Blood of Two Crowns (Hallowed Fates #2)

Chapter 53

Chapter

Fifty-Three

NAKOA

F or the last two weeks, I had taken residence in Mareina’s father’s house. Only surfacing to Atratus to spend my days beside my army, my olana kah’hei, and Rumiel fighting tirelessly to exterminate our newfound plague of demons. The moment night fell, I would return to Ataraxus’ side to offer him droplets of my blood and pray that he would wake.

And, much to my absolute fucking dismay, the spare moments I found in between proved to be exactly when Mareina would show up.

I’d return to her father’s to find the bathtub wet, watery footprints lining the floor, and her night-blooming rose scent perfuming the air.

Still, I knew that one day, she would return.

Despite the bone-deep exhaustion weighing me down after slaughtering demons all day and visiting Ataraxus to give him my blood, I felt the familiar call to return to Avernus.

My heart nearly stopped beating as my eyes landed on Mareina curled in a ball at the edge of the bed in the spare bedroom I’d taken residence in.

Freshly showered, still damp hair curled around her face, and her skin looked even paler than I’d ever seen her.

Our gazes held silently as emotion swelled in my chest, heart throbbing in protest at the fact I hadn’t yet launched myself at her to simply hold her.

Worry tightened her features as she rose from the bed, taking in my filthy, blood-crusted appearance.

“Are you injured?”

The word came out little more than a breath. “No.”

Her relief was palpable and that breadcrumb of love was enough to fill my heart to bursting. Emboldened, I strayed towards her, closing the distance between us to stand in front of her. I didn’t dare taint the bed with my muddy, bloody fighting leathers.

“How is Ataraxus?”

My chest tightened to the point of pain. “Still unconscious, but alive.”

Mareina drew in a deep breath.

“What happened with the Vassileons that breached the portal?”

“Most are dead. Or so we think. Though the ones that remain are… concerning. We’ve been working diligently to resolve the problem.”

I watched the wheels of her mind turn as guilt settled on her features.“I’m sorry that I disappeared. That I haven’t been upholding my duties towards… anything.”

“Don’t worry. I understand. If anything had happened to you, I would have been the same.”

My selfish heart gave a pitter-patter of relief when her eyes began to glisten. I longed to tell her how fucking sorry I was and how much I missed her. How much my soul longed for her, and life wasn’t worth living without her. My lips were already forming the words, but as I took in the gauntness haunting her features and the pallid hue of the normally sun-kissed rosiness of her skin, worry for her took over.

The steadiness I forced into my voice betrayed my tortured emotions. “When was the last time you fed?”

Mareina shook her head. “I don’t need to feed when I’m in Avernus.”

I shook my head in disbelief but recognized forcing her to drink my blood would get us nowhere.

Instead, I sat her on the edge of the bed and lowered to one knee, curling a finger beneath her chin to raise her gaze to mine. Her eyes squeezed shut, tears slipping down her pinkening cheeks as her lower lip trembled under the weight of all that she had been through.

Her eyes peeked open as she drew in another shuddering breath, and I reached forward, curling my arms around her, pulling her against my blood-crusted chest before sitting cross-legged on the floor.

Mareina’s body shook as she began to sob quietly against me. Grief burned my eyes at witnessing my soulbound so broken. The most powerful female I’d ever known wilted and bludgeoned by life. Again, oh-so-selfishly, my heart ached when she allowed me to see her at her most vulnerable. That she allowed me to hold her and touch her. Console her.

Her delicate fingers curled to grip my fighting leathers, pulling me against her. The action had my own tears finally slipping free as my heart shattered all over again.

“I miss him too, lohane thili.”

Some hours later, I woke up from the dull ache forming at the back of my head from lying on the hardwood floor. Mareina was curled against my body, lying on her side, sound asleep. Carefully rolling to my side to face her, I wove my other arm around her and tucked her against my chest. A deep, soul-nourishing satisfaction poured through me when she gave a soft sigh and nuzzled deeper, burying her face in the center of my chest.

“You smell like stale demon blood,” she whispered, “Lots of it.”

A huffed laugh rumbled my chest. “I was drenched in it.”

“Do you want to take a shower? And then we can crawl in bed?”

My breath caught before I managed to infuse my voice with every ounce of steadiness I didn’t feel. “That would be a dream come true, Mareina.”

The idea of sharing a bed with my soulbound again was nothing short of an answered prayer. I pressed a lingering kiss to the top of Mareina’s head before shifting us so I could sit up.

Mareina’s grip tightened on me. “Do you mind if I join you?”

My cock promptly thickened in response, drawing a silent curse from me. Overcome with the longing that the idea of her joining me inspired, I couldn’t manage words to respond. Instead, I scooped her into my arms and carried her to the bathroom.

Willing the shower on, steam curled through the air as every nerve in my body lit up with anticipation. Outside of the sound of the running water, silence stretched between us as we stood mere inches apart, hesitating to undress. There was so much I needed to say to her. To apologize for. To express. But I recognised that now, was not the time to put any more emotional burden on her.

