fret, my love. I’m far too jealous a man to allow anyone else to see what a beautiful mess I’ve made of you.”
For that she was grateful. Before she could think to protest further, he pushed open the door and marched down the curiously emptied halls.
“Where did everyone go?”
“To another wing of the palace to pray.”
There was never a time when people weren’t bustling about on this floor of the palace.
To see it empty now felt almost wrong. But as she looked around more, she saw that the path leading to the inner sanctuary was covered in flower petals, the halls lined with little clay statues in poses of supplication.
“Pray for what?”
“A new Aurean queen.”
A pang of fear lanced her heart.
“Is it possible to…fail the rite?”
“Yes. But those who have heard the heartbeat, received a dream, and have a cleric of the elder gods as a guide need not worry. Under such conditions, no monarch has ever failed the rite.”
Aurora sighed in relief. In the unnervingly silent halls, the only sound was of Theron’s footsteps.
That changed as they passed over the threshold of the inner sanctuary.
A heartbeat not her own drummed in her ears, distant but distinct.
It instantly put her at ease. Theron set her on her feet before several small pots of clear liquid.
“Is this the paint?”
“It is,” he replied, kneeling before her. Dipping his finger into the pot, he drew a line from the tip of her nose straight up to her hairline. It tingled on her skin. “One day soon I will teach you the recipe. You should know, depending on the nature of the rite, it can elicit certain reactions.”