Текст книги "A fire in the flash"

Автор книги: Jennifer L. Armentrout

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Текущая страница: 35 (всего у книги 37 страниц)

The coil deep inside me tightened. My movements became almost frantic, the pleasure I felt bordering on painful. “I…I can’t,” I gasped. “It’s too much.”

“You can.” He licked again, catching the wetness there. “You will. Because no one is stronger than you.”

I wasn’t sure if that was true, but I kept thrusting, my movements becoming increasingly erratic.

Tension built quickly, stealing my breath and shocking me. I screamed as a release took me hard, whirling through me in pounding waves of pleasure. And Ash…

Gods, he was relentless.

His mouth moved over me as he licked and tasted, drawing out every quiver and gasp.

The tendrils eased from me, bringing forth a ragged gasp. His eyes pulsed with eather as he rose. Power crackled across his shadowstone-hued flesh as he crawled over me.

A sharp bolt of lust lanced me. I didn’t think it would be possible for me to feel anything like that after what we’d just done. Or what he had. What we’d both taken part in. Whatever.

Grasping my hip, he rolled me onto my belly. I started to push up out of reflex, but the cool press of his chest against my back only let me get so far.

One hand stayed on my hip, fingers pressing into the flesh. I trembled as his firm hold reached deep inside me, stroking that dark, wicked part of me alive once more.

Ash lifted me onto my widespread knees and then guided me so my back was almost straight. I felt him begin to press into…what had he said earlier? My pussy? I shuddered and clung to his arm.

He was…oh, gods, he was definitely bigger.

“I won’t ever get tired of this,” he whispered in my ear, dragging his free hand over my breast and then down my stomach to the junction of my thighs. “Especially this.”

My hips jerked, seeking his hand, but he caught me, pushing my rear against him.

“I will never take you for granted,” he promised, and my breath froze then redoubled as I felt him entering me, inch by delicious inch. “I will never dishonor you.”

 A spasm ran up my leg as he stretched me. The coolness of his cock was such a shock.

“I will always stand at your side, your command my will.” He nipped my jaw as he went deeper. “I will never let harm come to you.”

I shook, unable to even cry out as he pushed into me, to the hilt. He groaned as I stared wide-eyed at the wall. The feel of him inside me now, his cock throbbing, was indescribable.

“And I will lay waste to Primals, gods, Kings, and men if they even try to hurt you, and I will feel no remorse for doing so.” His tongue soothed the skin he’d scraped. “I will give my life for yours.”

My chest rose sharply. I didn’t want to hear him say that. “Ash—”

His hips thrust into me, drawing out a ragged moan. He ground against me, hitting every sensitive, hidden part and then some. “And I will kill for you.”

Senses whirling, I was only vaguely aware of my knees lifting from the bed, of both of us rising into the air as his arm curled around my stomach to hold me in place. He moved, pulling back until just the tip of him pressed in, and then thrust forward again until there wasn’t an inch between us. My legs curled in the empty space with each hard plunge and fast retreat. I pressed the soles of my feet against his calves, trying to escape the intense sensation while at the same time trying to get more of it. The friction built a crazy storm of emotion that quickly turned into a swirling knot of deep tension that had me twisting and quivering against him and on his cock.

“You’re my everything,” he said, cheek pressed to mine as his hips pounded. “My world. My salvation. My redemption.”

Ash drove into me, over and over, stopping between thrusts to grind against me. Pleasure licked through me like sweet flames, igniting an inferno that was somehow as intense and shattering as the ones that came before it. My feet lost their purchase as I came, his name a hoarse shout.

Things were a bit of a blur after that, and I wasn’t even sure how we ended up as we were now—me on my back and Ash above me, his fingers running over my cheek and through my hair.

His eyes were full of brilliant pulses of eather. “Fates, Sera, I…” Ash’s chest rose sharply as he cupped my cheek. “I love you.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

I love you.

I didn’t know how it was possible with his kardia gone, but in that moment, the how didn’t matter. Because…

Ash had just said he loved me.

