Chapter 36
“My deepest apologies, my queen. I’ve been tied up these last few weeks in urgent business with my shades,” Lord Ophis said, bowing deeply as he entered the manor’s library. Tethys sat opposite the fireplace central to the room, its dry heat casting out remnants of the spring night’s chill.
“Not to worry, Ophis. I assume you’ve been receiving my correspondence,” she said, glancing up from the page she’d been reading.
“Yes, your lady-in-waiting has been a frequent attendee of my midnight parties. Each of your messages has left me in more anticipation for the next than its predecessor,” he said, taking a seat in the adjacent wingback.
The hemline of Ophis’s black robe brushed against the patterned rug as he sat.
“I hope the news I bear makes up for my lack of response.”
“What news do you bring, my lord?” Tethys asked, the hairs on her arms bristling.
“I’m saddened to report there’s been another disappearance.
A city guard’s son. Aged four. He and his older sister were on their way to seminar at the temple.
His sister came home after their lessons and panicked.
She told her mother the boy’s hand had slipped out of hers and when she turned around to reach for him, he was gone,” Ophis said.
The flickering amber light of the fireplace cast shadows on the somber expression now wrinkled in the creases of his furrowed brow.
“Were there other witnesses?” Tethys asked.
“They cut through the uptown marketplace and had just passed Marienne’s tea house. There were at least thirty patrons seated outside. The city guards interviewed all but one, and none had even noticed the children.” Ophis’s report sent a wave of frost through her veins.
Tethys cursed under her breath. She’d promised Leda she’d do everything and anything she could to bring her daughter home.
But it wasn’t good enough, because another child was now missing.
The wave of nausea now creeping up her throat was a gut-wrenching reminder of all of those mothers that’d begged for her aid.
All the fathers with damp, sleepless eyes.
All the children lost and alone floating somewhere out there in the aether.
“And what of the patron they didn’t interview?” Tethys asked, shutting down the piece of her mind that kept wandering back to the faces of those unknown kids, terrified and begging for their parents.
“My shades tracked him down. The report is rather interesting.” Ophis arched a thin, graying brow.
“The man, a highborn merchant, refused to speak with anyone, but you. He claims only the divine will believe his account. I think the poor soul is afraid he’ll be deemed as mad and sent to the southern labor camp. ”
“He requested an audience with me?” Tethys asked, suddenly very wary of Ophis’s words. The lord had always proved loyal to the hand that fed him. As of now, that was the Venian crown, but if Tethys had learned anything over her time spent at court, his motives could sour with the toss of a coin.
“He insisted, in fact. That’s why I decided it was of the utmost importance if I delivered the message myself.
I propose you allow me to fulfill his request on your behalf.
I cannot shake the suspicion that there are darker motives in play,” Ophis said.
The old man rose to his feet and with hands laced behind his back paced to the packed-full shelves of ancient ledgers.
His finger trailed along a row of spines until settling on a text.
“If he requests an audience with me, then it will be alone. We’re at risk of another disappearance if we delay. What is his name? I’ll have Arissa send a messenger,” Tethys said, joining Ophis by the shelf. He opened the ledger to a center section and scanned the text as she spoke.
“I can’t allow that, my queen. This man could be a rebel. Let us not forget the events of the past,” Araes interjected from his typical perch beside the doorway.
“I did not give you leave to offer an opinion, Lieutenant,” she snapped. The corner of his lip curled and Araes shifted in his black leather boots. Tethys knew he was reeling at her remarks, and yet, she didn’t care. He could burn in the flames of his anger.
“I hate to say it, but I agree with the soldier. This man could be dangerous. I’ve looked into his history. It’s littered with derogatory remarks and felonies. Just recently, he stood trial for suspected piracy along the southern coast,” Ophis said, quiet enough for only Tethys to hear.
“Have we all forgotten that I am, in fact, an immortal?” Tethys snapped. These two men and their superiority complexes were infuriating. “I will determine whether my safety is at risk or not.”
Araes shot her a pointed look, but with a single, raised index finger, Tethys squashed the protest before it could pour from his lips.
