Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The water in the bath has gone cold but I can barely feel it. After Haldia healed what remained of my wounds, I went back to the bedroom that Draven and I share.
It was not possible to grow a new eye for Orion, though she was able to heal the remains of that brutal wound in his eye socket.
That first cut across his eyebrow, however, was so comparatively shallow that it had already healed on its own by the time he got back more than three days later, which meant that she couldn’t remove the scar.
As with the wound to his eye socket, my stab wounds were much deeper, so they were just barely still considered fresh enough for Haldia to be able to heal fully. So physically, I’m fine now. My mind, however, is not.
When I returned, Draven asked me if I was okay, but I just told him that I needed to take a bath first and wash off all the blood and dust. Since he had done the same before I got back, he just nodded in understanding and even took my fighting leathers to go and find someone who can mend the holes in them.
But he has been back for a while now, and I finished washing off long ago, but I still can’t make myself get out of the bath.
Watching that heartbreaking interaction between Orion and Isera rattled me to my core. I feel empty and broken and full of emotions all at the same time.
A soft knock comes from the door.
“Selena?” Draven asks in a gentle voice.
My throat closes up just at the sound of his worried voice.
When I don’t respond, he pushes the handle down and cracks the door open.
But I can’t look in his direction. Because if I do, I know that I will start crying.
So I just keep my eyes on the pale stone wall ahead.
Soft white light from the faelight gems in the ceiling makes the walls shimmer and casts glittering sparkles over the still water in the bath.
It’s beautiful and serene, but it does nothing to soothe the ache in my chest.
I can hear Draven walking across the smooth stone floor. Then he becomes visible in the corner of my eye as he stops right next to the bathtub and crouches down. I bite my lip hard to stop myself from crying.
With gentle movements, he reaches out and grabs my chin.
Then he turns my face towards his. He is kneeling there on the floor, right by the side of the bathtub.
His black hair is slightly mussed, as if he has just raked a hand through it, but it’s dry now since it has been a long while since his own bath.
He’s still only wearing a pair of black underwear, though.
The moment my eyes lock on his golden ones, that sob I’ve been trying to keep at bay immediately rips from my chest, and tears start streaming down my cheeks.
Sadness washes over his handsome features. “Oh, little rebel.”
Cupping my cheeks, he leans over the side of the bathtub and kisses my forehead. Then he stands up and bends down over me instead. Sliding one arm underneath my knees and the other under my back, he lifts me out of the bath.
Water splashes down on the smooth stone floor as he turns away from the bathtub and then gently sets me down on the floor. My soaked hair falls down my back, and water runs down from my entire body.
Draven immediately wraps a fluffy dark blue towel around me.
Warmth fills my body at the comforting sensation.
Once the large towel envelops me fully, Draven carefully moves my wet hair so that it is draped over the soft fabric instead of lying plastered to my skin.
Grabbing another towel, he begins squeezing the water out of my hair.
The care in each of his gentle movements just breaks my heart all over again. Sobs rack my body and tears stream down my cheeks. I bury my face in the fluffy towel as Draven finishes drying my hair.
Once he’s done, he wraps his arms around me and holds me tightly to his warm body. For a while, we just stay like that. With my head bowed and my face still buried in the towel, I remain there in his strong embrace until my body has stopped shaking so badly.
Then he picks me up again and carries me back into the bedroom.
Glowing light bathes the room, making it feel even more warm and inviting after the cold water I have been submerged in for so long.
Draven sets me down on the dark blue sheets of the double bed and then walks over to the wooden dresser by the wall and picks up a silver hairbrush. I just sit there on the edge of the soft mattress, trying to force myself to stop crying, while Draven walks back and climbs onto the bed.
Settling behind me on the mattress, he begins combing out my hair.
His strong body is a steady warmth behind me, holding me together while he works.
Tears slide down my cheeks as he gently combs through the tangles.
