CHAPTER thirty-seven
elysia
“No, we don’t,” I snap, the words cold and sharp as steel. “You lied. That’s all that matters.”
I reach for the handle and tug hard, but the door doesn’t move. Shadows ripple over the wood like a wall of night, solid and unyielding beneath my palm.
“Seriously, Kaden?” My voice wavers between fury and disbelief.
His footsteps are quiet on the wood, slow and measured, like he’s approaching a cornered animal he doesn’t want to spook. “Just… hear me out.”
I sigh, crossing my arms over my chest, but nod anyway. “Fine, talk.”
“About five months ago, The Council informed me, Sirena and Thane that attacks along the border had increased, that it was likely we would be deployed within the next few months.”
I let out a frustrated exhale. “Clearly, what’s your point?”
“I knew you would want to refuse, knew you’d never want to become a weapon…
so I was trying to find a way out of it, a way to somehow dull the bond so you wouldn’t have to join me.
” he pauses, eyes raking over me slowly.
“That’s why I didn’t say anything, I thought I had more time.
I had no idea they’d deploy us this early. ”
“You could have just told me…” I take a step forward. “You walked around demanding the truth from me, demanding that I don’t hide anything from you… that I trust you, that we trust each other. Yet you kept this from me the entire time?”
His jaw tightens, guilt flickering in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t even know for sure that deployment was certain. It wasn’t supposed to be for another two months.”
I shake my head, “And you thought keeping that from me was better? After everything I trusted you with?”
His shadows pulse faintly at his feet, echoing the agitation beneath his calm facade. “No. It wasn’t. I should have told you.”
The air between us thickens with hurt, and something heavier weaving through the bond. I can feel his remorse bleeding into me, dulling the edges of my fury even as I try to hold on to it.
He steps closer, his fingers brushing away a stray strand of hair from my cheek. “I never wanted to break your trust, especially not after the other night… but I didn’t know how to tell you without you hating me for it.”
I stare at him, the ache in my chest humming against my ribs. “I don’t hate you, I tried that already… but I do hate that you thought I couldn’t handle the truth.”
His eyes meet mine, remorseful and tired, that usual iron control frayed at the edges.
“I didn’t want you to have to handle it,” he says.
“With how you feel about The Council, about… everything they’ve done.
I didn’t want you pushed onto a battlefield just because of our bond.
” He shakes his head, voice low. “The last thing I wanted was for you to be sent out there with me, not after what they did to your father, your mother. You deserve better than dying for people who don’t give a fuck about who they destroy. ”
I swallow hard, the tension in my chest easing just a little.
“Thank you for trying,” I murmur, surprising even myself.
“Though, as much as I love my father, he chose his path; his death wasn’t entirely The Council’s fault.
He could’ve left the field or taken a different position after learning that they killed my mother.
But he didn’t. He stayed, and the war killed him.
He sealed his fate the moment he refused to walk away. ”
The bond pulses with confusion, like a ripple of cold water down my spine.
My brows knit. “What?”
Kaden’s expression falters for a second, then shutters. “Nothing.”
My tone hardens. “No, Kaden. What is it? No lies, remember?”
He hesitates, then sighs. “You said… your father died on the field.”
My throat tightens. “That’s what I was told.”
“You believe that?”
“I…yes,” I whisper. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“Because he didn’t die on the field, Elysia. The Council killed him.”
The words hit like a blade to the ribs.
“What?” My voice comes out hoarse.
“They captured him… for treason,” he says, every word heavier than the last. “He was taken to the lower dungeons, where they tortured and bled him out for days.”
My knees feel weak, my breath stuttering as my mind rakes over the possibility that this is true, but there isn’t a doubt in my mind. This is precisely what The Council is capable of, and I’m frustrated at myself for believing the lie they fed me.
My eyes flick up, meeting his mismatched irises “Do you know what he was guilty of?”
Something inside me fractures. If my father was tortured and killed for the death I caused, I don’t know if I could ever forgive myself.
His face flashes in my mind… the way he used to laugh, the way his hugs felt like home, the smell of pine that always stuck to him.
Now that image is replaced with blood, chains, and the cold floor of a dungeon.
Kaden shakes his head, “I’m not sure, I was in the middle of discipline training at the time... I only remember the whispers after his death. The Council were unhappy with the outcome, apparently they’d been unsuccessful at forcing information out of him, whatever it was.”
I nod slowly, “Do you know who killed him?”