“Ophis, give me his name, please,” Tethys said, forcing the words to harden on her tongue.
He sighed and tucked the ledger back in its place on the shelf. “It’s Randall Maximus.”
“Thank you. I’ll have Arissa send an urgent calling card. Before the city guards change watch in the morning, we’ll meet at the temple,” Tethys said. She watched the old lord with a scrutinizing gaze. “Let’s hope this Randall Maximus has some answers.”
? ? ?
Later, after Ophis took his leave and slithered back into the shadows of the night, Tethys sat before the vanity in her bedchamber, combing the now damp curls falling down her neck.
She barely recognized the woman staring back at her.
The eyes were golden and gleaming, just like hers.
But the permanent sadness that glazed over them was foreign.
They once glittered with youthful wonder, ready to face the world head on. Now, they were muted. Tired. Lost.
A knock at her doors interrupted the streaming tear now rolling down her cheek.
“Arissa, I do not require my handmaids tonight. I’ve already sent them away—”
Araes’s flaming eyes stole the words from her lips. His expression—dark with remnants of lust long since lost as he traced the outline of her figure beneath the sheer sleeping gown.
“I do not require protection in the privacy of my own bedchamber.” Tethys scowled and wrapped her arms around herself. She was suddenly aware of every raised hair on her body, every breath filling her lungs.
“I’m not here to protect you, Goddess,” he stated, biting his lip. Tethys caught her eyes wandering to his lips. The ones that’d once been on hers. The residual warmth lingered on her skin, heating her cheeks slightly. Araes’s eyes were a brand upon her, watching her every shift in weight.
“Then if you’re here to convince me to rethink my decision on meeting with Randall Maximus, you can turn around and return to the toxic sludge you’ve come from,” she snapped, attempting to slam the door in his face. A large, calloused hand blocked its swing before it clicked shut.
“That’s not why I’m here, either. I’ve thought about it, and I actually agree you should hold an audience with Maximus. He might offer something useful,” he said, stepping into her space.
“Then why are you here?” she asked, her words like venom.
The lieutenant’s throat bobbed and he reached for her hand. The touch of his skin against hers, even as cautiously as it now was, melted the frozen despondence coursing through her veins. She risked a glance up at his eyes. They burned with unwavering brilliance.
“Tethys,” he said, sending quakes through her body.
Eos above, the way he pronounced her name—like a secret shared between lovers.
Its sound was a small, but indulgent bite of the sweetest honey cake.
“I’ve stayed silent, disengaged, but nothing keeps these thoughts away.
You’ve entirely consumed me, and as hard as I’ve tried, I cannot keep myself from you any longer. ”
She loosed a breath, entirely disarmed by the rough curl of Araes’s voice over her body. He stood so stiffly before her, with gritted teeth and darkness in his eyes. His irises kindled to a golden depthless shade she so desperately craved to melt into.
“I know this is a mistake,” he whispered, risking a step toward her.
“Yes, you’ve made that apparent, Lieutenant,” she breathed, her body entirely entranced by his intensity.
“But I don’t care. I need you, Goddess. Down to my very fucking bones.
I cannot sleep, cannot eat, cannot even breathe without thinking of you.
” Araes laced his fingers through hers. His smoldering gaze sent her heart leaping up her throat.
“The things you do to me,” he said with ragged breaths. “You’re so fucking intoxicating.”
He brushed his brow across hers and closed the space between them.
“We cannot cross this line again. You said it yourself,” she murmured. Peppermint and leather pricked her nose as he brushed a thumb against her cheek. His touch was the gentlest of caresses but also the wildest of fires.
“You’re right,” he whispered, closing the space between them. “But if we’re to burn along with the entire continent, I will gladly cross it.”
Araes’s lips were on hers, then. All essence of time and space dissipated into the night as the greed in his kiss stole every thought from her head.
She melted into him, feeling his solid, powerful body tremble.
This man, the deadliest of warriors, most stoic of soldiers, came entirely undone for her as she wrapped her arms over his neck.
She wanted—needed more. Tethys drank him in, tasting his breath on her tongue.
Araes tipped her chin and deepened the kiss, their lips moving with matched voracity.
