Page 13 of Monsters in the Museum (Defenders of the Light #1)

Chapter thirteen

T he smell of burning hair filled Xander’s nose as he ducked under a gout of flame so narrowly that it singed off one of his curls.

“Kronos’s cock,” he swore, turning the duck into a lunge and driving his Xiphos into the creature’s chest.

He nearly dropped his sword, the metal handle heating impossibly quickly under his palm as the blade connected with the fiery beast before him. Gritting his teeth, he held on as the monster before him dissolved from a misshapen figure of lava to a puddle of fitfully bubbling magma at his feet.

“Xander!”

Before he could heed the warning, a flash of Light so bright it nearly blinded him filled his vision, forcing him to close his eyes. As he blinked them open again, he whipped around, only to find another patch of lava behind him.

Standing a few meters away was Aediene, her glittering spear pointed directly at where the attacking Shadow had been just seconds before. She had saved his life again, for well past the dozenth time.

Aediene had insisted he stop keeping track, pointing out he had saved her nearly as many times. After their wedding, though, she had demanded they not keep score on such things.

Now, she lowered her spear, letting the sauroter rest in the sand at her side and leaning on it as she panted. Adam took the moment to look around the beach, finding it empty except for the two of them. The lava creatures, born of the Shadow, who had been climbing out of the ocean and terrorizing the nearby fishing village, were vanquished. All that was left of them were two dozen steaming pools of lava, beginning to turn black at the edges as they cooled in the evening air.

Xander sighed in relief. “I didn’t think they would ever stop coming.”

“Are you implying that the two of us couldn’t take out an entire army of the Shadow?” Aediene asked, putting one hand on her hip and cocking her head defiantly. Her tone was teasing, but the lightness was undercut by the handful of small holes charred in her peplos and the shallow cut on her upper arm.

In truth, the two of them shouldn’t have been sent to handle this incursion by themselves, but the Eteria was spread thin these days. While the Commander tried to ration their numbers carefully against the Shadow’s attacks, Aediene was loathe to let even the smallest village fend for themselves against the Shadow. Of course, Xander would not let her go alone, so they rode off on missions as a pair when no other forces could be spared.

Xander picked his way around the lava carefully, knowing even the barest touch from them would likely scorch through the leather of his sandals. As he approached, Aediene pulled off her helmet and tucked it under her arm.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely.

She smiled at him, bright despite the exhaustion written into the lines of her face. “You can thank me by rubbing my feet when we get home.”

Xander snorted, but he knew he would do so gladly, even if she hadn’t saved his life.

“Then we better hurry,” he said, “It’s several hours ride home, and we won’t have the light for much longer.”

Indeed, the sun was already low in the sky, the air cooler than it had been in the height of the afternoon.

Aediene turned and led them up the beach to the copse of olive trees where they had left their horses. They had tried to keep them a decent distance from the combat, as their mounts tended to object to the disruptive bursts of Light used by Warriors and Defenders.

As they reached the small grove, a pained groan ripped from Aediene’s lips. As Xander stepped up beside her, he saw why.

There was only one horse. Aediene’s had pulled itself free and fled while they fought, leaving only Xander’s piebald mare. She flicked her ears and tossed her head, as if saying she was not responsible for her partner’s bad behavior.

“Where do you think he went?” Aediene asked of her own gelding.

“Probably ran toward home. He knows the way,” Xander pointed out. This was not the first time her horse had gone on a solo expedition. He normally turned up at the Sanctuary a day or two later, none the worse for wear.

Aediene sighed heavily, and Xander didn’t miss the way her shoulders slumped. “I guess I’m in for a long walk.”

“Nonsense,” Xander argued. “We’ll ride double.”

He approached his own mare, untying her halter from the branch. He gestured to Aediene to mount, and with a grateful look, she swung up onto its back. Xander followed quickly behind her.

As he reached around her to gather the reins, Aediene leaned back into his chest. He nudged the horse backward and set their steps back toward the Sanctuary.

They hadn’t been riding for very long when Aediene’s weight started resting on him more heavily. He tightened his arms around her, glancing over her shoulder to find her eyelids fluttering.

As she slowly drifted into a doze, Xander slowed the horse’s pace, trying not to jostle Aediene. Especially at the Sanctuary, Aediene avoided showing her exhaustion to the other Warriors, clearly trying to bolster their morale with her own confidence.

