Chapter 34
SORROW
This mysterious ‘third’ family. If they exist, then I shudder to think how they’re being trained. Perhaps they pass the knowledge from generation to generation. The thought sends shivers down my rickety old spine.
— MRS GLESNI GRACE, ADVICE FOR MENTORS: THIRD EDITION
Guilt writhed through my veins, splitting and biting my conscience as Matthias sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands.
I lit another candle, silently grateful that it wouldn’t be enough to illuminate his expression.
‘Well,’ I said, brushing down my dress. ‘We certainly have a knack for holding memorable weddings, don’t we?’
I couldn’t be certain if it was my weak eyes or if an injured smile curled the corner of his pale lips.
My fingers twitched as he shook his head.
It was our wedding night and I wanted nothing more than to tousle those soft locks.
Instead, I brushed the skirts again, my heart twisting.
Matthias dropped his hands, tilting his head.
‘You knew.’ His voice cracked as his eyes met mine. ‘How long have you known the God of Vengeance walks beside us?’ He snorted. ‘Apparently, drinking us dry.’
My hands cupped his jaw. His hands twitched before settling on my waist.
‘Not long. I thought… At first, I thought he was a Deviant. I’m struggling to balance the two gifts.’ Matthias pulled me to his lap, one hand brushing down my cheek as his eyes scoured my face. I gripped his hand and shook my head. ‘I’m a liability. But there’s more…’
His eyes widened. ‘Don’t tell me. You’re Evella and the wolf’s Ronin.’
My laugh was fleeting. ‘Not quite. But the wolf…’ I glanced over to the spot by the fire where he should be sprawled out. He’d decided to wander off after Matthias took my hand. ‘I’ve never truly understood how he survived.’
His knuckles raked down my cheek, igniting a torturous path of flame.
‘So, apart from dealing with the empress, the fact that I’ve lost my throne, my mother…
’ His voice shattered. ‘My brother, my people hate me and the God of Vengeance has returned.’ He sighed as his thumb traced my jawline and I inched closer.
‘What else are we adding to this pile, love?’
Softly, I traced his brow, lingering by his hooded eyes.
Gods, every time I tried to sift through the layers of Vyrus’s confession, I muddied the truth.
Speaking it out loud, saying it, making the implausible a reality?
Then a warm glint of patience lit up his eyes.
He’d wait till the world crumbled to ash to give me time to gather my thoughts.
I inhaled a sharp breath as his hand slipped behind my neck.
‘Well.’ I straightened. He was my tether and I sorted through the right words. ‘You know how I’m a Villente?’ He inclined his chin. ‘And we all know the old legend, how Evella blessed Chastity’s line in thanks for banishing Vyrus?’
I reached up, losing my fingers within his silken locks.
‘Turns out she did tussle with Vyrus, but exactly how wasn’t recorded. He fathered a child with her… with Chastity.’
The way Matthias’s eyes widened was the only sign the truth was dawning on him. Still he remained silent, allowing me my space.
‘And obviously that child was half-God, so…’
‘I always knew you were a Goddess.’
I shook my head, placing a kiss to his temple.
‘A rather watered-down version.’
He pulled back, his gaze narrowed. ‘But… if that’s what makes you different… a Deviant, then why isn’t Enfys, or your mother? What makes you so wonderfully and slightly terrifyingly unique?’
My fingers slipped down, working the top buttons of his shirt loose as his hands strayed back to my waist. I bit my lip as flames sparked beneath each stroke of his palm.
‘That mythical third line of guaranteed Anomalies that went into hiding?’
Lips pressed against the corner of my mouth, lips that curled wickedly as my breath hitched.
‘Well,’ I gasped, failing to block out the warmth pooling in my core as his hands slid up my back, tugging lightly on the back of my dress. ‘Vyrus knows them. The Blythes. They…’
My head rocked back, eyes fluttered shut as his mouth seared a slow, deliberate track down the side of my neck.
I opened my mouth, my words twisted into a moan as he pressed against my hip, his fingers trailing lower.
