Chapter Nineteen
KOLVAR
Dragging the sponge over her back, I squeezed the water from it, watching the soap run off Kyella’s skin and into the tub as she regaled me with the details from her training with Myrin.
I wasn’t going to point out she’d repeated herself three times over.
It was too adorable, seeing how excited she was about it, and the admiration she had for the Empress was palpable.
I wouldn’t pop that bubble of excitement she found herself suspended in.
War was at our doorstep, and when it came knocking, happiness would be fleeting.
“And then what happened?” I questioned, trying to be an active participant in the conversation but barely containing the chuckle of mirth that threatened to escape me. She was just so cute, and it was refreshing to see her excitement. Contagious, even.
“And then honest to the gods, I knocked her sword from her hand!” she exclaimed before looking over her shoulder at me with those big, glowing golden eyes.
“Can you believe it? At first, I thought I’d never be able to accomplish that when we began sparring—she’s so skilled— but as soon as she told me to stop thinking about it so hard and just let my body react, it was like it all clicked into place. ”
Chuckling softly at her, I nodded. “Yes, darling, I do believe it. You are a tenacious little thing. I believe you can accomplish anything you wish.”
Dakath popped his head into the bathroom and smirked. “Is our little warrior ready to eat again?”
There was no doubt he’d heard every word of this conversation while going over some last minute paperwork in the sitting area.
All three of us had been assigned the task of ensuring rations and weapons were accounted for and safely secured on their designated ships.
Dakath and I had handled our portion of the work this morning while Kyella was training with Myrin, with Elijah standing guard.
Now, he was off completing his portion of the work, leaving us the afternoon with Kyella to escort her.
Before Elijah had gone, though, we had all decided on what the afternoon would be filled with.
I suspected Kyella would love this surprise.
Maybe not as much as the hot spring, but hopefully, close enough to it.
It would suffice to say that I’m fairly certain the hot spring was all of our favorite surprise.
It was hard to explain what felt so life-altering about the time we shared there.
Between us all admitting our love for Kyella and sharing an intimate moment together, it seemed to relax us and alleviate some of the uncertainty of what this relationship means to everyone.
Hearing and feeling the commitment from each of us was a moment I would never forget.
Though, I would love for her to tell us she loved us while fully conscious.
The three of us swore we’d heard her say it, but she was half asleep already, so we couldn’t be sure.
Without warning, Kyella dunked beneath the water, rinsing her hair out before emerging and wiping away the water falling into her eyes from her long, dark lashes.
Glancing between us, she raised a slender brow and asked, “You know I’m capable of bathing myself and letting you know when I’m hungry, right? I drank from Kolvar before my bath.”
Trailing my fingers over the water, I flicked my fingers up, spraying her with it and loving the tinkling laugh that spilled from her lips.
“Yes, we know you are an independent and capable woman. You do know how much we love taking care of you though, right? Also, you exerted a ton of energy while training with Myrin—it would be quite normal if you felt the need to feed again to quickly gain your energy reserves back,” I countered, not minding that we needed to reassure her that it wasn’t a burden or issue for us to look after her needs.
I often saw the brief moments of concern in her eyes when we offered to do menial tasks like this, as if it was a bother.
“Yeah,” she answered in a soft sigh, “I do know that, and I love it. I just—”
Dakath grabbed her towel before walking toward the tub and cut her off. “You just don’t want to feel like it’s a chore to us. We know, Ky. I promise we will never tire of being with you, nor will we tire of ensuring that you are taken care of in every way.”
Her breath caught as his voice dipped at the end, a sultry tone accompanying his final words.
A low groan emanated from the depths of my chest as she pushed from the bath, her body glistening and on full display.
Every time I saw her, it felt like the first. She was breathtaking, and I found myself wondering how she had come to find us worthy of sharing her body and heart with.
The sleeping gods were truly on our side, it seemed.
“Oh yeah?" she voiced, biting down on her bottom lip softly. “I have some needs that I could use help with.”
