Chapter 12 #2
He nodded, but his gaze flicked to the left, narrowing. I followed it to a man standing still in the street, staring between us. He froze mid-step, eyes lingering on me. I glanced back at Abram, silently asking if he knew him.
Without answering, Abram stepped closer, his hands finding my hips and pulling me flush against him before pressing his lips to mine in front of everyone. My breath caught. When he pulled away, his thumb brushed a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
“I’m glad I could bring you here,” he murmured.
“Was there a reason you were glaring at that man?” I asked, glancing back, but the stranger was gone.
“Just letting him know you’re not interested in anyone but me,” Abram said lightly, but his body stiffened. “Right?”
I hesitated, caught off guard by the question and by the look in his eyes, as if he needed the answer. Was he actually worried?
He parted his lips to say something more, but a group of children ran up with a tray of pastries. Abram sighed as I turned toward them, the tension breaking.
“Whatever you want, Elowyn,” he said, taking my hand.
I pointed to a dessert, and he paid far more than it was worth. The children squealed and dashed off as I bit into it. Abram’s gaze lingered on me, unblinking. I offered him the other half, and he took it from my fingers.
“Dance with me,” he said, nodding to the couples twirling nearby.
I smiled and nodded. Abram spun me around, his hand firm at my waist as the music swelled. Lanternlight flickered across his face, catching in the green of his eyes. For a moment, it was easy to forget anyone else existed.
“What do you think?” he asked as he looked around the festival and back to me.
“I love it. Thank you for bringing me.”
Abram’s eyes roamed over my face thoughtfully. I swallowed hard.
“You didn’t answer my question from earlier.”
His hands gripped me tighter like he was worried about my answer. But I smiled at him softly, and he relaxed.
“I’m not interested in anyone else.” I almost asked him if he was, but the words caught in my throat.
My gaze fell from his instinctively at the thought.
Yes, he was interested in someone else, his mate he’d never met.
My throat was tight as Abram pulled me against him so I could lay my head on his shoulder.
Nyxthra’s whispering began in the back of my mind, reminding me that I would never hold his attention.
Stop being a bitch, I hissed at her, but it only made her laugh.
“I’m not either,” he said softly.
“Except your mate,” I whispered, or maybe Nyxthra forced it out of me.
I felt Abram stiffen against me as we kept spinning around off beat to the music.
“El…”
“It’s fine,” I said. “Maybe I’ll find my mate too.” The words slipped out, and Abram pulled me back so he could look at me. His green eyes looked confused, but I hadn't said anything that wasn’t true.
“I’m going to find a drink.” I pulled away and left Abram standing in the street.
My chest felt too tight. I should’ve kept my mouth shut. But the truth of the matter was that his mate was looming over us. No matter what happened between us, it would never compare to her. He’d choose her simply because she existed.
You should leave him before he leaves you. Nyxthra commanded. You are too attached to him.
And the thought hurt way more than it should. I paused as fear trickled through me. Why did I feel devastated about it? Feelings that I did not want to acknowledge came bubbling up. I was determined not to feel them. My gaze moved toward a vendor up the street selling alcohol. Perfect.
This part of the festival was clearly different from where Abram and I had been. It was full of alcohol, no children, and the music that played was not dancing music.
I hurried over to the vendor and bought the largest cup available. My body stiffened when I felt Abram behind me, watching. I chugged the alcohol to chase away the truth of what was happening with me. I am not in love with Abram. The more the thought persisted the more I chugged.
Yes, you are, Nyxthra purred.
That’s why you started pestering me, I sneered.
I could've warned you but you kept me in the fucking dark. She snapped. You could've at least fallen in love with someone you had a chance with, like Nate.
“Can I buy you another?” The man from earlier in the street was next to me.
I hardly glanced at him as I drank. His dark eyes stared at me, but I ignored him. Abram was watching, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how I was going to deny what my heart already knew.
“She isn’t interested.” Abram’s voice came from closer behind me. “So get lost, and quit looking at my wife like that.”
Wife. Gods, he just told someone I was his wife. His hand reached around me and grabbed my half-drunk beer. Abram pulled the cup from me and drank the rest of it himself. The man looked at me then to Abram and walked away. I turned as Abram wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Is there a reason you look worried, weaver?” he asked.
