Page 36 of Of Nightmares & Fire (Elusive Umbra #1)

Chapter twenty-nine

Kyros

Exhaustion claws at my mind, even as I try to pry myself from sleep.

A weight on my chest gathers my attention there.

When I finally am able to crack my eyes open, I realize the weight I feel pressing down on me is a fast-asleep princess with her black waves of hair blanketing me.

I take a deep breath, but it’s the wrong choice.

Her scent, warm and sweet like a drink on a summer night, fills my senses and causes more of my body to wake too.

Think of anything else.

Astraea squirms, and I groan at the movement as she unknowingly rubs her body against mine.

The want I feel for her was undeniable from the beginning, but now, as things are beginning to reveal more of her inner workings?

I know the careful control I have always had is slipping.

She creates a storm inside me I can’t seem to control when she is near, and the more time I spend with her, the more I fear that the rest of the world is doomed from the aftershocks.

The muffled, sleep-riddled, yawning groan that comes from her has me holding my breath as it takes every last bit of control I have not to pull her up and devour the sound directly from the source.

“OH—” She says with a gasp as she comes to, realizing how tied up we are with one another. She moves to push off of me, and against my better judgment, I let the arm that was laying around her body brush up her spine and keep her planted firmly on my chest.

“Stay,” I say, my voice only a gravelly whisper from sleep, as my eyes meet the churning ocean in hers.

I’m losing my mind, in bed with the enemy and completely defenseless.

Even if the way she looks at me tells me she has no idea how much I have revealed to her.

But, I suppose, she has revealed more than I ever anticipated too.

We both lay there stuck in each other's embrace, neither of us moving to untangle.

Her breath flutters from her lips as though she can’t catch it, and the warm air brushes my face.

The heat that only she has been able to stoke in me threatens to ignite a combustible surge that could burn everything around us.

My eyes drop to her mouth, her lips pouting open, and I watch as they tremble before she says my name .

“Kyros,” she pauses. “I—I can’t do this.” Her brows gather between her eyes as she thinks about what she's saying. Her thoughts and fears battle for life across her features.

“I’m not asking you to do anything I think you don’t already want to.” I barely recognize my own voice. The softness I’ve brought it to is foreign to even me. Her cheeks are pink as she tries to hide her embarrassment of my suggestive words from me with her downturned face.

“I was talking about the games. The suitors. I don’t want this.” I stare at her for a long moment, thinking about everything I know about her since our meeting in the market. I know she's telling the truth, but regardless of if I understand why… this works out in my favor.

“I’m sorry,” She says, mistaking my silence for something it's not, and I allow it.

Despite the tightness in my chest, I make a decision.

Her eyes round adorably when my other hand comes up and cups the side of her face.

I press my thumb down on her plump bottom lip, trapping it there and blink up to meet her gaze again.

My thumb trails the edge of her lip and her already heavy gaze becomes heady.

“Shula?” I whisper, pinching her chin between my fingers I reel her into me.

Although the plan has changed many times, the end is always going to be the same.

I have to keep telling myself that, because as I stare into her eyes, I’m drawn by an outside force.

I fly right into her blaring light and I’m consumed.

My lips touch hers tentatively, their feverish heat searing mine.

It’s a soft question to which she answers with a command .

She pulls herself on top of me, straddling my hips, and sinks her tongue between my lips.

My magick churns with my mind, shocked at the zeal of which she moves and how easily I have accepted her touch.

Something I don’t simply accept . I can’t help but groan at the feel of her; the taste of her.

If her scent was a drink, her taste is the main course.

The feel of her body on mine is madness, but yet, nothing has made more sense.

Our tongues dance with passion, our lips melding together as one, the same as our breath.

It’s a building frenzy, but as I recall what I came here for I realize that I could be a nightmare for her too.

I came here to kidnap her, but it’s her that has stolen my will.

I’m buried, the never ending storm she has roused brings a sandstorm of shadows and magick to the core of me.

