A Crown of Cursed Hearts (Kingdom of Blighted Thorns #3)

20. Tempest

20

TEMPEST

“ I ’ll create a bed on the floor again.” As Marla walked back down the hall, I waved to the small open space between the foot of the bed and the only window.

Lifting Drask off my shoulder, I settled him on the bottom bed rail. Barely waking, he tucked his head beneath his wing.

As Vexxion shut the door, I crossed the small room, the rough wooden floorboards creaking beneath my feet, and looked out, studying the dark alley between this building and the next, devoid of insect lights. A chall played near the head of the alley with a scrap of paper, but other than dusky barrels for trash and puddles of grimy water barely catching a wink of moonlight, I didn’t note anything of interest.

I was about to turn away when a shadowy figure dressed in a cloak stepped into the alley from the main street. They stopped halfway down and leaned against the wall beneath me.

Despite pressing my face against the glass, I couldn’t make out a face, but it didn’t matter. It must be a villager taking a break from work or meeting up with someone.

The latter was confirmed when another person dressed in dark clothing flitted into the alley. The powerful fae strode over to join the first. Were they both fae or was one Nullen? I wished I could tell.

They spoke only for a short time before the second flitted from the alley. The first pivoted and strode back onto the main road and turned right.

Vexxion came over to stand behind me, peering through the glass. “Anything out there I need to know about?”

“No. Nothing.” Stepping away from him, I dismissed the two outside from my mind. Their interaction played no role in my life.

“I’ll take the floor this time,” Vexxion said.

I leaned the back of my shoulder against the wall, facing him. “I don’t mind.”

“Or we could share the bed,” he offered.

With a snort, I lifted my eyebrows. “Shall we roll up a blanket to place between us? I wouldn’t want to accidentally touch you during the night and offend you.”

I truly wasn’t good with flirtation. I was finding it hard not to snarl at him all the time. But my heart hurt. My chest was one big hollow gap that I worried would never be filled. And my eyes kept stinging with tears.

I was tired, I told myself. Hungry. My sorrow had nothing to do with his rejection.

“We won’t need a rolled-up blanket,” he bit out. “I’ll go out of my way to make sure I don’t touch you . ”

Stab me in the chest while you’re at it, why don’t you?

Someone knocked on the door, and I opened to let a tall, lean guy about fifteen-years-old carry a big tub inside. He dipped his head toward us both before placing it at the foot of the bed. Leaving, he shut the door behind him.

A flick of Vexxion’s hand, and steam coiled off the water he’d magicked inside.

“Would you like to bathe first?” he said.

“I don’t mind being stinky.” I sounded like a petulant child, but I couldn’t help it.

“Remove your clothing and get into the tub.” This was the voice he’d used when he took someone for a walk.

He’d come back. They wouldn’t.

“I told you I don’t mind if I smell.” I turned to peer out the window again, seeing nothing because the moon had decided to hide behind clouds and my eyes shimmered with tears.

“ Tempest ,” he warned.

“ Vexxion ,” I said in the same tone of voice. “Use the tub. I promise I won’t gape at your ass when you step inside.”

I gulped when my clothing disappeared. Slapping my hands over my breasts, I reeled around to face him. “What in all the fates are you doing?”

“Get in the tub.” His lips took on a sardonic twist as his eyes glided down my frame in a heavy caress. “Or stand there if you’d like. I find I enjoy the view.”

“You don’t fuckin’ want me,” I snarled.

I could flit from the room, but something told me to stay where I was. With a lift of my chin, I let my hands drop to my sides. His lingering gaze was a dare I was more than ready to challenge.

Heat only this man could generate spiraled inside me, sinking through my skin, finding my bones and molding them to suit whatever need he might have. My core melted as well, and desire burst inside me like dry tinder teased by flames.

Fuck this.

I flitted into the tub, sinking down until the water sloshed around my shoulders.

