Chapter 15 #2
I knew this. Mary was his watcher. Over the years, I learnt to keep certain things from her unless I wanted them to get back to the Melek.
Some things, I told her so they would get back to him.
She was the only person in the house who had a phone with a direct line to the commander.
Not even I was given that privilege. I was always classified as a flight risk. Nothing has changed there.
Leveraging the bed, I push to a sitting position. My husband quickly moves to fluff the pillows behind my back. I let him fuss, unwilling to handle his lectures or punishments.
“So what’s the plan here, Melek? Are you just going to bring us on these outings every year, with a baby in tow?
” At my brash words, he runs his hand over his swiftly growing beard.
The scratching sound it makes sends jolts of static through me.
I can’t take my eyes from his bronzed skin, his capable fingers moving upwards to push his curling hair behind his ear.
I want to pull his hair as he pushes his hard cock deep inside me.
Fuck, how can a simple gesture turn into an aphrodisiac?
I can never stay angry at this man. He’s so irritating.
He’s one of them. A hollow. One of the Halo-ruling class. The ones who enforce the harsh reality I once resided in. Yet, he’s never physically hurt me. He caters to my needs above his own, and there’s no one else I would give unwavering responsibility to my—our—children.
Staying lying down, his hand goes back to absentmindedly rubbing my bump as he looks up at the ceiling, working the calculations out in his head. Hello. Yes, there’s a baby in this rounded stomach. It’s not just for show.
“It shouldn’t be necessary to undertake any of these tours in the future.
Adam will take over that part of my job.
” Right. The fae who is planning on helping us escape if we can get out of this stupid tour and I can find the information in Melek’s office that will help the fae.
If Melek only knew who Adam was. He would be livid.
No one would be safe from his wrath, potentially not even me.
All hollows hate the fae.
“Okay.” The fight leaves my body. Considering leaving Melek is more complicated than I ever thought it would be. It used to be easy, in the earlier days, without children in tow, when things were different. Now… Now, unsettlingly, my chest is somewhat involved.
And, Sunny…he loves his father fervently. How am I going to get him out of the house without Melek knowing?
A silver chain with a heart-shaped locket at the end, sitting tucked away back home in my vanity, reminds me that I can.
Nix and Mam would want me to keep going.
Fight. No matter my feelings towards Melek, nothing beats my need to protect my children from the evil that is Halo.
I will find the utopia Nix told me of if it’s the last thing I do.
The Storm of years gone wasn’t made to be kept.
Tiny feet push within my stomach. Moving back at the disturbance, I rest my head against the wall behind the bed, helping the bronzed fingers lingering on my bump find the squirming toes within.
Eyes wide and mouth parted in awe, he says, “I think this one is going to give us trouble.”
“How so? She barely moves.” I roll the gold band on my left hand, unaware of the can of worms I just opened until I feel the burn of intense, unwavering steel.
I realise my mistake. Shit.
“She?” he questions.
“It’s just a hunch. She feels like a she.” I shrug so he understands how easily I could be wrong. It’s just a suspicion. Nothing more. Another boy would’ve been prosperous for Halo, a true blessing. A girl? She’ll get married off and bred. No daughter of mine will ever have my fate.
“And do you have a name for this girl?” The last question I expect from him is that.
My eyebrows have no doubt blended into my hairline. “That’s your job.”
Clouds, thick and imposing, form around the blacks of Melek’s inner irises. Grabbing my fiddling hands, he shuffles closer to where I sit at the head of the bed, leaving mere inches between us. “We can make some decisions together, Storm.”
There goes that insufferable organ in my chest.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. It quickens the closer he draws towards me.
His use of my name. Again.
Why? Why does he keep trying to break me? That annoyingly frustrating ball enters my throat, and I croak, “Stop calling me that.”
“What am I calling you?”
“You’re calling me by the name you refused to call me for twelve fucking years.” My anger seeps through. I can’t help it around him. My solence simmers.
Taking my chin harshly in his palm, he guides my nose to his, almost touching. “I will call my wife whatever I like.” His hot breath skims my jaw. I forget to breathe. “I will admit one truth to you.”
“What?” My breath releases in a soft glide over his stubbled cheek.
“Storm has always suited you much better than Alora ever did.” The organ in my chest thunders out of cadence at his declaration, my eyes stuck on black dancing forms in his swirling galaxies.
“You are my Storm. You tore into my life when I had no intentions of ever remarrying, and when I saw the fight in your eyes, I knew no one else could have you.” My heart suddenly stops beating.
This is how I die. “Every day since I first met you, you have blown right through my fucking soul, and I have no idea how to pick up the shards anymore.”
Speechless.
Did the commander of the Halo Army just admit he has feelings for me? Or am I having some weird pregnancy dream again, and I still haven’t woken from fainting in the fields?
His thumb runs along my cheek. I shudder under his touch.
“Melek…” His name is all I can manage. It’s too much.
Beyond overwhelming. He can’t have feelings for me.
I’m leaving, and I’m taking his children with me—my children.
Our children. Falling for a hollow is the worst kind of blasphemy.
My whole life, I’ve hated these elitist magicless pricks who think solence somehow matters beyond basic humanity.
That a simple shift of one’s makeup somehow makes it okay to rate people on a scale of cattle to chosen ones.
“You didn’t answer my question, wife,” he says with firmness, grounding me back to him. I mould further into his stroking touch.
“What?” One word is all I can manage.
“What do you want to name her?” I don’t even need to think about it. I already know. Whether she was a boy or a girl, I was naming her after him. The brother I lost. My phoenix, rising from the ashes. The one who clung on.
“Phoenix.” My voice is but a breath of years of pent-up uncertainty. Melek rubs his nose against mine.
“Okay,” he rumbles before claiming my mouth. I take that as affirmation of his acceptance of my choice as his lips slide over mine, my tongue swiping to let him in. I greedily take, letting him enter, giving myself permission to sink.
Bending my spine to feel his muscled chest pressed against my peaked nipples, I can’t help the soft, luring noise that escapes my lips.
Pushing back, he chuckles. “As much as I want to continue this, we’ve got a friend tonight.
” Falling back, I close my eyes, remembering the boy now drawing at the table across the room, thankfully facing away from us.
“But once he’s asleep, all bets are off, my Storm.
We will be taking full advantage of that en suite. ”
Knuckles graze my underwear, and my hands go to push at my dress. When did he put his hand up my dress? “Yes.”
“Good answer, wife. Now, let’s have dinner so I can get to eating my dessert.” Tickling my ear, he adds, “I won’t be wasting a drop.”