Between the Moon and Her Night (Between Life and Death #3)

Chapter 30

Aurelia

T he painting I saw earlier did not do Saphira justice—she was even more fearsome in person. She did not stand with the crowd, but off to the left side of the room, a stride away from an arched doorway that was painted in shadow.

A tight leather dress, dyed onyx, wrapped around her tall, lithe frame. One manicured hand was raised beside her head, a black snake coiled around it. Her sleek hair hung loosely, cascading like a waterfall, all the way down to her waist. Even with the scowl on her face, she was devastatingly beautiful.

Much like her brother.

A loud metal click sounded, garnishing my attention towards the far end of the room. A set of massive doors, inlaid with ornamental vines, parted, opened by two stone statues thrice the size of mortal men. Their movement was stiff as they walked the door open, their footsteps as loud as thunder.

Hundreds of people waited on the other side, shoving against one another in desperation. They stretched on like a river, disappearing into the grand hallway behind them. There were so many. Their lips were moving as if they were talking, but I could not hear a whisper of sound. Despite their pushing and shoving, not one of them was able to step into the chamber, even though it looked like they were trying to.

Briefly, my gaze flicked back to where Saphira had been standing, only to find the spot empty. She reminded me of a serpent, popping its head out of its hole only to retreat into darkness again.

A curvy female, whose brown hair was slicked back into a bun that looked so tight it made my head hurt, strode towards the people on the other side of the door. Just through her movement alone, I knew that she was an immortal. She pointed to a few people in the crowd, selecting about twenty, and then turned to face us.

“That’s Ismay, my assistant,” Von said, his fingers still rubbing those small, teasing circles against my arm. “I will have to introduce the two of you.”

I nodded, looking the pretty, pretty female over. My lips pressed together, forming a flat line. As if he had to pick someone that good looking. I blinked, surprised at myself.

I wasn’t jealous of her.

. . . It was the bond , I lied to myself.

A low, rumbling chuckle sounded behind me as Von said, “You have nothing to worry about, Little Goddess.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Mhm,” he purred.

Ignoring him, I looked back ahead, towards the set of grand open doors .

As the people stepped over the threshold, the air rippled, distorting the view of those who stood outside the throne room, like a droplet of water striking a glass-topped lake. The lines waved towards the frame of the door, and then the air returned as it was moments before.

A barrier.

That’s why I hadn’t been able to hear them, why they hadn’t been able to come in.

I suspected that the goddess who was now walking down the long stretch of aisle towards us with powerful, confident strides had something to do with it.

Heads turned, watching as the goddess led the people towards us. When she reached the end of the aisle, she bowed her head. Then she turned to the others who had lined up behind her and said, “Your king will hear your requests now.”

The first, a man with wide eyes, stepped forward. He removed his cap in respect, nervously wrangling it in his fingers. His knees struck the obsidian floor, one at a time. Then he made his plea. “My king, my wife and I have been separated from our daughter for close to fifty years. We humbly ask to be reunited with her in whatever level she has been placed.”

Von shifted behind me so that he was leaning on the left of his throne’s arm, his skeleton thumb tucked under the iron bone of his jaw, a finger snaking up the side. “What is your daughter’s first name?” he asked, his voice steady, powerful. A king speaking to his subject.

“Andromeda, my king,” the man replied, voice trembling.

Von was silent for a moment before he answered, “Your daughter’s soul is no longer as you once knew it to be. When she walked amongst the living, she traded her humanity for material wealth. But no matter how rich she became, it was never enough. Eventually, her greed for coin consumed her in such a way that her flesh turned green and her eyes fell from her head. She now wanders, aimlessly in the eighth level, amongst her monstrous brethren.”

“No,” the man choked out, tears falling down his cheeks.

“For that reason, I decline your request to be reunited with her,” Von ruled.

“Please, Your Majesty, she is our only child,” the man begged through sobs.

“My ruling still stands. Even if I were to send you and your wife to be with her, she would no longer recognize either of you.”

“We could try talking to her,” the man pleaded.

“Your breath would be wasted, just as I am wasting mine now,” Von said, his tone bored. He raised a hand, gesturing for two guards to come take the man away.

I angled my torso, turning to face Von. “Why not let him try?”

Like this, seated in his throne, he seemed even larger somehow. Green eyes lowered, meeting mine. “Because I have allowed others to try before, and it has only ever made things worse.” His fingers drifted across my jaw, his intimate touch robbing me of my concern and replacing it with desire. “Some souls simply cannot be redeemed.”

“Are you one of them?” I breathed, studying the skull side of his face—it made my heart pound, made my pulse quicken. It was frightening, and yet . . .

It was arousing.

Did I like this? Did I like seeing that dark side of him?

He cracked a smile, both terrifying and beautiful, all rolled into one. His words infiltrated my mind. Part your thighs for me and decide for yourself.

You can’t be serious , I scoffed softly. There are hundreds of people in here.

I’ll tell them all to leave . His heated breath washed over my skin, like a dragon breathing over his gold. As if I would ever allow anyone to see what is mine.

Von . Fire licked at my cheeks.

Do you not believe that I will? he asked, his hand, which was drawing lazy circles on everywhere but the one spot I wanted him to touch, making it hard to concentrate.

When I didn’t respond, Von commanded from behind me, “Everyone out.” His voice was filled with immense power—power that my divine feminine recognized, and it had her licking her lips at the intoxicating taste of it.

