14. My Favourite Color Was Blue
Theos
Every muscle in his body was rigid. She was still pressing herself into the wall, trying to make herself smaller. It shattered his heart, and even then, he couldn’t get the bone-chillingly erotic image of himself kneeling before her out of his mind. He wanted to do it again, and the next time, he wanted to hoist her off the ground and hold her open so completely to his eyes, to his mouth , that she never tried to hide her arousal from him again. He’d never knelt before anyone, and he never would. He was king – ruler of the universe. He’d crushed the only two gods that’d been stupid enough to contend his throne. But he would kneel to her forever.
With great difficulty, he straightened, giving his mate the space to breathe though he wanted nothing more than to stare down into her eyes while her lip quivered with the desire she was trying to suppress. He searched through the regions around them in his syn for the perfect place.
The phantaron crowded into his natural vision, blurring his beautiful mate and tremoring as it opened to reveal all the worlds. Closing his eyes to add his rahyse into his search, the cool, moist wind of the place he found seemed almost real on his physical skin. Blinking away the phantaron, Theos refocused on his mate.
“Tell me, Haera,” he asked quietly, deliberately not moving away from her, and reaching out to tilt her head up to his. “Have you ever been outside Aegon territory?”
His precious little mate’s head shook ever so slightly in the negative. His heart twinged. He had been everywhere – seen it all, while she had spent all her dahys confined to this wretched, limited life .
“Well that just won’t do.” His thumb slid along her pouty bottom lip and a shiver raced through her. “No mate of a god should be limited. No mate of mine will ever be restricted.”
“W-where are we going?” she asked, eyes wide.
“To the Leistor.”
As he expected, her eyes almost bulged out of her head. “B-but it’s dangerous. The craelon are dangerous and they roam freely in that territory. If they see me, they’ll –”
“Fall at your feet in worship.” He interrupted firmly. “The craelon are merely my creations. You are my queen.”
Her lips parted soundlessly while the phantaron was opening before him once more. No, the craelon wouldn’t harm her, but if she was concerned about their presence, he would make sure they were nowhere near where they were going.
“The Northern Leistor Range touches three of the kingdoms in Thorca. Vanzantia, Raendra, and Danaera. There is something I want you to see there. Somewhere, I want to take you.”
While she was nodding, he pulled her against him, stepping forward and into the phantaron, walking her backwards slowly, step by step. Her small shriek pulled a smile from his lips, and he continued forward while she clung to him, frightened .
“W-where are we?” Her head moved this way and that, no doubt trying to find even a sliver of light in the absolute darkness and silence that she was experiencing.
“This is the phantaron, little star. The unseen world that holds all the invisible elements of existence – like time. Its gears are hidden here. And the weather – the controls for rain, storms, sunshine, they all live here.”
“Why is it so dark?” she whined.
Theos laughed. She was more discomfited by her inability to see than by the larger-than-life concepts he was explaining. Mortals were such predictable creatures.
“It isn’t. There is as much light here as there is in the Szosyar – or as mortals call it, the natural world. It’s just that your eyes weren’t made to see it.”
His little bundle pressed her face into his chest, obviously uncomfortable with that piece of knowledge.
“Very few mortals are able to see here,” he continued, subconsciously seeking to soothe her. “It is not that you are inadequate in any way. Just that you are unequipped to exist in this realm.”
She raised her head, tilting it up to his face. He looked down at her for a moment, marvelling at the way the golden light all around them illuminated her skin .
“Who can see here?” she asked, blinking blindly at him.
A laugh rumbled out of him. “It’s delightful to see you while I know you can’t see me,” he whispered into her ear. “Your skin is so fucking pretty in this golden light that it makes my chest ache .” He watched her eyes widen and grow moist. “Alyn and Zolyn can see here.” He answered, refocusing on their path. “Alyn can see less than 10% of this realm; their power is limited. Zolyn, well, they see all the realms of the lower phantaron. Depending on how powerful they are, they can interfere with the weather, time, and endless other foundational elements of the universe.”
Theos felt Haera shiver. “That’s scary,” she whispered.
He nodded, though she could not see it. “I keep a close eye on them, and so does The Fates. It is for that reason that they are so rare. There hasn’t been one in Thorca for hundreds of thousands of syrises.”
“Okay,” she whispered, pressing her face back into his chest.