The feeling of his muscular body behind me combined with his comforting brush strokes through my hair is so soothing that every time he draws that hairbrush softly through my hair, I manage to piece myself back together a little more.
When he’s done, and I can feel him brushing my already smooth hair just so that he can continue giving me that calming sensation, the tears on my cheeks have finally stopped falling and I have at last managed to compose myself again.
Still wrapped in that soft warm towel, I turn around and pull myself up fully onto the bed so that I can face Draven instead. His eyes are filled with so much worry and love when he meets my gaze that my chest tightens again.
“Thank you,” I whisper, my voice coming out small and strained.
Pain flickers in his eyes at the sound of it, and he sets the hairbrush down on the dark wooden nightstand before scooting closer to me again. Wrapping his arms around me, he pulls me close to his chest and holds me.
Suddenly desperate to feel his warmth, I pull back slightly from him so that I can throw off the towel.
The damp fabric flutters in the air as I toss it down on the floor next to the bed.
Then I bury myself in Draven’s chest again and move us both so that we’re lying on the soft dark blue sheets instead.
He wraps his arms around me again, holding me close.
The extraordinary warmth from his body seeps into mine, thawing that terrible coldness that had begun to spread through me. I hold him tightly, pressing my cheek against his firm chest and breathing in his intoxicating scent of night mist and embers.
He starts gently stroking my back. “Do you want to talk about it?”
My heart swells with love. Love for this perfect man who knows exactly what I need. The towels, the hairbrush, the gentle care, and this perfect question. Not: What happened? Not assuming that I will tell him everything that happened. Instead, he is asking if I even want to talk about it.
Oh Goddess, what did I ever do to deserve this man?
I drag in a deep breath to compose myself. “Haldia couldn’t heal Orion’s eye. She can’t grow a new eye from nothing.”
Draven continues stroking my back. “I heard. When I went to ask about mending your fighting leathers, I heard some of his staff talking about it. He must be devastated.”
“He is.” My chest tightens painfully again. “I’ve always just thought that we will all make it through this. That we will all somehow be okay in the end. But now… Now, I’m terrified that we won’t.”
He pulls me even closer, his arm tightening around me while he still continues to stroke my back in that comforting way.
“We have to make it through this,” I declare, my voice filled with desperation.
“All of us. Because I want everything. I want you. I want my freedom. I want my friends. All of them. Orion included. I want love and happiness and safety and laughter and adventure and opens skies and endless horizons. I want my happily ever after. I want everything, Draven. I want fucking everything!”
Those final words tear out of my throat like a defiant cry to this cruel world that has denied me that all my life.
“I know. You deserve everything, Selena.” Sliding his strong hands up my body, he cups my cheeks and locks eyes with me. “And together, we will get it. I swear to you, we will get fucking everything.”
I slip my hand behind the back of his neck and yank his perfect mouth to mine, suddenly needing to feel him. To feel us.
Our mate bond thrums inside me, sending ripples of love and glittering pleasure through my soul as Draven’s emotions mix with mine.
“I want you,” I gasp out between desperate kisses. “I want you.”
He kisses me back with such possessive passion that I can barely breathe. “You have me. You’ve always had me, little rebel. Ever since you threw that drink in my face, I have been completely and irrevocably yours.”
A laugh escapes my lips. It’s less broken than before, and real mirth sparkles in my chest as Draven smiles against my lips.
I suddenly don’t want to think about the horrors of yesterday or the uncertainty of tomorrow anymore.
I just want to be here with him. I want to feel his body against mine and reassure myself that he is here. That we are here.
I push at his body, trying to get him to roll over on top of me.
He immediately understands what I want and shifts his position until he is straddling my hips instead.
His strong hands remain cupping my cheeks while he continues stealing the breath from my lungs with desperate kisses.
I slide my hands through his soft hair before raking my fingers down his muscular back.
He moans into my mouth.
“Do you have any idea how fucking hot that sound is?” I pant into his mouth between furious kisses.
