Chapter 20 Thavros
Thavros
The last few days had passed in a kind of quiet bliss I didn’t entirely trust.
We’d established a rhythm—researching dusty old tomes by day, falling into each other by night. Her laughter echoed in the stone halls now, her scent lingered on my skin, and every time I looked at her, I felt less like a warrior and more like a man dangerously close to being undone.
And still… she always woke with a start. Nightmares clawed at the edge of her peace. I could feel her unease, even when she tried to hide it with teasing and quick kisses.
This morning, she smiled at me across the study table, one leg tucked beneath her as she flipped through the same book for the third time. I didn’t think she was reading anymore. She was humming softly, head tilted, brown curls brushing her shoulder.
Gods, she was beautiful.
“You’re staring again,” she said without looking up.
“I’m allowed,” I said. “You’re mine.”
She rolled her eyes, but there was color in her cheeks. “Possessive much?”
“I’m an orc. We come with very few settings.”
She laughed, and I let it wash over me.
She leaned back in the chair, stretching her arms over her head in a way that made the soft fabric of her gown cling to her supple curves.
“I don’t think this book has any answers,” she said, thumbing the corner of a page. “Unless the answer is hidden behind overly poetic footnotes and unhelpful riddles.”
I took off my glasses and drank her in. “Maybe we should try… a different kind of study,” I said, my voice dropping.
She raised an eyebrow. “Oh? Are we shifting to hands-on learning?”
I pushed away from the table and circled to her side. “I’ve always been a practical learner.”
She squeaked as I lifted her easily from the chair and set her on the edge of the desk. Her eyes went wide as I stepped between her knees.
“I like this study method,” she murmured, just before I kissed her slowly and deeply.
My hands slid up her thighs, gathering the soft skirt of her new dress, and I could already feel the heat of her body against my palms.
Her lips were warm against mine, and her fingers threaded into my hair, tugging me closer like she couldn’t get enough. I groaned low in my chest, palms skating up her thighs and slipping beneath the hem of her dress. She was already slick and hot against my fingers.
“Gods,” I muttered, my voice thick. “You’re already—”
She bit her lip, eyes glazed and soft. “I’ve been thinking about you all morning.”
I buried my face in the curve of her neck, breathing her in. “You’re going to kill me, little flame.”
She giggled, the sound catching when I slid a finger along her wet seam.
Her hands moved to my chest, small and trembling, pressing against me like she wanted to memorize the shape of me. Then lower. Her fingers danced across my stomach, hesitant at first, then bolder.
When she touched me through my trousers, I growled her name into her skin.
Next thing I knew, she was yanking my tunic up and out of my pants.
"I want to see you," she said as she pulled back and bit her bottom lip.
"I can deny you nothing, little flame," I said before pulling the tunic off over my head.
She moaned as she traced her hands up my stomach and over my pecs, then down my arms before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to the center of my chest.
I was done. I would taste my sweet here and now. I claimed her mouth as my finger made gentle circles over her clit.
"Thavros," she said as she wrapped her long legs around me.
I would not fill her for the first time here on the table in my study, but my resolve was breaking. I needed to get her somewhere else soon.
Then a loud, low voice cleared his throat. “Thavros?” A low voice said that did not belong to Seraphina.
I jerked back, her dress rumpled, my shirt long gone, and both of us flushed like we’d run a damn sparring gauntlet. She scrambled to sit up straighter, smoothing her skirt back into place, while I turned toward the stairs with a low growl.
Khuldruk stood there, one brow raised and a hand still on the railing. Of course. Perfect timing.
“Really?” I snapped. “A knock would’ve been nice.”
He leaned against the doorframe like he had all the time in the world. “You are the one who decided to take her out in the open in your study.”
Seraphina ducked her head, hiding a laugh behind her hand. I glared at him, adjusting my pants as subtly as I could.
“I take it you’re not any closer to solving the mystery of her origins?” he said, pointedly eyeing the desk behind me.
