Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Smiling and closing her eyes, Ember slipped her arms around Nyte. There was a hint of desperation in the way he kissed her, in the way he held her, and it reflected her own inner turmoil after having watched Sarnessa nearly tear out his heart. After seeing the agony that had been in Nyte’s eyes.
She wanted nothing more than to melt against him and forget about the rest of the world.
However brief, the encounter with Sarnessa had been draining in every way possible. Adrenaline hummed within Ember, and residual wisps of magic fluttered through her body. Even if part of her was ready for sleep, she knew she wouldn’t get any rest for a while. Not until all this calmed down.
Holy fuck. I…I used magic!
Ember had wondered if it was even possible, if summoning Nyte had been a fluke. Starling had been adamant in her belief that Ember could cast the banishing spell on Sarnessa when the time came. Ember hadn’t necessarily shared the sprite’s confidence.
Yet not only had she cast Starling’s spell, she’d blasted the succubus away from Nyte before the demoness could steal his heart for the second time. Sarnessa wasn’t going to hurt Nyte again.
Ember’s breath caught.
Nyte…
I’m losing him tonight.
She’d known this moment would come, and she had tried to be strong, had tried to keep her sadness at bay. God, even in the shower she’d struggled to hold back her tears. But she couldn’t stop them now. They burned as they filled her eyes.
And she’d thought lying in bed with him during these last moments would be enough? That the memories she’d had with him would be enough? In the span of a month, Nyte had become an essential part of her.
She didn’t want to let him go.
Ember curled her fingers against his back and looked up at him. “Nyte…”
A concerned crease formed between his eyebrows, and he took her face between his big, warm hands. “What’s wrong, Ember? Did she harm you?”
She shook her head as tears spilled down her cheeks, her bottom lip quivering. Her heart felt as though it was breaking, rending her chest wide open even as it caved in on itself. “I don’t want to lose you. I thought I’d be able to let you go, but I…I can’t.”
The smile that upturned his lips was the gentlest she’d ever seen. Shaking his head, he brushed her tears away with his thumbs. “Come, Ember. Let’s watch the moon rise.”
His shadowy magic flowed over her skin, making it pebble with that whispery touch. When the shadows faded, her towel was gone, replaced by her favorite warm, cozy white pajamas, which were decorated with blue crescent moons and black cats, paired with fuzzy socks.
“Ooo, yes, let’s!” Starling flew closer, beaming.
Nyte turned his face toward the sprite, his smile not fading. “Starling, if I wasn’t already, I am eternally indebted to you. Thank you, my friend. But the rest of this night…” He returned his gaze to Ember, and it softened. “This night is for myself and my witch.”
Ember’s throat tightened, and her chest constricted with emotion. It was taking every ounce of her willpower to keep from crumbling into a blubbering mess. She could fall apart…
After he’s gone.
Starling flicked her eyes between Nyte and Ember, and her smile stretched. “Of course.” She patted one of Nyte’s horns. “I shall see you tomorrow.”
And then she was gone, leaving behind only her fading stardust.
Nyte bent and whisked Ember off her feet, cradling her against his chest. She’d only had time to slip her arms around his neck when the world blinked out of existence for an instant. They reappeared on the roof of her house, shadows dissipating around them. The cold breeze blew over her.
He sat down, crossing his legs in front of him and settling her upon his lap, keeping his arms securely banded around her. His tail draped over her leg and hooked behind her knee. Then his wings stretched forward and turned inward, folding around her like a blanket.
Ember looked down at them. It was like staring into an endless, starry sky. She trailed her fingers over his wing, tracing paths between the stars. When Nyte was gone, how would she ever look at the night sky without thinking of him?
“There,” he said softly.
With her eyes stinging and the pressure in her chest growing more immense, she forced her attention up.
Despite Salem’s ambient nighttime glow, she saw the sliver of moon cresting the buildings on the horizon.
Her fingers kept moving on his wings absently as, barely breathing, she watched the moon creep higher, its silver light intensifying as it emerged.
The minutes that must’ve passed felt both like an eternity and an instant.
She was waiting, she realized. Waiting for that inevitable change. For that shift, for the magic binding her and Nyte together to break, waiting to feel the sudden disconnect, the sudden emptiness.
Ember stared at the full, round moon, which was bigger and brighter than seemed possible, and she didn’t feel any change inside her. All she felt was the beauty of that sight. The beauty of the night.
She looked at her nocturnus. The only beauty she was interested in was that of her Nyte.
He was staring up at the moon, but all she could look at was him.
Her heart thumped in her chest, marking the passing seconds, and that tightness inside her only strengthened.
Surely she’d feel something. Their tether was broken now, wasn’t it?
Was he just going to…to vanish without leaving some part of himself behind?
Or would he depart, taking her heart with him, leaving an aching hollowness in his wake?
Unable to hold them back any longer, she let her tears fall.
The corner of his mouth quirked up, and his cosmic, violet-blue eyes lowered to meet hers. That smirk faltered. “Ember…”
Drawing her closer, he combed his claws through her hair, trailing their tips soothingly down her back. “There’s no need for all these tears. You’re not losing me.”
