CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CADI
Cadi watched the gentle rise and fall of Elias’s stomach, the smooth motion threatening to drag her into a deep, blissful sleep.
His fingers brushed over her skin, drawing soft lines against her back as she lay there in his arms, both unwilling and unable to move from his embrace.
Her limbs felt like they were filled with sand, completely weighed down and useless in the hazy afterglow.
She couldn’t say exactly why, but she felt …
different. For the first time in years, she felt a sense of peace without the lingering fear that it would be ripped away at any moment.
Maybe it was her decision to reclaim their power, or Elias’s breathless confession against her skin, but a gentle whisper somewhere deep inside her mind told her that she had found something with him that no god could ever destroy.
Cadi tilted her head to look up at him and found him already watching her. His eyes were heavy, like he was fighting off sleep just as hard as she was just for the chance to watch her for one more moment. Something she was more than okay with.
“Don’t you need to get to The Crow?” she asked, her voice soft in the quiet of the room.
Elias shook his head as he lifted a hand to brush a stray curl from her face. “Sera can handle it. I’m right where I need to be.”
A wide smile broke across her face, and she didn’t even try to contain the way it pulled at her cheeks until they hurt. She wanted him to see how happy he made her.
Shifting her body closer, she draped her arm over his chest and let out a low sigh when she felt his grip on her tighten in response.
He held her against him, locking her in place as if determined to keep her as near as possible now that they had found their way back to each other.
They lay there in the silence, a divine union of skin and breath and warmth, until a powerful rumble from Cadi’s stomach tore through the tranquility.
Every muscle stiffened and her eyes went wide as she slowly tipped her head to look at Elias. A snort of laughter pulled free at the shock etched across his face.
“Hungry?” he asked, the corners of his lips beginning to twitch.
Cadi nodded. “Turns out makeup sex works up one hell of an appetite.”
Elias breathed a laugh and ran his hand against her arm. “I’ll take that as a compliment. What sounds good? I’ll call it in.”
She lifted a shoulder in a lazy shrug, her body still in full protest against the idea of moving any more than absolutely necessary. “Thinking is hard, you pick. I’m good with anything.”
“I’ll get us a pizza,” he said, beginning to stand up. She grumbled and pulled him back down with a petulant scowl. If she wasn’t moving, he couldn’t either.
He crooked an eyebrow and settled back against the pillows.
“Tacos?”
She shook her head against his chest.
“How about noodles from that spot you love?”
She turned to look at him with a crinkled nose. Her head rose with the slow, painfully controlled breath that Elias drew in a clear attempt to contain his frustration with her indecision as another low rumble vibrated between them.
“Love, your stomach sounds like it’s about to eat itself.”
Cadi pushed out her lips and slowly walked her fingers across his chest as she pretended to mull things over.
Truth be told, she had made up her mind after his second suggestion, but something about the security she felt with him provoked an unfettered urge to be a complete nuisance.
A smirk curved her lips, her eyes twinkling.
“Pizza sounds great,” she muttered.
Elias shook his head, but his irritation was severely deadened by the glow of affection that shone through his stare. “Of course it does.”
He gently disentangled himself from her hold, scooted himself to the edge of the bed, and tugged on a pair of sweats before disappearing down the hall. Cadi rolled onto her back, chewing her lower lip as she shamelessly appreciated the way his body moved while he walked away from her.
After a moment, she shook her head to clear the new flood of scandalous thoughts from her mind and lifted a hand to assess the impact of their reunion on her hair. She cringed at the way her curls seemed to have taken on a life of their own, no doubt making her look like some sort of insane poodle.
Her arms flopped against the comforter as she let out a long sigh.
She still didn’t love the idea of moving, but with Elias no longer in the bed next to her, the incentive to stay had decreased significantly.
So, she rolled her body to the edge of the mattress before hopping up to scurry to the bathroom in a race against gravity.
A few minutes later, she ducked into Elias’s closet to snag one of his recently worn hoodies from the laundry basket.
She nestled into the fleece, breathing deep when the collar bunched around her nose.
A soft smile found its way to her lips at the reclamation of another piece of him, his smell once again making her feel joy instead of the twisted fear that had nearly shattered her.
Padding down the hall in her bare feet, she found Elias leaning back against the granite counter with his phone held to his ear as he rattled off their order.
Cadi shuffled forward and wound her arms around his middle, resting her cheek against the warm skin of his chest. His free arm shifted to drape across her shoulders, and she shimmied deeper into his touch as the low timbre of his voice reverberated through her when he spoke.
This was all she wanted, all she truly needed, and it was finally hers again.
If only they could stay just like this for the next few days and emerge on the other side completely free, with Oneirios and the Order behind them, and nothing but their future together ahead.
“Perfect, thanks,” he said as he ended the call and tossed his phone onto the counter with a thunk, wrapping his other arm around her. “They said thirty minutes.”
His lips pressed to her hair, and she couldn’t stop herself from imagining all the creative ways they could pass the time. A pleasant tightness returned to the lowest part of her belly at the memory of Elias’s mouth on her in that very room and the way he’d nearly made her black out.
