Chapter 33 Violet
Violet
Steam clung to the stone walls, beading along the carved edges of the bathing room and drifting slowly toward the high ceiling.
The water in the tub had gone perfectly still, dark enough to reflect the pale patterns etched into the stone above me.
I lay back with my arms draped over the rim.
My hair floated loose around my shoulders, pale strands fanning through the water. It had finally begun to behave.
I closed my eyes.
My thoughts refused to quiet. Late the night before, long after Sebastian had fallen asleep beside me, Alastor had spoken to me through the bond with news I hadn’t been expecting.
The words had settled heavily in my chest, turning over and over in my mind no matter how hard I tried to leave them alone.
Cool air slipped in at the edges of the room, chasing the last of the steam curling upward from the bath.
I didn’t open my eyes.
He brushed against my awareness the way a hand might settle gently at the small of my back. He was close.
Close enough that I could feel the weight of his attention before I heard anything at all. Boots against stone.
Slow. Measured.
I stayed perfectly still, pretending not to notice him. He stopped somewhere behind me. I felt his gaze settle between my shoulder blades, and instinctively I sank a little deeper into the water, letting the surface close over the scars across my back.
“You’ve been in here a while,” he said.
“I was thinking.”
“You’re always thinking.”
I smiled despite myself.
The shadows reached the tub before he did. Thin strands of darkness slid across the stone floor and curled along the edge of the bath. One slipped over the surface of the water, skimming it like it was testing the temperature before brushing lightly against my wrist.
“And you’re always watching me,” I said.
“Yes.”
I opened my eyes then and glanced over my shoulder.
Sebastian stood a few steps back, his coat already discarded somewhere out of sight. His sleeves had been rolled to his forearms, revealing the quiet strength in the lines of his arms. His expression was carefully neutral, but his eyes were darker than usual.
“Are you just going to loom?” I asked.
His mouth tilted faintly. “I don’t loom.”
“You absolutely loom.”
He moved closer, stopping at the edge of the tub. The stone creaked softly under his weight as he crouched, one hand braced on the rim near my shoulder.
“Turn around,” he said.
I did, shifting carefully in the bath. Water sloshed low against the sides as I moved, small waves lapping against the stone while I faced him. Sebastian studied my face for a long moment, his gaze slow and searching.
“You’re too quiet,” he said finally.
“I had a long day.”
“So did I.”
He straightened and stepped back, pulling his boots off one at a time.
The dull thud of them hitting the floor echoed softly against the stone walls.
I watched as he unbuttoned his shirt, the movements slow and unhurried before he shrugged the fabric from his shoulders.
He lowered himself into the tub behind me, the water rising as his weight settled into the bath.
I leaned against him before I could stop myself. His arms came around me.
For a moment neither of us spoke. Our breathing fell into the same rhythm without effort, the quiet of the room broken only by the faint sound of water shifting around us.
“Alastor said word has gotten around,” I murmured at last, my fingers tracing a slow circle just beneath the surface of the bath. “Fae are starting to arrive.”
Sebastian’s arms tightened slightly around me. “Is that why you’ve been hiding in our room all day?” he asked.
“Yes.” I didn’t bother pretending otherwise. “They’re coming back. Not all at once—but enough that it’s real now.” My throat tightened as the weight of it settled in again. “They need their Sovereign, Bash. They need me there.”
Tension moved through him, subtle but unmistakable.
“Give it today,” he said after a moment. “Alastor can handle the first wave. He knows how to ground them. How to remind them this isn’t a dream.”
I swallowed, the steam blurring the edges of the room. “And tomorrow?” I asked.
“We will go first thing tomorrow,” he said. His arms tightened slightly around me again before he added, “Together.”
I turned my head just enough to look at him. His face was calm, the shadows around him quiet, but his eyes held that familiar darkness—the kind that never lied to me.
“I’m scared,” I whispered.
He let out a soft breath against my hair, almost a quiet laugh. “I know you’re scared. I’d be worried if you weren’t.”
My fingers curled against his forearm, feeling the steady strength there. “What if I disappoint them?”
“You won’t.”
“What if I fail them?”
“You won’t.”
I turned more fully then, the water shifting around us as I faced him. My knees drew up between his legs, the movement sending small waves sloshing against the sides of the tub.
“You don’t know that,” I said.
