Chapter 54
Isolde
Ihear the words Aurora says to me, but I’m not sure if I fully grasp them. What she is offering.
I stare at her for several moments before Draven shifts beside me.
When his gaze pierces my eyes, I’m lost. After everything, after all that I’ve done, he still wants me.
He wants all of me. And as much as I am not worthy of his love or forgiveness, the softness in his eyes pulls the answer from my lips. “Yes.” I want this.
Clara smooths a blanket onto the grass. Maeve sits cross-legged at the top of the blanket, smiling innocently at me. I’ve never much enjoyed children. But this one, this one I don’t mind.
The healer kneels beside the girl, resting on her heels. Aurora looks at me and gestures to the blanket before she settles on the other side.
I imagine if I could feel nervous, this would be the time my heart would beat wildly in my chest. But right now, it rests heavily like a frozen block of ice.
Draven places a hand softly on my lower back, urging me forward. I lower onto the blanket, turning away from the faces of the watching females. And my eyes fall on the beautiful incubus waiting at my feet.
He’s lowered himself as well, crouching casually while his dark gaze lingers on mine. It’s been too long. Something aches in my chest. He gives me an encouraging nod before I lay back, looking up at a clear blue sky.
I squint, not used to the harshness of the sun. The warmth heats my face and, for the first time in a very long time, I close my eyes to revel in it. The time for bitterness and ice is over. I want to be flooded with heat and fire and feeling.
“Are you ready?” Aurora asks calmly.
I nod.
Three pairs of hands settle on me.
Small, warm hands frame my head, resting gently against my temples. A larger pair grips my left shoulder, while another holds the right.
Silence fills the air before a low hum rumbles through the static. It grows louder, rippling around me before a zap of energy jumps into my skin. I squeeze my eyes shut.
I focus on Draven’s face in my mind. His smooth skin laid over sharp features. His eyes that gaze into me with their bottomless depths. The touch of his fingers across my body. His calming energy that grounds me.
Heat races through my veins, igniting every cell in my body. I grit my teeth, afraid of screaming something otherworldly and scaring the females healing me. Another surge of power boils through me, pushing closer to the center of my chest.
I let out a shaky exhale when something deep in my chest cracks. The power squeezes my heart like a clenched fist and my magic threatens to force it out. But I hold it back with every ounce of strength I have.
Then suddenly, my heart is heavy and full in my chest, and the intense heat begins to lessen. When the final trickles of fiery magic dissipate, silence hangs in the air. A rhythmic thump bursts in my chest, and I open my eyes.
There’s wetness on my face, and I swipe at it. I stare at the clear drop of liquid on my finger. A tear.
More tears stream silently down my face as I sit up to gaze at the three females watching me with kind eyes.
And then my gaze lifts to him. He’s still crouched at my feet. Draven grins at me before stretching out his arm, offering me his hand.
I place my palm in his and I’m overcome with warmth. His skin against mine. It’s electrifying.
He pulls me to my feet and tugs me to his chest. “There’s my girl,” he whispers, as his hand slips behind my neck.
I stare at him with wonder, my mouth slightly agape as I study his face. Somehow, he’s even more beautiful. Then his mouth is on mine, claiming it with an urgency that I haven’t felt in more than one hundred years.
I grip him tightly, afraid that if I let go, he will slip through my fingers like a dream. But I pull back for a breath and remember we aren’t alone.
I turn sheepishly to the group of females, wiping my lips. “Thank you,” I breathe. “Thank you for everything.”
Aurora grins at me. “You’re welcome. You deserve it.” Her gaze drifts over my shoulder, and when I turn to follow it, my eyes fall on Vespera. She smiles weakly at me, and it takes everything in me not to fling my arms around her slight form.
“Perfect timing,” Aurora says to Vespera, gesturing to the blanket on the ground.
Vespera walks silently toward the group of women, and my eyes flicker from the sprite to them.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
Maeve beams. “We’re going to restore her voice.”
My eyes widen. “You can do that?”
Aurora nods. “Yes, we believe we can.”
I look at my dear friend. “But healers have tried before and nothing’s worked.”
Maeve shrugs. “They weren’t us.”
Vespera gives me a deep grin before she sinks to the ground. I cling to Draven’s fingers as I step toward the group of healers gathered around her. I watch as power flows from the women’s hands into Vespera’s shimmering green skin.
Her yellow eyes drift shut and her shoulders tense. A glow of light pulses up her neck and radiates on her face.
The three healer’s heads bow toward my friend, their expressions calm and focused.
My heart rate spikes as I watch Vespera shift on the ground. Her mouth clamps shut and her face scrunches as if in pain.
I’m not sure what kind of magic can restore a severed tongue, but I imagine it isn’t painless.
Draven’s hand brushes the small of my back, and he gives me a slight nod. I release his grip and drop slowly to my knees beside Vespera.