His heart expanded at the intimacy of their current situation. She was letting him walk her through a realm she had never before heard of – one that was completely invisible to her eyes. Face pressed into his chest as she was, he tightened his arm around her waist, before pausing .
“Haera,” he whispered straight into her ear as he leaned down to scoop her into his arms. “Thank you for trusting me to carry you.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Now, wrap your arms around my neck, legs around my waist.”
Obediently, she did as she was told. When her thighs squeezed around him, he tried not to think about angling his cock perfectly and driving it to the hilt in the darkness where she had nowhere to run to. He grunted internally, tamping down the primal drive. They could do that later. He had an eternity to pursue her.
“W-what does it look like?” she whispered finally.
Theos smiled. He’d known she would eventually ask. She was a curious little thing, and he hated that her fears made her hesitate to speak so much. She was already being braver. It made his heart soar.
“We’re walking through the sky,” he answered, looking around. Haera’s gasp of wonder was deeply satisfying. “There’s some fluffy white clouds up ahead, but we’ll exit before we get to them.”
“Then, what’s below us?” she asked, obviously shocked .
“Your beloved kingdom, Vanzantia. Time moves differently in the phantaron, so we are already over the province of Illorahgon.”
“This is so…strange,” she murmured, more as a thought to herself, than a response to him.
“We have all the time in the worlds to get you used to it, little star.” He answered easily. When we mate, you’ll be able to see all the things that live here, he continued internally.
She would no doubt be excited to hear that, but it was tied to something intimate. It would be a wonderful treat to watch her discover that she could see into the phantaron, whenever the time came. For now, he wouldn’t mention it. The last thing he wanted to do was coerce her in any way. They walked the next few paces in silence, while Theos created their exit point up ahead.
“We’re about to re-enter the Szosyar, little star,” he warned her. “You might want to close your eyes until you adjust to the light.”
“Okay,” she answered quietly.
He squeezed her closer to him, savouring the feel of her. The Szosyar loomed up ahead, opening and stretching on the other side of the phantaron. Holding her close, he stepped out on the edge of a small clearing in the Leistor. Now, his steps crunched through soft, wet grass, squelching as he walked over the mossy ground.
The eighteenth hour of Mynphes was just beginning, and he’d timed the sunlight perfectly. He sighed, content to look out at the expansive view.
“Haera,” he called, tapping her lightly on the butt. “Are you able to open your eyes yet?”
She protested under her breath, and Theos laughed at her grumbles of assent.
“We can return to the cottage after we’re through, and I’ll hold you just like this, in the dark.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “But right now,” he continued, lowering her to stand on her own two feet, “there is something I want you to see.”
Still wrapped in only the fluffy towel he had created for her, Theos watched chills race across her shoulders as she straightened. The forest around them was still wet despite the sun’s position above the mountains. It had been raining here all day, and the earth around them was soaked in the life-giving force. Theos adored the rain, and wouldn’t have minded if it had stormed while they were here. But he knew his mortal mate would be more sensitive to the downpour. He’d stopped it, trading it for bright, warm sunshine while they’d walked through the phantaron to get here .
When she was steady on her feet, Haera turned, her senses finally noticing the waterfall behind them. Her gasp was swallowed by the tumultuous falling water, but the sound of wonder still washed over Theos like the mist of rain. Pride swelled in his chest.
─── ?? ? ?? ───
Haera
Her lips hung open, parting more and more by the segund. She could not believe her eyes. Certainly, she was dreaming. Certainly, this was some wildly vivid hallucination. But Theos stepped closer, his chest pressing into her back, hand coming to rest gently on her belly. She watched millions of gallons hurtle over the tallest cliff she’d ever seen, coming crashing into a wide pool of the bluest water she’d ever lain eyes on. Wide, flat rocks took the pounding of the falling spray, and as soon as it flowed away from their surfaces, it settled into a shockingly deep, calm pool that seemed to disappear into the earth.
Then, something moved in the corner of her eye. The wings of a bird. A ghouwl. She flinched backwards into Theos, whose hold on her only tightened comfortingly as the bird carved an arc around them, flying before her and then disappearing into the clearing on silent wings. A gentle, distinctly salty breeze wound through her hair, and she turned to greet it.
“ Gods ,” she breathed.