However, before I could step into that shower, there was one thing that I couldn’t wait for an apology. “I have to apologize… I can’t help?—

Mareina’s eyes dipped between us, and the ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. “I don’t take your erections as a personal insult, soulbound. ”

My heart squeezed to the point of pain at the endearment. The first-ever. The tension between us lifted a little and Mareina took the opportunity to will her clothing away. My eyeballs practically shook under the strain to not allow my gaze to fall upon her nude perfection.

She turned and stepped into the shower, taking my willpower with her. My eyes landed heavily on the thick curves of her ass and thighs. I swallowed my groan, willing my fighting leathers away. My cock sprang forward, already hard as the fucking tile beneath my feet. I couldn’t help but notice the way her eyes fell from my face to my cock, demanding her attention, and then blushed.

A deep groan escaped me as I stepped beneath the scalding hot water raining down upon us. Mareina reached for a bottle of cleanser, lathering a loofah before taking one of my arms in her hands and working it over my skin. Surprise illuminated the dark, hollow cavern of my chest, followed by the meeting of our eyes, something unspoken passing between us.

I’m sorry.

Mareina continued her ministrations, taking extra care as she worked over the sharp black armored protrusions that had formed over parts of my arms, shoulders, and legs when I’d made my transformation after our altercation .

I willed them away, slipping them beneath my skin, lest she cut herself on them. She gave a soft gasp. “I didn’t know you could do that,” she murmured.

“Only with the armor... The rest, I’d have to glamor.”

I’d developed mixed emotions about my changed appearance. How the lush, dark feathers of my wings had been replaced with bat-like membranes. The thick, lethal horns that now grew from my head.

Before my transformation, I’d always kept the inhuman parts of me glamored, but now, I hadn’t often bothered even though every time I looked in the mirror, I only saw a monster. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel a pang of insecurity in front of Mareina. The thought had me willing away my horns, wings, and tail.

Mareina shook her head, searching my gaze and no doubt discovering all my insecurities. “Please, don’t. I want all of you.”

Sudden emotion clogged my throat. I managed a nod, bringing forth my tail, horns, and wings.

“What about the armor?”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to accidentally cut you.”

She reached for my wings, gently brushing the loofah over them. Every muscle in my body tensed. Including the ones in my cock.

“Is this ok?”

A tight groan escaped as I nodded. “Yes. It’s just… intense.”

Mareina remained still behind me for a moment before her fingers gingerly caressed a stripe up the length of my wings, and I swear to fuck I felt the beginning of an orgasm tingle at the base of my spine. My hips gave an involuntary thrust as I failed to stifle a soft growl. Her night-blooming rose scent thickened in the air, denoting her arousal.

This was becoming torture. A sweet, delicious torture but torture nonetheless.

“Maybe we should just skip my wings.”

The suggestion felt like shards of glass on my tongue because that was the last thing I wanted her to do when every stroke sent delicious currents of energy straight to my engorged, aching cock.

Instead of heeding my suggestion, Mareina continued the gentle glide of her fingers. Every muscle in my body coiled tight and trembled with restraint, only relaxing briefly when she stopped to shift in front of me. My cock slid against her abdomen as her hands coasted over the planes of my chest. Gradually working lower.

Before she could reach my cock, I snagged her wrists in my hands.

My voice dropped to a low, warning growl. “Mareina…”

She tugged at my grasp, and I allowed one of her hands to break free. I shouldn’t have, but I did.

“Let me take care of you…”

She lowered a hand, brushing the loofah over my hard length and lower, even beneath my balls, before she knelt to scrub down each of my legs. The sight of her kneeling beneath me harkened memories of our nights together in my tent.

When she began to scrub my feet, my tail whipped forward and curled around her waist, lifting her back to her feet. All of my pent-up emotions and desire for this maddening female had every muscle in my body rigid and primed to strike. Or thrust.

I snagged the loofah from her hands as I pinned her arms above her head. My tail pushed her against the shower wall. Unable to resist temptation, I leaned forward to take in her scent.

“Akash, you smell like fucking heaven.”

Both my arousal and emotion burned through me so fiercely my heart clenched and my eyes stung. My words were spoken through clenched teeth.

“Do you have any idea how much I’ve missed you, Mareina? Do you?”

Mareina remained silent as she pulled her hands free from mine before sliding them over my shoulders and my neck and carding her fingers through my wet hair.

“How every moment you were away from me, I felt as though my soul was fucking dying?”

Her haunted gaze held mine. “Four months passed in hell without you, and there was not an hour that would go by where I didn’t think about you and?—

Mareina’s words stopped short as her voice cracked, and she was forced to draw in a steadying breath. “Even before Vassileo, when I was here with…” Her voice broke again as her eyes glistened. “With Malekai… I still longed for you.”

Like the drawback of a wave upon the shore, my eyes searched hers, frantically scouring her gaze for sign of anything that might stop this cresting tsunami of agony. My jaw worked desperately to hold back the swelling of my emotion. “I’m sorry for everything I’ve done to hurt you, Mareina… I am beyond ashamed of how I treated you and tried to?—

My words were cut off as Mareina tugged her hands out of my grip and covered my mouth. “Not right now… Please. I just need you to help me forget. Even if it’s just for a few minutes. Please.”