A rush of emotion hit me, stealing my breath. Those three words were so simple—a combination of just eight letters—yet so powerful. I’d never thought to hear them spoken by the one I loved.

“I don’t know exactly when I started to fall in love with you,” he said, smoothing his thumb along my jaw. “Maybe it started the night in the Garden District as we stood under the vines or when you plunged your dagger into my chest.”

Trembling laughter escaped me. “I sincerely hope that wasn’t when you started to fall in love with me.”

Eather swirled in his irises. “It quite possibly was.”

“If so, then that is quite demented in a…in an endearing sort of way,” I told him, feeling the back of my throat and eyes starting to sting. “By the way, the stabbing-you thing was an accident.”

“Sure.” He drew out the word. I moved to swat his arm, but he caught my wrist. He lifted my hand—his skin warm—to his mouth, pressing a kiss to the marriage imprint. His eyes lifted to meet mine. The tendrils of eather there were so incredibly bright. “I love you.”

A tremor started in my lower body, quickly racing up to my shoulders. “I-I don’t know why I’m shaking.”

He made a gruff sound, dropping his forehead to mine. “Liessa…”

My heart was beating so fast. Why was I so shaken by his declaration? I remembered what I’d heard him shout before I lost consciousness. Part of me must have known from the moment I awakened and realized who I was that Ash loved me. I wouldn’t be alive if he didn’t. But I had been too afraid to allow myself to believe that his love saved me. That it wasn’t a desperate deal made or the Arae intervening. I just never…

“I’d thought…” I whispered hoarsely, squeezing my eyes shut. “I thought I would die without knowing what your love felt like.”

Ash went rigid against me. “I couldn’t allow that,” he swore. “I will never allow that.”

My breath caught as I shuddered. His heated oath lingered in the space between our mouths, I thought maybe I had always known he loved me, despite the impossibility of it. Because how many times had I questioned what, other than love, could fuel his actions?

Was it possible that Maia hadn’t removed his kardia? Before I could ask if that was even possible, his mouth touched mine. The kiss was a fiery, passionate testament, proof that his words weren’t hollow. I could feel the love in the gentle yet fierce way his mouth parted mine and tasted his desire in the dance of our tongues.

Ash broke the kiss, rocking back. I opened my eyes. He knelt between my legs, his thick, glistening length jutting from his pelvis.

I bit down on my lip, wincing at the brief sting caused by—gods, my fangs. I had actual fangs. I would need to work on being more mindful of them. But not now—definitely not now. Because his fists landed on either side of my hips, and he lowered his head. The first touch of his breath between my thighs stole mine.

“I will spend the rest of eternity making sure you never doubt what I feel for you,” he promised, sliding his palms over my thighs. He parted them as he’d done with my lips moments before—gently and fiercely. “Starting now.”

I held my breath, toes curling in anticipation. I didn’t have to wait long. My back bowed as I felt his tongue sliding along the very center of me.

The entire realm ceased to exist. It was just him, me, and his sinfully talented tongue. All I could do was give myself over to the heat spreading throughout my body as he lapped at my wetness, driving me higher and higher. I writhed and bucked against his mouth with each stroke, every time his tongue delved into me.

His hands clamped down on my hips, keeping me trapped against his mouth. His tongue slid lower, parting me. I groaned, lifting my hips. The pleasure was so intense that it was almost painful, and he wasn’t slowing down or stopping.

“Ash…please,” I whispered, one leg curling, pressing into his side.

“I haven’t tasted enough of you.” His tongue flicked the knot of nerves, drawing a sharp cry from me. “I don’t think I’ll ever get enough.”

Clutching the blanket beneath me, I started to shake as he rolled his tongue over that sensitive part of me once more. Then he closed his mouth over my clit. The pull and sudden scrape of his fangs sent me over the edge.

“Ash,” I moaned.

