Chapter 19 Heat Beneath the Throne
Chapter nineteen
Heat Beneath the Throne
-Maris-
Dinner was… exquisite.
And excruciating.
The private dining room off the east wing was more intimate than the great hall — only a long night shaded table, flickering candles, and silver trays that steamed with food she barely registered.
Kael sat at the head of the table, robes exchanged for a black tunic laced half-open at the throat, shadows clinging to his every movement like loyal pets.
Maris sat to his right, as dictated by his silent, expectant gaze.
The seat once used for noble allies, for warriors, the only ones he allowed closest to his rule. Now hers.
But she couldn’t stop picturing his naked form. The slick sheen of water on his chest. The steam curled around his throat. The way he hadn’t said a word while she stood frozen in the doorway. And now — he carved into venison with elegant hands like he hadn’t just lit her blood on fire.
She could barely keep the goblet steady in her hand. The wine was darker than blood. Spiced, heady. Her lips still tingled from the sip.
“You’re quiet tonight,” Kael said at last, voice low, rich, and maddeningly amused.
Maris kept her eyes on her plate, she refused to meet his gaze. “I didn’t expect to see you bathe —or to be moved into your apartments without discussion.”
“I didn’t expect you to linger… but I can't say I minded the attention.” His voice dipped lower.
"Tell me, little star — What did you come in search of?"
She looked up sharply. “You mistake curiosity for desire. Not everything that stares wishes to touch.”
His eyes glittered. “No?”
Bastard.
The heat hit her throat first — a flush that crept up her neck like wildfire. Maris pushed back her chair hard enough it scraped the stone like a blade drawn from its sheath.
“I believe I've lost my appetite. Excuse me.” She bit out.
She turned on her heel, skirts catching like smoke, and strode from the room, back straight, eyes ahead, fury snapping off her like sparks.
-Kael-
She fled the table like a flame starved of air. Kael waited. Counted to ten. Twenty. Thirty.Then he followed.
The corridor bent to him, shadows curling at his heels, candles flickering low in his wake.
He found her in the main sitting room of the apartments pacing, arms crossed tight over her chest, face turned toward the tall windows as if night.
Her shoulders were taut. Her breath came fast. Her fury awakening her magic — it gripped the room like a snare.
He stepped inside closing the door behind him with a click that echoed too loudly.
“Why are you running?” he asked softly behind her.
Maris stiffened, she did not turn when she spoke. “I'm attempting an unsuccessful escape.”
He moved closer, slow as tide-swallowed death. “From me?”
She didn’t answer.
“You didn’t look away,” he said quietly, voice brushing the back of her neck like a whisper.
“I should’ve,” she breathed burned by embarrassment.
“Should’ve,” he echoed, stepping until they were nearly touching, his shadows licking her skin. “But you didn’t.”
She slowly faced him — when her eyes met his, the last thread of his control unraveled. She was breathtaking like this — wrecked and wild-eyed.
There was no warning or hesitation. Just the sharp inhale of her breath — then her fingrs fisting in the front of his tunic, pulling him forward with a force that dared him to resist. Her lips crashed into his, hot and furious, a kiss made of everything they hadn't spoken.
It was desperate.
Kael groaned low in his throat, arms locking in place around her, his hands fisted her hair. He kissed her back with the weight of every sleepless night, every cruel silence, every time he'd stopped himself before this.
There was no stopping now.
Her magic pulsed against him — wild, unsteady, delicious. His shadows did not retreat this time, they curled low around their feet, tasting her light, craving it.
Kael's tunic was ripped loose, her fingers dragging it down his bare shoulder blades, her nails biting at the flesh of his back. His hands were no gentler — pulling at the seams of her gown until silk slipped down her to the floor, forgotten and meaningless.
Buttons tore. Laces snapped. There was no patience. No ritual. Just a wreckage of fine clothes as they devoured each other.
He dragged his gaze over her memorizing ever part of her. Her pale skin bathed in shadow and firelight. The swell of her hips, the soft arc of her breasts, the constellations of bruises painted down her frame like a scripture. Her magic still faintly simmered across her skin.
His arms scooped beneath her thighs, lifting her as if she weighted nothing, as if she was already his burden to bear. His prize.
She gasped as she wrapped her legs around his middle, his length pressing against her — he crossed the way to his chambers with purposeful strides.
Their limbs tangled, breath ragged. She arched into him, whispered his name like sin.
He threw her onto the bed — not rough but with finality.
She looked up at him, wild and waiting. And Kael wanted to burn in her.
He drank her in for one last, agonizing moment. Let his shadows creep along her skin, brushing her like fingertips, teasing the places he hadn't touched let.
Then he began to devour her like she was the only thing in this world that could quiet the chaos inside him. When he entered her, it was slow, searing. Her breath hitching as her body adjusted to him. His length slowly stretched her walls around him.
He was gentle until he wasn't — it became a dance.
Rhythmic, then wild. She matched him breath for breath, claw for claw, she was close to her breaking point when Kael withdrew his cock, leaving an ache in his absence.
She let out a moan, almost a plea. He cursed the Gods at the sound of her wanting.
He smirked and dropped his warm cruel mouth between her thighs, finding her clit with his tongue rolling in tight circles. He kept her sex pulled tightly to him with a powerful arm wrapped around each thigh.
He glanced up at her with darkened eyes and her body gave way to release, tremors of pleasure consumed her being. Kael released his grip on her after drowning in the sweet reward of her slick core.
He positioned himself back above her, spreading her legs wide and taking her in, the peak of her breast as her onyx hair laid amongst them, her expression full of desire — he then dove back into her with purpose, a pace with one goal in mind, eyes boring into her soul as he found his own release — her body accepting each pulse of his surrender.
Kael’s mouth met hers again softly, gliding over her lips like a thank you and a promise all in one. And for a breathless, eternal moment, he was undone.
Because in that shattering, something shifted inside him.
She wasn’t just his desire.
She was the axis of his world.
They lay tangled in the aftermath, the furs around them a heap of velvet and warmth. Maris rested her head on his chest, her fingers lightly tracing the scars along his side. Kael’s arm tightened around her.
He placed a light kiss to her temple. He offered up a silence prayer that he'd trade his kingdom to have her in this way again."
As if in answer Maris rose above him once more.