Page 52 of Duskbound (Esprithean Trilogy #2)

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

Aether stood at the window like a statue, staring into the darkness beyond. I found a small door tucked into the corner of our room and peeked inside—a washroom, if you could call it that. Someone had turned an old barrel into a makeshift tub, and beside it sat a bucket of water, still warm from the hearth. Perfect.

Given how distant Aether had been since leaving the Compound, a moment alone seemed wise.

The warm water was a blessing after everything we'd done today. I washed quickly, then wrapped myself in one of the worn towels left on a hook. My leathers lay in a heap on the floor, and the thought of putting them back on made me cringe. My clean clothes were in my satchel—which I'd left by the window. By Aether.

When I stepped back into the bedroom, he hadn't moved an inch. He glanced over his shoulder at my footsteps, then turned away just as quickly. But not before I noticed the dark stubble shadowing his jaw, a sight that had me biting back a smile. If he was lovely before, this was maddening.

"Are we ever going to discuss what's bothering you?" I asked .

Aether turned, leaning against the wall but still avoiding my eyes. He shook his head as his gaze found the floor. "I don't want to be cruel to you," he said, dragging a hand over his mouth. "I'm just trying to process this."

I moved to sit on the edge of the bed. "Talk to me."

"I haven't done this before. Felt things like this." His voice was rough. "Not that I can remember, at least." He looked almost pained, like each word was being torn from him.

"I know I can't blame you for anything that happened before," he added quickly. “I'm just trying to rationalize why it affects me this way."

I watched him struggle, could practically see the thoughts racing behind those golden eyes. "Aether..." I trailed off, searching for the right words. "Laryk and I—it's not what you're thinking. I had been alone for so long, and he showed me I could be something other than what I was. I never thought I could attach myself to someone so quickly, someone that I was never even sure liked me for me, or liked me for what he thought I could do."

Aether stayed quiet for a long moment. "You thought you loved him," he finally said. "It seems deeper than that, and it's difficult to imagine competing with that history."

" History makes it seem like something far more than it was." I nearly laughed at the truth of it. We’d spent so little time together—a whirlwind built on my insecurities.

"But it was real, for you," he continued, his voice tight. "I’m trying Fia, I just don't know how to be what you need. I'm fumbling my way through this."

I shook my head. "I didn't know him, Aether. Not like I know you."

Our eyes finally met, and for the first time, I saw real vulnerability in his, the golden irises melting in the firelight. But just like that, he broke away, moving to sink into the chair by the hearth. He buried his face in his hands .

"I don't want to mess this up," he said simply.

I shifted on the bed to face him, my heart aching at how lost he looked.

"We don't need all the answers right now," I said softly. "We're working through this together."

He peered up at me. "For so long, I closed off every part of myself that could feel." His voice took on a strained edge. "I feel like I'm drowning. Sometimes it's incredible, like this morning on the cliff." He paused, exhaling slowly. "Other times, it feels like I'm going to burst out of my own skin. And in the middle of all that, is you."

I couldn't stand seeing him like this. Before I could stop myself, I was standing in front of him, taking his hands in mine, feeling the callouses that plagued them. The same hands that had shuffled through countless pages to figure out exactly who I was—the same hands that had carried me out of Draxon. His hands. Aether's hands. They were warm, almost burning.

"Do you know what it means to me?" I asked softly. "That you think about these things?"

My fingers found their way into his hair, and he leaned into my touch, those golden eyes finally meeting mine. Something had cracked open in him—no pretenses, no evasion, just pure honesty reflected in his irises.

"Sometimes I just need..." He struggled with the words. "Time. To process everything. The last thing I want is to say something in anger, something I can't take back."

His forehead pressed against my towel-covered stomach as my hands worked through his hair. The simple touch felt more intimate than anything we'd shared before.

"I've never met anyone like you," I said, meaning it more than I could express.

He turned his face against me, breathing me in. His hands found my bare legs, fingers pressing into my thighs as he drew me closer. "I want to know every part of you," he murmured into the fabric. "To breathe in every. single. piece."

Heat pooled in my stomach at his words. I wanted that too, with a ferocity that terrified me as much as it thrilled me, made me feel free and alive. This man. I wanted him to know me completely. No walls.

