Page 20 of A Legacy of Stars (The Lost God Legacies)

20

TEDDY

T he outfit the priestess had left for Teddy was nothing he would normally wear, but he wasn’t about to upset a goddess in her own temple. He’d dressed in the thin, pale pink linen shirt and perfectly fitted pants. It was a bit unnerving that they fit so well, as if the priestess had taken one glance at him and knew his measure.

He ran a hand through his hair, stepped out of his room, and followed the white stone hallways to the main temple. Candles in various shades of pink and cream and roses and peonies covered a white marble altar.

Behind the altar, Goddess Desiree lounged on a plush chaise, an attendant pouring her wine. She looked regal and stunning in an uncanny way that made it hard to do anything but stare at her. Her brown skin glowed in the firelight and her dark fuchsia dress hugged her curves. Her black hair was braided elaborately, twisted around her head and topped with a diamond-encrusted diadem.

When she saw Teddy, her face brightened. She passed her cup to the servant and stood, descending the few altar stairs to be on his level .

Teddy pressed three fingers to his forehead, lips, and heart in a sign of reverence and bowed to the goddess.

“Your Grace,” she said, her voice a sultry caress. “How lovely to see you looking refreshed. My colors suit you.”

Teddy nodded, keeping his eye on the goddess of love’s face and not the barely-there fuchsia gown that showed off large swaths of warm brown skin and accentuated her full hourglass figure. Her blue eyes glowed brightly as she looked him over, lingering on his chest as if looking at the bond itself.

“Thank you for your hospitality, goddess.”

Desiree clapped her hands and grinned. At first Teddy thought it was at his praise, but then he turned and saw Stella walking into the room.

If he’d thought the bathing situation was inappropriate, the dress Stella wore was downright indecent.

The dusty rose color was beautiful against her fair skin. The neckline plunged between her breasts and the fabric was so sheer that, were it not for some strategically placed ruching and draping, he’d see everything he’d been trying so hard not to look at when they were bathing.

Teddy’s mouth went dry as she walked toward him.

He felt the goddess’s assessing gaze, but he could not drag his eyes away from Stella.

Finally, when she stepped up beside him, he managed to stop gawking.

Desiree’s full lips pushed into a pout. “Look at her. She has still not been well-fucked. What are you waiting for, Your Grace?”

“Aunt Des!” Stella shrieked. “I have, too!”

The goddess gave her a patronizing smile. “My lovely girl, you don’t know what you’re missing. I can see the lack of vitality in you. I gave you the perfect opening this evening out in the baths. Why did you not take it?” She stepped behind Stella and looked at Teddy over her shoulder. “A man like that is so pent-up. You don’t know what you might discover if you can let him loose.”

Teddy didn’t like the reflection of himself through the goddess’s eyes. He knew how to have fun and he certainly knew how to please a woman.

Grace was not his first. He’d had his fair share of fun before they got together. He was certain no one would have called that version of him pent-up, at least not in the bedroom. But that version of him felt remarkably distant now, as if it had happened in another lifetime and he was only now remembering the faint whispers of it.

When neither of them spoke, Desiree crossed her arms. “And you both wish for me to break this bond?”

Teddy and Stella nodded in unison.

“Okay, prove it. Just one kiss and I will stop my nagging,” the goddess said. “Honestly, Stella, the fact that you don’t have any faith in your favorite auntie is very disappointing. I am telling you that the potential between you is something extraordinary .”

Stella hesitated for only a moment. “I’m not kissing him. We came here to have you undo this. Teddy is controlling and petty and only cares about himself and his five-year plan for self-improvement or whatever it is he fantasizes about,” she huffed.

Teddy gaped at her. Did she really still think that of him? Even after he’d saved her from having to kill someone? Perhaps his chiding her about it was the reason. Teddy understood that conflict. He used to feel that way, but his parents had trained that hesitance out of him—not to be cruel, but to make a point. When he was younger, he’d hated it, but as he’d grown, he understood they only did it for the sake of his survival.

Now if a man was coming for Teddy, he wouldn’t even flinch. And yet, some protective instinct—probably their bond—wanted him to save Stella from needing to be that way. Not to keep her in some state where she was dependent on him, but to preserve the wild whimsy about her that was growing on him. She didn’t belong in the Gauntlet Games—not because she wasn’t skilled or because she couldn’t win, but because she didn’t have it in her heart to kill. Every other competitor was there to do what they must, and while death was not a guarantee, it was a clear and ever-present possibility.

Desiree sighed. “You are your mother’s daughter. ”

“Thank you,” Stella said sweetly.

“Not a compliment,” the goddess said.

