Page 22

CHAPTER 22

AURORA

“Y ou won’t even listen to what I have to say?” Aurora brushed the shards of the Between from her gown. They were in Thane’s room. A meal sat untouched by the large fireplace. This was Aurora’s favorite room and not just because it belonged to Thane . But because her favorite constellation was painted on the half-finished ceiling.

“No, because it’s foolish to think my father would help you.” Thane walked over to the bar cart.

“It’s foolish? Or I am?” She watched him move around the space that was so him. Thane’s realm was always cast in the gray glow of dusk. The sky a faded purple. The air smelled of that just before a storm. It calmed her. Unlike her father’s realm.

“It is.” Thane shook his head, filling a glass with whiskey.

“You don’t even know what I need from him.” She looked around the room. Nothing had changed since she had last been here. One of her pale gowns hung over the chair, and stardust clung to some of the surfaces.

“The cost will be too high.” Thane swirled the whiskey in the glass.

“Too high for who? You or me?” She pushed. She felt his unspoken words.

“For you,” Thane spat out. “ Do you know what my father will do to you?”

“Yes, he will give me the name of the mortal I need to…” She stopped herself from saying the rest. A heartbreak only death can cause.

“You will need to what?” Thane demanded.

Aurora bit her bottom lip. “ It’s one mortal, Thane .” She looked to the large doors that opened to his Midnight Garden . The sweet fragrance of the night jasmine blew in. “ To break the curse, one heart must be broken.”

“Then why involve my father? Mortals fall in love with gods all the time. I’ll pick one, a male, make him fall in love with me, then break his heart. Simple .”

Aurora said nothing. If Thane was busy seducing a mortal, he wouldn’t notice that she had slipped off. “ Right .” It wasn’t a lie to agree with him.

Thane turned to her, his eyes bright. “ Except it’s not that easy, is it? Aurora , how must that heart be broken?”

She looked at him. “ Death .”

“No,” Thane yelled, causing Aurora to jump. “ I will not let you do this. Death of a mortal will weigh too heavily on you. You were not made to bear that weight.”

“But I must endure the weight of marriage?” she yelled back. This had gone on too long. She grew tired of playing the games created by the gods. Hel’s teeth, she was a god. She shouldn’t be losing at games she created, and not because of a simple mortal. “ Do you think that is a weight I want to bear?”

Thane turned back to the whiskey and filled the glass. The tension radiated off his back. “ I know of the proposal. Your mother told me it would be a good match.”

“Then let my mother marry him. She seems so enamored with him.” Why did everyone seem to think they knew what was best for her?

“Could you not learn to love him? To forget me?” Thane looked over his shoulder at her.

“Is that what you want?” He was turned away from her, but he could not hide the fear that tumbled from him and landed at her feet. It twisted and tangled with her own.

“Yes. I want you to be happy.”

His words didn’t match the emotions that hit her. His pain raced up her legs and into her chest. It felt as if her heart were being ripped out. “ You don’t mean that.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Then why the pain? I can feel it as it splinters my ribs. It sits like poison on my tongue.”

“You misread it. The pain is from knowing what must be done. What we must do.” Thane turned to face her. “ I can’t keep doing this. Not to you. Not to me. Your heartbreak sits heavy on me. It’s worse than any pain my father can inflict. Your heartache makes my whiskey sour and my food bitter.”

“Oh, how dreadful for you. It is not my curse, and yet I suffer the same consequence as you.” Her vision swam with tears. She did not want to cry for him. Again . The curse was not her fault. He had been the one careless with his love, not her. She hadn’t given her love to anyone before Thane . But he had let another believe he loved her.

“It would be a good match.”

“Take it back,” Aurora whispered.

“No.”

“Thane. Take it back,” Aurora threatened.

“No!” he shouted at her. “ It’s been too long, Aurora . I grow tired of waiting for you to forgive. I grow tired of all of this.”

“And of me? Have you grown tired of me?” Aurora could feel the tears burning.

He turned away from her. “ Yes .”

“Look at me and say that,” she cried. The room still, Manere seemed to hold its breath waiting for him to answer. “ Oh gods, it’s happening.” The heartbreak. Normally they’d have a respite from the curse. A time to repair themselves. “ Why so soon?” They were already trying to wound each other. She wished there would be some sort of warning when the curse was at work, something to show her this was not them.

Thane groaned, rushing to her. “ Dove , forgive me.” Thane cupped her face between his hands. “ Gods below, forgive me.” He pressed his forehead to hers. “ I could never grow tired of you.”