She could feel the resulting smile that spread across Theos’ features through the bond as clearly as she would have seen it if she had turned. But the view before her was so enrapturing that she nearly didn’t know how to speak. The high cliff from which the water tumbled was the very edge of the mountaintop on which they stood. There was nothing next to it except open air and expansive views. There was nothing beyond it but the sea. The steep falling away of the mountainside was just ten steps from where they stood. The soft mossy earth disappeared into what was no doubt a steep drop that declined to meet the sea.
Waves were crashing across its blue surface in the distance, the noise of its tumbles blending into the descent of the waterfall in the corner of her vision.
“It’s…” she started. Words were entirely inadequate for the unfolding of creation that was happening before her. “I don’t know what to say,” she admitted, voice almost lost under the falls.
Theos leaned forward, bending over her to press his lips against the shell of her ear while she stared out into the distance. The heat from his palm, splayed across her belly, was churning through her blood. The cold chill from the mountain air around them was a delicious contrast to the safe heat of his body.
“Tell me you like it,” he whispered, and more chills erupted across her skin. “Tell me it’s beautiful.” She bit back a groan from the gentle breath that fanned into her ear. “Tell me it makes you happy, and for me, that will be the universe’s richest reward.”
“It makes me happy.” She answered, turning to stretch her arms up to his neck. The bond fluttered wildly, sending pulses of raw pleasure jolting through her so that her limbs trembled like leaves in the high winds. “It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen the sea before,” she admitted, half ashamed.
Theos reached down, letting her wind her hands together around his neck and picking her up so that she could wrap her legs around him again.
“There is no reason to be embarrassed, little star.” He answered, cradling her to his chest as tears burned in her eyes. “I brought you here because this place reminds me of you.” His large warm hands slid over her ass, squeezing lightly. He laughed when her nails dug into his neck unconsciously. “This is one of my favourite places in the whole of the Leistor, and this is where I want to wash you clean.”
She must have tensed without realizing it, because Theos’ hands moved to rub circles across her back. “Wouldn’t it be refreshing to wash yourself under a waterfall?”
“It’ll be cold,” she complained bitterly. It wasn’t as though she didn’t like washing herself. But Vanzantian plumbing lent itself only to channelling the plain cold water from lakes and rivers into her home pipes. She had heard whispers that the wealthiest packs in Vanzantia could afford heated water, and then bitterness had seeped into her bones even deeper.
“I can make it warm for you, Haera,” Theos answered matter of factly. “In fact, you could too. The water would fumble over itself to make itself warm for you if you so much as flinched at its temperature.”
Haera didn’t know how much she believed that. But if he could make it warm, she would accept. She had never bathed with warm water before. Theos lowered her to the ground again, and hesitantly, she glanced down at the towel she was wrapped in.
“I’m going to have to take this off,” she observed aloud .
“Yes,” Theos answered lightly. “I’ll take my shirt off if it’ll make you feel better.”
She turned to stare at him. “A-are you coming in with me?” Her cheeks burned when he nodded ‘yes’ , his eyes twinkling down at her.
“I’ll wash you. All you need to do is stand under the water and look beautiful the way you already do,” he continued, already beginning to unbutton his shirt.
Her brain function was slowing down, and embarrassingly, she couldn’t seem to tear her eyes away from the widening strip of skin that his opening shirt was revealing. Much worse, he was watching her watch him. She could feel the heat of his gaze on her cheek, on her nose, felt it settle on her lips. In her peripheral vision, he cocked his head down at her.
“Enjoying the view, little mate of mine?”
Embarrassed heat spread across the back of her neck, and she barely managed to nod. She still couldn’t pull her attention away from his chest, not even to dignify him with her eye contact while she responded. And then the material was gone. The muscles in his chest rippled under his skin as he tossed the material to the wet mossy ground, and she embarrassed herself even further with the strangled sound of want that escaped her throat .
Fates’ sakes he was so attractive. She couldn’t breathe. Defined ridges in his stomach, thick defined muscles in his arms. Everything about him was big and broad and thick. Her hand clasped over her mouth at that thought, and she whirled away, willing herself not to stare at the front of his pants and wish he’d take them off too.
She looked interestedly at the tree line behind him, not even looking down when his nearing chuckle sent thrills through her body.
