Chapter 40
Adriel's POV
Istare from a distance, too afraid to move. The dull ache all over fades, telling me the curse really is gone. But I remain rooted to my spot.
What will Rami think of me now that I’ve killed someone? And someone he was friends with.
The look of devastation on Rami’s face twists my insides into knots.
He doesn’t move until the magic keeping Abraham alive this long fades, leaving a blackened spot on the ground.
The aether rumbles as Torgaz is released from their vessel. Rami jumps to his feet and runs behind me.
Smart man.
I can’t help but smile at him.
Circling my hands, I form a quick sigil and mumble an incantation to ask Mother Earth to send the demon back where he belongs. Thankfully, She agrees with me and sends his ass back to the underworld quickly.
I remain vigilant until I sense the aether return to normal. I turn to find Rami hugging his middle and shaking. Threading my fingers with him, hoping to calm his panic, a thrill runs through my body as I touch his flesh without pain.
Something snaps in me, finally feeling his flesh against mine, and I release him to cup his face and pull his lips to mine. It’s like the stars have burst behind my eyes. His lips are even softer than I remember. I sweep my tongue into his mouth, relishing in his taste.
When I pull back, his chest rises and falls dramatically. And those big blue eyes stare deep into mine.
“C-Can we go home?” I glance back at my little hut in the woods, and he chuckles. “My home. Well, my grandmother’s home.”
I nod. “I’d like that. And perhaps try out this contraption you call a shower,” I tease.
He chuckles beautifully. “Of course.”
With our hands threaded together, we walk to the boundary of my territory.
I hesitate. Staring at the invisible barrier that’s kept me in place for the past almost four hundred years.
Rami squeezes my hand in encouragement and steps over it.
I slide my foot forward. When no pain engulfs my body, I take another tentative step.
Each one is nearly enough to send me back to my house in fear.
But Rami’s steady presence gives me the strength I need to keep going.
I pause outside the boundary and stare back at my field of multi-colored Agastache and the quaint dwelling I called a home.
My past.
Rami tugs on my arm lightly, and I turn to see the beautiful man before me. His blonde hair is mussed and knotted, blue eyes red, cheeks tear-stained, and lips swollen.
My future.
The walk through the woods is quiet between us. I keep him tucked into my side as his adrenaline wanes until all that’s left is a shivering husk. He still has the wherewithal to lead us to a brick home backed against the trees.
My eyes widen, looking around at the majesty of these large homes. They’re so much sturdier in appearance than the log homes I remember. And larger.
I open my mouth to comment on his home until I see Rami’s sunken eyes and white pallor. Now is not the time.
Instead, I lift him into my arms and hold him tightly to my chest. He huffs lightly, as if he’s going to protest, but then buries his face into my neck.
Ludo rushes down from my shoulder and nuzzles his soft snout against Rami’s jawline.
All the tension in his body is released with his breath, and he nearly melts against me.
“You are safe, my sweet Rami,” I reassure him.
His only answer is a grateful hum, blowing his warm breath against my neck.
Walking up to the back entrance that Rami pointed out earlier, I lift my hand and rap my knuckles against it. A wide-eyed elderly woman opens the door and gasps loudly.
“Rami? What’s happened to him?” Her words rush out quickly, and it takes me a moment to collect what she said.
“He is safe and uninjured,” I say in an attempt to assuage her worry. “He is weakening after a stressful evening. My name is Adriel, would you be okay if I entered your dwelling?”
She blinks her owlish eyes and rakes them from my head to toe. “Adriel?” she says quietly. “His cursed witch in the woods?”
“Yes, madame.” Rami shivers in my arms. “I don’t mean to press, but I would really like to attend to Rami if that is acceptable.” My patience is running thin, but this isn’t my home. And I’m not na?ve enough to not recognize how imposing I can appear.
She nods quickly and moves out of the way in invitation. I dip my chin and enter through the doorway sideways so as not to crash Rami against it.
“A warm bath would do better, but I believe he needs you more. Unfortunately, our tubs were not intended for men of your stature.” She looks me over again. In this proximity, our height difference is amplified, with her only coming to my lower chest. “So I’d recommend a shower.”
I bob my head, following the woman through their home.
She leads me down a narrow hall to a room she calls a bathroom.
I don’t enter right away, unsure how any of these contraptions work.
She must sense my stress and puts me out of my misery by turning the water on and giving me a brief explanation on how to adjust the temperature.
