Chapter 54
Chapter Fifty-Four
MAVERICK
E mory’s mouth around my cock might have been my new favorite thing in this world. Besides my cock inside of her. Besides my mouth between her legs. Besides me behind her. Or the sound of her coming. Or the way she said my name when she was at the peak of her release. So maybe I had a lot of favorite things when it came to Emory Von Lucas.
I threw my head back into the pillow as I came with her succulent lips wrapped around my hard length, moaning as she took me, swallowed my release. Fuck, this felt so good. Even better because now she was my wife.
She crawled up my body with a smile on her face. “You ready for another adventure?” She folded her hands on my chest, then propped her chin on them.
“I’ve come inside of you six different ways. I think that’s been adventure enough. Unless you’re telling me you have a seventh way? Because I am up for that.” I cocked an eyebrow, and she swatted me.
“No, it’s something else. Our honeymoon.”
I laughed at her teasing, then the laughter died down as she stared at me, dead serious. “You’re not joking? How are we going to take a honeymoon? We have to leave the castle in a few hours.”
“Our honeymoon was never going to be traditional.” She waved her hand. “It’s going to be a honeymoon that fits us. We’re going to get that bolt.”
“And why are we doing that?” I stretched my hands to rest under my head. “El said she’d give it to us before we left.”
Emory sat up, bringing the white sheet with her, hard nipples pebbling through the thin fabric. “First of all, I don’t trust El, not when it comes to that bolt. Second of all, is that really our style? Being handed something? We don’t get anything easily. We fight for it. We risk our lives. That’s the fun of it.”
She had a point.
I leaned forward and kissed her, then tucked a sweat-soaked strand of hair behind her ear. “So what’s your plan, then? That bolt is locked in an iron cage that deflects our magic.”
She smiled, then slipped from the bed giving me a view of her smooth, pale skin, lit by the twilight sky. I sat up, admiring my wife, still in disbelief that she was all mine.
She opened the wardrobe and pulled out a hammer and a rope. “I did a little exploring while Annalee was trying to find me a wedding dress. Found this in a closet.”
I snorted. My wife was nothing if not resourceful. She set the tools down.
“We’re going to use a rope to pull the cage to us, then we’ll use this hammer to break it open.” She tugged on her trousers, now washed and cleaned by Aron, then grabbed her tunic from where it lay on the floor and pulled it over her head.
“Well?” She grabbed the pocket watch and slipped it over her neck, then tapped it. “What are you waiting for? We’re late.” She winked. “For a very important date.”
We arrived at the dungeon a little while later, and I held a ball of fire in my hand to illuminate our path through the dusty stone prison while the rope was slung over my shoulder and Emory carried the hammer. We passed the pile of skeletons, her hand clasped with mine.
Instead of competing, we were in this together, and it was a new kind of thrill. One I wanted to experience every day for the rest of my life.
“So you think this will actually work?” I asked as we entered the tunnel.
Emory shot me one of those brilliant smiles that lit me up from the inside out. “There’s only one way to find out,” she said. “That lightning bolt will be ours, and I’ll get the frost queen to pardon me.”
I thought about the frost queen, the mission she’d sent me on a year ago, how I’d been directly working against her, giving her false leads, pretending I was on the cusp of capturing Emory, only for her to slip through my grasp. I needed to tell Emory at some point. The frost queen was hiding something. I just didn’t know what, and right now, it didn’t seem to matter all that much, not when there were much bigger things at stake—like our lives. That bolt might very well earn Emory her freedom, but if we didn’t have it, I’d find another way.
“Emory, you don’t need a bolt to keep from going to the frost prisons.”
She sent me a disbelieving look, brow arched. “I don’t?”
“No.” I drew her to me and pressed a rough kiss against her head. “You have me. And I won’t let anyone trap you. Never again.”
Her eyes shone. “But your job, your life?—”
“You are my life, and I won’t let anyone take you from me.”
She gave a small laugh. “My fierce bone collector. I was so wrong about you.”
“And I was so right about you,” I said.
She shot me a curious look. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I knew you’d come around.”
She rolled her eyes and pulled me along the tunnel. “Uh-huh.” Her laughter died, smile disappearing as she stopped abruptly.
From out of nowhere, a man stumbled into our pathway. We both took a few steps back, but he lurched forward, eyes wild, his thick salt-n-pepper hair going in all directions.
“She’s gone,” he said with a shaky voice. “My Bellamy is gone.”
Emory and I shot each other concerned glances, Emory letting go of my hand as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry, we don’t know a Bellamy.”
The man grabbed hold of Emory’s shoulders. “You don’t understand. She’s gone. She’s gone and she’s never coming back.”
“Get your hand off my wife,” I said with a deadly calm.
I grabbed the man’s arm, ready to wrench him the fuck away from Emory, but she gave a slight shake of her head. My jaw clenched and my grip loosened. The man didn’t even seem to notice me. I didn’t like it, but I also trusted my wife, and I knew she was capable of taking care of herself.
“I’m sorry Bellamy is gone,” Emory said gently. “That must be so hard for you.”
He sank his head into his hands. “I failed her. I failed my daughter.”
Emory swallowed. “I’m sure whatever happened between you, she’ll understand.”
“She won’t. She’s never forgiven me, and I don’t blame her. I kept so much from her. To protect her, at first. Then because I was trapped in my own mind, in my own nightmares. Now she’ll never know the truth.”
The man had been driven mad, that much was clear. He must’ve been one of the residents here, gotten lost and wandered into the dungeon. Tears filled his eyes and slipped down his pale cheeks, his green eyes so bright and glassy.
“I can’t take this anymore.” He grabbed his hair and pulled. “Get out of my head. Please. Get out.”
He turned and ran in the opposite direction.
“Wait!” Emory reached out a hand and shot me a questioning look.
I sighed and shoved a hand over my hair. “Let’s go get him before he hurts himself.”
Emory made to move, but I grabbed her hand. “Nothing stupid. No risking yourself for this man. I just married you, and by the spirits, I plan on loving you for a long, long time. ”
She pressed a brief kiss to my lips, then set off after the man. I shot my fire magic forward and raised my hand to lift it higher so that it cast its light wider, gave Emory a path forward.
“Wait,” she called out to the man, who’d disappeared. “We can help you get back to your room, to safety. Please stop!”
We ran deeper into the tunnel, the man becoming visible again as he limped his way forward.
Emory lunged forward and grabbed the man’s arm.
He erupted into sobs. “It’s my fault. This is all my fault.” His gaze landed on Emory, on me. “You’re going to die. Both of you. Everyone in this world. She will make sure of it.”
“Who?” Emory asked.
He gripped his head again. “Get. Out,” he bellowed.
I touched her arm. “Emory, let’s just get him back and try again for the bolt a little later.” We were running out of time, but this man was unraveling, and I was afraid he’d do something dangerous, turn on us if we didn’t get him to safety.
My gaze flicked upward.
That’s when I realized a key detail we’d been missing. Emory must’ve noticed at the same time.
“There won’t be a later,” she said, raising a shaky finger to point to the space in front of us.
There wouldn’t be. Because the lightning bolt was gone.