Court of Aether and Shadows (Crowned Monster Trilogy #1)

22. Awakened Temptation Of Centuries

Awakened Temptation Of Centuries

~ S PARROW~

The words died in my throat as I found myself face-to-face with the man from my dreams.

He filled the doorway with his presence, power radiating from him like heat from a banked fire. In his hands, he held a silver tray laden with refreshments, but it was his eyes that captured me — molten gold enriched with red and hues of red that seemed to see straight through to my soul.

"I thought you might be hungry," he announced, his voice rich and deep, sending involuntary shivers down my spine. The simple statement felt loaded with meaning I couldn't quite grasp but somehow understood on a visceral level.

“Now that you mention it…” I really was hungry. “You…well…”

“Lord Aetheron of the Twilight Court,” he introduced with a welcoming smile that made my heart swell in awe. “And you’re my Sparrow.”

My.

How a single word could hold so much power and ownership at the same time.

“Y-Yes. I’m Sparrow. Um…nice to meet you. Though…this isn’t really the first time we have met, is it?” I dare to admit as I feel the heat rush to my cheeks. I watched his amusement grow as he nodded solemnly and whispered.

“It’s definitely not our first.”

Like some sort of hidden secret that was just between us.

I stepped back to let him enter, acutely aware of how the air seemed to thicken with his presence. The tray he carried contained a crystal decanter of water that sparkled like liquid diamonds, alongside an array of foods that made my mouth water despite their strange appearance.

"These are delicacies of the Twilight Court," he explained, setting the tray on the low table. "Shadow-ripened fruits, meats cured in starlight, cheeses aged in the depths of the ancient caves." His lips curved slightly. "You'll find them... familiar, somehow."

He was right.

Though I'd never seen anything like the dark purple fruits that seemed to pulse with inner light, or the opalescent cheese that shimmered like mother-of-pearl, something in me recognized them.

Wanted them.

Just as something in me recognized and wanted...

I cut that thought off abruptly, though, from the knowing look in his eyes, he'd caught its echo.

"Please," he gestured to one of the chairs. "Eat. Drink. You need to replenish your strength."

I sat, trying to ignore how his presence seemed to fill the entire room. How every nerve ending in my body had come alive with awareness of him. He poured water into a crystal goblet that sang when he touched it, the sound making the star lights pulse in response.

"Your home is beautiful," I said, accepting the goblet. Our fingers brushed in the exchange, sending sparks of electricity racing through my arm.

From his slight intake of breath, he'd felt it too.

"Our home," he corrected gently, taking the seat opposite me. "Though you may not remember it yet, this place knows you. Welcomes you."

I reached for one of the strange fruits, trying to distract myself from the overwhelming urge to close the distance between us.

The moment I bit into it, flavors exploded across my tongue — sweet and dark and somehow familiar, like tasting a forgotten dream. A small sound of pleasure escaped me before I could stop it because it was that outstanding in flavor.

The best way to describe it was like taking a bite of something you’ve been craving for years and finally getting a taste.

Lord Aetheron's eyes darkened at the sound, his fingers tightening almost imperceptibly on the arms of his chair. The shadows in the room deepened in response to his reaction, making the star-lights seem brighter in contrast.

I tried to ignore it, but goodness, it’s hard to ignore a being so handsome and profound in power. Maybe it was his added dominance matched with the casual elegance he carried that really made him different than most of the men I’ve been around my entire life at the Underground.

"The food here," he said, his voice rougher than before, "responds to your true nature. Your essence recognizes what your mind has forgotten."

I took another bite, watching how his eyes tracked the movement.

The heat that had been simmering under my skin since I awoke intensified under his gaze. The silk gown suddenly felt too confining, too warm against my sensitized skin.

"It's so hot," I murmured, shifting in my seat.

The movement caused the golden fabric to ripple, sending cascades of light across the material.

His expression shifted, becoming more focused.

"The garments you wear," he explained, rising from his chair with fluid grace, "are designed to contain and channel your power. They're necessary, for now, until you learn to control it yourself."

