Chapter 19
Aella
My head pounded, and my eyes couldn’t stand the sunlight coming through the front cabin window.
Last night, I’d stayed up with Tamasine, drinking and avoiding my husband.
His strength had grown after a day and a half of rest, but his coloring remained paler than usual since blood loss always took longer to recover from than healing wounds.
That hadn’t stopped him from looking at me like he planned to devour me whole.
When the heated looks he kept giving me at dinner made it clear that being alone in the cabin with him would end up with us in bed together, I’d found somewhere else to be.
After what we’d done with the gods, my emotions were still raw, and I needed control back in my life.
I’d returned very late and found him fast asleep, so I’d crawled into the other bed.
It was cold without him, but much safer.
It was morning now. Looking around, I couldn’t find any sign of Darrow.
I headed to the small kitchen and guzzled a glass of water.
It soothed my aching head and upset stomach.
On the counter, I found an assortment of pastries that someone had left and settled for eating one.
I was rather certain the rest of Doga’s residents had long since had their breakfast and started their day.
Tamasine must have had mercy on me and let me sleep.
I may have unloaded a lot of my woes on her in a way I would never usually do, except alcohol had a way of loosening my lips.
I washed up, put on my Andalagar training clothes, and headed outside. As expected, the villagers were busy with their various duties and chores. Some hung wet laundry, others tended their gardens, and several headed toward the training field for daily exercises.
Following them, I found a crowd had gathered, blocking my view of the main practice area.
I worked my way to the side of them and gasped at what I saw.
Darrow and Orran moved with lethal grace as they swung swords at each other.
Both men were bare-chested, but my gaze caught on my husband’s glistening tan skin and flexed biceps.
He appeared completely healthy without a hint of the pale complexion he’d had the evening before.
The two men danced around each other, trading blows with blades and fists. Sometimes they moved quickly, and other times, slowly as they tested each other. They were evenly matched when it came to regular combat.
Darrow didn’t use his magic, which would have given him a considerable advantage. Whatever powers the Prime Chief had, he didn’t seem to use either. I wondered what they might be since that played a role in Orran rising to his current position. He’d never told me.
At least ten minutes passed before they finally called the duel a draw. Everyone cheered, probably happy to see Orran unable to best someone for once. He normally decimated the rest of us when we fought against him. I’d tried once and swore not to do that again—at least not without using my magic.
Darrow turned, and our gazes met. Heat entered his eyes that made me catch my breath.
His raw masculinity was so mesmerizing that it took me a moment to realize he was heading straight for me.
The closer he came, the more convinced I became that he only had one thing on his mind. My thighs clenched at the thought.
We’d been married almost five months, but we’d only had three intimate nights together in that time, counting the one with the gods.
He’d implied at dinner last night that we should make up for lost time.
I couldn’t say I didn’t want him because I absolutely did.
Just looking at him or hearing his voice could make me wet.
If only our intimacy didn’t terrify me and make me feel like I was losing myself. Faced with a fully healthy Darrow, the upper half of his body bare to me, I wouldn’t be able to resist him this time. The way he stalked toward me was purely carnal.
Things were going to get rather explosive—and fast. My mind raced.
The cabin was too far away at the opposite end of Doga, so I moved briskly to the forest nearest the training area.
Dangerous animals lurked in there, but that didn’t worry me at all right now.
I had a far more feral creature following me, and I didn’t want to be caught out in the open with him.
No way would I run and draw attention to myself, either. Instead, I moved with purpose and a slight sashay of my hips to let him know I’d play his game this time. All he needed to do was wait until we had a little more privacy.
Darrow didn’t hide his footsteps as he pursued me, but he stayed a short distance back, as if he savored the hunt.
I managed to make it a few hundred feet into the forest before he suddenly appeared in front of me.
I squealed in shock before remembering that he’d confessed to being able to teleport.
That had to consume a lot of power, yet he’d used it to make a point. I could flee, but he’d always reach me.
I started to back away, but he moved lightning fast. The next thing I knew, he’d picked me up and slung me over his shoulder, slapping me on the ass. The sting of the strike bit into my skin.
“Dare, damn you. Put me down,” I ordered, though he undoubtedly sensed the thrill and anticipation running through me. The lingering effects from hosting the gods in our bodies remained. I had a feeling there was only one way to release them if we wanted to return to normal.
He bit my thigh—through my pants!
“I’m done waiting to fuck you, Aella. In a few minutes, you’re going to have my cock buried inside you, and you’ll be begging for more.”
“Isn’t that rather presumptuous?” I asked, and squeezed one of his butt cheeks since it was right there, begging for it.
He let out a low growl. A large forest creature appeared to the side of the trail, but I couldn’t make it out well from upside down. All I knew was that it went flying through the vegetation with a frightened screech while Darrow didn’t break his pace, then there was a loud thump against a tree.
More rustling sounds followed as he drove away every threatening animal that came near us. Through all of this, my boots disappeared from my feet, and then I felt cool air on my ass and legs. He was using his powers to strip me of my clothes.
“Darrow, what are you doing?” I asked, breathing heavily from bouncing on his shoulder.
His hand ran up my leg and dipped between my thighs, touching the place that had begun burning for him since the moment I saw him on that training field. “I wanted to know how ready you are for me.” He easily slid a finger inside, making me moan. “It appears you need me as much as I need you.”
“Maybe,” I agreed.
He chuckled and twisted two fingers inside me, making me whimper.
“That’s not a maybe, try again.”
