Chapter 31
Tristan
Iwasn’t sure how Nate would fare at this event after avoiding company for weeks, but he and Luke have latched on to each other with such ease I’m almost jealous.
After all, this is a love-themed ball, so I keep peeking toward the bat tent to make sure no one drags their unworthy person to my promised’s side.
We’re back together, and I can’t even describe the sense of relief I feel whenever I see him wearing the emblem of my house. He belongs with the Bloodweeds now, for better or worse, and I will make sure he’ll never regret the decision he made earlier.
I’ve never had a sweeter kiss than the one he bestowed on me up in our rooms. His lips were warm, juicy, and full of promise, and when I sank into him, when he opened up to me despite all the suffering he had to endure because of my mistakes, it was like nothing I ever shared with anyone before.
Half of my mind is always on him, pulled by the thread of shadow I’m so relieved we don’t need to break anymore.
Kyran puts his cherin glass down and steps forward, about to pass me, when I grab his arm and look back to where Luke is slowly pulling himself up after a fall. He and Nate are wearing protective gear and have entered one of the bat enclosures, but they both seem fine.
“Don’t worry, he must have just stumbled,” I say to calm my cousin.
Kyran huffs, eyes like a seagull spotting prey. “They’re in a bat enclosure,” he grumbles, but must understand his worry is unreasonable, and doesn’t leave. “I’m relieved to see Nate fully recovered and willing to step out of his hermitage.”
I grin like a madman when I think back to how we reconnected not long ago. “He now understands he’s safe with me.”
Kyran cocks his head, uttering a soft hum. “And yet, I know you have not yet asked for a ceremony on the full moon. What is the holdup?”
I didn’t dare propose it before, but after our reunion?
It’s just a formality. “He was unwell at times, but I don’t think there’s anything stopping us anymore.
I would like to make our vows tomorrow, even if without much fanfare.
I don’t want to wait another month to make him my Dark Companion.
A lavish wedding can wait a few months.”
Kyran’s gaze lights up, and he pats my back. “I’m happy for you. No man deserves a happy union as much as you after the way you helped Luke and me in our darkest hour. I shall be waiting for the invitation.”
I haven’t discussed this with Nate yet, but we’re looking toward the same North Star.
“Luke better be done with his hangover by tomorrow.” I snort when I see him swaying on his feet and Nate holding his arm to steady him.
“I… love him so much, Kyran. He is the sweetest thing I ever tasted, and not just because I could get lost in his dark eyes. You know me, I’ve been infatuated in the past a few times, but it’s different with him.
He… he gives me purpose. I know his shadow is faint, of course I do, but it couldn’t matter less.
I yearned for that bond from the moment I grabbed his hand and pulled him out, even if I denied it at the start. ”
Kyran sighs, toying with the silver trim of his cloak.
“I understand. This isn’t a bond that can be forgotten.
If you take them out of the river, they’re yours.
I remember being so angry knowing Luke was meant for my twin brother, but fate brought us back together.
Same with yourself and Nate. I can see he adores you. ”
“I… I do worry if I deserve him though,” I say quietly. It’s not every day I admit to my insecurities when my whole life is built on trying to prove myself. “In the back of his mind, I will always be the one who left him to endless nights of suffering.”
Kyran’s fingers tighten on my shoulder. “You couldn’t know. Lorsen Gloombane has always been a proud man, but I have never heard any accusations of cruelty. You did the best you could. And, most importantly, you came for Nate and saved him.”
Kyran isn’t a man who gives out platitudes, so it’s a relief to hear his opinion.
“I can only hope that with time, comfort, and care, the memories of that horror will fade. Any advice on how to spoil my Dark Companion?” I ask in a more casual way as the sudden tension disperses.
Nate looks so happy with the bats and Luke, a fresh glass of cherin in his hand. I’m sure he will settle in over time.
“Convince him he has everything to gain by staying with you,” Kyran tells me. “And that no man will love him the way you do.”
It’s the truth. I just need to prove it. I’m sure making him see stars under his eyelids each night won’t hurt either.