“I never said I didn’t want you.” He came around behind me and grabbed the small cloth from a low table nearby. Soap had appeared there in a pretty dish as well, plus a slender vase holding a black rose tipped with silver. How could he know I loved them when nothing else of the man I craved had come back through the ether? “For whatever reason,” he added, “I find I do.”

“Do you remember me yet?”

“No.”

“Then you can’t have me.” Not until he knew who I was, until he loved me once more.

“Are you sure?” He dipped the cloth into the water and lathered it with the soap. “Lean forward.”

“Don’t do this,” I ground out, though I did as he asked.

He ran the cloth slowly down my back. Up again. Then downward, each stroke gliding across my skin in a languid way that made heat burst inside me.

“You like this,” he rasped. “I do too.”

“You’re just helping me with my bath.” My voice came out thready. It was all I could do not to turn around, to shove my breast into his hand, to put my fingers on his nape and drag his mouth down to my own.

“If you say so.” He guided the cloth around my right shoulder and dipped it down between my breasts. Across the right one, where he paused to rub the nipple.

Tipping my head back, I released a moan I could no easier hold back than I could a storm raging across the sea.

“You’re very responsive,” he whispered by my ear. “I wish I could remember.”

Would he ever, or would we have to build anew from here? I was a fool to snap and snarl at him. He was here with me now. He was still the Vexxion I’d fallen in love with, the one who’d fallen for me.

“This breast needs to be washed.” I gestured to the left, taking us down a path we’d followed before, back at the castle. If I showed him what we’d done then, would that help him remember now?

“So it does.” He lathered the cloth again and stroked it across my breast, guiding it around the nipple until it puckered. “Where else, Tempest?”

“My belly’s rather dirty. One might even say it’s stinky.” He wasn’t washing the parts that might smell, but I couldn’t find the will to care. All I wanted was this man’s touch, his breath hot in my ear, and his hands on my skin.

He ran the cloth along my belly in delicious circles.

I tipped my head back to rest it on his shoulder. Did he notice I was panting? He’d barely touched me, and I was on fire for him already.

How far would he take this? I couldn’t wait to find out .

“Lower,” I murmured.

I felt his smile rise before he smoothed his mouth. “Somehow, I thought you might mention that area.”

I said nothing. Right now, I only wanted to feel. I wanted to sink into this moment that felt so right, so much like those I adored from the past. Then I could grab onto it and drag it and the feelings it generated in both of us into the future.

He dipped the cloth lower, spreading my thighs wider as he did it. He rubbed, and I bucked up to meet his hand. My breathing stuttered, and moans kept erupting from deep inside me.

Was it wrong of me to take what he offered? I couldn’t find the will to care. I was aflame from his touch, and I would do nothing to stop it.

He tossed the cloth aside and slid his fingers into me, curling them around as if even without the memory of all the times he’d made me come, his soul still knew how to please me.

He drew his fingers out and plunged them inside again, his thumb rubbing my clit.

“ Vexxion . . .” I moaned.

“Come,” he commanded. “Give it to me, Tempest.” His other hand pinched my nipple.

My body gave way all of the sudden, and I shattered, fragments of me shooting out in all directions only to return to some semblance of the me I was before.

I sagged in the water.

He tugged his fingers out of me and lifted them. Water coursed down to his arm as he licked them.

“Delicious,” he murmured, rising to his feet .

He walked over to stare out the window.

I somehow found the wits to finish bathing.

Vexxion didn’t watch. He didn’t comment. He just stared outside while I dried and dressed in the only gown I’d tugged from the closet back at Weldsbane and stuffed into my bag.

“I’ll see you downstairs.” I made my still-trembling legs take me across the floor to the door, and I left before he could speak, though I wasn’t sure he would. He was lost in his thoughts, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear what he might have to say.

Did he regret what we’d done?

I didn’t. I was going to cling to it, hold it close, and use this new memory to strengthen my resolve to keep trying to reach the man I loved.

