Crown of Flames and Ash (Courts of Aetheria #2)

Chapter 55

Chapter Fifty-Five

A elia

Reign paced the length of his dimly lit chamber, the tendon in his jaw twitching and feathering like mad. He hadn’t said a word since I spoke the life-changing words, pleading with him to solidify our bond. He merely scooped me up into his arms as his shadows shifted along his broad shoulders, creating the wings to carry us back across the river.

Seconds later, we landed in his room and the manic pacing began.

I shifted on his bed, the silky sheets gliding beneath me. If the tension in the air hadn’t been quite so thick, I would have gladly sprawled across the immense mattress. Though I hadn’t had quite as much as my friends to drink, I had enjoyed a full tankard of lager, and combined with the late hour, my lids were beginning to grow heavy.

“Reign?” Sliding to the edge of the bed, I waved a hand, attempting to get his attention. “Are you going to say something?”

“I can’t. I’m thinking.”

“I didn’t think the two were mutually exclusive.”

He cocked a dark brow in my direction, the ghost of a smile pulling at his lips.

“How about you share with me what you’re thinking?” I patted the empty spot on the mattress beside me.

Reign slowly shook his head, a sharp exhale pursing his lips. “If I let myself near you, especially while you are on the bed, I fear I will have no control over what happens next.”

“But I want it to happen,” I murmured.

“Because you are scared of whatever it is you’re feeling toward my brother?” he snapped.

“No!” The word whooshed out. But… wasn’t I? I couldn’t deny I felt something…

He stalked closer, dark tendrils of night clinging to his powerful form. His nox skimmed over my skin, compelling a swell of goosebumps. “Then why the sudden change of heart?”

“There was no change, Reign. I love you. I’ve loved you for much longer than I dare admit.”

“But only a week ago, you refused me.”

“For the love of Noxus, why must you be so dense? I did not refuse you . I refused to run! How many more times must I say it?”

“Until you convince me it’s true.” He closed the distance between us in one long stride, and I parted my legs, allowing him to fit perfectly between my thighs.

“Then that’s what I will do.” I reached for his face, caressing the dark smattering of prickly hair on his cheek. He bent lower, placing his palms on either side of my thighs, trapping me on the bed.

“Gods, princess, I want you so badly.” His eyes locked on mine, twin orbs of pure midnight searing to mine. “There is nothing I’ll ever want more than to be one with you, to complete the cuorem bond and spend forever worshiping you, my cuoré.”

I swallowed hard, the intensity in his gaze stealing the air from my lungs. “But?”

“I’m terrified of what will happen when my father discovers the truth and forces me to complete my blood vow.”

“Please, let’s not worry about something that has yet to happen. What if he never finds out at all?”

He scoffed, blowing dark strands of hair across his brow. “It’s inevitable, Aelia; as inescapable as you and me and this pivotal moment.”

I slid my hand from his cheek down to the leather laces of his tunic and untied the knot. “Then, if our fate is truly sealed, let's make our final stand spectacular—a blaze of glory that will echo through eternity.”

That elusive smile melted across his face, the kind that lit up his eyes more brilliantly than the star-studded night sky of the Umbral Court.

“Noxus, Aelia, when you put it like that, you make it nearly impossible for me to say no.”

“Then don’t.” I pressed my finger to his lips and slipped my free hand down his torso to the hem of his linen tunic. “I love you, Prince Reign of Umbra, and if all we have is a few days or a few weeks of happiness as cuoré, I’ll take it.”

“Realms, Aelia, I would cherish just a few gods’ blessed hours entwined with you, completely—mind, body, and soul.” He slipped his hand behind my back and moved me farther up the bed before trapping me beneath his massive form once again.

Before his lips claimed mine, I drew the dark fabric over his head revealing the intricate canvas of runes across his chest. The mark of the banished pulsated, the grisly carving a terrible reminder of all he had endured at his father’s hand. I ran my finger over the marking as his lips devoured my own. The nox used to create the mystical engraving pulsed beneath my fingertip, calling to something buried deep within.

Heat skimmed across my flesh, and Reign must have felt it too because his lips drew back, freeing my own. His heated gaze flickered between the mark and my mouth, as if he couldn’t quite decide where to focus his attention.

“Do you feel that?” I whispered.

“Mmhmm,” he murmured. “But you will have to be more specific, because I’m feeling a lot right now.” He thrust his hips, his arousal rubbing right where I needed it.

My back arched off the bed as a thrill of sensations streaked down my lower half. “Me too,” I rasped out.

He pressed his forehead to mine, a faint smile playing on his lips. “It is said that once cuoré are bound, their powers are amplified, and that mates can draw from each other.”

“That should be interesting given my muddled abilities.”

“It will be spectacular.” One hand moved from the side of my head to the hem of my tunic. His deft fingers slid beneath the light linen and found the swell of my breasts. I let out a moan as he toyed with my nipple, drawing it to a hard peak. An influx of pure pleasure radiated from the sensitive tip, surging down to the tips of my toes.

“Oh, Reign,” I groaned.

