Chapter 43 #2
“This is where you grew up,” I said, leaning my head against his chest. It felt so good to be here.
The comfort of his arms, the strength of his hold, and the anticipation of what a future free of meddling goddesses could be.
There had been so many moments in the throne room when I didn’t know if we’d ever make it to … this.
Hart’s chin tapped the top of my head in what I assumed was a nod. Then he balanced me on one arm as he opened the door.
“I can walk.”
He shook his head. “We’ve made it this far. Surely, you wouldn’t take carrying you across the threshold away from me.”
Tingly effervescence popped on my tongue like candy, marking his joy. I tilted my head up to ensure his lip curled into my favorite smirk. Then I hmphed and snuggled further into his chest.
The room was dark, and most of it was draped in white sheets. Hart pulled them from the bed and set me down, then he prepared the rest of the room. Candles were lit above the fireplace and in the hearth. In the bureau, he found a too-large tunic for me to change into.
With a glance, I realized what a mess I was. I shouldn’t be anywhere near the bedding. I stood, and he made a whine of protest.
“I’m covered in blood,” I said.
“I’ll return with water for a bath,” Hart said as he strode toward the door.
I didn’t want a bath if it meant he’d be away from my side for any length of time. He shot me a glance as he pulled the door open, and I wondered what emotions he sensed from me. It reminded me we had more to talk about with the flavor of our feelings in general.
To my utter delight, two young men stood in the open doorway, with steaming buckets of water in hand. “Alysa sent us with these,” the first boy said.
Hart frowned but let them through to the bedroom’s connected washroom. When the water filled the tub and the boys were gone, Hart scooped me up again.
“You’re going to give me unrealistic expectations about our future together,” I said.
“I can carry you anywhere you need to go,” he replied without missing a beat.
“You’ll have to put me down to undress.”
His lip tipped into a smirk. “I could help you with that as well.”
I sighed as he set me on my feet. My gaze caught on his forest green one, and I was reminded of how we’d found joy in the Oldwood—we had to steal it. I’d had to fight for it amidst all the other demands on our time. This would be no different.
My fingers found the hem of my blouse, and I pulled it over my head, exposing myself to him and the elements. Hart didn’t blink as I removed the rest of my clothing. The heat of his gaze warmed me before I stepped into the steaming water.
My fingers ran the length of the tub. “This looks big enough for both of us.”
A slow smile curved his mouth, and he followed my lead, disrobing. He stepped into the tub and reached for me as he sank low. I molded myself to him, my back to his front and his arms wrapped around me as he dropped kisses and whispered promises against my skin.
“I can’t believe— You could have—” He seemed unable to finish a sentence, but I understood the sentiment.
“We both could have, Hart. But we didn’t.” I nestled myself in further and ran a hand along his thigh.
“I love you.”
I found I’d never tire of hearing him say it. I tilted my neck to the side, and he chased kisses down the column.
“We’ve done so much already,” he whispered. “Maybe we don’t have to stay. Maybe Alysa and Reid and Nicholas can handle it.”
I sighed. “Fighting Rodric was just the beginning. We have so much work to do in Kavios, but we have the freedom to figure it out without the influence of goddesses or Blessed.”
He shook his head as if chastising himself for the idea. “I know.”
“We can do this every night after a long day of working toward a better Kavios.”
“At least that, I can agree with.”
The desperation of our near losses seemed to catch up with him all at once. His anxiety was tart, but I didn’t mind. I loved the connection we’d forged—loved it even more because it was somehow our own. “You didn’t seem surprised that this is ours,” I said.
He didn’t ask what I referred to. “Is it so bad that I wanted the connection to be ours? The proximity—the need to find each other that her curse forced upon us—helped in its own way, but knowing what you were hiding, knowing the feelings you buried, helped me the most in Linia. I wanted to believe you gave me that map, not a goddess.”
I agreed with him. It was part of why I’d accepted the ability to channel flame so easily.
No matter what was written about Eris and her intuition, it made so much more sense that there was power in our connection, in the way we gave ourselves to each other against all odds.
“What hints am I granting you now?” I leaned further into him.
He sighed into my hair. “Smoky and sweet. I know just what to do with those.” His lips pressed to the top of my head, and he reached for something outside of the tub.
“You can’t get out yet.”
His chuckle was low, probably at the desperation in my voice. I knew I’d have to get over it eventually, but at this moment, I wanted to be as near to him as possible.
“I’m not going anywhere, Chaos.” His reply sent bolts of heat straight to my core. “I just want to wash your hair. It has … maybe ash, maybe blood in it. I can’t really tell.”
He didn’t have to ask twice. His fingers massaged my scalp even as they undid my braid.
He lathered them with a soap he’d found on the wall shelf.
