Blood of Two Crowns (Hallowed Fates #2)

Chapter 37

Chapter

Thirty-Seven

MAREINA

I willed my blood-crusted clothing away as I strode toward the thermal bathing pool. The heat of Ataraxus’ gaze licked up my backside like a flame. Electricity seemed to flood my nerves as I descended the steps of the pool. Even so, Akash , something about this felt right.

And wrong.

Images of the males from my dream swam to the forefront of my mind. However, when I turned and caught sight of Ataraxus, peeling away his well-worn fighting leathers to reveal the rippling muscles of his stomach, chest, and arms, I quite literally stopped breathing. Every thought in my mind evaporated.

The burn scar covering part of his jaw and neck ran all the way down the left side of his chest, arm, ribs and abdomen. Not that it took away from the stone-cold masculine beauty that hid the warm personality I had glimpsed beneath.

Familiar, familiar, familiar.

Something about him was so fucking familiar it hurt, and it gnawed away at me that I couldn’t figure out why.

His sculpted mouth quirked up in a somewhat sheepish grin when his hands reached the waist of his trousers. He had the audacity to hold my gaze as he shoved down and stepped out of his trousers. I failed to restrain the tiny gasp that escaped me at the sight of the long, thick cock that sprung free, decorated with thick veins and a broad crown.

Fuck me, that’s going to hurt.

At first.

And then it will feel divine.

My throat nearly closed at the sight of him stepping into the bathing pool.

Oh gods. Was this really happening? I genuinely couldn’t remember the last time I’d been remotely intimate with someone.

Ataraxus slowly approached me in the water, stopping far enough away the prevent his cock from poking me in the ribs.

“I’d like to suggest something…”

My gaze lifted to his as something pulled painfully tight in my chest, as if it were trying to yank me towards him. As if feeling the same impulse, he stepped forward, curling his hands over my hips and pulling me against him. His cock slid upwards against my abdomen, making me clench with desire.

Akash, it would be a fucking miracle if he didn’t hear the way he made my heart leap.

“There are a number of things that need to come to light before… we proceed.”

Oh gods… Was he… turning me down?

“Please don’t look at me like that, Mareina, or I’m liable to make regrettable, irreversible decisions.”

His hands came up to cup my face, guiding my gaze to his.

“Believe me when I say...”

His mouth pressed a kiss to my forehead in that painfully familiar gesture .

“Soon there will come a day…”

His hands gripped me tight when a soft moan escaped me in anticipation, and then satisfaction when his lips grazed my jaw, pressing another kiss to the sensitive flesh.

“That I am going to kiss, lick and suck every drop of arousal your pretty little pussy has to give…”

“Oh, gods. Please…” My words came out a whispered whimper, and I felt his mouth spread in a grin against my throat as he pressed another kiss there. His hands gently but firmly fisted my hair to bare my throat to him.

“Fuck every hole and fill you with my cum as I cover you in claiming marks.”

Without any thought in doing so, my hands drifted across his back and down towards his?—

“But, much to my dismay,” he added, collecting my wrists, “that will not be today.”

Ataraxus’s chest heaved, and I could already feel the precum of his cock against my abdomen, which was otherwise dry, above the water.

“Why?”

Ataraxus’ eyes slipped shut, jaw flexing as if he were bearing the weight of some great pain. He dropped his forehead to mine, and I swore to Akash I couldn’t even fucking pretend I wasn’t trying to inhale this male’s panted breaths.

After a few moments, he finally straightened and stepped back slightly to leave room for chastity as he drew one of my hands to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the inside of my palm. All the while, his dark eyes peered into mine. When they snagged on Malekai’s name, his lips parted in something like awe. Though I saw no hint of jealousy.

“I know this is going to sound weird, but I need you to speak with your uncle.”

I rear back. “My uncle?”

I’ve never even?—

My words cut off as some memory that feels more like a distant dream flashes through my mind. “In time, his memories will return…”

The confusion pummelling me was dizzying. I dropped my forehead into one of my hands, and the next thing I knew, Ataraxus was sweeping me up in his arms and carrying me across the bathing pool. He then set me down in a carved-out seated area beside several bottles of oils and bath salts.

Ataraxus sat in the lounge seat beneath the water and pulled me against him so that I could sit with my back to his front. For the first time in as long as I could remember, I felt safe. My heart squeezed as my body relaxed into him.

“He’s coming here?”

Ataraxus huffed a laugh behind me as he lathered a fragrant liquid in his hands and began massaging it. Into. My hair.

Some strange emotion clogged my throat, and my eyes began to burn. This gentle touch was unlike anything I’d ever known. This male is taking care of me. Grooming me, for Akash’s sake, instead of fucking me senseless to chase his own pleasure.

“No, he’ll bring you to his realm. As soon as you fall asleep.”

I was certain most people would still be fretting over the dizziness, confusion, and whatever it was that still needed to come to light. Or having an appointment with the God of Dreams.

But for me, the most unusual thing was this kind male, his gentle touch, and how safe I felt in his arms.

Ataraxus must have noticed the wobble in my chin, or the biting of my cheek. His gravelly voice became tinged with sadness. “Akash, what you must have been through, Mareina, for something so simple as this to incite the healing of a deeply buried wound.”

One of his hands found mine and wove our fingers together.

The emotion welling up in my chest drove me to silence. Ataraxus continued washing me, and arousal soon replaced catharsis. Ataraxus’ heavy cock was like an iron rod against my back. The rumble of his voice drew me out of the haze I was slipping into.

“Does your arcanum have a name?

My brows leapt as a pang of guilt rung through me

“It hadn’t even crossed my mind… I hardly know anything about arcanum, actually.”

“They’re something like a witch’s familiar, but for a god. They can enhance your magic, manifest into physical forms other than a serpent for extended periods of time, guard you when you’re sleeping… I’ve even heard something about a few of them being able to influence time itself because their power draws not from your own, but something else. Somewhere else. Azrael has one...”

My brows pinched as my mind wandered.

Cerebus.

Azrael’s words return to me. ‘… Her will is my own.’

My eyes landed on the sleeping serpent laying in the center of my chest.

“I don’t know much about my power either. I’ve only just recently come into it. Though I’m not entirely sure I want to know much about it.”

Ataraxus stilled beneath me. “Why?”

“Because all I’ve known is death. I’m sick of death. I don’t want to take life. If anything, I want to give life. I want to do something good.”

Ataraxus resumes his ministrations, massaging my neck. “Death can also be a gift, Mareina… It paves the way for new life. Reincarnation. Respite for the soul…”

I’d heard all of this before, but I couldn’t help but yearn for something more.

Akash, please, anything but death.

“And if you’ve only just come into your power, are you so certain that it’s death over which you preside?”

Something inside me stilled.

“… I don’t know, actually.”

Ataraxus pressed a kiss to the top of my head.

“After all of this passes, I would be honored to help you connect with your power and your arcanum .”

My heart squeezed with gratitude.

And fear.

Of all that lies ahead.

“I would love that.”