His answering growl burned my skin, heightening the arousal. My head kicked back as I screamed, coming in a blinding, startling rush that I would’ve sworn to the gods transported me to another realm, because I had no idea how much—if any—time passed before I heard a rapping at the door.

“Is everything okay in there?” came Nektas’s muffled voice.

Either Ash hadn’t heard him, or he was ignoring the draken, because his answer was to flick his tongue over my heated flesh again.

My hips jerked, and my toes curled.

“I’m starting to get worried,” Nektas said.

I shuddered as he ran a finger through my wetness. “Ash.”

He drew back just enough for me to see his glossy lips. “Everything is fine.”

There was barely a chance for me to take a breath before his head dipped once more. He closed his lips over me as he worked a finger inside, wringing another gasp from me.

“Are you sure?” Nektas asked. My head turned toward the door. “I thought I heard screaming.”

“You didn’t.”

I gripped the blanket as Ash slowly moved his finger in and out.

“I’m pretty sure I did,” the draken insisted.

Ash’s finger eased from me. I started to rise onto my elbows, but his hand came on my chest, just below my neck.

His eyes pulsed with eather. His other hand went to my shoulder. “I’m not done with you.”

My breath caught as my gaze locked on his savage stare. I looked down where his cock remained, thick and heavy.

“What did you say?” Nektas asked.

Ash’s head whipped toward the sound. “I said I may kill you if you don’t get the fuck away from that door.”

My eyes widened. As I took in how still his chest was as he drew his hand down the center of mine, I thought maybe he would do that.

“Rude,” Nektas drawled. “I assume your uncalled-for threat of violence means that both of you are awake, alive, and well aware enough of each other that you’re…getting reacquainted?”

Ash’s head dipped, and a low snarl rumbled from him.

“I’m—” I clamped my mouth shut, muffling a moan as Ash drew my nipple into his mouth. “I’m fine.”

There was a pause. “You don’t sound fine.”

“I swear I am.” I reached down, grasping the back of Ash’s head as he moved to my other breast. “But I really think you won’t be if you don’t leave.”

There was a gap of silence, and then I heard a chuckle. “I am relieved to hear you are fine,” he said. “Meyaah Liessa.”

My Queen.

I gave a start, the implication of that—of what had happened—finally sinking in. What I’d seen. The voices I’d heard. My body locked up, and my lips parted.

My heart began to pound as Ash lifted his head from my breast. Somehow, I’d Ascended without the embers of life killing me. And they weren’t just inside me now. They weren’t even a part of me.

The embers of life were me.

 I was the Primal of Life—the true Primal of Life.

The…the Queen of the Gods.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

I stared up at Ash, my stomach dipping. “I’m…I’m the Queen of the Gods.”

“Yes.” Ash’s hand slid down my side to my thigh.

My chest started dipping as he spread my legs. “And that would make you the…King of the Gods?”

“Only if you deem it fitting to call me such,” he said, his gaze traveling over my body and centering between my thighs. “Otherwise, I am your Consort.”

Him? The Consort?

No.

Hips twitching under his icy-hot stare, I swallowed. “I make you King…deem you King. Or whatever.”

“Honored,” he murmured, guiding my leg over his hip.

My mind raced. If I was the Primal of Life, then what did that mean for—oh, my gods, what about Kolis? He’d awakened while Ash and I were at my lake. I knew he had. I’d felt him. So, where was he? And what about the other Primals?

“Ash?”

His attention was still fixed between my thighs. “Hmm?”

I tugged on his hair, forcing his gaze to mine. “What does that mean?”

“It means the King is about to fuck his Queen.”

That wasn’t where I had been going with that question, but in a heartbeat, I was there completely.

Eyeing his erection, I dragged in a reedy breath. A pulse of desire echoed, surprising me. I didn’t think it would be possible after the pleasure he’d already given me, but here I was.

Ash had gone still again as he stared down at me. His skin thinned. Shadows appeared across his cheeks and down his chest. Faint tendrils of mist rose behind him, seeping out from his upper shoulders to form the hazy outline of wings. I slipped my hand from his hair, letting it fall to the bed.

