Chapter 13 Terra
TERRA
The water was almost too hot.
Steam rose from the surface of the bathing pool in lazy spirals, catching the light and turning everything hazy. I sat on the submerged stone bench, water lapping at my collarbones, and watched Darrokar through the mist.
He hadn't said much since we'd returned to our quarters. Just stripped off his ceremonial armor with methodical precision, checked me over for injuries with hands that were gentle but thorough, and guided me toward the pool with a look that suggested he had thoughts.
Many thoughts. None of them simple.
Now he sat across from me, wings spread slightly to either side.
The light painted his obsidian scales in shades of fire, making him look like something carved from volcanic glass and brought to life.
The ring I’d given him rested on his index finger, a sign of everything there was between us.
He had to be pissed at me, but even now, he wore the ring.
His golden eyes tracked my every movement, and I could see emotions in his expression that I couldn't quite separate.
Pride. Frustration. Relief. Desire.
All of it tangled together until I couldn't tell where his feelings ended and mine began.
I flexed my fingers under the water, watching the way the ripples distorted the view of my hands. My knuckles were scraped. My palms were raw. The cut above my eyebrow had stopped bleeding but would probably leave a scar. Small prices for what I'd accomplished.
Or tried to.
"So," I finally said. "On a scale of one to ten, how angry are you?"
Darrokar's tail moved beneath the water, the tip breaking the surface for just a moment before disappearing again. "That depends on the scale."
"Human scale. One being mildly annoyed, ten being ready to lock me in our quarters for the next decade."
"Fifteen."
I laughed despite myself. The sound echoed off the stone walls, too loud in the quiet space. "That's not how it works."
"You asked how angry I was. I answered." His voice was calm.
The kind of calm that came from very carefully controlling what you actually wanted to say.
"You entered a sacred trial designed to test Drakarn warriors.
You fought your way through obstacles that could have killed you.
You made it to the inner sanctum and then tried to fight me for access to the blood-flame. "
"Technically, I got past you."
"Terra."
The way he said my name made something clench in my chest. Not quite a warning, not quite a plea. Just my name, weighted with everything he wasn't saying.
I shifted on the bench, water sloshing around me. "I know I crossed some lines."
"Some lines." He repeated the words like he was tasting them. "You crossed every line. You risked yourself in ways that made me question whether you have any sense of self-preservation. You forced me to choose between my duty as Warrior Lord and my need to keep you safe."
Each point landed like a stone. I felt them settle in my gut, heavy and uncomfortable. He wasn't wrong. About any of it.
"I'm sorry," I said quietly.
"Are you?"
The question caught me off guard. I looked up, met his gaze across the steaming water. "Yes. I'm sorry I put you in that position. Sorry I made you worry. Sorry I dragged Vega and Lexa into my mess."
"But you're not sorry you entered the Skalanth."
It wasn't a question. He already knew the answer.
"No," I admitted. "I'm not sorry about that."
Something shifted in his expression. The careful control cracked just slightly, letting me see the turmoil underneath. "Why?"
"Because I needed to know if I could do it.
Needed to prove to myself that I could compete in your world on your terms." I moved through the water toward him, slowly, giving him time to stop me if he wanted.
"I know it was reckless. I know it was dangerous.
But I can't spend the rest of my life wondering if I'm only here because of who I'm mated to instead of who I am. "
"You're here because you're strong. Capable. Brilliant." His tail found my leg under the water, wrapping around my calf with gentle pressure. "You don't need to risk your life in trials to prove that."
"Maybe not to you." I reached him, close enough to see the gold flecks in his eyes. "But I needed to prove it to myself."
He studied my face for a long moment. Then his hand came up, cupping my jaw with claws that were careful against my skin. "You're going to give me gray scales."
"You keep saying that. I still don't see any gray."
"Give it time." His thumb stroked across my cheekbone, the pad rough against my flushed skin. "You terrified me today, luvae."
The admission hit harder than any anger could have. I leaned into his touch, letting the warmth of his palm seep into me. "I know. I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing with words."
I blinked. "What?"
"You keep saying you're sorry. Prove it." His eyes darkened, the gold taking on a deeper hue. "Show me you understand what you put me through."
