Page 66 of Of Rime and Ruin (Sirens of Adria #2)

Chapter sixty-three

Nahla

The beach is empty tonight, just me, the Rime, and the moon. Waves frozen in time form a crust over the sea, the remnants of Aethan’s spell.

Odd that the sea could be this quiet. Snowflakes float through the air, aimless on the wind.

I sit on the shore and soak in the silence.

If the waves aren’t moving, is time standing still?

So much has changed since they became frozen.

The former Frost Queen now returned. Aethan absolved of his self-suspected crimes.

Lucas beheaded. And me back on the shoreline, wondering where I’m going next.

I suppose that’s nothing new.

Pulling my knees to my chest, I tuck my chin on top. Apprehension twists my stomach as I consider the future. I could stay here, if he’ll let me. I’m still angry with him for the way he ended the Beast, but the feeling has dulled—I wish it wasn’t so permanent.

I miss him.

But not the tough-shelled world-on-his-shoulders version. I miss the version of him that would bring me hot chocolate right about now, pull me into a hug, and tell me it’s all going to be okay.

I miss the Aethan I fell in love with, and I’m afraid he’s too far gone.

Life will be different for him now. His responsibilities will shift. He’ll be focused on restoring the kingdom and refilling the Rime. What role could I play in that future?

I want it. Badly. I want the snowbears, the aethersky, the morning tea chats with Deirdre. I want the guppies screaming as they pummel each other with snow. I want Aethan tucking me into a bed of soft furs. I want the Beast ravishing me in the library.

But it can’t be that way. He’s made it impossible, and now we both have to live with that.

The clack of stones grounds me, and I turn toward the sound. Aethan’s shadow falls over me, blocking the moonlight.

He says nothing for a moment. Just stands there. I close my eyes as his scent catches in the wind, and my heart aches, missing him even as he stands so close.

“Sunfish, I…” He stops, shuffling his foot through the stones. A few trickle down the slope and skitter onto the ice. With a sigh, he sits, folding his large frame next to mine. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, me too.”

“I fucked up. I shouldn’t have asked Lucas to…

” He runs a hand down his face, rubbing his jaw.

“I was trying to protect you. Protect everyone. And when I hurt you… Nahla, I hurt you. You trusted me to care for you, to give you pleasure, and I hurt you. I couldn’t live with myself.

So I fixed it in the only way I knew how.

And I’m sorry it’s not what you wanted.”

Tears bead in my eyes, and my chest tightens. I reach for him, curling my hand around his bicep. “I know why you did it. I just wish you would have talked to me about it first. I could have figured something out, but it’s too late now.”

“Is it too late for you to forgive me?” he whispers, turning to look at me. His eyes are moist. The Frost King, getting teary for me. “Please, Sunfish. I don’t know what I’d do without you. My world is so much colder without you in it.”

Sadness pierces my heart with its icy rod. Pretty words can’t undo what he’s done. I cannot make him whole again. How can I pretend the Beast—and the emotional intimacy that came with our connection—isn’t gone ? How can we move on from that?

He searches my face. “I have known nothing but frost and snow, yet since you wandered in, I’m the warmest I’ve been all my life. You’ve thawed my frozen heart, and I’d melt the Rime if it’d make you mine again.”

I flick my gaze away, landing on the frozen sea. “Well, go ahead then.”

His brow knits in confusion. “Pardon?”

“Melt the Rime for me, Aethan, and I’m yours.”

I cross my arms. The wind kicks up, whipping through my hair. He reaches out, snatching a strand and tucking it away. He lingers on the shell of my ear as his eyes tighten.

Then he clears his throat. “All right.”

Aethan stands to his full height and removes his cloak, draping it over me. The warm leather interior rests heavily on my shoulders, soft fur brushing my cheeks. I fold into it as my heart races.

I was kidding. He doesn’t need to prove himself to me. But Aethan doesn’t know that.

With a serious glare, Aethan faces the frozen sea, plants his feet into the stones, and raises his hands. A deep, rumbling note emanates from him as his song builds, ricocheting through the night.

The earth trembles beneath him. A loud crack splits the ice, splintering out from where he stands. A chasm forms and water rushes in, swallowing the ice as it breaks into smaller and smaller pieces.

His arms grow rigid and flex with the strength of his spell. Veins ripple across his forearms, straining. He frowns with deep concentration. His Voice thunders louder still, vibrating through my body.

Shit.

He’s like a god, bending the sea to his will. My insides soften and warm until it takes all my restraint not to race across the beach and climb him like a sweetnut tree. I grasp the rocks to hold me in place as he finishes his spell.

He fucking did it.

As the last of the ice collapses, waves rush upon the beach with a hush of silver bubbles. Aethan turns to face me. Sweat dapples his brow. His shoulders sag with exertion. He searches my face for something, and when he finds it, a slow grin spreads on his lips.

“For you,” he whispers, “Nahla, I’d do anything. I hope you know that.”

I can’t contain myself any longer. I jump to my feet and tackle him with the full force of my affection. He catches me with a grunt and swallows me with his arms. His nose tucks into my hair and he inhales deeply.