"I'm done hiding," I whispered, my voice low against the cracking of the fire. His head tilted back, creating a devastating distance between us.

And I let the towel fall to the floor.

Aether went still, his breath slowing as he took me in. The way he looked at me—like I was something sacred—made my skin flush, made me feel like I was burning from the inside out. Like I was the only thing in his world worth looking at.

His hands found my hips, and when he tilted his head to drag his mouth across my ribcage, the rough stubble on his jaw sent chills across my skin. His lips pressed right under the swell of my breast, golden eyes still locked on mine, and the intensity of his stare nearly undid me right then and there.

He nipped at the curve of my waist, then his mouth was on my stomach, his grip tightening like he couldn't bear to allow anymore distance between us. His hands slid down the backs of my thighs, barely touching—light and as intoxicating as a feathers edge, making me shiver despite the fire's warmth. Then suddenly his hands gripped the backs of my knees, and he yanked me forward onto the chair—onto him.

My arms wrapped around his neck as I pulled his mouth to mine, and the air in the room became electric. Something dark and terrifying rushed through me at the feel of him hard beneath his leathers, at how his hands seemed to burn everywhere they touched.

One arm curved around my back while the other gripped my hip, guiding me against him. I couldn't get enough—of his taste, of the impossible heat of his skin, of the way his shadows surrounded us—how they seemed to reach for mine.

His lips found my jaw, then my neck, and the sound that tore from his throat was almost pained as he shifted beneath me. Every brush of his stubble against my skin sent lightning through my veins.

I wanted him to feel what I felt, wanted to watch this carefully controlled man come undone completely, wholly, for me and me alone.

Heat coiled in my stomach as I watched the burning in his eyes. For a man who had spent decades feeling nothing, the raw hunger in his expression made my heart race. His hands raked over my body, leaving trails of fire in their wake, and when they reached my hips, his fingers pressed into my skin like he was afraid I might disappear.

"I've never..." His voice was rough, strained. "I don't want to hurt you."

The vulnerability in his tone made my chest ache. This was Aether—the man who could tear armies apart—who could bend matter to his will in an instant—now trembling beneath my touch.

I leaned down, pressing my lips to that perfect jaw. "You won't."

His breathing hitched as I rolled my hips against him. Even through his leathers, I could feel how hard he was. When my fingers found the fastenings, his whole body went rigid.

"Fia." My name was a warning on his lips, but I could hear the desperation beneath it—the longing.

"Let go," I whispered against his mouth.

Something snapped in him then. His hands tangled in my hair as he pulled me in for a kiss that stole my breath. Gone was the hesitation, the careful distance. This was pure need.

His mouth moved to my neck, teeth grazing sensitive skin as his hands explored every inch of me. Each touch felt like an iron, like he was branding me. I couldn't help the sounds escaping my throat as his nails trailed against my flesh.

"You're so beautiful," he breathed against my collarbone. "So perfect."

His hands found my breasts, and the sound that escaped him was almost feral. The guarded warrior I knew was unraveling beneath me.

"I've imagined this more times than I can count," he confessed against my skin. "Of touching you, tasting you."

My fingers worked faster at his leathers, desperate to feel his skin against mine. When I finally freed him, we both gasped. He was larger than I'd imagined, and heat flooded my face as I drank in the sight.

An ache radiated up from my center, my body crying out for more.

I lifted myself, sliding my hand between us to position him at my entrance. My eyes met his the moment I began to sink down, his size robbing me of my breath as I adjusted. The pain and pleasure were exquisite. Aether exhaled sharply, looking as if he was having to hold himself back. Allowing me to work myself down until his cock was fully buried within me.

"You're trembling," he whispered, his golden eyes searching mine.

"So are you," I managed, my voice shaky.

His hands slid up my back, pulling me closer until there wasn't a breath of space between us. "Thirty years," he groaned. "Thirty years of feeling nothing, and now..." His words dissolved into a moan as I shifted against him. "You're destroying me."

I pressed my forehead to his, our breaths mingling. "Good."

But I was already seeing stars. My body moved on its own, hips slowly rocking forward before sinking down again.

Aether’s head rolled back against the chair, eyes looking dazed but never leaving mine. His plump bottom lip was trapped between his teeth, nearly drawing blood on the next roll of my hips.