“I do,” he replied without hesitation. He lifted one hand and brushed damp strands of hair away from my face, his thumb lingering briefly at my jaw. “You are ready. You’ve been ready longer than you think.”
“And if I’m not?”
“Then I’ll stand with you anyway.” His voice softened slightly. “We do this together. Every step. Every mistake. Every victory.”
The fear didn’t disappear, but it shifted—easing just enough to let the tension loosen in my chest.
I leaned forward until my forehead rested against his. “Okay,” I whispered.
His arms came around me again, firm and unyielding in the best way. “Okay.”
My hands slid up his arms, fingers tracing the lines of muscle warmed by the bath. His breath changed slightly at the contact, a subtle shift he didn’t bother hiding.
“Tell me what you want,” he murmured.
I leaned in, letting my lips brush his. The kiss was tentative at first, testing the quiet space between us, but he answered immediately.
His hands slid up my back, his thumbs pressing gently along my spine as if memorizing the shape of me there.
The water rippled softly as he drew me closer, my knees settling on either side of him as my weight leaned into the solid line of his body.
“With words,” he said against my lips.
Instead of answering, I reached between us to stroke his hardened length. Before I could reach the base, shadows wrapped around my wrists and pulled them to my back like cuffs.
He smirked then. “Words, love.”
As if it was an act of defiance, I spoke down the bond instead. I want you to fuck me.
His lips found my neck. And I want you to glow for me.
Shadows slipped inside of me.
Can you do that? he asked.
My head fell back as they pulsed.
He gripped my hair and forced me to look at him as his voice filled my head again. No, love. Eyes on me.
The shadows on my wrists tightened as others pushed deeper inside. I whimpered as they began to thrust and heat stirred inside of me. He kissed down my breast and when he reached my nipple, he put it between his teeth. The sensation made my need only grow more urgent and my hair glowed in response.
More, baby, he said down the bond as he switched to my other nipple.
His shadows grew more vicious in their attack, stretching me in ways I didn’t know they could. Normally, I fought against the glow in my hair but this time, I welcomed it, letting it spread throughout my body. My skin began to glow faintly.
Gods, you’re fucking beautiful.
Just when I thought it couldn’t feel any better, he pushed his length inside of me and the shadows stayed, curling against me.
The glow shattered into a burst of white-gold light.
I cried out, nails digging into the skin on my hands as he didn’t release his hold on them.
Shadows wrapped around my thighs, spreading me wider for him, holding me open as he moved.
I moaned, loud and desperate. His shadows tightened.
“That’s it,” he rasped. “Let them hear you.”
He slammed into me again and I screamed.
The glow blazed hotter.
Brighter.
It poured over his chest, illuminating every line of muscle, every place our bodies touched, every shadow image. His shadows writhed and twisted, tangled in the golden light like they were worshiping the fire sparking beneath my skin.
He hissed, breath shaking. “Violet—fuck—” He drove into me harder, faster, gripping my hips, dragging another sound from deep inside me. “You burn for me. You always burn for me.”
“Bash—”
“Say it.” His hand slid down, fingers brushing where we were joined. “Say my name.”
“Sebastian—”
He kissed me like he wanted to swallow my cry.
I broke apart first, sparks erupting under my skin against the water.
His shadows tightened with his orgasm, gripping my thighs hard enough to bruise. He collapsed onto me, breath ragged, the glow fading in slow pulses under his hands.
He kissed me again. Soft, this time.
And when he carried me out of the tub, he whispered, “You are the only light that my darkness answers to.”
* * *
Sebastian stood beside me at the edge of the stone path, his coat already on, dark fabric shifting faintly in the breeze that moved through the garden.
He was watching me. I kept my hands folded together so he wouldn’t see them tremble.
“So,” I said lightly, because the silence stretching between us had started to feel unbearable. “How long are we staying?”
His mouth curved slightly, but the smile was thin. “As long as you want.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No,” he agreed. “But it’s the honest one.”
The truth sat heavy between us. How long before I stayed in the Sun Realm permanently. How often I’d return here. How much distance the crowns would demand even if our bond refused it.
I nodded anyway.
Bronwen stepped out onto the path then. She paused for a moment, her sharp gaze moving between us as if measuring the tension neither of us had said aloud. Then she crossed the space and wrapped her arms around me without warning.