She pulled away, caressing his cheek. His silver eyes were dull, his pain crushing. “ The time between heartbreaks is getting less and less. Let me break the curse. It’s one mortal’s heart. One mortal for a hundred lifetimes.”

“My father will never agree to this if there is no benefit in it for him.”

“I will make it worth it for him.” She didn’t look at Thane .

“How?”

“I don’t know. There must be something I have that he would want.”

“You.” Thane tilted her chin up. “ He will want you. With you he will not only control your father but me. He will keep you locked away. I’ll never see you.”

“How different is that from what we have now?” They had been living with the curse now for ten lifetimes; she couldn’t fathom living another one.

“You are here now. If I wanted to, I could take you right here on my bed. Swallow your cries and steal the stardust from your lips. I have all the moments between the heartbreaks. They are far better than never having you.”

“Moments? We barely had a breath this time.” Aurora stepped away and flopped down on the bed. Her lips were dusted with stardust; a wish made when kissing her was powerful. And yet she was helpless to stop her own heartbreak. She was so tired of the tears that fell. Tired of the sickness that a broken heart filled her with. She knew it was the curse. The words that sat between them were all part of the curse, but that didn’t make it any easier.

Thane walked over to her and knelt before her. “ I will take a lifetime of moments over never seeing you again.” He took her hands, kissing her fingertips.

“And what of the heartbreak? What if next time we never heal? What if you grow tired of me and the pain and…”

“Aurora, that will never happen. I am yours, dove. Until there is not a breath left in my immortal body, I am yours.” Thane pressed a kiss to her mouth.

His sadness was replaced with desire. She liked the taste of that so much better. It was sweet like moonbeam wine and had the same effect. “ Thane , please, you must let me do this.”

“I will not let you break for me. I will not lose to my father. Nothing is ever simple with him. He will take this opportunity and turn you into something you are not. He’s done it before, and he will revel in doing the same to you.” He cupped her cheek. “ And I am not worth what you must give to break this curse.”

“But you are. I cannot live in a world without you.” Their love had been written in the stars; it would be there until the last star burned out. She knew because she wrote it there. “ I’m not as weak as you all think. It’s one mortal life for the rest of our lifetimes. Please .”

Thane ran his thumb over her bottom lip, then down her throat, and stopped at the base of her neck. “ You don’t even know what you are asking of him. You have no idea what a soul weighs. The heaviness that you must carry back. The regret and fear that press down as you break the threads of Fate . And not just for that moment. It stays with you and leaves its residue on your soul. Some days I can’t breathe the weight is so much. I would not wish that upon you.”

Aurora kissed the palm of his hand. “ But you would wish the burden of marrying another on me. The burden of another’s child upon me. Do you know that weight, Thane ? Do you know how heavy that is?”

His eyes moved from her throat to her face. “ It would lessen with time.”

“No. Even if I marry another, it is you I will always want. It is your bed I will find myself dreaming of. I will not marry Sky . I cannot love a god so vain that he spends his days gazing upon himself in any reflective surface. He is more insufferable than you.”

“Than me?” Thane raised a dark brow.

“Yes, you.” It was hard to stay mad at him, which was part of her problem. If she could, she’d already be married to Sky , watching him preen himself in the nearest mud puddle. Sky wanted nothing more than to sit in the heavens and feast upon clouds and drink raindrops. But Aurora wanted more. She wanted to visit the Unfortunate Market , to pick teardrops in the Valley of Shadows . And Thane would give her those things.

“Tell me how insufferable I am.” Thane pushed her back on the bed, his desire sweet on her tongue, his mouth hovering over hers.

Aurora inhaled his words, letting her thoughts slip through her fingers. How long had it been since she had felt his body press down on hers? Too long. The seasons had changed from spring to summer. “ Thane , I know what you’re doing. You are very pretty, and I do miss you. But this is not over.”

“I know. I am simply taking one of my moments. And it has been too long. But please, do go on about how insufferable I am,” Thane whispered. He moved closer. His lips brushed her cheek, then her ear, sending chills down her spine.

“Very. To start with, you never wear anything but black. Your hair always looks like some god has been running their hands through it. And you’re broody.” She looked up at him. He laughed, a low sound that settled low in her belly. Gods below, she hated the effect this god had on her. They should be discussing how to break the curse.

“Then I shall switch up my wardrobe for you, dove. Shall I add the color of the sunrise, or maybe the first blush of the dawn?” Thane teased as he pressed kisses to her neck.