I leaned down, wanting to bite his lip myself. I kissed the edge of his mouth and he turned to meet my lips with barely contained restraint. My tongue moved across the cut he’d created, sucking on it slightly as my hips continued to move at a slow place, building up the pleasure with every movement.

I knew it was treacherous then, the speed at which I was taking him. But something about every drawn-out moment, feeling every inch of him at this devastating pace, was like savoring the deadliest of wines—knowing it could kill me but craving it all the same. And a slow, free-fall of a death was exactly what I wanted with him.

Every movement sent waves of pleasure through me. His hands seemed to be everywhere at once—in my hair, on my breasts, gripping my thighs. Like he couldn't get enough, like he wanted to memorize every inch of me.

"Look at me," he commanded, his voice rough with need. When I met his gaze, his golden eyes were molten. "I need to see you."

And in an instant, he was pulling me down, down, down. So far that I couldn't tell where I ended and he began—the sensation of feeling him fully, wholly, unimaginably inside of me nearly had me coming apart at the seams.

I let my head lull back, exposing every delicate piece of me. My eyes wanted to roll, to dissolve into this perfect moment, searing this feeling into my mind—my body—forever. But as he thrusted upwards and sank back down, relieving me of the most divine pressure, I found myself suddenly alive once again, my head whipping back to his, my desperate stare a rival to his own, and my lips found his.

"You're holding back," I breathed against his mouth.

His hands tightened on my hips. "Because if I don't..." His voice was strained .

"What?" I challenged, rolling my hips slower, drawing a groan from deep in his chest.

And in an instant, he was everywhere—filling me again, driving his cock into me with a force that seemed to disturb the delicate foundations of the chair beneath us, its creaking echoing through the room.

"Careful," I whimpered, "These walls are paper thin."

His expression told me everything he couldn't say with words as he plunged into me again, a cry escaping my lips just as his hand came down on my mouth, suppressing the noise from my throat. I tasted his flesh, the salty—smoke ridden delicacy of his fingers.

"You want everyone to hear what you do to me?" he breathed against my ear.

I bit down on his fingers in response, and his whole body shuddered. The chair protested beneath us as our movements grew more primal. And I wanted more.

More.

I arched my back in response, crashing back down around him as he moved for another thrust, our bodies colliding in a storm of fury.

The chair groaned beneath us once again, the wood straining with each movement. His eyes met mine, something dangerous flickering in their golden depths. His hand slid from my mouth, returning to grip my thigh, and without warning, he stood—the sudden movement making me gasp.

For a moment we were suspended, my legs wrapped around his waist, his hands gripping me as his muscles flexed. Then he took three measured steps, each one deliberate, making me feel every shift of his body against mine. When my back finally met the cold stone, I arched away from it instinctively, pressing closer to his burning heat.

One of his hands left my thigh to cover my mouth again as a cry threatened to escape, as he buried himself so deeply in me that I thought I might just lose myself. His other hand supported my entire weight, keeping me pinned against the wall. The position left me completely at his mercy, trapped between the icy chill of the stone and the oblivion his eyes were promising.

"Better?" he growled. The word ghosted across my skin, making me shiver. When I nodded, he slowly removed his hand from my mouth, replacing it with his lips in a kiss that was all teeth and desperation.

“Think you can stay quiet on your own?” he breathed after pulling away, and there was nothing innocent about the smile at his lips.

“Probably not,” I admitted, gasping.

“Good. Because I want to hear you scream my name.”

And then he began filling me—over and over, each thrust harder than the last.

His name fell from my lips easily. A plea for more of him. I was sure I could never get enough.

A bead of sweat rolled down his temple as his muscles strained. The sight of him—this careful warrior, golden eyes almost black with desire—made something wild stir inside me.

My legs tightened around his hips, entire body tensing. “Aether, I–”

I could barely get the words out but he seemed to know I was reaching my peak, my insides squeezing him tightly. It didn’t slow his relentless pace, and I crumbled around him, my shadows filling the room in an instant before flowing back into our bodies, the ecstasy almost blinding.

He didn’t give me a moment to catch my breath, his rhythm working me through the earth-shattering orgasm that was already building into another.