I tip my head back so I can see his face. The depth of his eyes, searching mine as I search his. “You love me?” I breathe.

“With every crystal of my cold, bitter heart. I love you, Sunfish. I fucking love you.”

“I love you too—”

Before I can finish, his lips capture mine with a wild growl. We gasp and moan, devouring each other like starving animals. His hands twist in my hair as mine tangle in his. I pull him closer, needing more. My heart swells with passion and my skin cries out for his touch everywhere all at once.

We tumble to the ground, and I land on top of him. My fingers hurry to undo his shirt, hands sliding beneath the hem across the hard plane of his abdomen. His chest. He sits up and I tear the shirt away from him.

He kisses the length of my neck, the valley between my breasts. My shirt goes the way of his, soon forgotten. My skirt is next. His pants. I straddle him, naked, as his erection presses against my stomach.

He leans back and grins, shifting his hips so that I slide closer, and my wetness slips against his shaft. “Goddess, you look good up there,” he moans.

I grind against him, slipping along his length. “I’ve never been on top before,” I admit. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“I’ll guide you, Sunfish.” He grips my ass and lifts me into position. The tip of his cock nudges my entrance. “Now sit.”

I do as I’m told.

His thick cock slides inside me, filling me to the brim. I gasp as a wave of pleasure rolls through me, and on instinct, I rock my hips. His cock angles deeper, nudging the sensitive spot within me. Mmm, that’s good.

“Like that?” I ask.

His eyes flutter closed for a moment. “Fuck.”

I rock my hips again, working him slowly. He shudders beneath me.

“That’s it, Sunfish,” he growls. “Sit on your throne.”

I straighten my spine and spread my legs, sinking deeper still. My clit nudges the base of his shaft. And then I ride.

“Good,” he rumbles. “Look at you. You’re a natural queen.”

I roll my hips. Faster. Deeper. Toss my head back into the light of the moon. My hand splays on his chest, grounding me where his heart beats heavily beneath my touch.

Pleasure spreads deep in my stomach like lava unfurling from the maw of a mountain, foretelling the devastation yet to come.

His fingers wrap around my wrist, guiding my hand to where we connect.

“Now touch yourself,” he commands. “Use your pretty little hands where I can see you.”

I obey. Frantic fingers tease my clit mercilessly as I continue to ride him. My body becomes as light as the aethersky above us, rippling with color and starlight as I approach the edge of bliss.

“Fuck me, Nahla,” he orders.

So close. I’m so fucking close. With a final buck of my hips and a flick of my fingers, I tilt into bliss. I come hard.

Aethan bucks beneath me and cries out with a shudder as we come in unison. Gasping for breath, we wring out the threads of pleasure until my body becomes weak and soft.

As he moans, I feel a foreign brush of emotion. Desperation. Desire. Deep, bottomless devotion.

I gasp. “Aethan, I can feel you.”

He chuckles, and the laughter rumbles beneath my seat. “Is that another dick joke, Nahla?”

Humor. Pride.

These aren’t my feelings. They’re his.

“No, I can feel your thoughts.” I bend forward to grasp his cheeks, pressing our foreheads together.

I don’t know how it happened or why it worked, but somewhere inside that head of his, the Beast has awakened.

I weave my spell, pouring all my hope into the intent, and sing. I lift from my body and mingle with his mind.

Gone are the impenetrable outer defenses. He sucks me in with sudden force, straight to his center of self. The golden orb glows and sparks. Something slithers beneath the glass-like surface, clawing for my attention.

My heart thunders, all air drains from my lungs, and an idea takes root. A tantalizing idea formed on reckless hope.

It’s dangerous. But it worked on his mother. Why not him?

“Aethan,” I whisper. “What would you say if I could get our Beast back?”

Wrapping his arm around my waist, he sits up. Our breath mingles between us, clouding in the cool night air.

Gently, he cups my face and looks deep into my eyes. “Do it.”

“It might hurt.” I bite my lip. “I’m not positive.”

He traces my lip with his thumb. “I trust you, Nahla. You can do it.”

I sharpen my spell. With the force of my will, I grasp the glowing orb and squeeze.

At first, it resists. Small cracks splinter across the surface. The colors beneath darken and stain dark blue. I squeeze harder. Harder.

Aethan flinches, then shakes his head. “Keep going.”

I clench with all my might, and with a tinkling shatter, the orb breaks into a million pieces.

Emotions pour out. Joy and pain. Love and despair. Rage and wonder.

Where he grips my face, Aethan’s fingers grow cold. Blue scales crawl up his arms. From his scalp sprouts two twisting horns. His eyes darken, deep as midnight. The king and the Beast, one, as he was meant to be.

“It worked,” I gasp. “You’re back.”

I kiss him, joy flooding my heart and I feel the shifting of his mouth beneath mine, the sharpness of his teeth as they emerge. He picks me up and walks me into the shallow waves.

His feet splash. His body grows. And in my head, I hear the rolling thunder of his voice. Hello, Sunfish.