He and Luke are headed our way from the bat enclosure, both smiling widely.
Luke grabs Kyran’s hand as soon as he’s close enough. “Snowflake is actually a wyrm bat!” he says breathlessly. “He’s just an albino. He will need fresh blood, and I will look after him, and he should recover soon, I’m sure of it.”
Kyran’s attention drifts away from me, and I don’t mind it, because all I want is to be with my promised during this celebration of love. “Truly? You need to explain the difference, my love,” he says as they walk toward the nearest sofa.
Nate grins at me, and when he rises to his toes, I lean down to give him a kiss. He’s perfection.
“I missed you,” he says softly, making my blood buzz with warmth.
I pull him in for a hug. Thanks to the nature of this ball, even our more overt shows of affection aren’t too much. “I missed you more,” I tease. “Were the bats good company? I have wings too, you know?” I make a show of letting my shadow wings unfold.
His eyes glaze over, and I sense the gentle sweep of his fingertips. “As nice as the bats were, none of them interest me more than you,” Nate admits, and I find myself drowning in his admiration. I want to be his, and for him to be mine. I want to make our love my purpose.
“I should hope so, as that would be inappropriate,” I tease and give him a kiss before picking him up and spinning him to the sound of jolly music. I could only be happier if he were already my Dark Companion and husband.
Nate chuckles, tightens his arms around me, and then leans to my ear and whispers. “Show me the labyrinth I’ve seen from the balcony? It could be very romantic…”
“Let’s get lost in it, away from prying eyes,” I say and pull him by the hand. “There are ‘love games’ hidden in the labyrinth, whatever that means, but even if they’re not fun, I’m sure we can come up with our own.”
“That depends on how many guests get the same idea,” Nate says, and while I can’t know whether this was meant as an innuendo, I can’t keep my mind from straying to how beautiful he looked on my bed. How he arched, flushed, moaned…
My hand gets a bit sweaty as we leave the bright tents, heading off down an alley decorated with sculptures of ice.
“You know they’re made with sweet ice?” I say and suck on an ice sculpture’s finger. “Mmm, delicious.”
“Noo! What?” Nate leans in and licks a pink ice flower, then makes a face. “Liar.”
I laugh out loud and kiss him. “Sorry, sweetheart.”
He scowls. “You made me lick random ice. I can’t believe it! I bet you just wanted to see my tongue in action.” It’s a playful accusation, and when Nate walks ahead, I jog to catch up with him.
Beyond the reach of swamplight lanterns, snow covers every bush and flower bed within sight, but the alley is pristine, as if someone’s removed ice by hand, so I don’t worry about my lover slipping.
“I always want to see your tongue ‘in action’.” I laugh and pull him in for another kiss.
It seems impossible to keep my hands off him, but someone clears their throat, and I refrain from picking him up for more heated kisses.
After all, it’s bad form to sleep with one’s promised before the vows are made.
I estimate that at least half of the couples don’t adhere to this rule, but I don’t want to be seen as a cad, so we’ll have to wait until we’re someplace more discreet.
Once we reach the maze, I’m very content to not see or hear a single soul from within. Usually, the guests only drift into its weaving alleys once they’re thoroughly soaked with cherin, so for now we seem to have its stark walls of black and green leaves to ourselves.
I make sure Nate’s hood is on to protect him from the cold as we meander into the labyrinth. I know this place all too well, even though it feels so different in winter, so I play along and let him choose where to turn. I feel like a lovesick pup every time he smiles at me.
By this time tomorrow, he might be my Dark Companion.
I can’t wait for him to sleep in my bed, to see what human decor ideas he will bring to my apartments. I might actually need more rooms so he has everything he needs.
But for now we enjoy the maze, with walls of branches traced in delicate white lace. The snow is powdery, and when Nate brushes his shoulder against a stray leaf, it sheds tiny crystals into the air.
We can still hear the distant music, but it’s merely background noise to the crunch of snow and frozen gravel under our feet.