He lifted my top up and over my head, releasing a hiss as that heated gaze raked over my bare torso. A scrap of fabric lingered over my breasts which he quickly disposed of with a swirl of his shadows.

“Raysa, you are beautiful, my princess. You are pure starlight forged into flesh, so radiant you are nearly painful to behold.” He pressed a gentle kiss to my lips then more along the curve of my jaw. “I cannot wait to make you mine. Forever.” His hand slid between our bodies, finding the waistband of my leggings. Excruciatingly slowly he dragged the suede down my thighs.

Once I was bare, with the exception of my lace panties, I reached for his breeches, the impressive bulge beneath the laces sending another thrill up my spine. It seemed as if I’d been waiting my entire life for this moment, to be claimed by this beautiful, powerful male who had once starred in my nightmares and now was on the verge of making all my dreams come true.

I made quick work of his pants, sliding them down his powerful thighs and freeing his arousal. I sucked in a breath as I took him in, much like the first time. I should have been scared by his size, but instead only a rush of certainty overtook me. Reign was mine, and I was his.

Cuoré. Cuoré . The word hissed through my mind, growing faster and more forceful with each iteration.

What in the stars?

“Do you hear that?”

His eyes brightened, the midnight pools shimmering. “You heard the call of the cuorem?”

“I think so… You didn’t?”

Reign shook his head. “The bond is typically initiated on the male’s side, which is likely why I realized first, then it is the female who must accept the call.”

A silly smile spread across my lips as I regarded the dark furrow of his brow. “I accept.”

His expression mirrored mine, the hard set of his jaw softening and genuine happiness radiated from those mesmerizing, bottomless orbs. He slid his hand between my legs, a growl vibrating his throat as he found me already slick. “We have to make sure you’re ready for me, princess. I don’t want to hurt you…”

My head bobbed as he dipped a finger beneath my panties and found that taut bundle of nerves aching for his touch. “You won’t,” I whispered as the devastating pleasure began to build.

“But this is your first time and?—”

“You won’t.” I pressed my finger to his lips. “We were made for each other, right? Forged by the gods themselves?”

He nodded and captured my mouth once more with the fiery intensity of a thousand suns. Between his tongue and his fingers and our bare flesh finally against each other, a plethora of sensations whipped through me, more powerful than the mightiest storm’s winds tearing across the open sea. Each touch carved deeper into my soul, leaving a trail of heat and shivers that defied the calm before the tempest.

“I think I’m ready,” I whispered against his mouth, his kisses growing more ravenous by the moment.

His dark, turbulent eyes fixed to mine, the torrent of emotions streaking through the abyss breathtaking. “I don’t want you to think , princess. I want you to feel it, to know without the shadow of a doubt that you are ready to bind yourself to me for eternity. Regardless of the consequences.”

I lifted my head off the mattress and captured his lips, pouring every ounce of love, fear and uncertainty I felt into the kiss. After an endless moment, I drew free of his mouth and found those stormy eyes. “I have no idea what the future will bring us, but I know that I want to spend it bound to you.”

A smile so brilliant it put Raysa’s blessed sun to shame spread across his handsome face. “Gods, you are absolutely perfect for me.” He crawled down my body, his cool shadows dancing across my heated skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake. Their icy fingers found the waistband of my panties and slid them down my legs, leaving me completely bare.

Reign dropped his head, his nostrils flaring as he breathed me in. “Memorizing your scent as mates often do,” he whispered, his voice laced with desire as he echoed the sentence he hadn’t finished the last time we were together.

Drawing him farther up my body, I reached for him, wrapping my fingers around his silky hardness and positioning him at my entrance. “I’m ready for forever,” I whispered against his ear.

That smile grew somehow more radiant, eyes twinkling beneath the flickering torch overhead. “I will go slowly, tell me if it hurts.”

My head bobbed up and down as he nudged at my entrance, igniting every nerve ending ablaze in anticipation.

A shrill blast tore through the lusty haze sending my racing heart catapulting against my ribcage. Reign hissed out a curse, echoing my sentiments exactly.

“What is that?” I clung onto him, despite knowing full well our moment had been irrevocably shattered.

“It must be a Shadow Fae raid,” he snarled before a slew of curses dribbled from his lips. “Gods be damned. It would seem someone is trying to keep us apart, indefinitely.” Dropping a kiss to my forehead, he whispered, “I’m sorry, princess, but it seems as if we will have to postpone this momentous occasion.”

“Must we?” I pouted, sticking out my bottom lip and wrapping my arms more tightly around his neck. “Would anyone even notice if we weren’t there?”

“I’m afraid they would.” He offered a hand and pulled me up off the mattress as I continued to scowl.

Reign dragged his pants on, leaving his underclothes on the floor, and jerked his tunic over his head. Then he tossed me my clothes, frowning. “This isn’t over, Aelia. Gideon was right, I will not allow fate or some ancient prophecy to dictate our destiny. I will make you mine, I swear to it.”

Pulling my tunic over my head, I rose onto my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I will hold you to that vow, my prince.”