But my heart tripped over itself when I looked up at him. The temperature had dropped significantly, making it so our breath was showing in the air. Snow fell slowly around us as Abram watched me.
“No, I just wanted a drink,” I lied.
Abram stepped forward until I felt the heat of him against the cold night. Suddenly, his mouth found mine, urgent and consuming, like he’d been waiting centuries. His tongue slid against mine as his hand tangled in my hair. My knees buckled, but his arm tightened around my waist, holding me up.
I tried to pull back, but Abram caught me by the back of the neck and kissed me deeper. I hummed against his mouth, fingers sliding from his chest up his throat and into his hair. Abram groaned low as I tugged him closer.
When he finally pulled back, his chest was heaving. His eyes glowed faintly red, wild and hungry.
“I think I’ve done a terrible job showing my wife how much she consumes me.” He cocked his head to the side, but I froze at the predator he had become. “Should I show you just how much I want to worship you, Elowyn Ashgrave?”
I glanced around at the crowd wondering why no one was reacting to his words. When my gaze moved back to him, he was smiling wickedly.
“Should we go home?” I asked, but his smile widened.
“Oh no, I think here is fine.”
My heart throbbed in my throat. Gods, Abram wanted an audience, and the thought did not scare me. He chuckled softly.
“My wife likes this more than I do.” He stepped closer. “You don't care if I let all of them watch us, but I do. No one gets to see you like this but me.” Another step forward.
I looked around. No one was reacting. No one even looked our way.
Abram’s smile turned wicked.
“They can’t see us.” I looked at Abram.
“No, my magic is not letting them. It’s you and me, Elowyn.”
Abram moved closer to me, but I stepped back until my back hit the wall of the tavern. He watched me intently as he came closer. His eyes were dark red now as they fell down the length of my body. When they met mine again, I was already breathing hard.
“Lift your dress up,” He commanded. I looked around at all the people drinking and laughing. “Now, Elowyn. Keep your attention on me.”
I turned back to him and grabbed my dress, lifting it up over my hips. Abram’s eyes didn’t leave mine for a long moment before he looked down and the breath he let out showed up in the air like a cloud in the cold.
I watched him as a million emotions flickered through his eyes. He took a confident step toward me, and I felt my heartbeat quicken.
“I’ve spent years fighting this pull to you Elowyn. Did you know that?” He tilted his head to the side.
“No.”
“Do you know what it feels like for a god to crave?” he whispered, stepping closer until I could feel the heat of him. “It corrodes. It burns through centuries of restraint.”
His thumb brushed the inside of my wrist, finding my pulse. “You’ve made me weak, Elowyn, and you don’t have to even try. You are my undoing, and I am helpless to stop it.” Abram leaned in, his words a confession and a curse all at once. “I don’t want to stop it.”
My breath hitched.
Fuck. His finger traced down the column of my neck, over my chest and down to my bare thigh.
“Abram…” My voice trembled.
“You’ve undone me, Elowyn. You’ve made a god fall.
But if this is damnation, I’ll take it, so long as it comes in the form of your hands on me.
” His eyes glimmered with something raw.
“You consume me, force me to beg just for you to look my way. Do you see what you’ve done to me?
” A dangerous smile curved his mouth. “You want to witness my surrender? Then watch me fall.”
His breath hitched as he sank to his knees before me, an offering of a man more powerful than anyone, undone, surrendering at my feet. His gaze darkened, heavy and intent, through his dark lashes.
I didn’t know what to say. My eyes stayed locked on him, kneeling in the falling snow, and I felt it, the exact moment my heart and mind finally synched. The moment I admitted that I had fallen in love with Abram.
Perhaps I had loved him longer than I dared admit, but now there was no denying it. My body thrummed with recognition, but it only made the chains of my curse tighten, whispering the truth I could no longer ignore—love, for me, would always come with consequence.
Abram reached for me, his hands sliding over my thighs.
“Let me worship you, Elowyn.”
I let out a shaky breath and nodded. He moved closer, lips tracing up one thigh before sliding to the other, as if mapping every inch of me. The knowledge that we were surrounded only made my heart pound faster. I didn’t care.
All that existed was Abram on his knees, as if I were the only woman he would ever want, ever need. I would take whatever he offered. His tongue glided over my bare skin, and I shivered, letting out a low, ragged sigh into the cold night.