Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
“It’s hard to believe,” I said, rubbing his chest.
“I didn’t know the Fates could do something like that.” He gave a short laugh. “Obviously, I forgot how powerful they are.”
If he only knew…
“Learning about your mom is a lot to process,” I told him.
“It is,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m so godsdamn relieved. It’s just that I spent my entire life believing she was really gone, and that I wouldn’t even get to see her when I finally entered Arcadia. It’s like having to rework my brain. It will take a while.”
His gaze moved around the empty space. “And while I was in here, I started to think about how I never got to witness both of them in here. See them sit on the thrones. I only saw my father.”
I quieted, waiting for him to continue.
“When I was old enough, I was allowed to watch any meetings he had with other gods or people who came from Lethe,” he said after a couple of moments. “As we waited for those meetings to begin, I would crawl all over the benches. Run from one to the other. Crawl under them. Only the Fates know why. Ehthawn was younger then, too. Not as young as Reaver, but small enough that he could easily move through the room with me.”
Gods, my heart squeezed as I pictured Ash as a little boy, playing with a draken. And it wasn’t hard to imagine it because I had a feeling our sons would be the spitting image of him as a child.
Our sons?
Look at me, thinking as if I knew for sure they would be boys. But I kind of felt like I did know for sure. I grinned as I pressed my cheek to his chest.
“Anyway, I got to thinking about our children and how they will one day be doing the same thing. Maybe in this throne room or perhaps wherever we decide to stay when this is over,” he said, and my breath caught. “Except there will be two of them, and Jadis and Reaver to chase after them. And…” His voice thickened with emotion, drawing my gaze to his. His eyes shone brightly. “And there will be us. We will be sitting in those thrones, watching them.”
Oh, gods, I didn’t know what to say to that. What he had been thinking about was so unexpected, so perfect, that emotion swelled fiercely.
“Ash,” I whispered, my fingers curling into his stiff tunic.
He smiled, a small upward tilt of his lips. “I love what I feel from you right now.” His hand swept down my back. “It is…everything.”
“You are everything.” I rose onto my tiptoes, shuddering as his cool breath fanned across my cheek.
The touch of his mouth against mine had the same reaction it always did. As our lips met, the realms condensed to just us. There was no one else. No other expectations or duties. No looming battles where one mistake could cause us to lose it all. It would always be like that, and that was a fact I would never be uncertain of.
One hand slipped under my braid to curl around the nape of my neck. He tilted my head, deepening the kiss. A crescendo of need quickly swelled between us as his other hand traced the curve of my spine, charting a path over the velvet of my robe. It ignited a fire as he pressed his hand against my lower back, drawing me closer and leaving no room between our bodies. I could feel him, hard and insistent against my belly, a pressure that sent a cascade of desire pooling at my core.
A certain type of madness urged me on. We were nowhere near anywhere private. Anyone could walk in on us. A draken could fly over and get an eyeful. But I was breathless with desire—with want—for him and only him.
I guided him backward until the backs of his legs met the throne. He sat without protest, looking up at me with heavy-lidded eyes and parted lips. Holding his gaze, I positioned myself atop him, straddling the man who was and would always be my entire world.
The coolness of the stone beneath my bare knees caused my breath to catch as our lips came together once more. It was as fierce as the hold he had on my heart and soul. He kissed me with a hunger that mirrored my own, sipping from my lips as his fingers made quick work of the buttons on my robe. The sides parted, and then, I felt his cold fingers through the thin silk of my nightgown. I moaned into his mouth, and before I could even take another breath, the bodice of the nightgown gave way beneath his touch, tugged down to bare me to his gaze. A shiver ran through me as the cooler air of the room met my heated flesh.