Fuck it all. I’d had enough story time. My focus was shifting, heating and I didn’t want to wait another second.
I pulled back, pressed our foreheads together as he nipped forward, desperate to steal another kiss from my lips.
‘Anyway. Gabriel Blythe is my father. They’re descendants of Evella.’ I moved in, my body thrumming with the need to claim his mouth. ‘Probably explains a lot.’
He moved back, his hands holding my wrists, eyes wide.
‘E-Evella? You… you’re? When the hell did you learn your father’s name?’
Damned man. I inclined my head towards the blurry journal still waiting on the side.
‘My sister’s gift. Mama’s memories.’ I moved in, but Matthias leaned back.
‘But… no one ever shared his name? Even your mother hid it from you.’
Huffing, I sat back, my eyes still locked on his smooth chest, anything to distract myself from the truth.
‘And it’s a name, Matthias. Just a name.
’ I swallowed as tears burned my eyes. All the thoughts swirling, demanding I face them finally given their moment.
‘Romero stole him from me. He’ll… he’ll only ever be a name.
And Gods I don’t know. I thought having his name would heal all that anger and hurt.
’ His thumb wiped away the first tear. ‘I never had him hold me when I cried.’
A kiss, soft, seared my lips, as though Matthias could absorb my pain. He lifted my wrist to lay his mouth against my veins.
‘If, Evella helps us—’
‘Unfortunately, it’s Vyrus we need to convince…’ He nodded, and I giggled at the little smirk on his face.
‘Fine, Vyrus helps us and we survive all this. We have a name and with just a name, we can find kin. We can find who you are.’
‘What if they don’t want to be found? They’ve hidden for centuries.’
He kissed away a tear before cupping my cheek. ‘Then you know the blood of Gabriel Blythe runs through these veins. His courage, his ability to face every obstacle life threw at him and come through with a heart so pure, so damn dogged, still rages in his daughter.’
A sob caught the end of my laugh, and Matthias’s face lit up, the smile that was surely a gift from Evella. I reached forward. Our mouths met with an achingly long kiss. His devotion restraining my pain, pouring all our love into the chasm the loss of Papa created.
Matthias moved away, grinning as I furrowed my brows.
‘And one day.’ He tugged the shirt over his head, throwing it aside, before tucking up my skirts. ‘His blood, rage and heart will run through your own daughter’s veins.’
He arched as I ran my hands upwards, over the smooth planes of his chest, the skin pebbling beneath my touch. I leaned in, my mouth a breath from his.
‘Our daughter,’ I said. ‘But not yet…’
His chuckle rumbled through me, sparking, igniting me. ‘We’ll have our time together, Sorrow. If I have to tear it from Evella’s hands, I won’t rest till we get our time.’
His hands, hands that rooted me, secured me, ones ready to catch me were I to stumble, trailed under the material.
Spreading his fingers wide, he traced a path along my thighs, higher and higher.
My head tipped back, a soft moan escaping my lips.
The gap between us closed as my hands grasped his hair.
A flame, spilled and flooding, ran through me as Matthias groaned, low and deep.
The dress rose higher, inch by torturous inch, as though he feared tearing it, till it joined his shirt.
The evidence of his own growing desire pressed against my bare stomach.
He sat back, his eyes raking over me, darkening as he reached out.
One knuckle traced my curves as he dragged his gaze to meet mine.
‘Sometimes.’ Gravel laced his voice. ‘I wonder how someone like me was fortunate enough to bewitch a beauty like you.’
I crooked my eyebrow. ‘Have you looked in a mirror, Elmswood?’
He lay me down, his fingers moving lower. I shivered as he kissed the skin below my neck. ‘I’m well aware of how devastatingly attractive I am, but even then, how did I win the woman all eyes go to when she walks in the room?’
The retort died on my lips as his fingers circled the soft hair between my legs.
My trembling hand hooked around his neck and I pulled him in.
Our lips met, a mix of soft, fragile explorations.
The frantic need, the burn to claim each other, was sated.
This night, we wanted to learn the shape of each other.
Memorise each whimper. My back arched, fingers gripped his shoulders as he stroked my entrance.
