Chapter 37
thirty-seven
THREE WEEKS LATER
Vade stood behind Orelia with his arms wrapped around her. “Do you like it?”
Dwarves hoisted a signboard up the ladders and attached the chains to their hooks. The afternoon sun shined on the sign’s fresh white paint as it swung above the main entrance.
Orelia beamed. “I love it.”
Swirling black letters next to an intricately painted violet flower marked the name of the establishment.
The Plumrose.
Convincing Beron to sell her the brothel had been easy once he’d laid eyes on the coin Vade offered him. The man had snatched up the three purses, packed his belongings, and set out for Raffk in an attempt to start a new brothel in the town where his brother lived.
Orelia had been all too happy to watch him go and the girls had been just as grateful for his departure.
Rae’s curtness with her disappeared once she realized Orelia had zero plans to let the pleasure girls go.
Instead, Rae became the one running The Plumrose during the day, using her knack for not taking any shit to establish more professionalism in the witch’s new venture.
Orelia told Vade she wasn’t naive enough to think sex would ever stop selling, but she would not accept that there would not be consequences for men who hurt women.
Vade and Orelia ran the brothel at night and new rules were quickly put into place.
If anyone harmed her girls, Vade dealt with them.
It took less than a week for the patrons to understand the fae didn’t take any shit either, and word quickly spread that to hurt a Plumrose girl was to invite your own death.
While Orelia handled the redecoration of the brothel to make it light and airy instead of dull and drab, Vade prowled the halls, sometimes with his wings out at rest. The men who saw him understood what would happen if they stepped out of line, and the girls now enjoyed coming to work.
Not just because they were safe, but because they had Vade to look at.
Orelia didn’t mind. She understood, and the girls were smart enough not to make a move on him, though Teegan had begged Orelia to go back out in the woods and come back with a fae for her.
With Vade’s money that he insisted belonged to them both, Orelia paid the girls who no longer wanted to work in the brothel enough to live comfortably for a few years before they’d need to find other employment.
On the night Vade told her his idea to buy the brothel so she could protect her friends, Orelia had tackled him onto the bed, making him call out her name as she rode him into pleasurable oblivion.
After they emerged from the bedroom long enough to handle the purchasing of the brothel, a message had come from Elshar.
Orelia had written to him in secret, saying she would love for him and his wife to visit, and less than a week later, the couple showed up on their doorstep.
Vade had been elated to see his friend, though he tried to hide it through a rough greeting of slapping Elshar on the back; Orelia knew him well enough to understand the glee in his eyes.
But it was Miriam who gave the warmest greeting after Elshar had wrapped Orelia in a tight hug, lifting her off the ground.
She was the most muscled woman Orelia had ever seen and the same height as Elshar.
A half-batalin, half-druid with the warmest smile and shiniest black hair like that of a raven.
She had hugged Orelia like they were childhood friends and offered to cook every meal for the few days they stayed. Fascinated by druids, Orelia had asked Miriam an endless array of questions, wondering how healing animals was different from her ability to heal people.
Polly had instantly taken to Miriam as well. The lynx left Morton’s shop long enough to visit the house, and Orelia was convinced she was going to follow the pair home with how closely she stuck to the woman’s side.
The four of them spent many nights sitting on the back porch, talking until the sun set.
On more than one occasion, the men overindulged in their ales and ended up wrestling in the yard, as men loved to do when they were drunk.
Elshar was right. When Vade was drunk enough, his Points accent came out.
The two laughed as they tussled, trying to strong-arm each other.
Orelia would heal their cuts and scrapes when they got too rough, then they’d run right back to the yard and tackle each other to the ground, laughing and cursing as they tried again to see who was the strongest.
“Children,” Miriam had said as she sipped her honey ale, smirking. When Orelia had reached for a mug for herself, Miriam stopped her with a gentle hand.
The woman had smiled, then looked at her stomach. “You might want to make a visit to your wizard before you indulge in one of these.”
Teegan and her son had joined them at the house that night, and while Vade and Elshar continued to roughhouse, the three women spoke of Orelia’s possible condition. The next day, the three women went to Morton’s apothecary while the men replaced a few rotted beams on the house.
Morton used a revealing spell to show Orelia her blessing. Even though it had only been a few weeks, Morton was able to tell her many details that had her heart swelling with gratitude. The apothecary became a warm embrace of congratulations and love at the news.
Standing outside the brothel a few days later, with Elshar and Miriam having gone back to Dallton, Orelia pondered how and when she was going to tell Vade. She stood in his embrace looking up at the sign he had commissioned for her.
Orelia twisted in his arms and kissed his cheek. “The sign is perfect. Thank you.”
Back in the garden behind their house, Orelia watered the tomato plants that had sprouted generously-sized fruits since her return. A full bucket of potatoes sat next to her plumrose bushes that had favored well in the warm weather.
With Rae running the brothel during the day, it left Orelia plenty of time to follow her true passion. Her garden.
Everything in the garden was healthy and thriving and she picked a few more ripe tomatoes to add to the stack she’d be selling at market. She’d recently purchased a cart and couldn’t stop jabbering about how excited she was to attend her first market.
Vade hammered away at the new bed frame he’d been working on for two days.
Their claiming had started sweet, then quickly turned pleasurably rough, and they’d broken the frame in the process.
Content with just a mattress on the ground, Orelia hadn’t complained, but Vade insisted on building them a bigger, better frame.
One that could withstand their rigorous activities.
Orelia stood barefoot in a jade shift dress that stopped just above her knees.
The fabric hung loose off her body but showed off her toned legs and the dip in the front revealed more of her chest than she’d ever showed in her previous years in Minro.
Since their return, she’d drifted to more revealing outfits, enjoying her newfound femininity.