He exhales slowly through his nose. “No. Not for certain. Those years were a bit of a blur.” his hand reaches up, stroking his thumb across my cheek with maddening gentleness. “I’m sorry, love.”
I offer a soft smile, though the gesture doesn’t reach my eyes. “It’s not your fault, Kaden. It’s theirs. It is always theirs.” I turn my face into his hand, placing a soft kiss on the pad of his thumb. “Thank you for telling me.”
He leans in, placing a gentle kiss on my lips, his hand resting at the nape of my neck. It’s slow and tender, an apology in the form of physical affection.
Pulling back, he leans his forehead against mine. “Am I forgiven?”
I nod, “Yes, but don’t keep anything from me again.”
He smiles, relief flooding the tether that ties us, dulling the lingering ache in my chest.
“Thank fuck, I don’t think I could have gone much longer with you giving me the silent treatment.”
I scoff, “You’re dramatic. I didn’t talk to you for one evening, that’s hardly a long time.”
He chuckles, and the sound vibrates through me.
“Maybe not for you, but a man has needs.”
That signature smirk tugs at his lips as he pulls me into the hard lines of his body. Desire simmering over me through the bond as his hands grip my waist, his mouth shamelessly exploring the expanse of my neck.
I huff an amused laugh, “Really? You’re thinking about sex?”
He only hums in response, his lips continuing their lazy trail, nipping and sucking at that sensitive spot.
Gods, that feels so fucking good.
“You’re shameless.” I breathe, pushing at his chest.
“Shameless. Addicted. Infatuated.” He punctuates each word with a kiss, “It’s all the same to me.”
His mouth meets mine, all tongue and pure need. A small whimper slips from my throat as his hand tugs at the nape of my neck, tilting my head to grant him better access to my eager mouth. Familiar fingers brushing against my mind as our tongues swirl.
“Let me apologise properly.” His voice is husky enough to make my knees buckle.
“Here? We can’t—”
“We can,” he cuts me off, lifting me by my ass and carrying me over to the long table.
My back hits the cool wood as he lays me down, trailing kisses down my body before tugging my hips to the edge. Then he drops to his knees, placing a kiss against my inner thigh,
“Kaden—” His name breaks from me in a breathless rush, half-warning, half-want.
“Elysia,” he muses, eyes dark and fixed entirely on me. “I have waited… far longer than you know to have you here, just like this.” He unlaces and removes my boots, dropping them with a dull thud.
My heart stutters. “We’re in the lecture hall—”
“And?” His hands slide up my thighs with just enough pressure to make my breath catch. “There’s no one here. And even if there were… they wouldn’t dare interrupt.”
“Kaden…”
He leans over me, caging me in with his body, his voice dropping to a molten whisper against my ear.
“You think I care where we are?” His breath drags across my neck, “You think I haven’t imagined you here? Against this table? Screaming my name?”
The bond flares, hot and dizzying as his desire slams into me. When he speaks next, his voice is a dark, low rumble that vibrates straight through me.
“You…” His thumb sweeps across my lower lip. “Are my bonded. My equal. My woman.” His hand cups the back of my neck, pulling me up into him. “So, if I want to make you come… I will. I don’t give a fuck where we are.”
He hooks his fingers into the waistband of my leggings and underwear, then tugs them down my legs, kissing the tops of my thighs, the curves of my knees, and every inch of skin he uncovers, drawing soft sighs and impatient whimpers from my lips.
Fabric hits the floor, leaving me bare from the waist down.
My hands reach out for him, but instead of rising so I can get my hands on him, he pushes my knees wide.
I gasp at the cold rush of air between my thighs, but an instant later, his mouth sends me whirling as he drags his tongue from my entrance to my clit.
Pleasure rushes through me in a wave of heat, and I cry out, the sound filling the hall.
His hands splay wide on my thighs, fingers digging into flesh as his tongue swirls around that sensitive bud, light and teasing. Driving me higher and higher yet robbing me of the pressure he knows I need.
My fingers splay in his hair, impossibly soft beneath my touch as his wicked tongue robs me of every thought. Those beautiful, mismatched eyes locked on me as he works that tight coil of pleasure tighter and tighter.
He scrapes his teeth over me delicately, and I gasp at the sensation, then whimper when his tongue follows. I can only moan when he slides a long finger inside me, and his answering groan vibrates through every nerve in my body.
“Gods, yes.” My voice is so husky, I almost don’t recognise it “More.”
It’s always more when it comes to him.