He stood and moved behind my chair, the grace in his movements hypnotic in nature. I felt the air grow thick with tension as he closed in.

"Though there are... exceptions," he continued, his voice dropping lower. "Times when the garments must be removed."

C’mon Sparrow…don’t think…naughty…

"Such as?" I managed to ask, hyper-aware of his presence behind me.

"Bathing, of course," he said, his hands coming to rest lightly on my shoulders. Even through the fabric, his touch burned like sweet fire. "And other... intimate activities."

I swallowed hard, watching in the reflection of a nearby mirror as he leaned down, ostensibly to adjust the drape of my bodice where it had slipped slightly. His fingers brushed against my collarbone, sending shivers of electricity through my entire body.

"Other activities?" I echoed, my voice barely above a whisper.

The air between us felt charged, heavy with potential and ancient memory.

He was close enough now that I could feel his breath against my neck — could see in the mirror how his eyes had taken on an almost predatory gleam.

He doesn’t answer my push for further elaboration, and I guess it’s very obvious what he means by “intimate” activities, and yet I still wanted more. To learn if the activities we did in the depths of my dreams were deemed “allowed” in this world of unknown territory.

"Moira said you might be like this," he murmured, one hand sliding up to cup my jaw, turning my face toward his.

"Like what?" I asked, though part of me already knew the answer, and could feel it in the way my body yearned for his touch.

His thumb brushed across my lower lip, the touch so light it was almost reverent.

"Unable to resist," he said softly. "Just as I find myself unable to resist you. The wise woman was right,” he murmurs as if he lost some sort of bet made with the stars. “Some bonds transcend time and memory."

I meant to ask him for more, to maintain some semblance of control over the situation, but then his eyes met mine. Their molten depths with what felt like centuries of longing — waiting — with love so deep, it defied explanation.

It didn’t need any with how raw and intense all these emotions were.

"What do you mean?" I managed to ask, even as I felt myself leaning closer to him, drawn by something more powerful than conscious thought. I hate feeling lost — feeling vulnerable with the lack of knowledge — but this was giving me the opportunity to keep talking.

To potentially find out so much more about this man that drives my body wild.

His smile was both tender and triumphant as he leaned in, his lips barely a breath from mine.

"That I could never resist the temptation of my wife."

Before I could process that statement, his lips claimed mine in a kiss that felt like coming home. My moan was filled with so much relief, while his groan echoed like he’d waited lifetimes to get a single touch from my lips.

Power surged between us, shadows and starlight dancing in the air as centuries of separation finally ended in this one perfect moment of reunion.

His kiss felt like the birth of stars, like the moment when shadow and light first learned to dance together. The pulsing auras continue to mingle together, my newfound energy reaching instinctively for his ancient shadows.

Where our essences met, reality itself seemed to shiver, creating patterns of light and darkness that spiraled through the air around us.

"Sparrow," he breathed against my lips, my name carrying the weight of centuries of longing. His hands cradled my face as if I were something infinitely precious, thumbs stroking along my cheekbones in a gesture that felt achingly familiar yet thrillingly new.

The shadows in the room responded to his touch, curling around us like living silk. They carried his essence, his power, wrapping us in a cocoon of intimate darkness shot through with points of light from my own awakening magic.

The star-lights overhead pulsed in rhythm with our heartbeats, which had somehow synchronized into a single, perfect tempo.

His fingers traced down my neck, leaving trails of electricity in their wake.

Where he touched, the shadowsilk garments seemed to dissolve, transforming back into pure energy that merged with the power already dancing between us. Each inch of exposed skin heightened the connection, making the very air crackle with potential.

"Do you feel it?" he asked, his voice rough with emotion. "The way our powers call to each other? The way they remember, even if your mind does not?"

I did feel it.

It was like discovering a piece of myself I hadn't known was missing. My power reached for his shadows instinctively, weaving together in patterns that spoke of ancient bonds and timeless connections.

"It's like..." I struggled to find words adequate to describe the sensation. "Like finding the other half of a song I've been trying to remember my whole life."

