Page 62 of Sun, Moon & Shadow (Fate of Aemoria #1)

Nova hooked a finger under his chin and tilted his face up to hers. He hadn’t shaved since their return. Perhaps he’d been wallowing a bit, too, she thought. The notion was oddly comforting.

“You’ve been hiding from me,” he said, brows pinched once again.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, running the pad of her thumb over the hollow below his bottom lip. “It was foolish to challenge Idrian alone. You tried to warn me—”

“You have nothing to apologize for. I’m sorry, love. I had no right to cut you out of the plan. I was wrong, and I vow never to stand in your way again. I will always stand beside you.”

Callan shook his head, curling his fingers around her wrist and kissing her softly on her palm before gazing up at her solemnly.

“But please promise me the next time you charge headfirst into danger, it won’t be because you think your life doesn’t matter, or the loss of you won’t be felt. Because you mean everything—you are everything —to me, Nova. I need you to understand that. I cannot fathom a world without you in it.”

Nova lifted his hand to her cheek, leaning into his touch. “You were right to worry,” she said. “I wasn’t ready. Idrian could have killed me easily.”

“We should have faced him together, like we’d planned. Don’t you see? If you hadn’t been there ... if I’d faced him alone, I would have been another body on the pyre. All my training and ability was useless against the power he wielded. You protected me, Nova. You saved me.”

She let out a dry laugh, lifting one shoulder in a shrug. “You’ve saved me once or twice.”

Callan’s fingers ghosted up her spine, gently tracing the raised lines of her scars as a low chuckle rumbled in his chest. The sound vibrated deliciously against her stomach.

“You’ve physically saved my life at least three times by my count.” The humor quickly faded from his eyes. “Truly, I’ve never felt more alive than when I’m with you.”

A quiet moment passed, their bodies relaxing into one another as the last remnants of fear and anxiety waned, leaving a growing warmth between them.

“You told me I never have to hide from you,” Callan said.

“The same is true for you. If you feel you can’t exist in this world without your walls, then brick me up inside them with you.

Because there is nothing for me out here without you.

All of you. Not just the smooth, shiny pieces you’re growing to like, or the ones you feel comfortable holding up to the light. The raw, jagged bits, too.”

He stared up at her, his gaze a dark mirror reflecting how he saw her: an uncut gem, imperfect and yet infinitely precious.

“With you, I feel safe enough to let those walls down. I know I can fall apart, and you’ll still be there to help me put myself back together.”

Callan tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, before letting his hand fall to her throat.

He brushed his thumb over the thrum of her pulse.

Nova inhaled sharply as desire bloomed between her legs, pooling where their bodies joined in his lap.

Callan pulled her face toward his, claiming her mouth with a kiss that was at first tender but quickly turned demanding and possessive.

Nova moaned against his mouth and pressed her body into his as the need between them intensified.

Suddenly desperate, Nova rose onto her knees, hiking up the bothersome fabric bunching around her hips.

Reaching down between them, Callan nimbly untied the laces of his breeches and lifted his hips off the sofa to shove the waistband down to his mid-thigh.

He gripped her by the hips and guided her down on top of him, his cock filling her completely.

Nova’s muscles melted like warm honey at the satisfying fullness.

The return of something she forgot she lacked.

Both ceased to breathe for an instant, eyes locked as she ground her hips in a slow circle around the hard length of him. Nova rose slowly before crashing back down, relishing the feeling of him, her mate, deep inside her. This male who saw her. Who knew her darkness, her pain, and still chose her.

“Gods, you were made for me,” Callan groaned, dark eyes flashing as he drank in the sight of her. “So wet and sweet. And mine.” His claim skittered like a lightning bolt along her limbs, tingling in the tips of her fingers and toes.

Callan slipped the thin straps of her nightdress from her shoulders, exposing her breasts.

She gasped when he laid his hands on her, his palms coated with frost. He dipped his head, drawing a nipple into the heat of his mouth.

Nova dug her fingertips into his muscled back as he took one breast, then the other, teasing her with his icy touch and warm tongue and driving her mad with want.

Callan leaned back, kneading her ass as she rode him.

His gaze fell to where they came together, and he tipped his head back, his throat bobbing as he stifled a moan.

Bringing his thumb to his mouth, he licked it languidly before skimming it along the softness of her stomach and swirling it in slow circles around her clit.

Nova bent forward, pressing her forehead against his, their ragged breaths mixing together as she rocked her hips in his lap.

“Must you go home?” she panted against his mouth.

Callan gripped her hips and stopped her before she could take him fully again. She whimpered at the absence of him.

“Nova, this is home,” he ground out as he drove his cock inside her, making her cry out. “Wherever I am. Wherever I go. In this Realm. And whatever comes after. This— you— will always be my home.”

His words, punctuated by a steady cadence of deep thrusts, left her breathless and carried her to climax.

Nova came intensely with heavy, shuddering breaths.

She wrapped her arms around Callan’s shoulders and pulled him close, clinging to him with every fiber of her being.

Callan twined his arms around her back, holding her firmly in place and thrusting into her twice more before she felt his release pulsing inside her, his hushed moan muffled against the curve of her neck.

They remained that way for a time, hearts beating in tandem.

The odd impulse to laugh rose within her.

She had thought she’d made a life for herself in the Human Realm, but she hadn’t been living.

She’d been waiting to die. And what a long, slow, lonely death it would have been.

Here, with Callan, even plagued by the lingering threat of death, Nova knew she was truly alive.

Laughter greeted Callan when he entered the library.

He proceeded stealthily toward the sitting area, not wishing to impose.

Lucan lounged on the sofa, his long legs sprawled across the cushions, purposefully poking Nova’s thigh with the toe of his boot.