Sliding a hand down my body, he slips it down between my legs and rubs my clit with expert precision.
Breaking the kiss, I throw my head back as a desperate moan rips from my own lips as well.
A dark and very smug chuckle rumbles from Draven’s chest, and his eyes glint as he gives me a knowing look. “Yeah, I think I have a pretty good idea.”
He captures my lips again while his fingers continue teasing my clit until I’m squirming on the soft blue sheets underneath him. Suddenly desperate to feel him inside me, I draw my fingers down his muscular body and then wrap my hand around his thick cock.
Another one of those perfect moans tears from his chest, and a ripple goes through his entire body as I slide my hand up and down his cock.
He knows exactly what I want, so he takes his fingers from my clit and instead begins adjusting his position.
After drawing my hand up and down his hard cock again, just to watch him shudder in pleasure, I release him as he shifts his hips until his cock is pressing against my entrance.
With a firm thrust, he sheaths himself inside me.
Gasping, I break the kiss again as I throw my head back once more while pleasure thrums inside me.
Draven remains like that for another few seconds before drawing out halfway and then thrusting back inside.
I moan at the feeling of him filling me completely like that.
His strong fingers appear on my chin, and he tilts my head back down so that I meet his eyes. When I do, they burn like steady flames as he holds my gaze.
“We will get everything.” He slides out before thrusting his hips again. “We.” His serious eyes never leave mine as he once more pulls out and then slams back in again. “Will.” Another commanding thrust. “Get.” Thrust. “Fucking.” His cock hits a spot deep inside me. “Everything.”
That terrible tension in my chest at last eases. Hope and confidence spread through my soul instead as I gaze up into those glittering golden eyes, so full of certainty. I suddenly feel ten times lighter.
Sliding my hands up his muscular body, I cup his cheeks and pull his lips down to mine in a gentle kiss. “I love you, Draven. I love your strength. I love your vulnerability. And I can’t wait to spend eternity with you.”
He lets out an unsteady breath. Keeping his eyes closed, he rests his forehead against mine while our bodies remain joined as one. Love so strong it could hold an entire world together thrums through our mate bond.
“I love you too, Selena. I can’t wait to see this beautiful, messy, and absolutely astounding world with you.”
I smile against his mouth.
His fingers trail down the side of my ribs, making lightning skitter across my skin, as he continues steadily thrusting his hips.
I slide my hands down from his cheeks. Resting my palm over his thundering heart, I draw my other hand down over the arm he has braced next to me on the mattress.
His firm muscles shift underneath my hands.
Pleasure builds inside me like a sparkling wave.
With every possessive thrust of his hips, I tumble closer and closer towards the edge of an orgasm.
He draws his fingers teasingly across my skin, tracing the curve of my breast. A shiver of pleasure rolls through me and another moan spills from my lips. He steals that sound from me with a kiss so passionate that it makes my spine tingle.
That thrumming tension inside me vibrates, amplified by the pleasure I can feel from him through our mate bond, as he thrusts his hips while kissing his way over my jaw.
His lips brush that sensitive spot below my ear right as his cock hits deep inside me.
Pleasure explodes through my soul.
Moans drip from my lips and my inner walls tighten around Draven’s cock as he continues slamming into me, his cock hitting that perfect spot over and over again.
“Draven,” I gasp out.
Pleasure pulses across his handsome face, and his thick cock throbs inside me as he comes as well. Shuddering groans rip from deep within his chest.
I pull his face back to mine and steal those incredible moans from his lips. He kisses me back softly but insistently. Then he just rests his forehead against mine while the thrumming pleasure slowly fades from our joined bodies.
My heart thuds in my chest. I don’t want this moment to end. I want to stay here with him forever. In this perfect little bubble. A hidden moment in time where it’s just me and him. Where it’s just us and nothing else matters.
This is how it should be. This is what I want my future to be.
Steel seeps through my body as I hold my mate closer.
I want everything.
I want fucking everything.