“Little love,” he called. His palm was circling around her throat, closing, forcing her head up to him with his thumb on her chin. “Look at me,” he commanded. Her eyes snapped to his. “You never need to be shy about looking at me, Haera.” Her chest tightened. “My body quite literally belongs to you.”
His face was dangerously close to hers, their gazes locked as his hair tumbled into his eyes. Their lips were a breath apart, and her heart threatened to explode. “I’m your mate ,” he whispered. Her lips parted from the pleasure that surged through the bond at the confession as it fell from his lips. “Touch, stare, it’s all yours. No one else’s.” She gulped down a groan. “Understand?” he asked, eyes searching hers.
“Yes,” she managed to sound out without embarrassing herself .
Helplessly, desperate for the contact, she watched him lower his lips to hers, pressing the faintest of kisses on the corner of her mouth. A frustrated huff puffed out of her when he straightened, and she knew his dazzling grin meant he’d done it on purpose.
“Now, into the water,” he said, one segund before he scooped her into his arms and started moving towards the deep blue pool.
“But the towel will get wet! I won’t have anything to wrap myself in after!” she exclaimed, horrified at the reality that she would be casually naked in the middle of the Leistor.
Theos’ easy laughter calmed the frantic heat burning in her cells. “I’ll make you a new one, little love.”
Everything about her body turned into eager compliance in his presence so willingly. It would have been so painfully easy for him to will her into submission with a command, and take control of her body. Demand sex and sexual favours. They were fated mates. It would have been his right. Haera knew that mates amongst all the species came together as quickly as possible. When you found the one The Fates had orchestrated for you, there was hardly any reason to be shy or withhold your body. Especially for her. She was quite literally mated to a god , who could give her whatever she could dream of wanting .
Theos waded into the shallowest edge of the pool, humming lightly as he walked them over to the waterfall in the centre. He was…happy. It was radiating through the bond, the flow of joy, amusement and peace, always consistent regardless of how often fear or apprehension flooded her own body. He was content just to be with her. To hold her close to him. To make things easy for her.
She looked down, staring uncomfortably into the darkening blue of the water as Theos somehow casually walked in it, though there was no longer any surface to step on. She stared long and hard, trying to decode the puzzle of possibility until a sharp ache circled her brain and she curled back into Theos’ arms.
“I like when you carry me,” she whispered into his chest, admitting the feeling only to herself so that she could get the swirling words out of her mind.
“I love carrying you,” he answered back easily, a satisfied smile clearly identifiable in his voice.
Embarrassment reared up like a frightened snake in her gut. “Do you have super hearing or something?” she asked, a little frustrated.
When Theos didn’t respond, she was sure she’d offended him. Trying to uncurl from her worm-like position in his arms to look up at him, she felt herself being lowered to the ground. He didn’t want to carry her anymore. She’d ruined it. This was it. He was sensitive about his hearing, and she’d insulted it like a fool. Horrible. She was a horrible mate.
The soles of her feet settled against cold stone, and she balanced herself as best she could while Theos reached his free arm out to let the torrential downpour of the falls run over it. Everything around them stilled when the water touched his hand, and then, wonder of wonders, the water that splashed over her feet grew warm. Her jaw unhinged itself, falling open from shock.
Theos turned back to face her, and the hush over the clearing deepened. Somehow, the noise of the falling water lessened, and the sound of the sea grew louder. He kneeled before her, reaching his arms up and asking permission to remove the towel. Her chest squeezed painfully, but she nodded. She’d been bare before him just houyras ago, and he’d been nothing but respectful, gentle and kind. She could do it again. He would be kind again. He hadn’t taken her all the way to this isolated part of the mountains to harm her.
Even if he had, she could run. And he would catch her, but she could let her mind leave, let her body fade into numbness until she couldn’t feel. Until he had done what he’d wanted – until it was over .
He was kind, right? Her breaths were coming so quickly that the sides of her vision blurred, dark spots swimming across the centre until she pressed her eyes closed.
She felt Theos rise to his feet. “My little love,” his hands were warm where they now cupped her cheeks. “Are you afraid I’m going to hurt you?”
Her eyes pressed tighter in adamant refusal to let the tears slip down her cheeks, but they still escaped.
Theos’ sigh was filled with sorrow. The heat of him came closer. His hands released her cheek, wrapping around her in a tight hug instead. “I would never hurt you, Haera. Gods . All I want is to love you.”