“I’ll make some food, though I doubt he’ll eat much. The water heater is getting old, so it only stays warm for about thirty minutes. If it starts cooling without you adjusting it, I’d recommend finishing quickly before you end up with an icy shower.”
I nod as if I understand everything she’s saying. She disappears and closes the door after pointing out towels for drying and soap for washing.
“I have to put you down so I can divest our clothes.”
Rami nods against my neck, and I move quickly, heeding Grandma Julia’s warning. He steps into the shower first. When I step in behind him, he buries his face in my chest as he wraps his arms around my middle. My hands run all over his soft skin. I can easily see myself becoming obsessed with this.
If circumstances were different, this would be incredibly intimate. Here, in this tight space with him, the weight of my situation hits me like a boulder.
I’m free.
I’m no longer trapped. And now I’m capable of real contact. Flesh against flesh.
Okay, so I’m already obsessed with this.
Not wanting to push our luck with the hot water, I turn it off and dry Rami before myself. He shows me how to wrap the towel around my waist which is clever. Not sure how Grandma Julia will respond to me walking through her home exposed.
I follow Rami further down the hall to another room with a large bed in the center—his sleeping chamber. He digs around until he makes a pile of clothes on the bed.
“I’m not certain I have anything that’ll actually fit you,” he says, nibbling on his bottom lip. “These sweats are a little big on me.”
He tosses me the thin trousers and I slip them over my legs. His cheeks pink beautifully as he stares at me. I raise a brow curiously. Did I put them on wrong?
“They’re a bit…lewd.”
I glance down at the fairly tight trousers, realizing the impression of my cock stands out easily against the thin material.
He then tosses me a shirt, instructing me to put the buttons through the holes on the opposite sides. Supposedly it’s his largest shirt, though I doubt it’ll be much better than the trousers. Slipping my arms through the sleeves, I attempt to pull the two sides together over my chest.
“Are the two sides supposed to connect?”
Rami’s answering laugh releases all the pent-up stress from my shoulders. I’m across the room in two steps, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him to my chest. He moves until his chin rests on my chest, and he stares deep into my eyes.
“I love that sound.”
“Well, now we have all the time in the world to hear it more.”
“Do you mean that? Just because I’m free doesn’t mean you have to keep me at your side.” The last thing I want is to be his burden. Though if he doesn’t want me, I’m not certain my heart can handle the dismissal.
He squeezes me tighter. “Don’t be ridiculous. Last night when I said I was yours, I meant it. But it also means that you are mine.”
Leaning down, I press my lips to his in a hard kiss. His tongue invades my mouth and we practically crawl inside each other.
Definitely obsessed.
“I love you,” I mumble against his lips. Leaning my forehead against his, my eyes closed, afraid of his rejection.
“I love you too.”
It takes us longer than it probably should to finish getting dried and dressed since neither of us can keep our hands to ourselves. Rami eventually leads me back down the narrow path to where I entered his home.
Ludo is sitting on a small table, eating a piece of a strawberry.
“I hope you don’t mind. The little guy came running in while you two were changing. He doesn’t look like the field mice who sometimes sneak in during the winter and appears way too intelligent to be wild. So, I assumed he was yours?”
“Yes, madame. He’s my animal familiar and his name is Ludo.” At the confused pinch of her brows, I elaborate. “He’s bonded to me and aids my connection to the aether so I may use magic.”
Her head nods once in understanding. “Well, I hope strawberries are okay. I showed him a variety of stuff and this is what he gravitated toward.”
I dip my chin. “He loves the wild strawberries that grow in my field.”
She places two plates on the table and pulls Rami into a tight hug. Her hands touch him all over, verifying he’s in one piece. When her gaze settles on the cut at his neck, she grabs his chin to tilt his head. Worry fills her eyes.
I’m expecting her to yell at me or admonish Rami in some way, but she takes a deep, steadying breath. “Is everything over? You’re truly safe?”
His head bobs up and down. “Yes, ma’am. We are safe.”
Her eyes jump to mine before returning to Rami’s, and she pulls him into another hug. She holds out one of her arms, inviting me to join. I wrap the two of them into my much longer arms and sink into their joined embrace.
I’ve only just met Grandma Julia, but I already feel like I’m a part of a family. Something I haven’t been in for four hundred years. But something that excites me more than I could think.