AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She’s made it farther than I expected her to, and I find myself impressed not just by her skill but by her sheer determination. She’s a puzzle to me, this mortal woman who consumes so many of my thoughts whether I want her to or not.
I trail behind her through the trees, watching. I could see her clearly without the flames flickering on the tree branch in her hand, but the soft light plays over her face, highlighting the high curve of her cheekbones and delicate slope of her nose. Her top-heavy mouth is shadowed in the low light, but I remember the sight of her lips up close. When she nearly kissed me in the training yard.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she was worried for me. For a fraction of a moment, at least. The look in her eyes as she prodded her long, thin fingers around the edge of the wound while it healed is seared into my memory. Alongside the way her lips parted when her gaze dropped to my mouth, the way her body leaned subtly into mine, the way her fingers flexed in my grip.
These are all things I’ve tried time and time again to erase, and stubbornly they cling on. So much so that I find myself following her scent around the palace. But each time I draw close enough to corner her, she flits away again.
I might have given up on this pointless, frustrating, fruitless endeavor if not for learning of her plan for tonight.
She’s been clever, I’ll give her that, but not clever enough to escape my notice entirely. How could she be? I’ve been singularly focused on her for days. I keep telling myself I only need a taste, a moment with her, and I can forget this whole thing simmering between us. The more I think it, the less I believe it to be true.
There’s nothing much either of us can do about the fact that she’s stuck here, so we might as well have some fun. I imagine Elora would look quite the picture riding my cock, taking her pleasure from me, moaning my name. Begging for more.
She quickens her pace, and I’m forced out of my thoughts and back into the present moment. We’re close to the River Axan, almost in the same spot where I found her bloody and weak.
I assume she’s looking for the shallow stones, but the story of the demigod come to claim his love is only a myth mortals tell each other to soothe themselves into thinking it’s possible for love to span worlds and lifetimes. For someone to be so giving of themselves they would risk their very soul to save another.
I know it to be a lie. Mortals and gods alike are cruel and selfish, myself included. I didn’t have to let Elora get this far. I’ve given her false hope that she’ll get to leave here tonight, that she’ll be free of me.
But I need her. She’s the thing holding my realm together, and I’m not about to let her go and risk its downfall. I’ve long since known I’d do whatever it took to keep the Shadow Realm strong. Including preventing the only solution I currently have from leaving.
Elora follows the curve of the Axan’s banks, her cloak billowing out behind her. One day, I might actually get to see what she looks like in a gown. Not that I mind the way her breeches leave absolutely nothing about her curves to the imagination.
Grunting in frustration, Elora retraces her steps, holding the torch up to a piece of parchment in her hand and studying it. A map, I assume. She really has been putting her time with Railan and Nevon to good use. Though I’m sure she got more information out of Nevon than anyone else. The man can hardly keep it in his breeches around a beautiful woman.
I wouldn’t say Elora was his type. He tends to prefer nymphs and sirens, but he isn’t all that picky either. The idea of him touching her, of her touching him, seeds jealousy in the center of my chest, and I banish it with a wave of my hand. I doubt Elora would go for Nevon, but I’ll make sure my youngest judge knows she’s off limits.
Shoving the map back into her pocket, Elora sidles closer to the bank, peering down into the water. She stands there for a moment and then takes several steps back, the hood from her cloak falling to her shoulders to reveal the mussed strands of her thick braid.
She cocks her head and takes another step back, as if she’s judging the distance between the banks. She can’t really mean to jump. It would be impossible for her. She’d land smack in the middle of the river, and wrestling her from the ravenous river guardians would be a feat, even for me.
They have one purpose in this realm, and that is to keep in any soul who does manage to slip beyond the borders of their assigned territory from reaching the veil. I hardly want to be plucking her lifeless body from their clutches. Gods know what would happen to the realm then.
Elora takes two more steps back, crouching to drive the edge of her makeshift torch into the river’s spongy banks. By all the gods. The infernal woman really does mean to make the leap.
Sighing, I step out from my hiding spot, intending to call her name and put an end to this whole charade. But her muscles bunch, and she takes off toward the bank before I can draw breath.
Something about watching her prepare to leap over a river dangerous enough to kill her in the blink of an eye shoves my heart into my throat. I shift to the river bank, wrapping an arm around her waist and hauling her back against my chest as her feet leave the ground.
She struggles against me, kicking her legs and clawing at my arm. When she finally remembers her dagger, her hand dives for it, but I’m faster, wrapping my other arm around her and securing her in my grip.
“Am I destined to save you from rivers for the rest of your life?”
At that, she goes still, all the fight draining out of her.
“Thieran.”
There’s so much anger in the single word. And still I can’t help but enjoy my name on her lips. It’s the first time she hasn’t called me my lord with a sneer in her voice.
“Will you behave if I set you down, little one?”
“No.”
Her honesty makes me chuckle, so I shift us back to the palace and dump her unceremoniously into the middle of her sitting room. Her hand reaches for her dagger again, and my arm shoots out to grip her wrist, tugging her forward hard enough to have her crashing into my chest.
I drag my hand up the outside of her thigh, enjoying the way her eyes darken and her jaw sets. Flipping the catch on the strap holding it in place, the weapon comes off in my hand. I linger a bit longer than necessary before releasing her and stepping back.
“Any others?”