Somehow, this place appears larger in winter, without the distraction of blooming flowers and songs of birds nesting within the hedges, but its geometry is just as confusing, and I laugh when Nate huffs out a cloud of vapor when we stumble upon another dead end.
“We should be using threads to mark our path,” Nate says, then proceeds to tell me a human legend about someone called Perseus, who got locked up in an underground labyrinth with a bloodthirsty bull-headed monster.
Perseus’s lover gave him a bundle of thread, which he then used to exit the trap and survived.
“For creatures with such soft hearts, you humans have very violent stories.”
Nate’s hand twitches around mine as we backtrack and take a different path.
“Yes. Especially the very old ones,” Nate tells me. “I think it’s to remind us what happens when the normal order collapses.”
“What would this ‘normal order’ be? Attempting to court cows? I’ve heard of some people trying their luck with kelpies, but they’re kind of sentient.”
He laughs so sweetly I end up pressing a kiss to those smiling lips, but confessions of love will have to wait for a more romantic moment. I want it to be as perfect as he is.
“Noo, nothing like that,” he says and starts climbing me like a tree.
This time, we’re alone, with only the statue of a horse to judge us, so I pick him up, and he wraps his legs around my hips.
We soon find out his train is long enough to get under my feet, but once he pulls it up, I continue through the winding path while he speaks.
“Order is… when people follow laws. When you understand the rules and can reasonably protect yourself through that.”
“I’d say we have more stories about not going into the woods, or to be careful what you wish for since it might just happen,” I say in an ominous tone as I think about his wish to break our bond.
If that came true any sooner, we might have been apart and miserable by now.
“Something you wish for right now?” I tease and squeeze his ass.
He snorts, pressing his forehead to mine. “We have those too. But I think the wish I have right now is actually very, very easy to fulfill,” he whispers, and his hand drifts down my chest.
It might be cold, but I’m yet to find a temperature in which I’d be unwilling for a quick bit of fun. Since I know this maze, I turn into a corridor leading us farther away from the ball. “Oh, no…” I say theatrically. “But what if someone comes?”
“You’ll just have to hide me,” he rasps, and I almost lose balance when his kiss sends a hot jolt all the way to the tips of my fingers.
“My cloak is wide enough. Or I could do it with my wings,” I say and spread them out, then move them forward, to wrap them around him. I love how wide and shiny his eyes get whenever he sees them.
Once we reach a far corner of the maze, I put him down and go in for a kiss, still shielding him with my wings as if it’s a cocoon made for us. “Are you sure you’re warm enough?” I ask breathlessly, but I’m already pulling open the ties at the front of his pants.
I want him now-now-now, and I won’t settle until I taste his cum.
Nate laughs, his hands insatiable on my chest. “Oh God, yes, Tristan. Cold won’t ever keep me away from you.”
I don’t even need fire, because his words alone are enough to make my skin nice and balmy. When he slides his hand over my hardening cock, molten heat flares up in me from the inside. He is so sweet, so playful, so eager, and I will never take any of this for granted.
As soon as his pants are open, I kneel in the snow, thankful for my thick leather pants. I’m already missing his hand on my cock, but I can wait a bit longer if that means I get to feel his prick pulsing with heat in my mouth.
He gasps when I pull out his cock and taste its rock-hard curve.
Nate puts a hand over his face to stifle a moan, as I bob my head to prove that the one blowjob I’ve given him so far was not just a lucky score.
I love pleasuring my lovers and could spend hours worshipping him like this, but I can’t ignore the sound of voices getting louder on the other side of the wall of bushes.
“No one without an invitation is allowed.”
A shrill male voice answers. “But you don’t understand. I was supposed to meet with the prince. He was to visit me—”
“So you don’t have an invitation,” a man who must be a guard says sternly.
“It is a matter of urgency! I haven’t come here to nibble on free food and romance royal blood. Though, I admit, that would make for a pleasant evening—”
“Be gone!”
“I am Merethis Nightscribe, a renowned astronomer, and I will not be dismissed like a common peasant!”
I reluctantly let Nate’s cock slip out of my mouth, and our eyes meet when I look up.