The others sat at the table Marla had cleared, and I joined them, settling on the long bench beside my sister with Zayde on her other side. Brodine sat opposite us. Reyla and Airia had not yet come down.

“Ale?” Zayde asked, lifting his hand into the air before I could do more than nod. “I’m famished.”

“Me too.” Brenna turned and gave me a shy smile. “I wanted to thank you for all you did for me back . . . you know where.”

“As your lady’s maid?” My smile took away any suggestion that my comment might be snide.

She shook her head. “It’s so much more than that. You were a friend when I needed one most, and now . . .” She sucked in a breath and released it, her eyes widening. “You’re my sister. My Brenna. I feel like I’ve been seeking you all my life.”

I felt the same, as if a part of me had been missing and I’d finally found it.

“That’s your name,” I said. “You’re welcome to keep it.”

“I’m Layla. Your Layla. I’d rather you called me that.”

“Then I will.”

Zayde’s arm went around her shoulders, and he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. The mating symbol on his wrist matched my sister’s. Who would’ve thought that two half-brothers could fall in love with two sisters?

“I appreciate how you tried to defend me from him back at the castle,” she said.

She’d married him, yet now she was with Zayde. How did they reconcile that in their minds? It wasn’t any of my business, I supposed. If I succeeded in my mission, then she could be done with the father and marry the son.

“I wish I could’ve done more,” I said.

A server brought over mugs of ale and added a pitcher for refills. “Stew all around?” he asked.

“Yes, please,” Layla said demurely. “There will be three more of us. Thank you very much.”

“Of course.” He spun and strode toward the door in the back leading to the kitchen.

“My love told me about the plan.” She squeezed Zayde’s hand still lying across her shoulder. “I’ll support you in any way I can. We both will.”

“What do you know about forming an army?”

“You probably think I’m full of fluff,” she said, “but I didn’t spend all my time trying on dresses or entertaining my ladies with tea. My father . . .” She swallowed hard and a frown filled her face. “Actually, we don’t truly know who our father was, now do we?”

“I assume we’ll one day find out. I hope we’ll discover everything that was kept from us once we reach our destination.” I was taking my cue from her and Vexxion and not naming anything that might connect us to Bledmire or Lydel.

“My point is that the man I called father made sure my lessons included battle strategy,” she said.

“Then you can advise me. I focused on the skills needed to be one of the soldiers, not how to lead more than a flight into combat.”

“I’ll help as well,” Zayde said. “We’re going to do this together.”

I liked how confident he sounded. From what Vexxion told me, it had taken Zayde a long time to see the man his father truly was. Brenna—no, Layla —might’ve turned the final key.

“Thank you.” It meant a lot that he was on my side.

Before we could say anything else, Vexxion and Reyla came down the stairs. They joined us, Vexxion sitting opposite me, beside Brodine, and Reyla on Bro’s other side.

“Airia ordered a tray to eat in our room,” Reyla told us softly. “She’s tired and wanted to stay upstairs. She said this place is too noisy.”

A bunch of guys sang loudly at a table nearby, swaying while hoisting their mugs. The family at a table a few down from ours kept shouting at each other, only adding to the din. They ignored their youngest, who’d tipped his head back and was wailing. Servers bustled around the big room carrying trays of food, while others poured more ale.

Airia was brave to leave the castle and join our ragged group of insurgents. Did she realize that there was a good chance her reward would be death?

Vexxion’s gaze remained on me, and each time I met it, it smoldered. My skin caught flame again, and I fidgeted on the bench.

Maybe he was remembering me. My heart tripped over itself and slammed onto the floor. I could only stare back with what had to be my soul in my eyes.

Before I could get up and round the table to sit at his side, our server hurried over with a tray perched on his shoulder. He swung it around to place it in the middle of our table. After giving each of us a big bowl of stew from the tray, he added cloth napkins and silver beside them.

“One of us is eating in her room,” I said.

