Page 175 of Lady of the Drowned Empire

I snuggled against him, reveling in this feel of him holding me, of holding him. “I’m good. Not sure I can get up anytime soon.”

“Don’t. I’m not letting go of you, not for the rest of the night.” He leaned in to kiss my forehead.

His hand trailed down my chest, once more over the golden star, whose light was now dormant. Shakily, he traced the seven rays.

Rhyan flattened his hand against my chest. “When this started to glow, there was a moment when I saw you…but not as you are now. Not as Lyr.” His jaw tightened. “I saw you as Asherah.”

“What?”

“It’s like, for a second, I was gone, and then I was back. It happened so fast. I was terrified I’d traveled by accident, but…I’m almost positive, it was a vision. Or a memory. One I never knew I had.” He shook his head. “It was familiar. I saw a beach, golden sand. You were walking on it, wearing the chest plate, the diamonds gleaming in the sun. Your hair was red, so red, and blowing in the wind, your face was yours but not…you were glowing, so full of light, and you turned to me, took my hand. And then you said….” His chest heaved, and he wore the same haunted look as before.

“What did I say?”

“You called me Auriel.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

I gasped. “What?”

Rhyan swallowed roughly, his eyes watering, as he shook his head. “You walked right up to me, took my hand, looked me in the eyes, and said Auriel. Lyr, have you…have you ever had any visions of her, or memories of…the other life?”

I nodded slowly, still stunned by his words. “Only a handful of times. They’re vague. More like flashes. The first time…it was just my hand. I was on a beach with golden sand, holding up my hand as if to block out the sun. That was it. But it wasn’t my hand…at least, not how it looks now. My skin was darker. My hand was larger. I’ve never…never seen anyone else in the visions. Do you think…that…do you think you were remembering?”

“I don’t know. I don’t…. It felt that way. I’ve wondered,” he said. “There have been moments in my life, where I felt…not myself. There was no explanation. The first time…it was that summer I visited. Uncle Sean took me to see the Guardian of Bamaria. And there was one moment when I touched the statue and…I was suddenly so full of power and strength…I accidentally threw Sean across the sand. I was bound at the time, so I shouldn’t have been that strong. And I wasn’t after. Then it wasn’t until later, after I started soturion training, that the feeling returned. Sometimes on the rare days when Glemaria was hot, I had this…strange sense of another time. I thought maybe I was remembering Bamaria. But it never felt the same.” He stroked my hair. “Since I found out about you…a part of me has wondered…”

“Wondered if you were Auriel?”

He shrugged. “I think that part was wishful thinking. But…I’ve started to think—what if that was why my father wanted me back. Why all this time, he let me live. He knows who you are. He’s always known. And, with how he treated me…he always wanted control, yet never once did he force a blood oath on me. At least, not until the night that….” He exhaled sharply, and looked up toward his scar. “I thought for so long he wanted me dead. That one day he'd slip, and my life would be over. But that never happened. He wanted me alive. And for years, I’ve tried to piece out why. What value was I to him? What could he want from me if he hated me?”

“Rhyan.” I touched his cheek.

“It’s okay. It is what it is. But there was something my old bodyguard Bowen once told me. He said that my dying was the last thing my father wanted.”

I cupped his face, my finger tracing the scar through his eyebrow to his cheek.

Rhyan sighed. “I’d say it doesn’t matter—and until a few weeks ago, I’m not sure I would have truly believed it possible—even if I suspected it was true. But considering you’re Asherah, and we’ve heard more than once now that Moriel may have returned, I wouldn’t put it past the realm of possibility.”

“Did you mean what you said?” I asked. “When called you me, Mekara?”

“Yes,” he said fervently. “Gods, Lyr. Yes. I didn’t say that because of the vision. Or any speculation. That was me. That was all me. Even if I’m not him, I don’t care. I couldn’t care less. My soul is yours.” He took my hand and pressed it to his heart. “Me sha, me ka, Mekara.” He kissed my fingers. “I swear it.”

“I don’t care if you are either. Because I meant what I said, Rakame.”

“Good. Now come on,” he said, propping us up into a seat. “Let’s get you cleaned up.” His slid my arms around his neck, lifting my ass into his lap, before he stood gracefully. “Back into the spring.”

Sinking into the water now felt glorious, warm and soothing. And this time, Rhyan wasn’t trying to hide his growing erection or maintain a respectful distance between our bodies. The boundaries between us, the ones forced on us by the Empire and the ones we’d created to protect ourselves when we’d needed them, were finally gone.

We swam around, reveling in the heat and being able to enjoy it, not simply need it to survive. Then our lips met in a kiss so deep, it seemed like we were still on the blankets, still joining our bodies together. My arms were around his neck, his thickening length against my belly.

Suddenly, Rhyan was rushing toward a smooth rock formation at the edge of the spring. Fresh warm water trickled onto my shoulders and down my breasts as he leaned my back up against the rock, he was already fitted to my entrance.

“Can you take me again, partner?” he breathed, his voice hoarse, sliding against me.

Reaching down between us, my fingers wrapped around him, hard and ready. Slowly, I slid him in and in. I groaned at the sudden pressure, clenching around him as he trembled against me, giving me time to adjust to this new angle.

“Fuck.” He pressed his forehead to mine.

I gripped his shoulders, undulating against him, our eyes meeting as he thrust up, his fingers digging into my waist. I circled my hips, rubbing against him, building that fire again until it felt like it was blazing through my limbs, sparking every nerve in my body.