No one said a single word as they were commanded to leave. They simply bowed and then began to walk out. As soon as the throne room was empty and the doors clicked shut, Von’s thumb and forefinger trapped my chin as he angled my face to the side, guiding me to look up at him.

“Your scent is driving me wild,” he growled softly, his voice like heavy smoke, a silent thief in the night, stealing the oxygen from my lungs.

“ You are the one who has been teasing me the entire time,” I reminded him.

He grinned, his expression painting him as the perfect example of unbridled male arrogance. “I suppose I have been, haven’t I?”

I turned around, positioning myself so that I was straddling his lap. I placed my hands on the hardened muscle of his chest—strong and sturdy and dangerous. It wasn’t the only thing. I could feel his erection beneath me, just as hard as the rest of him.

“So what are you going to do about it?” I asked, wetting my lips.

“Give me a kiss and find out.” His fingers, the ones made of bone, tapped his bottom lip.

A shiver strolled through me—

His mouth was half flesh, half teeth and bone.

Sharp.

Dangerous.

Terrifying.

My heart pounded in my chest, pushing adrenaline through my body as I hesitantly reached for his face. Slowly, I ran my fingers over the skull side—more metal feeling than bone. That was what he was made of—not some flimsy, easy to break bone, but cold, hard steel. It was unnatural. Frightening. And yet, there was something about it that made me feel . . . protected. Like no one could touch me, harm me, while sitting on the God of Death’s lap.

My lashes fluttered down as I eyed where he wanted me to kiss.

Slowly, I lowered my lips against his.

It was the strangest feeling—his plush, soft lips on one side, and nothing but teeth on the other. His steely fingers held my chin, keeping me there as he kissed me back.

His shadows drifted around us and then I was sitting on the throne while he stood over top of me, his tongue dancing with mine.

Those cold, cruel fingers released my jaw and he raised to his full height, bathing me in his darkness.

My breath hitched in my throat as I watched his shadows sweep away his clothes, revealing his sexy torso derived from inked skin and rippling muscles. Besides the skull side of his face, skeleton hand, and a bit of his forearm, his body was just as I knew it to be—completely and irrevocably him . Slowly, my gaze crawled down his prominent, defined abs, drifting over the mouthwatering v-cut, halting at the weapon between his legs—erect and ready and huge.

My body quivered at the sight of him.

My clothes were the next to go. Cool air wafted over my skin, chased away by the heated way he looked at me.

“So fucking beautiful,” he praised in that deep, chest-rumbling tone of his. His hands grasped my legs, and he pulled me lower in the throne, so that my bottom was close to the edge. He leaned forward, bringing his mouth to mine as he lifted my legs up, placing them over the throne’s arms. Something wound around my legs, locking them there. I broke the kiss, jerking my head back so I could see what it was—

Shadow chains.

“Trust me,” Von purred with a sinful grin as he lowered onto his knees.

His skeleton hand pressed against my stomach, holding me there. The second his tongue swept along my slit, he groaned deeply. He laved at my sex, licking it relentlessly.

“Von,” I whimpered as his tongue found my core, plunging inside.

The sight of his half-skull face eating me out was the most horrifyingly erotic thing I had ever seen. He did it like he was famished, like he had been starving for decades, and I was his first real meal.

Pulling his tongue from me, his molten mouth latched on to my clit. At the same time, his fingers entered me—the bone hard and unforgiving as they drove all the way to his knuckles. A raspy moan escaped me as I tossed my head back, my hands fisting in his black hair.

I had never felt more powerful as I orgasmed again and again, chained to Death’s monstrous throne as he knelt before me, worshipping me with his tongue.

In the deep hours of the night, Von and I sat in his spacious private bath. I leaned against his broad, sturdy torso, watching the swirls of steam as they danced from the surface of the shimmering pool. Water trickled as Von raised a washcloth from the water, his large hand squeezing the cloth until more dribbled out. In a soft, slow motion, he ran it over my shoulder, down my arm, until it disappeared beneath the water again. I’d lost track of time, unsure how long he had been washing my skin, not that I had any qualms about it.

“Am I clean yet?” I asked in a quiet, joking tone, a small smile touching my lips.

“You are,” he said, his chest rumbling as he spoke, causing a hint of a vibration at my back. “But what I am doing now—” he brought the cloth up and ran it over my skin once more, “—is not for the purpose of washing you.”

“No?” I mused, enchanted by the softness of the cloth as he ran it above my breasts, taking his time. I closed my eyelids, soaking up this moment, feeling the fabric as it brushed across my flesh.

“Your body is a temple, and it deserves to be praised and adored. This—” he ran the cloth over my sensitive nipples, pulling it under the water, down my torso, “—is me showing you that.”

My heart stumbled, missing its beat. I lifted my arms from the water, lacing them around his neck as I gave him full access to the rest of my body, should he want it. Looking up, I angled my head so that I could see his beautiful face, now returned to normal. I had a question I had been wanting to ask him for some time now. “Von?”

Eyes as green as a canopy of leaves, framed by lashes so black they looked to be naturally rimmed with kohl, met mine. “Yes, Little Goddess?”

I nibbled on my bottom lip, released it, then asked, “Will you stay with me tonight?”

A smile dawned on his lips. “I’ve been waiting for you to ask me to.” He dropped the cloth in the waters, cupped my cheek, and brought his lips a breath above mine. “Of course, I will.”