“Very well. I’ll be right back with biscuits.” His smile took all of us in as he returned the bowl to his platter. “I’ll bring butter and jam as well, and if I do say so myself, the jam is excellent because I made it.” He turned and headed back toward the kitchen.

We started eating.

Vexxion kept sending me subtle smiles, and it warmed me straight through. I couldn’t wait to be alone with him in our room. He was remembering or he was falling for me again. I knew it and the notion shot my heart all the way to the stars.

Things would get better for us from now on.

I ate quickly, washing down the excellent stew with the ale, and munching on the biscuits with jam that were as tasty as the server told us.

Vexxion’s ditched his shoe and trailed his toes up my shin.

My breath caught, and my gaze met his. I could sink inside him all the way to his core and then just keep going. I didn’t care if I lost myself in the process as long as I could be closer to him.

As the server took our dishes away and brought out small plates heaped with cobbler doused with thick, sweet cream, Vexxion’s foot kept roaming.

It was all I could do not to moan. I was so on fire; my skin must be bright red. Fortunately, the others were invested in their conversation. They kept their voices low as they spoke of traveling the next few days, of what we might find when we finally reached our destination. None of us knew other than Vexxion—maybe—and he wasn’t contributing to the conversation. No, he was too busy seducing me, and I loved it.

Hope was a fragile thing. If you clung too tightly, it could slip away, gouging you before it left you completely.

But I held onto it, cupping it gently because I needed to believe he’d be mine again. I wouldn’t accept that I’d lost him completely. One day, he’d love me again as fiercely as I did him.

Only Brodine seemed to suspect something odd was going on between me and Vexxion, though all he did was look back and forth between us a few times with an indulgent smile on his face. He leaned close to Vexxion and said something in a voice too low for me to hear. Vexxion nodded and started eating his cobbler .

Honestly, I ate my sweet so fast I didn’t taste it. After, I stood abruptly, my gaze seeking Vexxion’s.

Reyla looked between us and smiled, giving me a subtle nod. She’d lost her love, and she could understand the sadness that had been plaguing me. I loved her even more because she could be happy for me now.

“I’m going to bed,” I announced to the group.

“Goodnight.” Zayde’s word was echoed by the others.

After giving Vexxion a lingering glance he must see as a promise, I bolted across the room and took the stairs two at a time.

Inside the room, I magicked my dress away and donned a simple, short nightgown I couldn’t wait for Vexxion to peel off with his teeth. Or his magic. I didn’t care how as long as he ripped it away from my body.

I cleansed my teeth and freshly braided my hair before snuffing out the light and climbing beneath the covers, lying on the far side of the bed.

If I knew my love, and I did very well, he wouldn’t be long. He’d be as eager as me to be together.

My heart sung, and my breathing echoed around me. My eyes kept stinging with happy tears.

I suspected I had a lot of hardship left to get through in my future, but for tonight, I would let that go and wallow in the love Vexxion shared with me.

The door cracked open, and he slipped inside, locking the panel behind him.

He must’ve magically removed his clothing and cleaned his teeth, because he walked over to the bed and lifted the covers, slipping beneath them.

I lay beside him with anticipation coiling through my veins. My body throbbed with desire only this man would ever satisfy.

He said nothing.

I waited some more. Should I reach out to him first? Funny how I’d never thought of it that way. We wanted each other all the time and it was never about who touched who or who did what first. We gave completely to the other, and that was all we needed.

My swallow got stuck in my throat.

Finally, I tentatively reached out to touch his arm, finding him lying on his back. Before I could glide my palm across his arm to his chest, before I could touch his nipple in the way he adored, he shrugged me off.

He rolled onto his side, facing away from me.

Deep inside, I shattered.

I sniffed and tried to hold on, to keep myself from giving into the overwhelming need to cry.

“Vexxion?” I whispered.

He didn’t reply.

His soft breathing told me he’d already fallen asleep.