Sighing dramatically, Nova shoved his foot off the sofa, nearly overturning a decanter of wine sitting on the low glass table.

Lucan sprang forward, steadying the vessel of red liquid with both hands as Nova sputtered, breaking into a fit of laughter. Callan’s chest swelled at the sound, so lovely and still so foreign to him.

“Honestly,” Nox chided. “The two of you behave like a pair of younglings.”

Callan smiled to himself. The thought of leaving Nova pained him like an open wound, but it reassured him to know he wouldn’t be leaving her alone.

Nova had a family.

He made his presence known then, lowering himself onto the sofa beside her. Their hands found each other’s immediately, fingers lacing together on top of his knee.

“It seems I’m in your debt, Callan,” the Noble Lord said, taking a seat in a nearby armchair. “Lucan told me how faithfully you led the charge against General Idrian’s forces.”

Callan shook his head dismissively.

“I was only one of many with a part to play.” He brushed his thumb over the back of Nova’s hand, hoping she understood the silent apology.

“Don’t be so modest,” Lucan said. “If not for you, we wouldn’t have had those towering Nivalian warriors or the fire wielder on our side.”

“What will happen to Idrian’s forces now?” Callan asked, eager to deflect the attention.

“They have been given something they never had before: a choice. Most were conscripted into service at a young age without any alternative. Some will choose to remain soldiers while others will pursue education or another profession. Some may choose to do something else most of their days but will answer if Silvergard calls for aid.”

“Could someone with a view similar to Idrian’s take hold again in Stargrave?” Callan asked.

“You remember Zara and Oren—two of the archers who came with us?” Lucan asked. “They’ve agreed to return to Stargrave with those who choose to remain soldiers. They’ll oversee operations there and keep us informed of the overall sentiment as things change.”

“We’re expanding the martial academy there to include trades and the arts,” Nova explained, a genuine smile sitting above her pointed chin.

“One more question,” Callan said, tucking away his own grin brought on by her happiness. “What happened with Idrian? I was powerless to defy his commands. Why wasn’t Nova affected?”

Nox relaxed a bit, settling into his seat and resting one ankle on his opposite knee.

“It appears Nova is resistant to such abilities,” he said, his charcoal eyes meeting his niece’s silvery ones.

“Perhaps one positive effect of those walls you’ve built up around yourself over the years.

I had my suspicions. When we first met, I reached out with my mind to see if I could get a sense of you, but I felt nothing.

It’s why I resorted to entering your dream.

Your defenses were slightly lowered as you slept.

Even then, I needed you to invite me in. ”

Nova stared wordlessly at her uncle, who only chuckled quietly.

“I told you she was difficult to read,” he added as an aside to Callan.

“As if he needed you to tell him that,” Lucan said dryly.

“And Omen?” Callan asked, suddenly remembering the threat of the Shadowbringer.

“When I was Idrian’s prisoner, I overheard him say Omen was too weak or too paranoid to leave his Estate,” Nova said.

“Idrian claimed my father promised him the support he needed to take the territory, but, as far as we know, Raven’s Isle has no army.

Perhaps Omen deceived him. For now, I suppose all we can do is wait. ”

“You can do more than wait,” Lucan said. “Tomorrow, you begin training with the rest of the guard. You’ll be ready to hand Callan’s ass to him in the sparring ring by his next visit.”

“I look forward to it,” Callan said. “But I’m afraid the time has come for me to depart for Nivali.”

Callan rose from his seat and bowed to the Noble Lord before turning to Lucan.

“I couldn’t have gotten her back without you,” Callan muttered as they clasped forearms. When Callan released him, Lucan gave a nod and laid his hand over his heart.

“Come with me.” Nova slid her warm hand into Callan’s. “I have a gift for you.”

Nox and Lucan retired to the study, giving them a moment alone. Callan recalled fondly how he and Nova had already shared an intimate goodbye upon waking. Twice. He adjusted himself discreetly as he followed behind her.

It was going to be a long five months.

Nova handed him a small book bound in black leather, slightly larger than his outstretched hand. He lifted the cover and flipped through the pages, the edges gilded with silver foil. All of the pages were blank.

“It’s a linking book,” she explained, pointing to an identical book on the table. “I found the set when I was searching through the high stacks a couple of weeks ago. Anything you write on the pages of your book will appear in mine, and my messages will show up in your book as well.”

“Much more convenient than messenger owls.” He grinned, turning the magical book over in his hands.

Nova brought her arms up over his shoulders, her fingers combing through the hair at the nape of his neck. He set the book down and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her tightly against him.

“I’ll write to you often,” he said. “I promise.”

“Five months isn’t so long.” Nova’s tone was hopeful, but he could tell she was trying to convince herself of the fact.

He dipped his head and brushed his lips against hers.

“Five months is nothing when I know I get to love you every second for the rest of my life. Though, you could come with me now, you know,” he murmured, his mouth hovering close to hers.

“Eternal winter isn’t as terrible as you might think, and I can come up with endless creative ways to keep you warm.

” He pressed his hips against her, wondering if his all-consuming desire, his desperate need for her, would ever diminish.

Nova laughed quietly and ran her fingertips along his clean-shaven jaw.

“It’s tempting,” she sighed. “But we both have responsibilities now.”

“I suppose you’re right.” His smile faded as he glimpsed the unshed tears shimmering in her pale gray eyes. “I choose you.”

“I choose you,” she replied, a tear escaping from the corner of her eye and running down her cheek.

Their lips joined in a kiss teeming with desire, uncertainty, and hope.

Callan wanted to lose himself in her but tried instead to memorize every sensation—the pillowy softness of her lips on his.

The sweetness of her tongue as it caressed his.

The feeling of her body, both firm and soft, pressed against his.