The thought brings guilt to rise in my chest and I slowly put distance between our lips. Every breath that lives between us makes my vision clear, the plan comes back into sight and I clear my throat. Placing a chaste kiss on her lips, I make her look at me.

“I can help you. I can get you away from Eathian.” I say sternly, her face morphs before my eyes, all the emotions playing out in a sequence.

“I can tell you’re different. You don’t enjoy your life here.

This place dims the fire you had when I met you in the village.

When we were trapped in the tavern, you were alive .

” Her eyes sparkle with tears, but they remain unshed.

The squeeze in my chest intensifies, but I pay it no mind.

Even if my words are mixed with truths and bent for my benefit.

“You want things to be better for the people. Perhaps if you worked with the queen of Diemos. You could change things—for yourself and for the people under the rule of your tyrant father.” It’s a farce, but one I think that she will take.

The queen of Diemos may have taken in many of the orphans of war, given them homes with families who cared for them, even came to show love to some of us.

But she did so to create a vengeful army, it was never peace she was seeking when creating such a force.

I know that, but I allow the idea to settle over Astraea anyway.

“You would do that for me? For the people of Eathian?” She asks.

“I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of things I realize I am willing to do for you.” I say honestly. She is nodding, removing her body from mine. She sits cross legged on the bed next to me, and I prop up on my elbow. “There is one thing though…”

“We need a plan to get Mavros out of the challenge.” She takes the words from my mind and I purse my lips nodding.

“I have an idea, but Kyros? I have one stipulation.” I sit up fully, placing one foot on the floor bracing myself for what her demand is going to be, but her eyes fall to my chest. I never put my shirt back on the night before.

The wound that was there is only a darkened area of skin now where my magick dances over the raised skin protectively, as it tries to continue to mend the puncture.

I don't shield them, allowing her to see the magick, gaining even more trust for my willingness to be open with her.

When she catches me watching her too, she chews her lip and pulls a pillow to her lap, hugging it.

“What is it?” I ask, wondering what it could be that is more important than her getting away like she initially wanted.

“Colette comes too. ”

“No.” I say immediately. We weren’t meant to bring another person back to Diemos at all, I can’t come back with two.

“Then the plan is moot. I’m not going anywhere without her.” She shoves the pillow away, crosses her arms and makes a face while tilting her head. It’s both infuriating and also a bit disarming. Both things I have noticed she is remarkably good at. Least with me.

When I stand, she lets out a frustrated huff and I freeze when the pillow she had hits me in the back of the head before landing on the floor behind me. Slowly, I turn my head to look at her over my shoulder. Then even slower, I turn to face her.

“Did you really just throw a pillow at me?” I can’t hide the amusement from my voice, but I try as I take a step back toward the bed. I stand over her and she swallows before I see the flicker come back to her eyes.

“Colette will come.” She scoots to the edge of the bed, her feet land between mine and she stands. Her eyes flicker as she places her hand over the mark on my chest. “And you will let her.” My eyes narrow on the subtle threat she is making.

Threatening me, Shula? Not your best choice.

“Do you have any other demands of me, Shula?” I say, brushing a tousled wave of dark hair away from her face and she shutters under my touch.

She shakes her head and tries to look away from me.

Doing the same thing I’ve noticed she does often.

Always turning into herself. Always shrinking away from the fire that I know burns within her.

Gently, I tilt her head back so she is forced to keep my gaze, giving her a look that says tell me .

“I don’t want anyone else to die.” She says after a long moment staring into my eyes.

“Death will come for everyone at some point.” Whether it be natural or because I have delivered it is yet to be seen.

“I can’t have any more blood on my hands. My father has ensured that too many people have lost loved ones in my name. I don’t want any more.” Her father is a vile man who kills innocent people on a whim. The comparison to what I do is maddening, but I can understand her troubled mind.

“I can assure you that there will be death dealt by my hand, but where the blood lands will only be there. My hands, not yours or anyone else's. I don’t kill innocent people, Shula,” I lean in hovering my lips over hers and growl, “But I will end anyone who aims harm at those I claim as mine .”