His eyes slammed shut as he twisted his neck to the side. Instinctively, I could sense that his Primal form was close to the surface, and he was struggling to rein it back in. I could actually…sense it.

Which was really weird because I had no idea how. But I could.

“I…I just need a moment to get myself under control,” he said gruffly.

My fingers curled into the blanket. It would be wise for me to stay quiet and let him regain that control. Plus, there was a lot we needed to talk about. I had no idea how long I’d been asleep or what was going on with Kolis and the other Primals—or even Iliseeum and the mortal realm.

But I was reckless and unwise, even now. And all that important stuff could wait.

I rose onto my elbows, and he didn’t stop me. Reaching between us, I wrapped my hand around his cock.

A low hiss of air parted his lips as his eyes flew open.

I couldn’t look away from the vivid, icy burn of his stare as I drew my fingers along the length of his cock to the tip before lowering my hand to my belly. I let my knee fall to the side. “Fuck your Queen then.”

There was no hesitation.

Not even a second.

Ash thrust into me, seating himself all the way. His ragged moan joined mine. The muscles of his arms tightened as he braced himself, his hips beginning to move. The rhythm he set wasn’t slow or gentle. It was a torrid pace, fast and hard. Wrapping my legs around his hips, all I could do was cling to him. My fingers dug into the hard muscles of his shoulders as each plunge hit a spot deep inside me, unleashing tight waves of pleasure. His chest flattened against mine, his hips pounding into me over and over as he kissed me, lips devouring mine.

Ash did as he’d said, as I demanded.

He fucked his Queen.

Sometime later, we lay in Ash’s bed—our bed—facing each other, my cheek resting on his arm, and our legs tangled. In the sated silence, he toyed with a strand of my hair and kept looking at me as if I were some sort of a mirage. He barely looked away, almost as if he feared I’d disappear.

And I knew I looked at him the same way. That was why I kept my hands on his chest. As my thoughts spun from one thing to the next, I had to touch him, remind myself that we were both here.

There was so much going on in my head. I had all this knowledge in the back of my mind now. As if the essence inside me had contained it all, waiting for it to be unlocked. It was a lot, and I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around the fact that I was here, had Ascended, and was now a Primal. Actually, I was the Primal.

Of Life.

The fangs.

Which I kept pricking my tongue on.

And I couldn’t even think about how all that was possible—what it required to work. If I did, I wasn’t sure if I would start sobbing hysterically or climb all over Ash.

Our bodies needed a break.

And there were so many things I needed to know—had to understand. I wasn’t even sure where to start.

So, I chose one of the easier things. “Will I ever stop catching my tongue or lips on these things?”

“These things?” He laughed as I prodded a fang with my tongue. “You’ll get used to them.”

Nicking myself once more, I frowned. “I’m not so sure about that.”

“You will,” he assured me. “Especially since they’re rather small.”

My frown increased. They didn’t feel small in my mouth. “Are they supposed to be larger?” I eyed his mouth, able to see the tips of his. “Did something go wrong?”

“I don’t think anything went wrong, liessa.” He smiled, clearly amused. “I imagine they’re smaller simply due to your mortal birth.”

“Oh.” My gaze lowered. “Ash?”

“Yeah?” He dipped his head, brushing his lips across my forehead.

I smiled. “Was there a chance I wouldn’t have regained my memories upon waking?”

“There was,” he said, twisting a curl around his finger. “An Ascension is a powerful transition for a god. But a Primal? It’s even more so. As the eather grows, changing the body while in stasis, it can affect the mind.”

My stomach dipped. “Have any Primals Ascended without remembering who they were?”

“A few. Some regained many of their memories. I heard that Maia spent some time without much recollection of the years leading up to her Ascension. The same with Phanos. Attes and Kyn Ascended at the same time, but Kyn never regained his memories.”