Ember’s brow furrowed, and she didn’t dare let herself hope. Hope was such a terrible thing. “What…do you mean?”
“I’ve seen so much in my existence. Watched so many events from afar, so many interactions, so many emotions.
And for a long while, I didn’t understand them.
For me, thought existed well before feeling.
Feeling…it required doing. Partaking. I’ve learned joy and sorrow, I’ve felt anger and betrayal, I’ve clutched at hope and drowned in despair.
I’ve known fondness and camaraderie, and I have been consumed by lust.
“But there was one emotion that always eluded me. One emotion beyond my understanding, seemingly beyond my ability to feel. Sometimes, I’ve wondered whether it was real at all.
And then you summoned me into your bedroom, and I felt…
something. Even that first night. The harder I fought it, the more I tried to suppress it, the more insistent that feeling became. ”
Nyte lifted a hand to her cheek, sweeping back strands of her hair and tucking them behind her ear as he wiped away the fresh tears with his thumb.
“And now I know that love is real. I know because I feel it so wholly, so deeply, that it has become a part of my very being. I learned that from you, Ember. Feel it for you.”
Ember’s eyes flared. Her heart quickened, beating as fast as a hummingbird’s wings, fluttering within her chest. “You…love me?”
He smiled wide, fangs gleaming in the night, and his eyes shone brighter. “I do. When I said I was keeping you, I meant it. And since it’s not exactly practical to drag you to another plane of existence with me…it seems I must remain here.”
Nyte’s words echoed again and again in her mind, and she wondered if she’d imagined them. But no, they were real. He’d spoken them.
He loves me. He loves me.
Ember threw her arms around his neck and pressed her mouth to his. She kissed him even as tears spilled down her cheeks. But they were no longer tears of sadness and grief, they were tears of happiness. Because Nyte wasn’t leaving her.
Her fingers clutched at his hair as he slanted his mouth over hers, returning the kiss, deepening it.
Their lips caressed, their tongues stroked and entwined.
Nyte groaned and lowered his hands to her ass, gripping it and pulling her closer until she was completely flush against him, her knees on either side of his waist.
When she finally broke the kiss, breath ragged, she touched her forehead to his, unwilling to pull away. Ember stroked the tips of his pointed ears with her thumbs and she smiled. “I love you, too, Nyte.”
A growl rumbled in his chest, and he pulled his head away.
There was a new intensity in his eyes, a new solemnity on his face, a hard set to his features that spoke equally of possessiveness and protectiveness.
“Know that I will not watch you grow old, Ember. I refuse to lose you to mortality. Refuse to have a mere taste of a life with you.”
He leaned back and lifted a hand to his chest. His flesh darkened, becoming a whirling maelstrom of shadow, which he reached into effortlessly. Alarm blared through her.
When he withdrew his hand, silver light shone from within his closed fingers. He turned it palm up and opened his fist. Ember gasped. The orb of light upon it looked like a star that had been plucked from the heavens, pulsing with swirls of blue and violet just like his eyes.
“Nyte, is that your…”
“I will have all of you, Ember. Forever.”
She looked up from his heart. Though his features were intense, there was vulnerability in his eyes. Reaching up, she brushed a lock of hair from his forehead before cradling his jaw. “I meant what I said. I am yours to keep.”
“Then keep my heart safe for me, for it is now yours.” Nyte pressed his heart to Ember’s chest. Its light brightened, and she gasped, feeling its heat and its thrumming magic as it eased into her. It moved deeper into her chest, nestling within her heart, becoming one with it. One with her.
She felt it then—all his love for her, blazing and radiant, filling her from within, binding them together.
She felt him. Every part of her was suddenly more aware of him.
His scent was stronger, his warmth greater, the touch of his body against hers all the more stimulating and thrilling.
Each beat of her heart was a beat of his own.
They were interwoven. Bound.
Ember covered his hand with her own, locking her eyes with his. “I’ll always keep it safe.”
With a growl, Nyte caught the back of her head and dragged her mouth to his in a consuming kiss.
The touch of their lips, the taste of him, and feel of his claws on her scalp were more electrifying than ever.
She moaned, and her eyes fell shut as she kissed him in return, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her breasts to his chest.
She needed him. Needed to feel his body, skin to skin, needed to feel his hands gliding over her, needed to feel his cock thrusting inside her. And she needed it now.
Ember felt his shadowy magic surround them, felt reality disappear for that fraction of a second, felt soft, familiar bedding suddenly beneath her now bare skin.
Her thighs parted, allowing Nyte to nestle between them with his body stretched out over her own.
As he kissed her, his hand smoothed down her chest, pausing over her heart—over their hearts—before moving to cup her breast. He kneaded it, caressed it, and rolled her nipple until she was squirming and whimpering beneath him.
“My dear, sweet witch,” Nyte whispered against her lips, his violet-blue eyes blazing into hers. “My love.”
Smiling, Ember brushed her lips over his. “My beautiful, wicked demon.” She wrapped her legs around him, smiling when his tail curled around her ankle. “My wish.”