"You have no idea what that does to me," he growled against my throat, his stubble scraping against my sensitive skin. "Watching you fall apart. "

His shadows circled tighter around us as his breathing grew ragged against my neck. The arm supporting my weight flexed, adjusting his grip to drive even deeper. The movement had my mind going blank, my head falling back against the stone.

"Not yet," he growled, voice rough with restraint. "I'm not done with you."

Despite the trembling in his muscles, despite the desire I could feel building in him, he maintained that devastating rhythm. Each thrust was perfectly calculated to drive me higher, to push me toward that edge again. His self-control was maddening—even now, completely undone, he wouldn't let go until he'd wrung every ounce of pleasure from me first.

My fingers dug into his shoulders as that familiar tension began building again. His eyes had gone completely feral, watching my every reaction with an intensity that was almost predatory. When his name fell from my lips once again, his shadows whipped faster, but still he held back.

My nails raked down his back as he drove into me again, drawing a harsh sound from his throat that was somewhere between pleasure and pain. His hair was slick with sweat now, muscles trembling.

"Do that again," he commanded, voice rough against my ear. When I obliged, dragging my nails across his shoulders, his whole body shuddered. The movement sent sparks through me.

His rhythm shifted, each movement more devastating than the last. When his muscles flexed beneath my hands, I leaned forward, teeth sinking into the curve of his shoulder. The taste of salt and smoke filled my mouth as he let out a low growl that vibrated through his chest.

"Fia," he groaned. His shadows writhed, matching the building pressure between us. But still, he was holding back.

I bit down harder, drawing another harsh sound from his throat. His arm trembled beneath my thigh, but his pace never faltered. If anything, each thrust became deeper, harder, threatening to send me into free fall.

And finally, at the very moment I was losing myself all over again, his control shattered. The shadows surrounding us pulsed wildly as his rhythm gave way to something slower as he slammed his body into mine, driving himself to the hilt.

My name escaped his lips like a prayer as our shadows merged completely, dancing together in perfect synchronization. The darkness amplified everything—every touch, every movement, every shared breath between us.

"Fall with me," he growled against my throat, his voice breaking. The sound of it, of him finally letting go, sent ecstasy through my veins. My vision started to darken at the edges, erasing my entire world until all I could see was Aether's eyes mirroring my own, filling with those inky tendrils until there was nothing left. And then we were falling—tumbling down into that delicious oblivion together.

For a long moment, we stayed there against the wall, his face buried in my neck as we caught our breath. His arms held me securely, neither of us wanting to move, to break this perfect moment of connection. When he finally shifted, I couldn't help the small sound of protest that escaped my lips, my arms tightening around him.

His grip softened into something tender as he carried me to the narrow bed, laying me down. His lips traced a path from my temple to my cheek before finding my mouth. Then he moved to lie beside me, pulling me against his chest.

The night air was cool against our heated skin, but neither of us moved away. If anything, I pressed closer, memorizing everything about this moment—the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, the way his fingers traced patterns on my side, how perfectly we seemed to fit together.

We lay there in comfortable silence, neither wanting to be the first to pull away, to acknowledge that the world still existed beyond this room. I wasn’t sure when I drifted off to sleep.

I found myself walking down a long corridor, the stone walls draped in dark fabrics. People in black clothing pressed past me, their faces streaked with tears, whispers echoing off the walls. The scent of funeral incense hung heavy in the air.

My feet carried me toward a door at the end of the hall—ornate and heavy, carved with symbol I now recognized as the Valtyr Royal Family—as my family. As I reached for the handle, it swung open, and I came face to face with Vilda—the woman who would have been my great aunt. She startled at my presence, and for the first time, I saw her clearly. Her face was all sharp angles and striking features, framed by that familiar dark hair that fell in waves down her back. But it was her eyes that tugged at something inside me—black as onyx, a tear developing along her lashes.

She placed a hand on my arm, the touch sending a chill through me. When she lifted her chin to meet my gaze again, something apologetic flashed across her features. She gave a single nod before turning away, disappearing into the crowd of mourners like a shadow melting into darkness.

My feet moved forward of their own accord, through the doorway she'd just exited. The chamber beyond was large and circular, lit by iron chandeliers that cast strange shadows on the walls. And there, sprawled across the floor, was a man—the same one who had taken those two little girls into the Void. The King of Umbrathia lay dead.