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I looked back into his eyes, worrying my bottom lip. I turned the riddle over in my head, trying to think of clues. We were together, alone, in this lovely setting. He’d used my pet name twice. We were in a place I had a feeling had never been shown to anyone else but me.
Hurt profoundly.
Difficult to display.
Finally given.
“Zhèmson,” I choked. I brushed one of his cheeks with my thumb. My bottom lip trembled. “You hurt profoundly when lost, are difficult to display, but have been finally given to me.” I could hardly see him through my tears as I brought his forehead to mine. “You are love, Zhèmson. You are love.”
His gaze stormed with burning passion. Without looking away, Zhèmson carried me out of the water. His muscled arms held me tight, his bronzed skin glistening beneath the low skylight. Every inch of the Domenent was perfect.
Out of the water, Zhèmson carried me to the coves close to the water’s edge. Once inside, without a word, he brought his lips to mine. He lowered me gently, laying me back on the softest blanket. Caging me between his powerful build, Zhèmson huffed a hot breath, his muscled arms straining. Sweat glistened down his chest as his eyes burned.
“Zhèmson, my love,” I purred. “If you have a need, now is the time to satisfy it.”
He snarled, crushing his lips to mine. Then our bodies, worlds, and souls entwined like the starlight we made love beneath.
Zhèmson
With her head tucked into the crook of my arm, Daliah slept soundly. After making love on the Isle, I’d flown us back to the tower. I brought her, with all her belongings, into my chambers to stay with me. Then I laid her bare on my, our, bedcloud and claimed her again. And again.
Satiated by the throes of heated passion, she now slept peacefully. My hearts beat with contentment for the first time in a long time. I curled my body around hers, brushing her hair back to nuzzle her neck. I breathed her in, dumbfounded at my good fortune. She’d been brought here on a bargain. As fate would have it, she proved to be more than just a traitor.
At first, I wasn’t sure if letting my hearts fill with hope was wise. Though she was Sèlie, she was brought up in the ways of the Un’Sèlie. While she found me charming and her desire for me grew each dawn, I knew deep inside she longed to return to Elèor.
I hated having to compete with the Sèlie Court for her heart. I wanted her by my side for a lifetime of lifetimes.
Nuzzling her a final time, I placed a light kiss on her forehead, pulled her closer by the waist, and drifted to sleep.
Weighed down by my slumber, a shift in the air sometime later, poked me subconsciously, demanding I wake up. My arms were empty of their former warmth. I sensed the movement of my limbs. My body being wrapped. I was too tired to take any of it seriously, so I dismissed it as a silly dream. Until Daliah started screaming.
“Zhèmson! The Sky Watchers have come for you. Get up! The Sky Watchers have come!”
In one breath, my eyes snapped open, legs swung out of the bedcloud, and I snarled. Twenty Sky Watchers floated in my bedchamber, whips and chains in their hands. I pushed to my feet and saw I was bound hand and foot. I noticed they were cords woven of vipèrrsilk.
Oh, Daliah.
“On aika olla tankou chen ou ye a.” It’s time to be chained like the dog you are.
The Sky Watchers snarled, ethèr surfacing for a fight. I rolled my eyes, bored. I drew on my ethèr. In a blink, I was dressed in my tunic and breeches. The angels froze, clearly confused that my ethèr flowed freely.
Imbeciles.
I laughed darkly. With a huff, I flexed my biceps, effortlessly snapping my bonds. I yanked up a foot and snapped the ones around my ankles. With a small jerk, the bonds around my wrists broke. I rolled my neck and arms, toying with the Sky Watchers who were now trembling with fear.
“Hells. This was all a ploy.”
“Tsk. How does it feel knowing you’ll die for being dumber than kòkroches?”
They turned to fly out of the chamber. I lunged. I swiped my wings at their spines, each pair going in a different direction, curling around the Sky Watchers. My wings coiled around their bodies and snapped them like twigs. The crunch of broken bone filled the quiet air. Until the Watchers began screaming in agony.
Their bodies rent in two, the audible sound horrifying enough to make me shudder. Two Watchers charged me through the center of the chamber. Releasing my wings, I charged them back. I clubbed the first, swiped my leg beneath the second, and swooped up to punch the first in the face so hard, his nose cracked.
Stomping on the Sky Watcher beneath me directly in his sternum, I threw my head back, colliding with the first Watcher, hard. His head snapped. As the second lunged for me from beneath me, I leapt into the air, cut my body at an angle, and caught him by his ankles. I snapped his body in the air like a whip before yanking him back to slam him on the marble floors, again and again. Darkness filled my vision as I lost myself in the mania of battle. When my vision cleared, every Sky Watcher was in contorted positions, their blood staining my rugs.
When I looked up, I saw her.
My hearts broke.
