Second Chances #2
I sniffled and wiped an eye as the pieces started to come together.
“There are things I have to do so we can have that future.”
I nodded, still not understanding what he meant, but I knew why he felt he needed to do it.
“I want forever with you too,” I whispered. Frantically memorizing every detail of his painfully handsome face. “I want…I want to be bound to you.”
His stormy eyes flicked between mine, searching for any sign of hesitation or doubt. “Reyva. That is no small thing.”
“I know. I’ve spent months thinking about it. I was scared then. I’m not scared now.” I bit my lip and smiled through my tears. “I’ve never been more sure.”
“Reyva.” His hand traced my face and his tone carried measured hesitation.
“I’m sure,” I repeated, silencing him. “I want forever, too.”
We collided, melting into each other like two burning candles.
“Take off my clothes,” I whispered into his mouth, not wanting to wait another second to feel him inside of me.
His fingertips set to work undoing the excessive amount of buttons on my nightgown.
I let out a satisfied exhale as he kissed each new inch of exposed skin. The cold basement air washed over my naked body.
His eyes followed his hand as it traveled from my knee, to my thigh, across my navel, and up between my breasts until it met my chin. I imagined the color of his traces drawn across my skin and relished in the idea of being marked by him.
I moaned as his lips roamed over a peaked nipple and his hand descended to the wet center of me.
He growled in satisfaction at what he found there.
Piece by piece, he explored and claimed me until I thought I was going to shatter from the torturous pleasure.
I tried to pull at his shirt, to reach for his hardness to return the favor.
“Oh, lovely. I’m plenty ready,” he assured me. “Besides, you’re still healing. Best you let me do all the work.”
I practically begged for him by the time he finally undressed and placed his hips over mine.
I was ready for the press, to be filled by him. But he paused and looked deep into my eyes as if he wanted to memorize the constellations of colors within them.
“I love you, Dommik,” I whispered. “I choose you and I love you.”
Dommik’s lips crashed into mine with the declaration and, at long last, he curled his hips into mine. His length slid effortlessly and I gasped at the depth of him.
“Reyva.” He pulled away and thrust again. “I don’t just love you.”
I couldn’t help moving with his rhythm, like it was a song our bodies had always known. He burrowed deep into me again as he said, “You consume me.”
Our lips crashed together. His words fell against my parted, panting lips. “You’ve ruined me. I am wholly yours. Today, tomorrow, infinitely.”
What he said next made me still beneath him. “I, Dommik Thorne, offer my shadow to you.”
My eyes went wide at the familiar script.
“As an extension of myself and my immortal existence among this mortal plane,” he continued, never ceasing in his pursuit of my pleasure.
I gasped as his length caressed the sensitive parts of me and he carried on, “This is both a precious gift and an unbreakable promise.”
More than the sensations building in my core was a pull, a powerful connection. “That I’ll honor and protect your life until your mortality ends. And be here to support and guide you when your immortal life begins.”
I couldn’t remember what the priestess Orla had said there in the ballroom before Vaspar slayed her.
She’d only recited one line. But what was swirling between us didn’t require a script or an audience.
It didn’t need decadent decor or luxurious excess.
It wasn’t a ring. It wasn’t traditional.
It was deeply personal and undeniably powerful.
Tears filled my eyes as I whispered to him in the intimate privacy of that basement, “I accept.”
Blurred darkness swirled between us as we reached our threshold together, shattering entirely amongst the hanging words of our promises to each other and the bond we’d forged together.
I dreaded the next evening. I was well enough to travel and we couldn’t stay holed up at the Day Guard barracks forever. Dommik was right, Eryx would return and it wasn’t safe to linger.
Cova held me steady as we ascended the stairs and exited the barracks. A row of waiting mounts were being saddled and readied.
Shaw was whispering something into Alba’s loose golden hair. Gorvin was already mounted; his horse shuffled in place, sharing his impatience.