Flames licked up her skin, sending shockwaves of need shuddering through her veins. Tethys pulled him into the bedchamber, never breaking the connection between them, and slammed the door shut behind her.
“Just this once, then,” she whispered, her voice like gravel against his lips.
Her body heightened to every sensation his touch brought on.
She pressed her body against his, but it wasn’t close enough.
The forbidden feel of his hard cock beneath his trousers set her head ablaze, but these were flames she’d gladly succumb to.
“Do you think of me too? When you’re alone in your bed,” he breathed, lust dripping from every syllable. His fingers trailed down the curve of her spine, sending a shudder escaping her parted lips.
“Yes,” she breathed, desire pooling between her legs. Tethys unbuttoned his tunic and let it fall to the floor. She sucked in a breath. Thick black ink crawled up his body, like tendrils of twisted vines. Those marks, reserved for the highest ranking officer, proved just how lethal Araes truly was.
He untied the sash that held her sleeping gown in place. The pink fabric fell across her breasts, sending a prick of pleasure through her. Her nipples pebbled in the chill night air. The cool sensation alone sent ripples of anticipation through her bloodstream.
“Do you find pleasure in thoughts of me, just as I do you?” he asked, placing a trail of kisses down her neck. The buzz of tension between them was too thick, too suffocating. She needed release, needed to lose herself in this man.
Araes fell to his knees, gripping her thighs in each hand. He stared up at her with molten eyes. This warrior, marked with the highest of kill counts along his skin, knelt before her— worshiped her. Never in her life had she felt so godsdamned powerful as she did right now.
“You’re so fucking perfect,” he whispered, tracing a finger up her body.
Lust dusted her vision as Araes cupped the curve of her breast and circled her nipple with his thumb.
The scratch of his calloused palm tightened her belly.
She rubbed her thighs together, squirming and breathless for any sort of friction.
Any sort of release from the explosion of tension building at her center.
“But, Goddess, I wonder if you taste as sweet as I’ve imagined,” he growled.
“You don’t know how many nights I’ve spent wondering.
How many nights I’ve considered chaining myself to the bedpost just to keep from traveling down the hall and taking you over and over and over again.
” His voice dragged along her skin, leaving only white hot heat in its trail.
Her body jolted in response as he pinched her nipple.
Like a toxin to her brain, his touch consumed every thought, every sensation, every fucking blood cell coursing through her veins.
Her physical reaction to him was so deliciously mortal.
She combed her fingers through his silky brown hair, letting the curls lace themselves around her thumbs.
He slid his hands down her body and brushed his fingertips across her slit.
The tension in her lower belly intensified with the stroke of his thumb as he circled her clit.
Never breaking the current between their locked eyes, he pressed against her harder, sending waves of pleasure through her body.
Tethys’s lips parted as a whisper of a moan escaped her lips. The sound was so foreign to her.
She’d experienced pleasure, of course, but holy gods the way he moved his thumb in excruciatingly slow circles. Or the way he looked at her through heavy lashes, his eyes flashing in the moonlight. She was at his mercy entirely.
Her fingertips begged to feel his skin, to trace the chiseled outline of his body.
“Let me touch you,” she moaned, reaching for him again. Before she could kneel beside him, however, he slid a finger inside, sending a sharp gasp up her throat.
“If you touch me, Tethys, there will be no going back to how things were. How they should be. So let me have you in other ways. Let me taste my name when you cum for me.”
Araes stroked his fingers inside her, driving her pleasure higher and higher until she felt close to complete and total combustion.
Her muscles clenched around him as she dangled over the precipice.
Her legs trembled as he gripped her hip with his other hand.
Through clouds of pleasure, she watched those blazing amber eyes as he bore witness to her undoing.
He pressed his lips to her sex, brushing his tongue against her most sensitive of places. Her legs jellied for him, and she threw her head back, going rigid beneath his hungry lips. Release stacked higher and higher as he licked and sucked and feasted upon her.
“Say my name,” he growled.
The words sent shockwaves of electric current through her and as she let go, spiraling down into the depths of raw, primal pleasure.
His name on her lips was the only sound in the silence of the night.