My brows shot up. “Of all the people I expected not to regain their memories, Kyn was not even on the list.”

He unwound the curl of hair. “Why is that?”

“I guess because he has a twin. That it would’ve, I don’t know, grounded him?”

“I would think the same, but Ascensions are unpredictable, especially if you go through one alone,” he said, and I watched his lips move. Something about his voice was different. “If Nektas hadn’t been there, talking to me, who knows if I would have remembered my years prior.”

“I’m glad you did,” I said, thinking it would’ve been terrible if he’d had no memories of his father. I dragged my finger across his chest, just below his collarbone. “So, that was why I dreamed of your voice? You were talking to me?”

“I was.” He paused. “How much do you remember?”

“Bits and pieces.” One of them came to the forefront. “You spoke about seeing me as a child by the lake, right? In your wolf form?”

“I did.” A grin appeared, and it stole a little of my breath. “You were carrying an armful of rocks.”

“I was. I don’t remember why. I was a strange child.” A shaky laugh left me. “I forgot to tell you this when we were in the cavern, but when I saw you in your wolf form, when you first came for me at Cor Palace, I knew it was you. I knew you were the wolf I saw as a child.” I took in a shallow breath. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

I almost laughed again. For what? “Besides the fact that you made sure I remembered who I was?”

“That’s not worthy of gratitude, liessa.”

He was…

A knot of emotion swelled in my throat. Gods, I loved him so much I felt like I would burst.

Lifting my head, I brought my mouth to his and gave him my gratitude. I poured it into the kiss.

And Ash didn’t just drink it in, he gave it all back. The arm I’d been resting on curled around my waist, tugging my chest against his. He kissed me as if he wished to stake a claim to my very being. No one could kiss like that—evoke such a sensation.

Things spun from there, turning from gratitude to a near-desperate need for each other that somehow hadn’t been quenched. Darts of pleasure raced through me. Every part of me became incredibly taut. His kisses could do that in mere seconds, taking me from calm to frantic with need.

Ash’s hand slid down my side, over my leg. He lifted my thigh, hooking it over his hip. I gasped into his kiss as he cupped my rear, pressing me against his already-hard length.

“Yes,” I whispered—begged, really. My fingers dug into his skin.

Ash groaned and then punched his hips up, sinking into me. I cried out, quickly swept up in a riot of sensations. He moved deeply inside me, slowly at first, driving me to my wit’s end. And when I thought I would surely die, he rolled me onto my back. Our eyes locked. We met each other thrust for thrust, the rhythm increasing as I wrapped my legs around his waist. His mouth was everywhere, capturing a nipple as he sucked in time with his hips, then moving up to lick and nip my throat—

My stomach hollowed as my eyes flew open. I gripped his shoulders, wanting him to feed—to bite me. But I…I locked up. Confusion whirled through me as my heart started pounding sickeningly fast.

His fangs scraped my skin, and dual bursts of lust and unease—unease and fear—darted through me. For a moment, I wasn’t there. I was in the cage, held too tightly. The reaction didn’t make sense. I was with Ash. I was safe with him. Always.

“Sera?” Fingers touched my cheek. I opened my eyes, breathing fast. Ash had stilled against me. “Are you all right?”

Swallowing, I nodded as I locked eyes with him. With Ash. No one else. “Yes.”

“Liessa…” He started to pull away, lifting his hips from mine.

A tiny burst of panic went through me as I curled my legs around him. “I’m okay. I promise.” And I was. Mostly. It had just been a weird moment. One I needed to get over. Would get over. Reaching up, I gripped the nape of his neck. “You need to feed.”

His head dipped, and I tensed, but he didn’t go for my throat. He kissed me, slow and long.

When he raised his head, I was panting. “Feed,” I repeated, lifting my hips against his.

Ash groaned. “I don’t need to.”

“I took a lot of blood—”

“And I will be fine. My body will replenish it,” he assured me. “I don’t need to feed.”