I don’t want to disrupt their magic, so I lean forward, my voice dropping to a whisper. “Vespera, I’m sorry. So very sorry. This is all my fault.”
Vespera opens her eyes, her gaze soft. She shakes her head slowly, and I smile through sobs. “I’ve missed you so much. I can’t wait to talk to you again,” I tell her.
She tries to give me a smile, but her cheeks tighten in pain.
“Almost done, love,” Clara says.
I keep my eyes on Vespera as the healers’ magic recedes.
When the women sit back on their heels, silence falls around us.
Vespera inhales, and Aurora helps her sit up. She swallows, and then her mouth opens. She slowly sticks out her tongue, and when I see soft, pink flesh, I gasp.
The memory of when Arc severed her tongue flashes in my mind, and I push it down, shocked by the organ that has regrown in her mouth.
Vespera’s gaze falls on me. “I’ve missed you, too.” Her voice breaks, unsteady. The three healers cheer, and I can’t contain my emotions. I lunge for Vespera, wrapping my arms around her shoulders.
She coughs, and I reluctantly release her, helping her to her feet.
Draven nods warmly, and she smiles at me.
“We have a lot to catch up on.” Her eyes slide to Draven, who gazes at me.
“But we can do that later,” she says. Her grin widens before she turns, walking toward the palace with the healers.
I stand speechless for several moments before I remember what I was doing before the magic healed Vespera.
Turning back to my incubus, I run my fingertips over his soft lips before I pull his face to mine, driving my tongue into his mouth without regard.
“I’ve been dreaming of when I could do that again,” I whisper against his lips.
With a whoosh of air, Draven’s wings emerge from his back and when I look into his eyes, they’re inky black pools. My thighs clench together as I imagine just how much I’m going to feel with him now that my heart’s thawed.
In another breath, he scoops me into his arms and as we launch into the sky, Aurora calls over her shoulder, “Come back for dinner!”
As much as I would have reveled in the view through my softened eyes as we fly toward the canyons, I can’t tear my gaze away from Draven’s face. He keeps his gaze ahead, but every so often, his eyes slide down to me and his lips tip into a smirk.
When he lands on the edge of the canyon, he sets me gently on the ground as I stare at the house. It’s been months since I’ve been here, and the memory of my last visit makes my throat swell.
I turn to Draven with sad eyes, ashamed of hardening him to ice to keep him from coming after me. But he gives me a soft smile and grips my hand, pulling me through the doorway.
Inside, the midday sun floods through the windows, warming the space and bathing it in an ethereal glow. My gaze lingers briefly on the spot where I froze Draven on that fateful day.
Sensing my hesitation, he tugs gently on my hand, and I turn to follow him down the hall toward his bedroom.
Closing the door behind us, I am lost in my regained feelings. How can he want me after all I’ve done? My chin dips, eyes falling to the floor.
He stands in front of me, and his fingers lift my chin to meet his dark eyes. A strand of amethyst hair hangs in front of his forehead, and I can’t stop myself from brushing it back to see his beautiful face.
Draven holds my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes. His wings have tucked back into his body and there is no hint of lust magic dripping from him. It’s just me and him. Us.
“I don’t blame you for anything you did. When I fell in love with you, I fell in love with all of you. The fire and the ice. The strong and the submissive. And, while being frozen to the floor for most of a day is not something I ever want to experience again, I never stopped loving you for it.”
A sad smile spreads across my lips as he speaks. “I’m sorry,” I say.
He shakes his head slowly. “I know you are. But you don’t have to be.
At least, not to me. And from now on, I don’t want any more of your apologies.
Because all I want to do right now is feel your warm body on mine and your beating heart while I fuck you so thoroughly until you are nothing but soft flesh and incoherent words. ”
My violet eyes lock with his, and he gives me a devilish grin before his lips capture mine in a wrathful kiss. A familiar touch slides up my leg, and I glance down to see his lust magic roaring from his body like an open dam.
His eyes turn black and his beautiful blue-feathered wings burst from his back once again. I grin, running a fingertip across the sensitive edge. Draven’s eyes flutter closed before his mouth is on mine again. He thrusts his tongue deep between my lips, and I moan as it slicks against my own.
He pulls away just long enough to tug me to the bed.
And he makes good on his promise. By the time he’s done with me, I can only grin deliriously at him, lost in a sea of love and lust.
He rests on his back, pulling me to his chest. I sigh, watching him as he softly strokes my cheek. I glance out the window as the sun dips below the horizon. “We should go soon,” I say. “Don’t want to be late for dinner.”
He gives me a lopsided smile. “Dinner can wait. I’ve waited long enough for you to return to me.”
I grin, heat flushing my cheeks. My heart flutters at the novel sensation. Heat and warmth. From now on, we will burn together. Me and my incubus.