Chapter 7
Atlas
Inconceivable and uncharacteristic rage at the world had clouded everything in my mind until this moment—until I stood in the doorway of Maya’s temporary bedroom and met her beautiful gold eyes.
Eyes that had the power to break me, to shatter my heart in one explosive effort, in one singular word.
Eyes that were filled with concern for me, guilt for the situation we were in emotionally, and so much intense vulnerability that it nearly brought me to my knees.
My chest felt tight as I watched Marco leave the room, his dragon reined in but only barely.
I knew he didn’t want to leave me alone with her, and I could hardly blame him—I’d been a fucking wreck since Maya had died, and it only got worse when she had tumbled out of the sky towards the ground.
In the chaos of Ry dying, I’d barely been able to get to her to catch her before she hit the ground.
She’d been naked and covered in ash, her small, delicate form no longer lit in flames or covered in the beautiful scaled pattern that had adorned her skin.
No, she had looked like my angel, and I’d panicked, everything that had happened to her hitting me unexpectedly and filling me with fury.
Fury that we'd been put in this situation.
Fury that she’d died.
Fury that she’d been forced to kill Ry.
So much anger, and it was so unlike me that I could tell it was making her cautious.
She noticed it the minute we were in the room together, so I’d thrown up a wall in our bond, not wanting her to suffer because I couldn’t get my shit together.
Because I couldn’t seem to work through my feelings on what had fucking happened.
I couldn’t help but feel responsible for not keeping her safe, and the self-loathing that reared up was intense and almost overwhelming.
The part that bothered me the most? I knew Maya felt bad about our reactions to losing her. As if it was somehow her fault that we’d gone nuclear the minute she’d died. Sure, she may have inspired the reaction, but that was impossible to avoid. She was our mate, and she had fucking died.
I knew Maya. I knew my angel so damn well, so I tried to temper my reaction, not wanting her to feel any worse—not wanting her to feel guilt over my emotional distress. That wasn’t fair to put on her.
As the door clicked shut with Marco’s departure, Maya’s gaze found mine as she shifted nervously. The oversized guest room we’d placed her in was filled with gold accents, all of them dull in comparison to the luminescent glow that surrounded my mate.
Something had changed within her when she’d been reborn. Something had been released, and it had altered Maya physically.
Her mother had attempted to clean her up a bit while she was unconscious, removing the ash from her face, but she was still covered in it, dulling the shine of her golden skin.
I wanted to wash it off of her and remove any remembrance of the past few days.
I wanted to touch and kiss every piece of her, running my fingers over her skin.
Skin that appeared to be embedded with golden flecks.
Her hair, which was richly colored and dark, hanging down to her hips, now had golden streaks throughout it, much like her large gold eyes.
It was absolutely beautiful, and I desperately wanted to examine every inch of her, wanting to see what else had changed.
I didn’t want to crowd her or rush her, though, so I crossed the room slowly, and when she suddenly broke towards me, slamming her delicate body against mine, I groaned at the sensation of heat pushing through me, my cock instantly hardening.
My arms wrapped around her in a vise grip, and that dangerous rage began to blink out, my chest relaxing just enough that I could breathe again.
Holy fuck, it felt so damn good to hold her.
I wasn’t positive I would ever be able to let her go, honestly.
I buried my nose in her hair as she trembled, a soft sob leaving her throat.
Pure contentment ran throughout the bond, telling me that this type of touch was helping her as much as it was me.
Finally, she leaned back, and I gently touched her jaw, placing a light brush of a kiss on her lips.
One that she met eagerly, a soft sound coming from her throat.
Despite everything she’d been through, I could feel how much she wanted me, and it was like a fucking high, one that would no doubt kill me.
“Atlas,” she breathed out.
“Angel,” I whispered, cupping her jaw and brushing another kiss against her lips. “I’m so damn glad you’re okay. I’m so damn glad that you’re awake and moving around.”
“I know I scared everyone?—”
“Hey,” I gently smoothed my hands over her shoulders. “Don’t worry about anyone else, understand me? I want you to focus on yourself and how you’re feeling.”