Out here alone, though, Xander got to see the cracks in the facade, forming under the immense pressure of the growing Shadow. Despite his concern for his wife, a bit of warmth still unfurled in his chest at the fact that he was the one who got to see beneath her gleaming armor. They had been married for several short years by now, and he still found himself staring at Aediene as she slept, wanting to hold onto every single moment he had with her.

Now, he pressed a kiss to her temple, taking in a deep breath of sweat and leather and something sweet and feminine underneath. Xander nudged the horse along to walk along the beach, horizontal to the water. With the double burden of the two of them, they would not be making it back to the Sanctuary tonight. He could ride for an hour or so while Aediene rested, so their journey come morning would be shorter.

The sun had dipped below the ocean, the moon rising in the sky to reflect off the gentle waves, when Xander pulled his horse to a stop. He pressed another kiss to Aediene’s ear, murmuring to wake her from her doze.

As he dismounted, he helped her down after him. Letting his hands linger on her waist.

“I thought we could rest the horse for a bit and set out again at dawn,” Xander murmured. There was no reason he couldn’t speak at a normal volume, but the moment felt quiet and peaceful; the only other sound on the beach was the gentle lapping of waves. They had so few quiet times these days that it felt wrong to disturb the serenity.

Aediene nodded her agreement, and he moved to pull a spare blanket off his mount’s back. He also took the moment to remove her saddle and bridle so they wouldn’t chafe while they rested. As he did, Aediene laid the blanket over the sand and settled down on her back.

He joined her a few minutes later, and the moment he did, she rolled toward him, burying her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, endeavoring to get comfortable so they could rest.

Aediene despite her earlier tiredness, seemed to have other plans, her palms drifting down Xander’s chest towards his waist. His eyebrows rose, and he rubbed gentle circles on her back.

“You’re tired,” he murmured to her.

“Never too tired for you,” she countered, despite the fact that her tone was muffled and groggy. “We don’t have enough time together these days.”

Even as her words tugged at his heart strings, a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He reached down to grab her wrist, stopping the hand that was now sneaking under the hem of his peplos.

“How about we make a deal then?” He suggested as Aediene shot a scowl up at him. “Let me take care of you tonight, and we can do the rest tomorrow.”

She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, as if considering.

“You did save my life earlier,” he pressed.

Aediene’s gaze softened. “Alright.”

With a triumphant smile, Xander turned her in his arms so her back was molded to his front. Slowly, he traced his fingers down her torso, ghosting over her breasts through her tunic until he reached the hem of the garment. As his fingers met the skin of her thighs and began traveling up, he took a moment to kiss the spot behind his wife’s ear he knew made her squirm.

She sighed in response, before letting out a quiet squeak as he nipped at the spot with his teeth. He drew the flat of his tongue over it to sooth the sting, but Aediene still retaliated by grinding her hips back into the partial hardness growing under his peplos.

He ignored that, though. That’s not what this was about.

Ever so slowly, he dragged his fingers up to the apex of Aediene’s thighs, tracing over the shape of her gently. He didn’t part her yet, simply running his fingers through her curls until she went pliant in his arms.

This was his favorite part: When the fiercest Warrior he knew let him take care of her.

Finally, he dragged his fingers through her wetness, getting them thoroughly slick before beginning to draw lazy circles around the bud of nerves that hardened under his fingers. As Aediene began to tremble, he began to quicken his pace.

His other hand, which had been wrapped around her waist, holding her to him, traveled up to cup her breast. A sharp gasp escaped her as he pinched the hardened bud there in time with his touches between her legs.

She was close now. He recognized it in the rhythm of her pants and the sharp gasps at the end of each breath.’

“Just like that, my love,” he murmured into her ear. “I have you.”

Aediene shuddered in his arms, her release soaking his palm as he stroked her through it.

After long moments, she went limp in his arms, rolling her head to the side so he could just make out her expression in the moonlight.

“I don’t know what I would do without you,” she murmured with a smile.

“Well, you don’t have to,” I promised. “Wherever you go, I will follow.”

Aediene’s response was only a sleepy grunt as she snuggled impossibly closer. Xander listened to her even breaths, knowing he would never have enough of her, before letting Hypnos claim him too.