“You’d look silly in yellow and pink. Maybe try a nice silver or gray. It would bring out the color of your eyes. The color of your eyes is your best feature.” This was silly, the fact that they were talking about clothing choices and not the curse. But if the moments between the heartbreak were lessening, she’d need to take what she could get. At least until she broke the curse.

“That’s the only reason you come to my bed each night? The color of my eyes?” Thane nuzzled her neck.

“Well, it’s not your personality.” Aurora pushed him away so she could look into those eyes. “ I have to do this, Thane .”

Thane brushed the hair from her cheek. “ No , love, I will not allow you to do this. That witch sold her soul to my father. She cannot be trusted. The curse is mine to live with.”

“Then you and your desire can spend the night alone. Because I am leaving.” Aurora pushed up on her elbows. His tangled hair and pouting lips would not change her mind on this.

“Are you sure?” Thane lowered his mouth to her ear. “ So if I did this…” His hand slid up her skirt, stopping just inside her thigh. Aurora fought the urge to lie back and let the god of darkness do what he did best. Please her. “ Or this…” He ran his tongue along the shell of her ear. “ It would have no effect on you.”

“No,” she said with a breath.

“And if I do this?” He moved from the bed and kneeled before her, sliding her skirt up further. “ And if I kiss you here and here…” He kissed each of her knees. “ You feel nothing?”

“No?” Her voice was strained as she fought to keep her own desire tapped down. His desire rolled over her, making her drunk on it.

“Hmm.” Thane pressed into her skin. “ What about here?” He traced a finger far up her thigh and stopped at the junction of her legs.

Gods were beautiful, all of them. Even a god as wretched as Plague had his beauty. But a god on his knees before her was a sight that could take her breath away. She sat up and looked at him. His eyes were bright with all the things he would do to her. “ I don’t know. Maybe try again. I forget things.”

“Like this.” Thane’s touch was featherlight on her.

Aurora’s breath caught as he added a bit more pressure, sliding one finger in slowly. Thankfully the curse was based on love and not sex. If Fate had really wanted to punish them, he would have taken that away. Because Thane was good at fucking. Most gods were. Why else would mortals call out to them during sex?

“We are not done discussing this.” She watched him push her skirt up higher, her flesh bare to him. He lowered his mouth to her, his breath warm on her skin. She tangled her fingers in the soft strands of his hair, lying back on the bed. This was one of the reasons she would never be able to leave Thane . The gods had made his mouth, and it was perfect for doing what he was doing.

Thane lifted his head and rested his chin on the flat plane of her stomach. “ Stay with me.”

The plea in his voice made her knees weak and her heart ache. “ Death couldn’t pull me away.”

Thane pulled her to her feet, undoing the clasp that held her dress on. It puddled at her feet.

“How am I so fortunate to have you?” Thane traced a finger over her collarbone.

“Because I wished for you.” She kissed him again before moving back to the bed. She marveled at the way his muscles moved and flexed as he undressed. She had wished for him. It had taken days to find a star powerful enough to grant that wish. She could not wish him to love her. But she had the power to bring him to the heavens.

He pulled her onto his lap. She straddled him, kissing that perfect mouth of his. How could he think that either of them could live without moments like these? Without the taste of each other on their lips and tongue? He cupped her breast, rolling the nipple between his fingers. His teeth skated down her neck and across her collarbone.

She slid forward, his need pressing into her belly. Time seemed to stop. Day , night, the air around them. For a moment nothing else mattered. Not the curse or Death . Not her father or a god as soft as a cloud; it was just the two of them.

Thane pulled her mouth closer to his. “ I love you.”

“And I you.” She pressed him back onto the bed, kissing his chest. She loved the way his muscles tightened under her touch. She dragged her mouth back to his, shifting her hips.

She seated herself fully on him, then moved her hips back and forth, her hand pressing down on his chest. The tension that had been deep within her muscles since she had left him slowly eased out. Her head dropped back, and she let go of everything. Thane’s fingers dug into her hips, and his breath became uneven. Her name hung from his lips like a wish.

She rolled her hips forward, losing herself in the tightness that was building low in her belly. It spread up her spine and across her chest, making her breath come out in ragged huffs. Her climax slowly rolled through her, making her limbs feel light, and the stars above her felt close enough to touch. She collapsed onto Thane , his heart beating at the same pace as hers.

Neither were broken.

Yet.