“Not at the moment,” I muttered. “We were… taking a break.”
Khuldruk smirked. “So I see.”
Once Seraphina's clothes were righted, she hopped off the table and went to look at some books we'd set out on another table.
"I had some questions," Khuldruk continued. "While I do believe you were right to trust her, we still need to know how she came to be in our war room."
"I agree, we are trying."
"I've spoken with some elders to try and see if anyone remembers when the statue came to be. I sent Ragnor to check with Maluk."
I nodded. "That is wise." He was our oldest elder and a confidant of our father. If anyone would remember it, it would be him.
As we talked, I noticed Seraphina had slipped away from my side. She’d wandered to the far side of the room, where the pedestal that once held her statue still sat in the corner, half-shadowed by shelves of scrolls.
She stood perfectly still, staring down at it like it might speak to her.
“Seraphina?” I called softly.
She didn’t answer. Just ran her hand along the base of the stone. Her expression was troubled—like something inside her cracked open.
"Well, I'll leave you to it. Please send word if you know anything," Khuldruk said before clasping me on the shoulder and heading back down the stairs.
I observed Seraphina a moment longer. I didn't like the look on her face. I began to cross to her, but the moment I got close, she turned and gave me a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Sorry,” she murmured. “Just… remembering things.”
I wanted to press. Gods, I needed to understand what had changed. But the way her arms folded tightly across her body told me this wasn’t the moment.
We continued to work, but her heart wasn’t in it after that. As the sunset, I decided it was time to head back to our chambers, and she didn’t protest.
By the time we’d made it back to my quarters, the lightness from earlier had faded. She was quieter than usual. Her hands fidgeted in her lap, her smile didn’t reach her eyes, and she kept looking toward the window as if the shadows held answers I couldn’t give.
I fetched her tea—hibiscus and calming root, the same blend she liked. She accepted it with a quiet thank you, but even the way she sipped felt distracted.
I didn’t push. I wanted to. I wanted to grab her by the face, make her look at me, and find out what was wrong. Something was different tonight, and it twisted a knot in my chest I couldn’t seem to loosen.
She slid into bed before me, curling on her side with her back to the door. I joined her a moment later, lying beside her but leaving space. She didn’t immediately reach for me like she had the last few nights. That space felt cavernous.
I couldn't take it any longer. "I can see something is bothering you. Please tell me, you can trust me." She turned, gazing up at me with a deep sadness in her eyes, and it nearly split me in two. "I know I have failed you in the past, but I swear to you. I will never let you down again."
When she spoke, her voice was soft, almost swallowed by the thick silence between us.
“No, Thavros, this had nothing to do with you. You have been perfect … it’s just …
" She bit her lip and looked away. As she gazed into the fire, its light fell across her face, casting shadows on her beautiful features and deepening the ones already there.
"I think I was put here for a bad reason,” she said, barely above a whisper.
I turned toward her, heart thudding.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know yet. It’s just… a feeling. I don’t remember everything. Just bits. Fragments. But something about it…” She shivered. “I think maybe Khuldruk was right not to trust me. Maybe I was sent here to do something. Maybe I'm bad.”
I reached for her hand under the blanket and squeezed it gently.
“You could never be bad. We’ll figure it out. Please don't be scared,” I pleaded. She was breaking my heart with the look of distress on her face. "Khuldruk said even today I was right to trust you."
She didn’t answer, but she didn’t pull away either.
Her fingers curled tighter around mine as if she was holding on for dear life.
I was holding on to her just as tightly.
I was beginning to believe the little voice in my head was right.
The voice that kept saying she was mine, encouraging me to claim her.
The way my knot ached and the way I wanted nothing more than to sink my tusks into her told me everything I needed to know.
She was mine. She was my mate, but I couldn't tell her now.
Eventually, she just rolled over and let me hold her. If this is what she needed right now, I would gladly give this to her. I would hold her for as long as she needed.
Whatever storm was building inside her, I knew one thing with certainty.
I wasn’t going to let it swallow her whole.