He smiled against my skin, pressing kisses along my jaw that felt like benedictions.

"Yes," he agreed. "Exactly like that. Our energies were always meant to complement each other. To create something greater than either can alone."

The room around us had transformed, responding to our combined power, while he encouraged me to stand, twirling me like we danced in the midst of a ballroom. He grasped me for a moment, allowing me to enjoy the sight of him before we stood and admired one another as the space around us shifted entirely.

The walls seemed to have disappeared, replaced by a vista of endless stars and swirling nebulae. We floated in a space between realities, where only our connection mattered.

But before we could lose ourselves completely in the rising tide of power and passion, Aetheron pulled back slightly. His molton eyes met mine, filled with an intensity that took my breath away.

"I need you to understand something," he said, one hand coming up to cup my face while the other remained at my waist, anchoring me. "I know who you are, Sparrow. The woman from the human realm, the fighter, the survivor. Not just my wife's reincarnation or vessel."

His thumb brushed across my lower lip, the touch sending shivers through my entire body. It surprised me that he dared pause the thriving intensity between us to acknowledge what I really hadn’t allowed myself to grasp.

There was a lot I didn’t know. About our connection or the potential that I could be the reincarnation of his wife. I understood that we had some sort of history engraved in this world that responded to our entwining energies, but all the fine details suddenly didn’t mean anything to me.

I didn’t care to know much of the truth, but for him to wish to acknowledge the difference between the past I knew nothing of and me, Sparrow from the Underground that few knew about, really felt empowering.

"I see you," he continued, his voice soft but fierce. "I recognize your soul. Not just the echo of Liarel within you, but your own unique spirit. And it is you, Sparrow, that I want. You that I choose."

His words resonated through me like thunder, striking chords I hadn't known existed within my soul.

The power between us shifted, becoming something new — not just the ancient connection he shared with Liarel, but something uniquely ours. The shadows around us responded, interweaving with my own energy to create patterns I somehow knew had never existed before this moment.

"I've seen you in my dreams," I whispered, reaching up to trace the silver and gold markings on his skin that seemed to pulse beneath my touch. "Not just memories of her dreams, but my own. You've been calling to me, haven't you?"

"Yes," he admitted, turning his face to press a kiss to my palm. "Though I tried to resist. I wanted you to come to this realm, to me, of your own choice. Not pulled by ancient bonds or prophecies."

The star-lights above us dimmed to a soft glow, creating an intimate sphere of illumination that encompassed just the two of us. His shadows danced along my exposed skin, leaving trails of pleasurable sensations that made me shiver.

"And now?" I asked, watching how his eyes darkened as my power responded to his touch, creating aureoles of light that merged with his darkness.

"Now," he said, his voice dropping to a register that made heat pool in my core, "I find myself unable to resist either version of you. The warrior who faced down ancient horrors without flinching. The survivor who's carved her own path through a world that tried to break her. The woman who burns with her own inner fire, separate from any ancient power."

His hands traced patterns on my skin that felt like spells, like promises, like prayers.

I could only imagine what he knew about my life. If the interactions in our dreams encouraged him to take peeks of my life and see the hurdles I’ve gone through in the Underground and my line of survival.

Each touch sent cascades of sensation through my body, making the very air around us. The shadowsilk had almost completely transformed now, leaving me bare to his gaze and touch — strategic swirls of shadow and light that danced across my skin.

"Before we go further," he murmured, pressing his forehead to mine in a gesture that felt both intimate and sacred, "before we cross this threshold between what was and what could be, I need you to be certain. To understand that this isn't about fulfilling prophecies or meeting expectations. This is about us. You and me. As we are now."

The sincerity in his voice; the depth of emotion in his molten-gold eyes, made my heart clench.

Here was a being of immense power, a lord of shadow and night, laying his heart bare before me and even thinking of asking me permission to have his way. To feed off this intense desire for one another that begs to be fulfilled in bliss.

Not solely because of who I might have been in another life, but because of who I was in this one and who I could potentially become.

It made me feel as though I had nothing to lose.