Page 72 of Thorns & Fire (The Ashes of Thezmarr #2)

Wren

‘Most concerning in the limited study of soul bonds is not what has been discovered, but what remains hidden’

– Tethers and Magical Bonds Throughout History

T ORJ DID FUCK her in a bed that night. His, to be precise. He also fucked her on his desk and on the floor, and once in the bath.

The man was ravenous, and so was she.

Wren had never known a man like him, had never felt desire so all-consuming. It was only as he wrung another orgasm from her with his tongue the next morning that she held him at arm’s length and panted, ‘No more... I can’t take any more.’

He gave her a roguish grin. ‘I’ll wager that you can—’

She hit his chest with the back of her hand. ‘You fiend . I’ll never walk straight again.’

Another smirk tugged at his lips and he winked, echoing her words from the previous night: ‘I think that ship has sailed, Embers...’

Even as she shook her head in disbelief, she was smiling. Gods, her cheeks ached from smiling so much. When was the last time she’d experienced that sensation?

A knock at the door sounded and Torj groaned, pulling a pillow over his head.

‘Just some food sent from Warsword Embervale,’ the guard’s voice called through the door.

Wren leapt to her feet, tugging Torj’s shirt over her head and retrieving the tray. The guard blushed at her dishevelled state.

She closed the door, biting her lip to keep from laughing. ‘So much for being subtle about us...’

Torj gave her a lazy grin from the bed, stretching out in all his naked glory. ‘Embers, that poor bastard has been standing guard outside since we got back. These walls aren’t soundproof.’

Wren waited for the wave of embarrassment to hit, but it never came. She simply didn’t care. She’d spent the night fucking the Bear Slayer senseless, and gods, had it made her happy.

Just as she was about to bring the tray to bed, she saw a scrap of parchment poking out from beneath the bowl of bread. She recognized Thea’s handwriting at once, wondering what sort of lewd comment her sister had made.

Her breath caught as she scanned Thea’s words, the note ending with a hastily drawn lightning bolt.

‘What is it?’ Torj asked, brow furrowed.

But Wren wasn’t ready to end their night together. Instead, she shook her head. ‘Just Thea telling us we need our sustenance.’

Torj scoffed and helped her with the tray. ‘She’s hardly one to talk.’

They settled on the bed with the food and a flagon of wine between them, Wren still wearing his shirt, Torj still nude.

Wren couldn’t stop her gaze from lingering on him.

It was unfair, really, that the gods had made him so perfect.

He looked like a god himself, splayed out on the bed beside her. ..

When she met Torj’s eye, he gave her a cocky grin. ‘Not before you’ve regained your strength, Embers.’

She threw a piece of cheese at him.

Together, they ate and passed the wine back and forth. Wren hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she’d eaten more than half her share and found Torj smiling at her again.

‘I knew I wasn’t feeding you enough,’ he said, pushing the rest towards her.

‘It’s not your job to feed me,’ Wren replied, taking another bite of bread and washing it down with some wine.

‘It most certainly is.’

When they finished eating, amid the rumpled sheets, he drew her to his chest and she melted into him, the soul bond flickering in bursts of gold around them once more.

‘How is it that it still exists?’ Wren wondered aloud as the sparks danced between her fingers.

‘I don’t know,’ Torj replied, sounding equally mystified. ‘I tore it in two with my bare hands. I truly thought it was gone for ever... What does the book say?’

Wren reluctantly peeled herself away from the warrior and retrieved the tome from her room. Dropping it on the mattress beside Torj, she turned to the relevant chapter. She had read it a dozen times over, and there was no mention of severing a soul bond.

‘Try the index,’ Torj said softly, drawing circles on her bare thigh as she scanned the text.

‘Since when are you the scholar out of the two of us?’ she quipped.

‘Since you’re distracted by my wandering fingers...’

Wren hid her smile and turned to the back of the book, where the major topics and events were listed in alphabetical order.

Breaking of bonds. Page 476.

Wren hurriedly found the page. It wasn’t in the chapter on soul bonds, which was why she hadn’t found it. She skimmed the paragraphs for the relevant phrase.

‘ Certain magical bonds, like familial connections, end in death. Others, such as soul bonds, can only truly be severed if both parties agree ,’ she read aloud . ‘ While a soul bond can be broken temporarily, it will repair in time if the love between the pair remains ...’