Dakath purred back, his eyes sparking with lust as they narrowed on her like a predator that was about to pounce on his prey, “With pleasure.”
I knew that feeling all too well. When she ran from me, it ignited that primal fire within me that had to be satisfied. Fuck, I really wanted this to continue, but Dakath had forgotten about our appointment in the face of this tantalizing temptation.
I never thought I’d be the cock block of the group, but I guess there was a first time for everything.
Shoving to my feet, I sped to nab the towel from Dakath’s hand and quickly wrapped it around Kyella. They both looked at me like I’d sprouted a second head, and I grimaced in return.
“Listen, I know. Don’t look at me like that. As much as I’d love to partake in this, we have an appointment in town we can’t miss.” I gave Dakath a pointed look that screamed, ‘Don’t make me look like an asshole right now when you know damn well what we’re supposed to be doing.’
He shook his head, the lust dispersing from his eyes as the realization of what I was trying to silently tell him seemed to dawn on him. “Shit,” he murmured under his breath, which really didn’t mean much with our enhanced hearing. It was the downside of not having much privacy in that regard.
Kyella looked at us questioningly, and Dakath perked right up. Plastering a smirk on his face, his hand snapped out to give her a light spank over the towel before answering her silent question. “Another surprise, Ky. You’re not prying it from our lips, even with those beautiful, big eyes.”
With an exasperated sigh that was accompanied by a smile and eye roll, she said, “Fine, fine. Keep your secrets, boys. I’ll get dressed quickly and then do a quick sucky suck on Dakath before we go.”
I all but choked on my spit, beating my closed fist against my chest as I tried to regain my composure. “What did you just say?” I questioned between wheezing breaths.
A sucky suck? Did she just casually mention a blow job like that?
Meanwhile Dakath bent over at the waist and bellowed his laughter while clutching his stomach.
“You heard me,” she sassed as she exited the bathroom, before calling out over her shoulder in question. “Actually, Dakath, do you need to sucky suck on me?”
It dawned on me then. Feeding. She meant feeding. Wow, I really needed to stop making everything perverse in my mind, but that was a hard feat with my cock straining in my pants like a metal rod.
Following her into the bedroom as she pulled on her clothes, Dakath ducked his head in a sheepish manner that was unlike him.
Brushing his hand over the top of his head, he responded, “Uhm, that would be great, actually,” before rushing to tack on so quickly I wasn’t sure he took a breath, “but only if you’re full! ”
It was interesting to watch his confident demeanor fade away with Kyella as soon as the mention of him feeding came up.
I knew it wasn’t because he wanted her blood specifically—that was completely understandable.
Her blood was pure ecstasy—a nectar that energized me like no other and proved to keep me full for longer periods of time.
I knew Dakath, the bashfulness was because he didn’t want to feel like a burden. Two peas in a pod, these two.
Dakath once mentioned to Elijah and I how he felt wrong drinking any other’s blood now, to the point of going through agonizing hunger pains until he could drink from Kyella.
Elijah and I shared similar thoughts, but we would drink blood from others when necessary, as long as it wasn’t directly from the source.
It was obvious that the three of us couldn’t all live off of her blood, so we’d told Dakath that we wouldn’t require the same and to not feel bad about feeding from her whenever he needed, as long as she was willing.
Kyella chastised him for not being forthcoming about his hunger, which made my lips split into a full smile.
It was an incredible feeling, seeing the way she cared for the man I considered my brother.
We were each completely different, so the thought of finding one woman who could provide the individual things we each needed to feel nurtured and loved should have been laughable.
Somehow, Kyella did it effortlessly. Further proving my thought that our love was simply destined to be.
I’d never given the term ‘soul mates’ much thought before, but the way our souls all seemed to reach out and connect when we first saw her at the foot of Malakai’s throne, continuing into how easily we all fit together, and the intensity with which we loved her already…
I couldn’t describe it as anything other than that.