Stella glared at Desiree, but the goddess just waved a dismissive hand and started toward the hallway. “Fine. Suit yourselves. If you are so content to waste your potential, I cannot make you see that which you’re blind to. I’m off to find better company.” She turned to face Teddy, her eyes glowing in a subtle threat. “Keep her alive.”

Teddy waited for the goddess’s footsteps to retreat down the hall, the echo of her silk slippers growing fainter until a door closed and he and Stella were finally alone.

“You really think I’m cruel and petty, Minyha ?” Teddy asked.

She sighed and crossed the room to pick at some wax that had spilled onto the altar. “I think you decided to hate me for years over some imagined slight of your sister, and perpetuated our prank war so you could keep me at a distance. Easier to see me as a charmed fairy princess instead of a real person.” She met his gaze. “ Minyha . It means magic?”

Teddy smirked. There was no way she knew Old Novumi. “It means you should be better studied in languages if you’re going to be queen of Olney.”

Her anger hit him in the chest. Good . He was angry, too.

“I saved you from having to kill that man last night. The least you should be is grateful.”

“Grateful?” she spat. “I didn’t need you to step in and play savior, Theodore. I am quite capable of saving myself. I know you’re used to Grace, but some women just want the chance to fight for themselves.”

Teddy crossed the room to stand right in front of her, pointing to her neck. “He was strangling you. Gods help me. You are fucking maddening.”

She stepped closer, her nose mere inches from his. “And you are a spoiled prince with a savior complex and?—”

He thrust his hand into her hair, yanked her head back, and kissed her. It was a reflex in response to the sudden pulsing need to rid himself of this energy. Their connection set his teeth on edge and electrified every nerve in his body with wanting .

He waited for her to shove him away, but Stella tugged him closer and that was all the invitation he needed. He walked her backward, shoving aside the candelabras so he could press her against the marble wall without setting her indecent dress on fire. The candles crashed to the floor, and all the flames on their side of the room snuffed out, filling the air with fragrant rose-scented smoke.

Teddy tore the pins out of Stella’s hair violently and yanked her head back for better access. He slid his hand down her neck, his thumb resting over her pulse. He’d thought about his hands on her throat before, but for the sake of strangling her, not for the thrill of seeing how her heart raced as he kissed her.

He was starving for an outlet, and it seemed Stella was too. All the stress and grief of the past few days came out at once.

She bit his bottom lip and bunched her hands in his tunic. There was no tentativeness about it. Everything in the kiss was hungry and incendiary, just like her magic. Teddy shifted to cup the back of her head, his other arm curling around her waist.

She ground against his thigh. Fuck, that was hot. He wanted her to get off, wanted to see her get herself off using him, wanted to hear the sounds he brought out of her by his mere presence. Being prince and wielding storms had never made him feel as powerful as this.

He’d always had power he didn’t want—influence at court, rule of a kingdom, rule of storms—but this wildness was something he wanted the ability to coax out or tame at will.

Stella gasped into his mouth, her tongue tangling with his. She tasted sweet and tart like cherries.

He wrapped her hair around his fist, tilting her head back, and nipped at her jaw. She arched into him, her soft breasts pressing against his chest. He kissed along the length of her jaw and ran his nose down her neck, breathing in the sweet floral scent of her skin. Gods, it was intoxicating. He didn’t just want to taste her; he wanted to consume her, to see what would happen if he slid his hand up her dress. He dragged his teeth over the spot where her neck met her shoulder, and she cursed .

She dug her nails into the back of his head, urging him on, and rubbed herself harder against his thigh.

Teddy felt like he was going to combust. His skin was hot and tingling, his whole body lit from within by some supernatural fever stoked by her touch. He kissed his way back up her neck until he finally met her lips.

He pressed her back against the wall, his hips rolling to meet her rhythm. His cock was painfully hard, straining against his pants.

Stella shuddered and sighed, tipping her head back.

Gods, he wanted to lay her on the altar stairs and spread her thighs and make her come so hard she’d feel it for days. He wanted to wipe that smug smile off of her face for good. She was so certain she knew him. But she had no idea how happily he’d ruin her for any other man.

Teddy jerked away, equally disturbed and elated at that thought.

A shockwave raced through him, like a hundred little sparks lighting at once behind his sternum and spreading through his limbs. Goosebumps rose on his skin, but the sensation wasn’t unwelcome. The glowing feeling in his chest grew downward like roots and upward like branches. The sensation was pleasant and too much, and he wanted more.

Stella stared at him, her green eyes bright in the candlelight, pupils blown wide. Her face and neck were flushed and every place he’d kissed was bright red. A gentle thrum of satisfaction pulsed through him. It was like he’d left his signature behind on her skin.