Sweeping movements that stole my breath.
Tomorrow, who knew what new nightmare the world would unfurl before us?
Tonight was for us. The wife and her husband. Two souls entwinning.
His mouth explored my flesh and I burned under every imprint of his lips.
My teeth scraped his shoulder, tongue tasted.
One finger slid inside as I twisted, his mouth teasing my nipple as the ache within swelled.
Matthias trailed my body, each kiss a new plea against my skin. A promise we’d have our time.
Reaching between us, I ran my finger down the sensitive line of his cock, smiling as he groaned, twitching against me.
My name left his lips in a breathless whisper and I wrapped my hand around him, curling and working him.
My mouth dried at the memory of how he filled me.
Gods, I writhed back against the mattress as he worked in another finger, hooking against my sensitive spot.
Matthias let go, his hands smoothing the hair from my face as I bucked against him. His chuckle shuddered through me as he kissed my furrowed brows.
‘So impatient, love?’
I squirmed, desperate for his fingers to bring me to the edge I teetered on.
‘I’m in no mood for a game, Elmswood.’
That damn grin lit up his face as he shuffled, his cock pressing against my entrance, and a low growl rumbled through him. He kissed my bottom lip, a prayer lay in his eyes as he rose up on his elbows, a dark brow quirked.
‘Can I?’
His cock brushed my entrance, harder, pleading. I arched against him, my legs curling over his waist and tugging him in.
‘Are you going to ask every time?’
I smiled as his eyes closed, his jaw taut with restraint. He nodded as he swallowed.
‘Every time, love. I’ll ask permission every time.’
Nodding, I gripped his hair lightly, pulled him closer, smiling as his lips moved reverently over mine. As I gripped his shaft and tugged him towards me, he broke the kiss, moaning low.
The warmth within crept through me, swelling and growing.
I arched my hips as he entered me, filling me inch by delicious inch.
I gripped my hair as our lips parted, our gasps filling the cosy room we’d been gifted.
He waited a few moments, my anger flaring before he drew back.
Teeth scraped my neck as my thighs clung tighter, pulling him in deeper as he moved inside me with the softest strokes.
Matthias worked me slowly. Sheets tangled as I raised my hips, the glorious friction of each gentle thrust spilling searing embers through me.
Each time his pace quickened, each time the explosion built and my cries split the night, the damned man slowed, leaving us both gasping.
My nails sliced into his shoulders, begging and demanding.
My lips tasted the sweat pooling against his skin as our breaths became frantic, wild.
Through the flickering of the candle, I made out the veins bulging in his neck, the tightness of his jaw as he held us both back.
He hissed as my teeth stabbed into the hot flesh of his shoulder.
Smiling, I kissed the bruised skin. His fingers dug into the flesh of my backside as I tilted my hips higher, crying out as he slammed into me.
The sound undid him. Cursing, his thrusts deepened.
The cultivated control he’d used to torture me gone as his desire consumed it.
Our bodies slammed together, a single feral beast with one target.
Sharp teeth tore; kisses, wild and unbound, claimed victory and finally the wave built.
Curving from the ragged sheets, the heat spiralled, as Matthias dominated every fibre of my being.
The wave swept, tore and devoured as Matthias cried out, his own ending finally flooding me and we shattered against each other, shuddering and shivering till, gasping, we collapsed against the soaked sheets.
The thundering of my pulse rang through my ears.
His head lay against my chest, hot, rapid breaths warming my cooling skin as I twisted the silken strands of his damp hair around my still-trembling fingers.
We lay there till the dying candle flickered.
The faint light fading into a tranquil gloom.
Silently, Matthias scooted us up the bed, tucking in creased corners, cocooned us in the warm peace of the blankets.
As though the years together had never been stolen, we lay side by side, facing each other, fingers entwined.
The candle stuttered and died, our eyes fluttered close, breaths deepened and we slept just as we had when our innocent hearts only knew each other.
If I’d known then it would be the last time I’d ever see the flecks of amber in his green eyes, I don’t think I’d have slept at all.