Her heart clenched at the soft admission from her mate, and before she could press them together, her lips were betraying her. “But what if you change your mind and start hunting me because you’re tired of waiting?” Her voice was cracking and squeaking. A miserable display of weakness. Why was she so weak?
But Theos’ arms only tightened. The clearing around them only grew quieter, as though it too waited to hear his response. “Tired of waiting?” he asked. Nothing but seriousness radiated from him. “I have been waiting just to meet you for four and a half billion syrises, Haera.” He answered, the slightest strain noticeable in his voice. “Having you in my arms is enough. Breathing the same air as you is enough. Watching you look at the sea for the first time is enough. Being with you is enough. You are enough.”
Haera sniffled, trying discreetly to wipe her nose before the snot touched his skin. He sighed again, the sound pained.
“You don’t believe me.” His hold loosened, and he pulled back, tilting her head up to his again. “Ask me why I brought you here, Haera.”
“To wash me clean,” she answered pitifully.
Theos’ eyes darkened. “ Ask me why I brought you here, Haera.” He commanded.
She held contact with him, forcing herself to face the music head on in case he’d brought her here to reject her. She was far more trouble than she could ever be worth.
“Why?” her lips trembled, and more shameful tears slid down her cheeks.
“My favourite colour was blue,” he answered seriously.
Haera blinked at him, trying to understand. In the quiet, the sound of the waves surged stronger .
She turned away from Theos’ intense gaze, looking back out to the raging ocean. Its waves tumbled over each other as they raced from horizon to horizon. It was impossibly deep. Completely wild. Totally unbroken. Deeply, completely, wholly blue .
The horizon itself was wide, unrestricted, expansive and free. It arched up from its soft kisses to the wild ocean, curving overhead to blanket the earth. Its surface was soft, delicate, refreshing, blue .
The water they were standing in, its shades deepened the further the bottom of the small lake dipped away. She could see ridges along its sides, deftly separated distinctions of shade. All vibrant. All blue .
And when she slowly raised her eyes back to his, she saw hers reflected there. And then her heart was shaking. Her mind was racing.
His attention washed over her, a soft caress like the gentlest of winds. “My favourite colour is you .”
His lips were soft when they pressed against hers, the most reverent connection, feather light against her lips. He pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth again, to her cheek, to her forehead, between her brows, her hairline, her nose, and to both her closed eyes. Her fears melted, leaving her heart thoroughly exposed .
“This is the only place in the Leistor that holds all three views in the same frame. Sky, sea, river.” Theos whispered, his admiration for his creations clear though he never took his eyes off her. “They were my most prized possessions until I met you. I ruled over them myself for all of time, until I saw you. Now, they belong to my younger brother, Kaitos. I would trade all the worlds – I’d give everything in exchange for you, Haera.”
Gods . She wanted to crumple, to let the stone beneath her bear her weight. Her body was flooding with adoration from the bond – with his adoration.
“My favourite colour was blue, and now it’s you.” His voice was thick with emotion. “ Gods those eyes of yours. Every time you look at me, I come undone. My heart was yours long before I showed up to save you. But when I looked into your eyes for the first time in the dark clearing of the Loriax, the universe had never seemed so dull. My fate is sealed to yours, and I –”
Theos’ words paused, but the bond surged, roared, screamed inside them both with the words he’d not spoken. And I love you so much.
She was frozen in place. Tears kept streaming down her cheeks as the unrestrained love poured out of the bond into her chest. Love . That was what she was feeling. She felt loved . His attention was steady on her. His white irises glowed brighter and brighter until the halo was forming around them like it had when he had healed her. The energy rippled and surged. Pulsing outwards and retreating until they were wrapped in its embrace. Until only the sound of the ocean was left. Until the sky above them disappeared. Until the waterfall’s warm water was just a memory on her skin.
Their hearts raced in time to each other, chests rising and falling in synchrony. His eyes grew moist – hers already were. There was nothing in that moment except him and her. Nothing else existed but the sound of the rolling waves; the memory of the broad, blue sky. The lake’s deepening blue all around them, the adoration in her mate’s eyes. The knowledge that this was love – that she was loved. That he loved her. That she was falling in love.
His thumb traced her lower lip, the barest touch. “You are mine to love, forever.”
The bond surged with the unspoken words again. And I already love you so much.