He shouldn’t have liked it.

She ran her hands down her goosebump-riddled arms and pressed her palm to her heart. “What was that?” She touched her other hand to her swollen lips and looked up at him with wide doe eyes. “ What did you do ?”

Teddy opened his mouth to speak.

“You sealed the bond.”

They both jumped and spun to see Desiree standing in the temple doorway. She took stock of the candles and puddled wax spilled across the white marble floor .

“I knew you could do it,” the goddess said with a smug smile.

Teddy shook his head. “No, no, no. Take it back. I didn’t agree to this. I—” He tugged at his shirt, his chest suddenly so tight he couldn’t breathe.

“I don’t want to be connected to him forever ,” Stella said. “I never wanted to be connected to him at all. We didn’t agree to this.”

“You did when you came here a second time—when you signed the book to enter?—”

Stella stared into Teddy’s eyes, and he saw his own shock and horror reflected there.

Mercifully, the goddess seemed to realize that they were already poised to explode and took a step back. “Well, I was going to offer my congratulations.”

“You were going to offer smug satisfaction and nothing else. You’ve done enough,” Stella said sharply.

The goddess arched a brow. “Don’t forget whose temple you’re standing in, Stella. I’m a gracious host, but I abhor rudeness in my house.”

Stella clasped her hands in a white-knuckle grip. “Thank you for your hospitality, goddess. But we’d like to be alone, if you don’t mind.”

The goddess smirked. “I bet you would. You may return to your rooms when you’re finished being in denial.”

Desiree offered one last smug grin and left them alone in the half-dark temple.

Stella’s chest heaved as she tried to catch her breath. “Why did you do that?”

“Why did you ?” Teddy countered.

The air between them was still charged, like the atmosphere before a storm. Teddy wasn’t sure whether to stay or run. He had kissed her, but she’d pounced on him just as eagerly.

He took a step toward her and all the candles in the temple flared.

She held up a hand. “Just give me a second. This bond is messing with my magic. ”

Teddy arched a brow. “The bond? I thought fire was your strongest magic.”

“It is, but my magic follows my emotions.”

Teddy looked at the flaring candles on the altar. “And you’re feeling?—”

She cocked her head and glared at him.

Anger. Good. That was safer. Whatever line they’d just accidentally stumbled over was dangerous and volatile. They needed to stay in safer territory.

“It doesn’t have to mean anything,” he said.

“It doesn’t,” she agreed, but a swift shock of hurt slid through their bond.

Did she want it to mean something? Teddy studied her, but her face betrayed nothing.

“I never thought you’d do that,” Stella said.

“It was just the bond. I still love Grace.”

Stella scoffed. “What? Are you worried I will tell her? Your secret is safe with me, but I’m not sure that she cares.”

Teddy scowled at her. “Of course she would care.”

“I know breakups are hard, but I didn’t think you were the type to stay in denial.”

Teddy clenched his hands into fists. “I’ll show Grace I can change. I can be better.”

Stella scoffed. “You can’t always be better.”

“ I can.”

She shook her head and blew out a breath. “I pity you that you think that.”

Every time they found common ground, it was as if she was resolute to take them right back to where they’d started. Teddy could take all of her irritable jabs and all her naive sunshine hopefulness, but he would absolutely not take pity from Stella McKay.

“You don’t understand. You are beloved. You are the treasured daughter of the fairy-tale lovers of Olney. I am the son of a rumored bastard. I come from an untraditional family system. And for the past five years, the Sons of Endros have been mercilessly making our lives hell. There is no room for error.” He shook his head and scrubbed a hand down his face. “There’s no room to even breathe. All for a job I don’t feel equipped for or capable of. How could I possibly when I’m constantly reminded of the ways I’m falling short?

“The problem with keeping a kingdom full of people happy is that everyone wants something different. There are those who aren’t happy without their status. They aren’t satisfied unless there are people beneath them. They only thrive in oppression. But we don’t want that. My father was hoping the monarchy of Argaria would have less power now, but every time we have tried to cede some, the Sons of Endros have made havoc. There is never a moment where I can be seen as weak or even human. You think I’m cold? Set apart from everyone else? I have no choice, Stella. I have to be.” He shook his head. “Being out in that bar the other night was the first time I’ve been out in six months and the first time I’ve been drunk in years—the first time ever in public. A king must be above reproach.”

Stella stared at him.

“I can’t be too cruel, or too soft, too quick to anger, or too patient. I am always perilously perched on a cliff, blindfolded and told to walk the edge without falling. I’m always one false move from slipping and ruining everything for my family.”

“But the twins and Alexandra are not nearly as?—”

“They are not the heir to the throne.”