He alternates between teasing nips and soothing licks, building an ever-tightening spiral of pleasure deep within me. Another finger joins the first, stretching me with a delicious burn, and my hips rock as he thrusts them in a slow, hard rhythm that makes my legs shake viciously.
“I want you.”
“You have me.” His voice in my mind nearly sends me over the edge. “And I have you exactly where I want you.”
Even my fist can’t muffle the primal sounds he drags from me as his tongue matches the rhythm of his fingers, white-hot pleasure crashing through me with every stroke.
Unchecked power vibrates and crackles around us, fire simmering beneath my skin as I balance on the edge of my orgasm.
His presence wraps around my mind in the form of shadow as his own arousal lashes through the bond, making my breath hitch.
She’s almost there. Gods, yes. Her legs are shaking, her walls are fluttering around my fingers. I will never get enough of her.
“Come for me, Moonfire.”
His teeth scrape my clit, replaced by a firm, soothing lick, and then I’m falling right over the edge. Fractures of light line the edge of my vision as breathy moans escape me, his name tumbling from my lips like a prayer.
“That’s it, love. Scream my name. I want everyone knowing who you belong to.”
His fingers slide from my body, tongue dragging over my entrance a second before it stabs into me, each curl and swipe sending my head swimming.
A deep groan works up his throat as his grip tightens around my thighs. “You taste exquisite, I could do this all fucking day.”
Pleasure coils tight in my core, then just as I’m about to fall off the edge again, there’s a knock on the door.
Kaden groans and removes his tongue, voice clipped. “Fuck off.”
His hands tighten at my thighs, pushing them impossibly wide to drag his tongue over me again and again until I can’t string together a single coherent thought.
“Umm, no. We have a meeting with The Council, remember?” Sirena’s voice sounds through the door, muffled but stern.
It cuts through my haze, sobering me until I finally realise what we are doing and where we are doing it. But despite my panic, Kaden continues to work me higher and higher. Licking and teasing like I’m the very thing he needs to survive.
“Because you are. Now, be a good girl and come on my face.”
His voice wraps around my mind, intensifying everything, then he sucks at that sensitive bundle of nerves, and I crash violently into another orgasm. The rune lights flare too bright and then burn out as Kaden’s name tumbles from my lips in a primal scream.
“Kaden!” Sirena calls before a sharp knock rattles the lecture hall door.
Thud.
A pause.
Thud-thud.
A longer pause.
BANG-BANG-BANG!
“Come on, we need to go!”
Kaden stands with a groan, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to my lips.
“We’ll continue this later.” He murmurs against my lips, a promise that makes my cheeks flush.
He passes me my clothes, and I make quick work of dressing while Sirena shimmies the handle. Once I’m dressed and my boots are laced, Kaden removes his shadows from the door, and it flies open a second later.
Sirena’s grin is wide, amusement lacing her tone. “Why couldn’t I open the door?”
“Lock must have jammed.” Kaden shrugs, pressing a hand to my lower back and guiding me out the hall.
“Really?” She looks over the door, a smirk tugging at her lips. “The non-existent lock jammed?”
“The doors are old, maybe they got stuck on the frame?” I add, schooling my face into neutrality.
“Sure, sure. That’s probably what happened, an easy mistake.” She shrugs, then continues. “What were you talking about anyway? Sounded pretty… intense.”
Kaden shoots her a glare, “None of your business.”
Sirena snorts, raising both brows. “Right, right… none of my business. I’m just saying, from this side of the door, it definitely didn’t sound like a discussion on battle tactics.”
Heat crawls up my neck, and Kaden’s glare darkens, shadows twitching at his boots.
She laughs outright this time, waving a hand between us. “Relax, I’m only teasing. Gods, you two are so easy to rile.”
Then her expression shifts, softening into something more grounded.
“But seriously, you’re late. Everyone is waiting, and Merin is doing that thing where he taps his quill like he’s imagining stabbing someone with it.
” Sirena loops her arm through his, tugging him down the hallway with surprising force.
“Come on, fearless squad leader. Try not to brood the entire walk there.”
He shoots me a look over his shoulder, lingering and hungry enough to steal my breath. “We’ll finish our conversation later.”
I roll my eyes, mostly to cover the shiver that runs through me.
Sirena beams at me as she drags him away. “See you later, Elysia!”
“See you later,” I call, waving them off with a soft smile.
They turn down the corridor, Sirena’s chatter fading with their footsteps. I linger for a moment, grounding myself, then start toward the suite.
Tomorrow, everything changes.
And tonight…
Tonight is the last breath before the storm.