And finally, I saw Dommik’s broad, leathered back to me and an avalanche of feelings overcame me.
My feet might as well have been anvils as I approached him. Fear roiled in my gut at the prospect of this goodbye.
Could this really be it? The end of us?
He turned, Asher’s reins in hand, and smiled at me. I strained to smile back. The weight of my words made my lips heavy. And he could see it. His brow furrowed and he pulled me into a silent hug.
“Hello, lovely,” he said softly.
“Deviant.” I stifled a sob into his leathers. “I hate this.”
“Trust me, I do too,” Dommik mumbled into my hair before kissing the top of my head.
We’d talked while the others had rested.
About our future plans and what it would take to get there.
Of the three abandoned Hives, the Western Hive was the most plausible for settlement.
It was also the second closest to Illica.
Dommik would lead the Southern Hive survivors there to settle and fortify the Hive.
I would return to Illica with Cova and Lydia for the time being, allowing me to reconnect with my sister and bond with my daughter. Our shared magic might be needed in the future and we’d proven we were capable of protecting ourselves if needed, but we were stronger together.
Our time apart will be a short chapter of our life together, Dommik had assured me.
Eventually, we would settle together at his family’s estate. It needed enough work to keep us both busy for our immortal lifetime. It didn’t take my gift of sight to imagine how grand the home would be once we fixed it up again.
Tears welled at the thought of our happy future. It felt possible, but fragile and distant.
“I’ll come for you.” Dommik pushed a handful of my untamed dark hair behind my ear and cradled my cheek. “There’s work to be done. But I’ll see it done and then I will come for you.”
Asher chuffed at his master.
“And you, friend.” Dommik rubbed a hand down Asher’s gray muzzle before handing me the reins to his mount.
I dropped them immediately when he took me in his arms and kissed me. Deep. Claiming. The kind of kiss that would linger on my lips for days. And I returned his press. I wanted him to feel me too. To never forget this feeling or his promises.
Then, I made him a promise of my own. “I’ll wait for you. As long as it takes.”
The Day Guard was split. Some chose to follow Dommik and continue their adventure of dangerous but rewarding employment with the vampires. But Shaw volunteered to escort my family back to Illica.
It was a two day journey. We rode, made camp, slept, broke down camp, and rode again with no hiccups or distractions. Conversations were light and it was an often occurrence that we would all fall into a long, comfortable silence.
I would wake crying in the night beside my sister on our bedrolls.
My body ached with an indescribable pain.
Dommik was gone. Miles away and he’d taken a piece of me with him.
My core was replaced with a depthless sorrow that only he could quell.
Cova did her best to console me and tell me everything was going to be okay.
When that did nothing to appease my despair, she just held me, resigned that there was nothing more she could do but just be there for me.
When Illica’s flags emerged from behind the final hill of our journey, a dark pit of regret took up residence where my beating heart should be.
I looked to the sky, my hood falling and letting my hair loose into the winter wind.
“This is as far as we go,” Shaw said, turning his mount back toward the road north.
“We?” I said, my gaze shifting to Alba. I didn’t know if I could survive another painful goodbye.
She nodded. Her lips pressed into a thin line and she fought back the welling tears. “There’s no place for us here.”
A few other survivors split from the group bound for Illica. Less than half would continue beyond the human realm gates.
“Where will you go?” I asked.
“It’s best we don’t say,” Shaw cautioned, but Alba trusted me more than her suitor did.
She wasn’t my chambermaid any longer. She was my friend. My dearest friend. “There’s a community in the wilds.”
Lydia sat up straighter, piqued by the possibility of people living outside of the safety of Illica’s gates. Although we all knew being behind the royal gates didn’t always mean you were safe or protected.
I dismounted Asher and Alba did the same. We moved to each other, arms wide, and crashed into a consuming embrace.
“Be safe, my friend,” I breathed into her golden hair.
“You too, Reyva.”