Slowly, he coaxed my head back to dip my hair beneath the heated water.
He held my body in place with his knees as he drew slow, luxurious circles against me.
A moan escaped me in moments. It might have been with his first touch, or when his fingers circled my temples, releasing a lifetime’s worth of tension experienced in a single night.
“That’s it. That’s exactly what I need to hear.” He whispered soft praise as he worked my scalp, then rinsed. He washed the mess that was the throne room from me.
My body flamed under his ministrations. The heat of our connection flared to life, and it was even better than before. It was us. It was just… “Hart.”
I didn’t know what else to say. He seemed to understand my need, and, gently, he pulled me back to him so that he was flush with my back again. This time, I pressed against the evidence that the simple act of washing my hair had affected him as much as it had me.
“I need you.” I arched against him.
He didn’t require further instruction. One hand cupped my breast, the other traced the curve of my hip. His lips found my neck. My back bowed farther into his attentions. I needed him to ground me. Needed him to remind me that we’d survived. We were free.
I relished the smoky flavor of his lust as it filled my mouth, and I didn’t think I’d ever get tired of the taste. “More,” I commanded.
He skimmed his fingers deftly down my body. He circled my entrance, and my legs spread for him. “That’s right,” he whispered. “Show me where you want me.”
I whined as he toyed with me. Then the noise turned to a moan as he slipped a digit inside. He braced me against him, one arm a band around my waist, as another finger joined the first.
My hands reached for him behind me. I wanted to be closer. Wanted more. I cupped his head, his neck. My fingers slipped lower. I wanted to touch him as he touched me.
“Wait your turn, Chaos,” he whispered as he nipped my ear.
I was lost in the rhythm of him already. My moves were instinctual. I rode his hand, arched into the hold he had on me.
“Take what you need, love.”
My pleasure rose. Sensation flared. My feet braced against the tub. And with a final moan, waves of heat cascaded through me. Hart’s fingers didn’t slow as he worked me through it. My limbs turned to jelly, and then he finally wrapped both arms around me and pressed a kiss just below my ear.
Languid and content, I wondered if I’d ever move again. Still, my desire for him only grew with every moment he remained curled around me. With little grace, I turned in the tub so I straddled his lap, splashing water in every direction. “I need more.”
His smirk was sinful as I leaned in to capture his lips in a kiss.
His hands were at my waist, my neck, pulling us flush together.
Then we were moving, and he stood, lifting me as he went.
His lips didn’t leave mine until required.
He toweled us off and returned us to the bedroom, slipping us both between the sheets of the large four-poster bed.
I crawled on top of him, feeling a power that had nothing to do with magic in the way his green eyes tracked my movements.
He traced the curve of my hips and my breasts as I reached for his length.
I wrapped my hand around the silk and steel of him.
His eyes rolled back with my first pump, then I brought my lips to his cock and teased the tip with my tongue.
A strangled sound left him. I chased it as I licked from root to tip, then took him into my mouth.
His fingers were in my hair as words of worship fell from his lips. I worked his base with my hand. I’d never fit him fully, but he didn’t seem to mind. He hissed as I dragged my lips along his length. His body was a rigid line of tension as he whispered, “Don’t make me beg, love.”
I nodded, and he hauled me to him, rolling us over so that he hovered above me. His kiss was deep, searching, claiming. He cupped my cheek before guiding his length to my entrance.
Something about this moment felt different. We’d been together in the Oldwood. We’d stolen our moments of joy before the battle. I knew, as rulers, no matter what shape that took, that we’d have to steal moments for ourselves in the future.
But here, now, we had made it. We had both survived. Hart was free of Themis. Kavios was free of the goddesses’ game. We were together.
“Hart,” I all but begged now. I wanted to feel him fill me.
Our bodies came together like they were made for nothing else.
He dipped his head to kiss my neck, my chest, my breast. “This,” he whispered. “I would do it all again for this.”
Then he moved. Each thrust sent a pulse of heat through my body.
It matched the ever-present flame of our connection.
Forged when it shouldn’t have been. A bond all our own.
I hadn’t stopped to wonder what magic might have caused it.
I didn’t care now as my fingers dug into his shoulders.
He worshiped me with his mouth, with his hands, with each and every movement.
“I love you, Hart,” I whispered, and clawed deeper at his muscles.
His thrusts grew harder, responding to my unspoken demands. His hands were everywhere as he launched me, once again, over the edge. Waves of pleasure cascaded through me. The sweet taste of his joy joined the sensation flooding my body. With a final frenzy of movement, he, too, found his release.
In the quiet moments that followed, he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I love you too, Chaos.”
I kissed him again, long and lingering. Together, in the room abandoned by the Cursed King in a tower of Glanmore Castle, I fell into a restful sleep.