The challenge hung between us, electric and weighted. He wanted me to make amends like a Drakarn. With action.
I could work with that.
I moved closer, straddling his lap in one smooth motion. The water displaced around us, sloshing against the pool's edges. His hands came to my hips automatically, steadying me, and I felt the flex of his claws against my skin.
"Like this?" I asked, my voice dropping lower.
His breath hitched. Just slightly, but I caught it. "That's a start."
I kissed him.
Not gentle. Not apologetic. I kissed him with all the pent-up emotion from the day, all the fear and triumph and desperate need to prove I was still there, still his, still alive despite everything.
His mouth opened under mine, and I tasted heat and want and something darker that made my pulse spike.
His claws pricked against my hips. He pulled me closer until there was no space between us, just water and skin and scales and the building pressure of the mate-bond flaring hot in my chest.
I broke the kiss to trail my lips along his jaw, feeling the slight roughness where I'd cut him during our fight. The wound had already healed, but I kissed it anyway. An apology for drawing his blood. An acknowledgment of how far I'd pushed.
He made a sound low in his throat, somewhere between a growl and a groan. The vibration of it traveled through his chest into mine, making me shiver despite the heat of the water.
"Terra." My name again, but different this time. Rougher. Needier.
"I'm here." I kissed down his neck, finding the spot where his pulse beat strong beneath his scales. "I'm safe. I'm yours."
His tail tightened around my leg, the tip sliding higher up my thigh. The sensation made me gasp against his skin.
He knew exactly what he was doing, knew every spot that made me melt.
Two could play that game.
I let my hands wander, tracing the hard planes of his chest, feeling the way his muscles jumped under my touch. Down his sides, careful of his wings where they spread in the water. Lower, until I found what I was looking for.
His cock was already hard, the tip just breaking the surface of the water. I wrapped my hand around it, feeling the heat of him even through the hot water, and stroked slowly from base to tip.
Darrokar's head fell back, exposing the long line of his throat. A rumble started deep in his chest, primal and pleased. His hips jerked slightly, pushing into my grip.
"Fuck," he breathed.
I loved that I could do this to him. Reduce the Warrior Lord of Scalvaris to cursing and desperate movements with just my hand. The power of it sang through me, heady and intoxicating.
I stroked him again, learning the feel of him. The ridges along his length that became more pronounced when he was aroused. The way the flexible tip moved independently, seeking and curling. The slickness that his body produced, mixing with the water and making my hand glide smoothly.
His claws dug into my hips, not quite breaking skin but close. A warning or a plea, I couldn't tell which.
"You're trying to kill me," he said, voice strained.
"Just trying to apologize properly." I twisted my wrist on the upstroke, watching his face for his reaction. "Am I doing it right?"
"You're doing it perfectly and you know it."
I grinned and did it again. His tail responded by sliding higher, the tip finding the junction of my thighs and pressing there with seductive intent. I gasped, my rhythm faltering.
"That's cheating," I managed.
"All's fair in apologies and war." His tail moved, stroking through my folds with a precision that made my vision blur. "You started this, luvae. I'm just finishing it."
The tip of his tail found my center and circled, slow and maddening. I tried to keep stroking him, but my coordination was shot, my hand going clumsy as pleasure spiked through me.
He noticed. Of course he noticed. His grin was sharp and satisfied. "Problem?"
"You're impossible."
"You love it."
I did. God help me, I absolutely did.
His tail kept working, alternating between circling my clit and dipping lower to tease my entrance. The dual sensation was overwhelming, made worse by the heat of the water and the steam making it hard to catch my breath. I clung to his shoulders, nails digging in, and let him take me apart.
"Darrokar." His name fell from my lips like a prayer. "Please."
"Please what?" His mouth found my throat, tongue tracing patterns on my skin. "Tell me what you need."
"You. Inside me. Now."
He growled and shifted, his hands lifting me slightly in the water. The tip of his cock pressed against my entrance, hot even through the surrounding heat. Then he pulled me down, filling me in one smooth thrust that made us both groan.
The stretch was intense. Perfect. His length dragged against my inner walls, and that flexible tip immediately started seeking, stroking places that made stars burst behind my eyelids.