“I’m feeling okay…maybe a bit off, and still pretty tired.” Maya’s eyes darkened. “I can tell you’re holding back right now—I don’t know what, but I can tell you are.”
I exhaled and smoothed a hand through her hair. “I don’t want to overwhelm you with how this affected me. Let me take care of you instead—it’ll go a long way to making me feel better, angel.”
“Okay,” she whispered after a moment of consideration, and I breathed out a sigh of relief as I easily picked her up in a bridal hold and walked towards the attached bathroom.
Setting my angel down, I turned on the water in the large tub in the center of the room, steaming water streaming into the porcelain basin.
There were stairs surrounding it on all sides, similar to a luxury hot tub, and I added soap, filling the room with the scent of lavender.
When I turned back to Maya, she was easing off the oversized shirt she’d been put in before pushing down her panties.
I soaked in the sight of her naked body as she walked towards me expectantly, her eyes filled with trust as I helped her up the stairs.
A soft moan of relief came from her lips, and my dragon lit up, fucking thrilled that we were bringing her pleasure even if it wasn’t the type that would relieve me.
“I’m going to send for food and something to drink,” I said, smoothing my hands over her hair. “I’ll be right back.”
Her fingers caught my hand as she asked earnestly, “Will you join me? I want to be able to touch you.”
I inhaled sharply and nodded, unable to talk without telling her just how much I would love for her to fucking touch me. So I held my tongue and left the room, finding Marco on the other side of the bedroom door, leaning against the wall.
“You good?” I asked him seriously.
His eyes were dark. “No, and neither are you.”
I exhaled roughly. “I’m feeling better. She’s in the tub right now, and I was thinking of sending up food and something to drink?—”
“I’ll get it.” His jaw clenched. “I know you need time alone with her, and it’ll make me feel like I’m doing fucking something.”
“Thank you, Marco,” I said appreciatively. He grunted and walked off, leaving me to go back to my angel as I locked the door and tugged off my shirt.
“Atlas?” Maya asked as I appeared in the door, her eyes lighting up and running over me. “You’re going to join me?”
“Of course, angel.” Then, to myself, I mumbled, “Just need to keep my shit together.” I could feel her eyes on me as I kicked off my boots and pushed down my jeans, not even bothering to hide how hard I was.
Maya’s face flushed as I walked towards the tub, her eyes narrowed on my boxers as if annoyed.
I nearly chuckled at that as I sank into the water, letting out a grunt as the heat soothed my muscles.
Immediately my hands went out and pulled Maya up against me, her body melting into mine as a pleased noise left her throat, her lips brushing over my neck teasingly.
Her wet, hot frame was positioned right over my covered cock, and it took everything inside of me to not bury myself inside of her, needing to feel that connection, that intense claim between us.
“Where did you go?” Maya pulled back, the soapy water barely covering her breasts and hard nipples, the scent of her desire filling the steamy room.
“I’m right here, angel, I promise.” I pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “I just know what you need right now is rest more than anything else.”
“Anything else?” she asked, rocking her hips and making me groan.
“You know exactly what I mean.” I nipped her lip as she whimpered, and I lifted her off me slightly.
She dipped underneath the water and reemerged, gliding backwards and offering me a teasing smile.
My dragon rumbled at her escape, one we had instigated, as I tried to come up with a reason to touch her.
“Let me wash you,” I commanded. She immediately turned back to me, the water coming to her waist as she stood.
A growl left my throat as I watched the water droplets sliding down her body, my mouth watering, wanting to tease her nipples.
Instead I reached for some soap and began to wash the ash off of her golden skin.
I was so focused on getting each curve of her frame that I hadn’t realized my little mate was suffering until she let out a frustrated sound, shifting as she pressed her thighs together. She was turned away from me as I rinsed her back, a dark smile tilting my lips as I considered teasing her more.
“Almost done,” I murmured, lathering my large hands with more soap before tugging her down onto my knee, her legs split to either side so she was straddling me.
I slid a hand up her stomach and teased her breast, making her whimper as she leaned back into me.
I knew I would find her soaked if I slid my fingers down to her center, and I let her rock against my thigh as she tried to find some level of friction.