She shifted in his arms to peer around him at the dining room. “We should probably clean the table before it gets here …”
Elias twisted to follow her gaze. “Can’t imagine why,” he said with a sly grin, “It was perfectly fine the last time I ate there.”
Cadi landed a playful punch against his arm. “You’re gross.”
He chuckled and caught her wrist, then lifted it to his mouth and brushed his lips over the delicate skin.
“Maybe so,” he murmured against her, the devotion in his eyes making her pulse tick up. “But you love me.”
The faint scratch of his stubble was rough against her skin as she traced a finger against his jaw. She loved him. This man in front of her, holding her close, looking at her like she was the only thing in the entire world that mattered.
She loved him.
And he loved her. The thought alone was enough to make her chest swell with a pressure so intense she thought she might split open.
“I guess I do,” she whispered with a soft smile. “In spite of my better judgement.”
A spirited glint flashed in his eyes, and her squeal split the peace of the moment when he leaned forward to land a playful smack against her ass.
They settled onto the sofa with her legs draped over his lap, and filled the time with laughter, kisses, and simple conversation until the buzz of Elias’s phone against the coffee table yanked them back to reality.
Cadi gripped his shoulders when he tried to pull away to reach for the bothersome device.
“Don’t you dare,” she muttered as she tugged him back down.
He huffed a laugh against her mouth. “I have to get the food, love. And I need a shirt so I don’t make the delivery guy uncomfortable.”
“Fuck the food and your shirt. I like you better shirtless,” she said, claiming his mouth with another kiss. He gripped her arm and let his lips linger against hers for another blissful moment before he pulled away again, laughing when she leaned forward in pursuit.
“I’ll be right back,” he said as he placed a quick peck to her cheek and slipped from her hold. Cadi flopped back on the couch, her eyes tracking his movements when he reappeared from the bedroom and crossed to the front door.
Fully dressed, much to her disappointment.
As soon as the door clicked shut, Cadi hopped up to wipe down the table, more for her own comfort than anything else. Tasting herself had been hot earlier, but it wasn’t a flavor she had any interest in trying on her pizza.
It wasn’t until Elias got back with dinner that she realized just how hungry she’d actually been and quickly claimed half of the pizza, putting it away so fast she was pretty sure she scared him a little.
Once the last bite of food was gone, Cadi tried and failed to stifle a wide yawn while she dried her hands on the soft kitchen towel, the last of their dishes scrubbed and drying in the rack next to the sink.
Exhaustion from the day was quickly winning out, and she could barely keep her eyes open as she stepped around the counter to where Elias stood watching her, finishing his drink.
She pushed up onto her toes to place a sleepy kiss against his cheek as she passed.
“I might die if I try to stay awake any longer,” she said.
He smiled down at her and lightly squeezed her hip before he tossed his chin toward the hall. “You go ahead, I’ll be right in.”
She nodded and gave him a tired smile, then turned to shuffle back to the bedroom and the growing pull of sleep.
The sheets were still warm from their bodies as she nestled deep beneath the comforter, letting out a slightly embarrassing groan of pleasure at the way the smooth fabric engulfed her.
Her limbs began to slacken, each breath growing deeper as they shifted into the slow cadence of slumber, until Elias’s stern voice sliced through the silence.
“ARCADIA KISMET!”
Adrenaline spiked in Cadi’s veins, sending a sharp tingle over her skin as she sat bolt upright. It was incredible the way the disapproval in his tone managed to awaken a long-dormant reflex shaped by years of her mother only using her full name when she was in serious trouble.
“What did I do?” she called back, her voice uncharacteristically timid.
In place of an answer, Elias appeared at the door with a look of reprimand darkening his features.
He held up his hand, and the soft light of the hall glinted against the golden surface of the tiny object clutched between his fingers.
Cadi winced, looked down at her naked finger, and muttered a colorful curse under her breath.
“I found this on the edge of the sink, practically begging to be knocked down the drain,” he chided.
Cadi groaned, tipping her head back in frustration.
It was bad enough that she had, once again, managed to forget the delicate barrier that protected her from Oneirios’s nasty new habit of controlling people through their dreams, but the look of disappointment on Elias’s face was more than she could bear.
“This is exactly why I hate rings,” she said, her shoulders slumping forward. “I always manage to forget them somewhere.”
Elias sighed, and the harshness of his expression began to soften as he stepped further into the room to step around the bed and lower himself down beside her.
“That was before,” he said, his voice full of gentle reassurance as he took her hand. “Now you have me to remind you.” He slipped the ring onto her pinkie, letting his thumb graze the band where it met her skin. “Don’t forget your ring, love.”
The flutter in her chest surged in response, and her eyes slipped closed when Elias leaned forward to place a kiss to her forehead.
“Thank you for rescuing it,” she murmured, her voice once again growing thick with drowsiness as she leaned back onto the pillows. She kept her eyes open as long as she could, wanting to memorize the way he looked smiling at her from the doorway, until sleep finally took her.