I wasn’t sure if I believed that as his mouth returned to mine, but it was okay. It was only a weird moment. I’d been fine when he bit me in the lake. I would be fine again.

Ash didn’t move inside me, though. He remained still, his hard length piercing, his eyes watchful. “Sera—”

Tightening my legs around him, I made as if to roll him. He resisted for an instant but then let me shift him onto his back. I rocked, seating myself on him.

“Fates,” he bit out, clasping my hips.

Planting my hands on his shoulders, I rode him, moving up and down his length. My pace picked up as I focused on him—only him—wanting every inch of him inside me. The feel of him almost made me dizzy.

His arm came around me as he drew me down. Our breaths mingled as our mouths opened. His eyes never left mine as he held me in place, grinding against me. We both came hard and fast, either one after the other or at the same time, I couldn’t be sure. Then I collapsed against his chest.

Still trembling from the aftershocks, we ended up back as we had been before, on our sides with his fingers in my hair and our legs tangled.

“Fates, if we’re not careful, we’re going to end up exhausting you back into stasis,” he murmured.

I giggled. “Is that even possible?”

“At the rate we’re going? Yes.” He was silent for a few moments. “Are you all right?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“You sure?” Ash asked, letting go of my hair to tip my chin up. Our eyes met. His were a warm dove gray. “I wasn’t gentle before or even now,” he added. “At all.”

“I know.” I rose slightly. “You didn’t hurt me then or now, and I loved both times—or all three times. Four?”

“Five,” he corrected.

“So, you’re counting those…” My skin flushed. “Those things you did with the tendrils of eather?”

“Those things you really enjoyed.”

Feeling my breath catch, I nodded. “You seemed to enjoy it yourself.”

“Enjoy it?” He dipped his head to mine. “You were drenched, liessa,” he said, his voice turning to silk. “It’s quite possible I enjoyed it more than you.”

A wanton shiver rolled through me. “Good.”

He chuckled deeply. Unfortunately, the sound faded much too quickly. “But your body has been through a lot. So has your mind.”

I snorted. “I think my mind is somewhat calm for once.”

“I’m relieved to hear that.” He drew a finger down the center of my chin. “But something happened with us earlier.”

Falling quiet, I debated whether to pretend I had no idea what he was talking about, which seemed very…un-queenly.

“You locked up,” he continued quietly, almost carefully. “And I could taste your sudden unease.”

“You really need to stop reading my emotions.” I leaned back, returning my cheek to his arm.

Ash’s touch followed, his fingers picking up another strand of hair. “If it makes you feel any better, it was harder than usual.”

My eyes narrowed. “So, I wasn’t projecting? You went searching?”

The hair slid between his fingers. “When you locked up, I was afraid I had hurt you.”

The evident concern in his voice extinguished any irritation. “You weren’t hurting me. At all.”

He dragged the curl over my upper arm. “Then what was it?”

I gave a one-shouldered shrug. “I don’t know. I think maybe it’s what you said. My body—my head—has been through a lot. So, it was just a weird moment.” And that was all I would allow it to be. “But all the other moments? They were amazing. Beautiful.” I leaned over and kissed him. “I think I can still taste myself on your lips.”

A sexy rumble vibrated in his chest. “Do not mention that.” Twin silver pools locked onto me, and my body immediately reacted, curling and tensing in a delicious, heated way. “Because it makes me want to taste you again, and I have something I need to say—actually, I have several things I need to say.”

“Okay,” I murmured as the image of him with his head nestled between my thighs took up residency in my mind.

Ash bowed his back so our eyes met. “That also means you need to stop thinking about it.”

“I’m not.”

“Your arousal is so strong I can taste it.” Ash nipped my lips, making my breath catch. A brief grin appeared as I pouted at him. “If you keep it up, I’m going to get myself deep inside you yet again.”

Shockingly, tiny knots of coiled lust formed in my belly. “Was that supposed to convince me to stop thinking about exactly that? Because if so, you failed.”