“Yes. Damn you. I want you,” I said through gritted teeth.
He didn’t stop walking as he pushed in a third. I couldn’t do anything except hang down his back as he worked his hand between my legs. He had me so thoroughly distracted that my tunic and undershirt came off without me caring as they slid from my head and arms to the ground.
Finally, Darrow withdrew his fingers and pressed me against a tree, pinning my back in place with magic.
Only my limbs remained free to move. He took off his boots and pants in record time while I took in every inch of his powerful, magnificent body.
I might be frightened of getting attached to him, but I couldn’t deny our attraction to each other.
You look beautiful like this, dear wife, he whispered in my head as he studied me just as closely. If I had my way, I’d keep you naked and panting all the time.
My gaze dropped to his stiff, thick shaft. I wouldn’t admit it aloud, but I wouldn’t have minded him staying naked all the time, either. What are you waiting for, Dare?
Without another word, he lifted my legs, spread them wide, and shoved his full girth into me so hard I cried out at the invasion.
Pinned to the tree, I couldn’t budge an inch.
It hurt, but in a good way that made me go wild.
I clung to his broad shoulders and dug my nails into his skin, drawing blood.
Darrow lightly gripped my throat with one hand and my thigh with the other as he began fucking me so hard and fast that I swore I saw stars.
It was raw power. We’d had some rough sex together, especially with the gods, but I swore this was the most feral he’d ever been.
With our newly formed connection, I had the sense he needed to re-mark his territory after letting the deities have their way with us.
He was making me his—and only his—again.
His mouth pressed against mine, and I reveled in our passionate kiss.
He ravaged me, fucking and kissing with ruthless passion.
When we came up for air, we both dragged in deep breaths.
His eyes didn’t reflect the same caring as when Wrath had inhabited him, but he still looked at me like I was his, and he’d kill anyone who tried to take me from him.
I was so caught up in his gaze that it took me a moment to notice the massive lizard with a forked tongue coming from around a tree to my left. My very-determined husband didn’t pause from ramming into me as he disintegrated its head, leaving the brown-scaled body on the ground ten feet from us.
“That was brutal,” I said between his thrusts into me.
Darrow quirked his lips. “Nothing will stop me from being inside of you. I’m done playing nice.”
More dangerous animals came, drawn by our cries of pleasure, and they all met an untimely demise until a mass of mutilated corpses surrounded us.
The Andalagar had warned me to stay out of these woods because of the dangers, but when I’d chosen to enter them, I’d had complete confidence Darrow could handle any threats.
Even without the nameless god’s help, the power he exerted all by himself turned me on more than I imagined. With our newly forged bond and being in his arms, I could sense how easily he killed the creatures without remorse.
“Come for me, Aella,” he demanded, squeezing my neck just enough that I couldn’t draw in a full breath but not so much that I couldn’t breathe at all. “And say my name when you do it.”
His voice was deep and gravelly, making me clench around his cock with pure need. He ground into me in just the right way that I couldn’t hold back and exploded in pleasure. As wave after wave of ecstasy hit me, he released his hold on my throat.
“Dare!” I screamed, clutching his shoulders.
He pumped into me several more times before he found his own release with a rough shout, then kissed me so fiercely I thought for sure my lips would be bruised afterward.
I enjoyed every moment of it. Seeing some of the things he’d been through in Karganoth brought a whole new perspective to this half-dark elf.
He was most certainly cold and dangerous at times, but he still held onto a scrap of decency that shouldn’t have survived what the trials did to him.
As his mouth broke away, I wrapped my arms around him and squeezed. “I’m glad you’re back and better now.”
“Did you worry about me?” he asked, wry humor in his tone.
I snorted as I pulled away to press my back into the rough tree and look at him. “Worry? No, but I certainly missed your dick. It does the most delicious things to me.”
His head fell back as he laughed, and with him still inside me, I felt him shaking there as well. “Hmm, we will be doing a lot more of this now that I have you under my control.”
“Your control?” I lifted a brow. “That’s rather bold, considering we both know you only have me now because I’m allowing it.”
He ground into me until I moaned. “Your body is mine, Aella. You can set all the restrictions you want between us, but I will use every opportunity to endear myself to you.” I glared at him as he pressed bruising kisses down my neck.
“You respond to me so well that I wish we could stay out here for longer to explore that further, but my father insists we return to Darynia by ten this morning.”
“Will he be there waiting for us?” I asked, stiffening. It was a meeting I had dreaded, not wanting to come face to face with my father’s killer.
Darrow brushed a lock of blonde hair from my face. “Yes.”
“Maybe I can stay here?” I asked in a hopeful tone.
He shook his head. “You can’t avoid him forever, but he’s promised to be welcoming. With the prince and princess coming along, I doubt you’ll have to speak with him much—if that helps.”
I supposed if I must go there, now was the right time. The royals would be the perfect distraction. “Fine.”
He pulled out of me, and I found all our clothes next to the tree, neatly folded with our boots side-by-side. My husband had been fully engaged with me and still managed to organize our things. There was so much I had to learn about him.
“Do you think you can pack quickly?” he asked as we got dressed.
I nodded. “Yes. I don’t have much and kept most of it in my bags anyway. Rynn did the same since we knew we wouldn’t stay here long.”
“Good. While you handle that, I’ll gather the others, and then we’ll head to the ring,” he said, lacing his boots.
I wanted to wrap my arms around him one more time, hating that the urge was so strong, but I restrained myself. Under no circumstances could I allow myself to get too attached. “That sounds like a plan.”