After they finished with Dakath’s feeding, we set off to the town. Kyella had a pep to her step as she asked us questions along the way, trying to get hints to what her surprise could be.
“Is it something we’re going to eat?
“No.”
“Is it an activity?”
“No.”
“Is it…another secret location?”
“No.”
“Is it something to do with the army?”
When I hesitated in answering, she threw her hands up in victory before quickly groaning and lowering them back to her side. Wincing, she massaged her triceps while admitting, “Training today kicked my ass. Even with feeding, I’m still feeling sore as hell from it.”
“Your muscles will adjust quickly to the strain the more you train,” Dakath assured her.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to hold off her line of interrogation any longer as we approached the blacksmith’s shop at the edge of town, close to the water. Waves of heat radiated from the stone building that were only alleviated by the gusting of wind off the ocean that carried up here.
Dakath and I watched her face intently as her eyes flicked up to the sign on his building. Her mouth popped open as her eyes widened and snapped to us, asking excitedly, “A blacksmith? What are we doing here?”
Ross stepped out of the shop at that moment, flinging his dirty rag over his shoulder and leaning against the stone wall. “Ahh, so this is the beauty you’ve gone through all this trouble for. Smart to get some protection for her.”
If we hadn’t known the old man since joining the army, his words might have been perceived differently, but he’d proven time and again that he was a kind, respectable, and hardworking man.
However, I was worried about how that greeting would come off to Kyella after her previous interactions with male vampyres being quite horrid.
If she felt even the slightest bit uncomfortable, we’d leave and get the measurements to him another way.
As she whirled on her heel to look at who spoke, her face broke into a smile and asked, “What trouble have my three vampyres gone through?”
Hearing her claim us like that would never get old. We were hers—in every single way.
“Oh, dear,” Ross chuckled, gesturing at us.
“These two and Elijah paid a pretty penny to get a rush order on a custom set of armor for you to be delivered before leaving for the war. You couldn’t have asked for finer gentlemen to be at your side,” he praised, turning and gesturing for us to enter the shop behind him.
A squeak came from Kyella as she squeezed her hands into fist and held them to her chest. “A set of armor!” she exclaimed with incredulous excitement, eyes twinkling as she looked at us.
Taking a few steps toward her, I grabbed her hand, raising it to my lips and pressing a soft kiss to the top of it.
“We want to show you that we will protect you in every way we can while supporting you in whichever path you choose for your life, darling. All three of us wanted to do this for you. Elijah regretted not being here, but he had to handle some orders we received.”
We’d also discussed how her potentially becoming an Empress at the end of this war would paint an even larger target on her back.
It came with the territory of being a ruler, without doubt.
Vowing to become stronger for her, we were going to resume training every moment we could to hone our skills and stay sharp.
Her eyes watered at my words, but she was quick to brush them away before launching herself into my arms for a hug. She repeated the motion with Dakath before inhaling deeply as she stepped back.
“Thank you so much,” she gushed, glancing back to the building where Ross disappeared to. “I’m so incredibly lucky that the three of you came into my life. I wouldn’t change a single thing about my past because it led me to you and a chance to fight for change in the world.”
My breath caught at her admission. She’d been through so much…Did she really mean that?
Before we could respond to that heartwarming sentiment, Ross’s voice carried through the wind, “Are you coming? We need to get started now if you have any hope of having this in time. I have blue steel that I think you’ll love.”
“Go,” Dakath urged her. “We’ll be waiting out here if you need anything, Ky. I can’t wait to see the suit of armor he creates for you. It’ll be fit for an Empress.”
Her chest swelled as she took in a deep breath and smiled. As her lips parted, it seemed she was about to say something but quickly stopped herself before heading through the door.
A part of me wondered if she was about to say she loved us. Perhaps she wouldn’t without Elijah here so that it could all be at once like we did with her.
I was determined to hear those words fall from her beautiful lips before we set sail.