He chuckled, guiding my head back to his arm. “For some unknown reason, I’m not disappointed to learn that.”

Unknown? I snorted.

“But we need to behave,” he advised. “I know there is a lot we should be talking about—a lot we need to do.”

There was.

Tension crept into my muscles. The moment I remembered who I was until this very second felt like a dream. One where the world didn’t exist outside of this chamber. A fantasy I had never even dared to allow myself.

But the world did exist.

“We need to talk about Kolis.” My stomach soured, but he wasn’t the only thing we needed to discuss. There was so much more.

“We do,” Ash said. “But he’s not a problem.”

I tipped my head back so I could see his face. “How is he not a problem? He is the problem.”

“Right now, he’s not a problem,” Ash clarified. “Kolis was already weakened before your Ascension. You rising as the true Primal of Life not only has him holed up in Dalos nursing his wounds, but every god and Primal in Iliseeum felt your Ascension.”

My stomach took a sharp tumble. “Why does that last part sound like bad news?”

“It is neither good nor bad.” He traced small circles on my arm. “I’m sure most of the Primals are in shock and don’t know what to make of your Ascension, even those loyal to Kolis.”

My mind immediately jumped to the worst-case scenario per usual. “And what if they’re unhappy about my Ascension once they’ve wrapped their heads around everything?”

“Then we will deal with that.” His fingers continued making designs. “Together.”

I didn’t need any special, ancient knowledge to know that dealing with unhappy Primals would be violent and bloody. I could feel my chest tightening—a telltale sign of my old friend: anxiety. The corners of my lips turned down. I’d survived the impossible, Ascending into the true Primal of Life, and I still had crushing anxiety?

Seemed rather unfair.

“The other Primals’ shock and the blow dealt to Kolis has bought us some time,” Ash assured me, obviously picking up on my anxiousness. “Not a lot, but enough that they can all wait right now. Sooner rather than later, Nektas…” He paused, his brow creasing. “I have a vague recollection of him being at the door.”

The corners of my lips tipped up. “He heard me screaming and was worried. You threatened to murder him if he didn’t leave.”

His brows lifted. “I think I owe him an apology.”

Another giggle snuck free.

Vibrant wisps of eather appeared in his eyes. “Your laugh.” His lashes swept down. “It’s such a beautiful sound.” He swallowed, letting out a ragged breath. The eather had calmed in his eyes. “I love it.”

All thoughts of Kolis, apologizing to Nektas, and well…everything else vanished. Love. I would never get tired of hearing that word coming out of his mouth. Even if it was only him saying he loved grapefruit or…ripping out throats.

Ash’s eyes met mine. “One of the things I need to tell you? I’ve never told anyone.”

“Okay.” I spread my fingers across his chest. “I’m listening.”

He took a deep breath as he eased his hand from my hair and then curled it around my nape. “There…there was a time I hated my father for making this deal, for linking some mortal girl to me when he knew it would only bring death and horror upon her. That was before—well, before I knew why he did it. But every year that passed and the bride promised to him—and then to me—wasn’t born, I celebrated.”

“I can’t blame you for that.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t.” He dropped a kiss to the tip of my nose. “But then you were born, and I hated him even more.” He kneaded the muscles of my neck with gentle pressure as he held me there, then let out a shaky breath. “There are things I haven’t been entirely honest about.”

Curiosity rose. “Like what?”

“I wasn’t exactly truthful about why I refused to take you as my Consort and had limited contact with you. Part of it was to keep you unknown to Kolis, but that wasn’t the only reason.” His eyes searched mine. “The night you were born? I had a dream. I saw you…I saw you as you are now, in that—” He inhaled sharply. “In that lake of yours, and so godsdamn beautiful.” His voice thickened. “Your hair cascaded across the dark water like spun moonlight, and these perfect, rosy lips were smiling up at me.”

I grew still as a vague memory of what he’d told me while I was in stasis resurfaced. Something about having a dream that wasn’t. When he saw my lake before he ever laid eyes on it.