She licked her lips and smiled sadly, her face so full of pity he had to look away. “They will always find something,” she said softly.

“I know that,” he snapped.

She held up her hands. “No. I mean they will always find something. It’s not possible for you to be so impeccable that no one will take issue because, to your point, everyone wants something different in a king.”

A lump formed in Teddy’s throat. That was the sentiment he’d been fighting against for years. He had to be enough. He had to prove to his father that he could do it, that the immense sacrifices Xander had made would be worth it. That the kingdom wouldn’t slide into anarchy at the hands of men who wanted to set their culture back hundreds of years, just so they could feel powerful.

His mother, Jessamin, had worked so hard to ensure that the practice of men trading off their daughters into marriage contracts was largely a thing of the past. Women had autonomy now, and they’d used it to choose partners for love, to build careers for themselves to help elevate many of them from poverty. It was her life’s work.

That was part of the reason the Sons of Endros were so frustrated to begin with. Men of Argaria and Olney had lost their power over women and, rather than modify their behavior to attract women, they wanted to strip women of the autonomy they’d gained so that they could go back to feeling valuable for merely existing. He could hear his mother saying those words after council meetings. She’d come to Argaria and married his father to make a difference in their world and these patriarchal lunatics were threatening her life’s work so they could feel in control.

Stella stepped closer, clearly reading his frustration and stress through the bond. She squeezed his hand.

He was so disoriented. So off-kilter with this new knowledge of her. The softness of her skin, the springtime scent of her so strong and heady at the crook of her neck that he wanted to bury his face there for days.

Teddy looked away, trying to master himself. Twenty-four years of self-control had been completely wrecked by one heart bond.

“This changes nothing,” Teddy said, more to himself than her. “I still want to win Grace back.”

“Why?” Stella looked almost angry.

“Why what?”

“Why win her back? Why be with someone you have to win over in the first place?”

“Because I love her. Because she’s right. I’ve been too controlling, too—” He searched for the right word. “Rigid. I’ve been too stuck in my ways, and I haven’t been a good partner to her. I can change.”

Stella placed a hand softly on his shoulder. Her green eyes met his. “Yes, but Teddy, should you have to? ”

The question was a splinter lodged into the deepest, rawest wound in his heart. He’d spent years curating himself. He’d become a creature of meticulous preparation, of schedules and constant improvement. He trained away his flaws, shoving any reservations, any weaknesses into the deepest, darkest corners of his mind, and he only ever let them out when he was alone—with the exception of that moment before the Gauntlet Games binding ceremony when Stella had seen him break down.

He’d been as perfect as possible, but all that perfection had not saved him from constant scrutiny. The more perfect he was, the narrower the measures of success became. He was trying so hard, but the pressure was getting to him.

“If she can only love you if you’re different, then does she even love you at all?” Stella asked softly.

She’d made such a succinct and brutal study of him. Those words coming from her gave new meaning to “knowing your enemy.” It was unnerving to be seen by her, and he’d had enough surprises for one night.

Teddy felt overexposed, burned to the core by her recognition. There was no judgment behind it; he felt in that moment how much they had in common.

“What would you know about love?” Teddy snapped. “You’re so obsessed with your stories, but real love isn’t all so neatly tied up.”

Stella did not look nearly as put off by his sharp words as he’d hoped. In fact, she looked almost relieved by them.

“Such a skeptic,” she said with a sigh. “But cynicism doesn’t make you mature. It just makes you boring.”

Teddy crossed his arms and scowled at her, but he was happy to return to that dynamic. The kiss had shifted the landscape between them. Her taunt brought them back to common ground.

Stella held her hands out in a truce. “Look, things obviously did not go as planned tonight. We’re both on edge. We have to be back in time for the next challenge. Let’s go get some sleep. I’ll even tell you one of my stories that you hate so much.”

His lips twitched, but he appraised her with skepticism. Other than his moment of panic before the tournament binding, it had been a long time since he heard her tell a story. His sisters had always enjoyed the McKay family’s storytelling rituals and came home raving about Stella’s stories every solstice.

She rolled her eyes. “ Your Grace , you will love it. It has blood and violence and a walled-off city in the middle of a monster-infested forest. If you’re not at least entertained, I’ll let you give it a full realist’s critique at the end. I’ll even tell you how you’re right about everything.”

Teddy bit his cheek to keep himself from smiling.

She cocked her head and winked at him. “You’re right—I’m trying to de-escalate things and I know those words will just get you all hot and bothered again.”

Teddy smothered a laugh. “Fine. Spin your fluffy story.”

She threaded her arm through his and Teddy let his heart-bonded nemesis lead him away from the mess they’d made in the temple.