Her skin had turned even more golden in the time she’d spent working in the garden, but it was Vade’s skin she was focused on.
Orelia twirled her auburn hair around her finger as she watched his bronze muscles move with ease as he swung the axe over and over against the lumber he’d bought.
Most days, he forewent a shirt and wore only his pants and boots. Orelia didn’t complain. She ogled him, tugging on her bottom lip with her teeth as she watched his sweaty, chiseled body work.
Vade panted and tossed one of the split pieces of wood aside. His hair hung in a loose knot at the base of his neck, a few strands falling free around his face. Her favorite look.
When his eyes met hers, he gave her a devilish grin. “Stop gawking, witch.”
“I can’t when you look that good. It’s not my fault I have the most handsome man in all of Nivinia.”
Vade dropped the axe and prowled toward her. He wrapped his sweaty arms around her waist. “I am, aren’t I?”
She shoved his shoulder. “You’re supposed to say, ‘and I have the most beautiful woman in all the world.’”
“Well, that’s a given.” He pressed his mouth to hers, lingering a while before deepening the kiss. Orelia dropped her bucket of tomatoes and wrapped her arms around his neck.
His hands slid down her back and she squealed when he grabbed her ass. “I need to hurry up and finish this bed frame so we can break it in properly.” Vade grinned down at her.
Orelia stepped back and her hand fell to her navel. She’d been bracing to tell him, unsure of how he was going to react, but he loved her, and she trusted it would be enough.
With only slight hesitation, Orelia locked her eyes on his. “Maybe you can make another frame while you’re at it. One a bit . . . smaller.”
His brows pulled together.
She grabbed his hand and put his palm on her stomach. “You’re going to be a father.”
Vade’s eyes blew wide and she swore he wasn’t breathing.
Her eyes bounced between his, anxiously awaiting his response.
He hadn’t explicitly said he wanted to start a family with her, but she knew his protective nature would make him a good father should the situation arise.
They hadn’t been trying to have a child, it had just .
. .happened. When he didn’t move or say anything, her heart began racing.
“A baby?” he finally whispered. He’d been taking the elixirs since the cabin in Ravere, but sometimes these things happened.
She nodded. “I had Morton confirm it for me. I’m only a few weeks along, but it’s a boy.” She rubbed her stomach, unable to contain her smile. “I can feel him, like he’s already a part of me. Like I already know him.”
Vade’s mouth hung open as he stared at their joined hands on her stomach.
“And he has wings.”
Onyx eyes snapped to hers. “He’s fae?”
Another nod.
A smile erupted across his face, hands flying to his hair. “A boy? A fae?”
Orelia giggled at his reaction. “Just like you.”
“Oh, gods,” Vade’s eyes darted everywhere. “I need to make a crib, and a bassinet, and a bed. I wonder how much wood that will take.” He began pacing. “And he’s going to need plenty of blankets and toys. Does someone here make toys?”
Before she could answer, he continued. “And he’ll need his own set of knives when he’s old enough. I can teach him how to sword fight, and how to wield whatever power he ends up having, and how to fly.”
He stopped walking and his face lit up. “I can teach him how to fly.”
Orelia couldn’t stop smiling. She approached him and cupped his cheek, her other hand still resting on her stomach. “We can be the kind of family you never had and the kind I always wanted. The three of us. Together.”
His eyes watered. Vade pulled her into a hug, snaking his hand into her hair. “I don’t deserve you.”
She leaned back, looking at him with the utmost sincerity. “Yes, you do. You deserve everything.”
Vade’s wings snapped out. He held her tight and shot into the sky. Orelia buried her head in his neck as the wind whipped around them until they crested the clouds.
Vade hovered, wings flapping slowly. The pink and purple clouds were tinged with yellow as the sun began its descent. He held her close, and her thighs were wrapped firmly around his waist.
“You know, I brought you up here after the incident with the Freebeasts for two reasons,” Vade said. “One being you were going into shock.”
The memory seemed like a lifetime ago, but she recalled how close they’d been when he’d held her then. How she’d noticed features she hadn’t before and how she’d felt the first true rush of attraction she’d spent weeks trying to deny.
“And two, because this is the only place that’s ever brought me peace. Up here in the quiet, I could get away from everything. My horrible childhood, what I did for work, the feelings I was fighting for you.”
She played with a strand of his hair. “You came up here to deal with me?”
He nodded. “The night of the card game I came up here and screamed as loud as I could. I wanted you so badly, but I didn’t want you to want me back.
I didn’t want to curse you with a life alongside someone like me.
So, I bottled the feelings that had been growing for you and released all my anger out here.
” He chuckled. “I’m surprised I didn’t cause a damn storm with how much yelling I did. ”
She looked deep into his eyes, seeing a flash of pain from the memory, but then they were overflowing with love.
“All this time, I thought it was you who needed to view the world as I did. But now I know it was I who needed to see as you do. You just had to stay exactly who you are, and I was the one that needed to change.”
Grateful tears began to build.
“You bring me peace, Orelia. And now you’ve given me a son. I—” He choked on his words. “You gave me a home. A place to belong. Someone to love. You gave me everything, and I will spend the rest of my life giving you whatever you need and being everything you need, for all you’ve done for me.”
Orelia smiled at him adoringly. “And I will love you, our child, and any others we may have with everything I am. There will never be a day that goes by where I let you feel unwanted, Vade. I wasn’t lying when I said I was going to smother you with my love.”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
Their lips joined, and it wasn’t long before their touches became more than need, more than desire. They became passion, love, and hope for a beautiful future together.
Vade made love to her in the sky, in the place that had always brought him peace, where darkness willingly bowed to the light.
A light bright enough to revive even the blackest heart.