‘That was why I could still see it...’ Torj murmured. ‘Even though I tore it apart, I still loved you... I never stopped.’

‘Neither did I... Even when I was furious with you.’ Wren reread the pages. ‘That’s it. That’s the only mention of it.’

Torj peered over her shoulder. ‘Then we have our answer...’

‘Perhaps when this fight is done, we can sink into some deep research of the phenomena, maybe even pen our own contribution about our experience, but for now...’ Wren closed the volume.

‘For now?’ Torj continued to draw patterns across her naked skin.

Wren smiled. ‘For now, I say we just enjoy the benefits.’

‘I can get on board with that.’ The Bear Slayer kissed her soundly. ‘Let’s stay in this room for ever,’ he murmured against her damp skin.

Even now, the huskiness in his voice curled her toes. ‘For ever?’

‘Mmm...’ The sound rumbled beneath her and she smiled against his chest, admiring the ink there. Besides where his lightning scars broke the design, it was a beautiful piece – a canvas of golden skin and dark whorls that extended from the tops of his shoulders and down over his pectoral muscles.

She traced the lines with her fingertips, relishing the rush of goosebumps that washed over him, his nipples hardening at her touch.

‘When did you get this?’ she asked, continuing to trail her fingers over the swirls of ink.

Torj tucked a hand beneath his head and glanced down, his muscled abdomen rippling with the movement. ‘After I became a Warsword,’ he replied. ‘I’d always wanted some sort of tattoo, but knew I’d fill out a lot more if I passed the Great Rite, so I waited.’

‘You were confident,’ she said with a laugh.

‘You don’t pass the Great Rite by being humble, Embers,’ he replied, his mouth quirking to the side.

‘What does it mean, then?’

‘Something about the shifting sands of time...’

‘Really?’

Torj snorted. ‘No. I wish I could tell you there’s some deeper meaning. But I’m a simple man, Embers. I just liked the design.’

Wren burst out laughing. ‘You just liked the design ?’

‘Yep.’

Shaking her head, she asked, ‘Do you think that’s why Cal’s got a laughing fox on his arse? He liked the design?’

Torj raised a brow. ‘I don’t love that you’ve seen Callahan’s naked backside...’

Wren simply grinned.

‘But no,’ Torj laughed. ‘I can attest to the fact that Cal was seeing double at that point, and Kipp gave the artist an extra piece of silver to copy the fox emblem from his kerchief.’

Wren muffled her snort with Torj’s pillow.

‘There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you,’ he said.

‘Oh?’

‘What happened to Perseus Graymoor?’ Torj pulled the pillow away. ‘You can tell me now. You poisoned him, right?’

‘No. I told you – it wasn’t me.’ Wren couldn’t help the note of amusement in her voice. ‘I was with my possessive husband the entire time.’

Torj chuckled. ‘Then who did it? Who killed him?’

‘Someone with excellent instincts,’ Wren replied. ‘I suppose it’ll remain a mystery.’

As they lay there together, she pretended this was her new reality, that every morning could start just as they were now. But as the very first rays of dawn caught her eye, she remembered Thea’s note on the desk.

She sighed, tracing the hard line of Torj’s jaw with her fingertips. ‘Do you think we wasted all those years?’ she asked.

‘Wasted?’ Torj cupped her face in his hands. ‘I think it happened exactly the way it needed to, Embers. I don’t regret a moment of it. Not if we stand here together at the end of it all.’

‘You’d do it all again?’ she pressed.

‘A hundred times over if it meant you were mine.’

She rested her brow against his. ‘Then there’s something I have to tell you,’ she said.

He kissed her gently, pulling back to peer into her eyes. ‘Embers, I already know.’

She stared at him, wondering how that was possible when she had decided for certain only moments ago herself.

‘ I know you ,’ he said. ‘Sometimes I think I know you better than I know myself. I know there’s something you have to do. I just hope you know me well enough by now to understand that I’m with you no matter what. With you ’til the very end.’

She nodded. The time for savouring one another was coming to a close. The outside world was calling.

‘What did the note say?’ he asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

Wren looked up, not managing to hide her surprise.

‘You think I didn’t see you hide that scrap of parchment beneath the tray?’ he said with a smile.

And that only made it harder.

‘Whatever it is, we’ll face it together...’ he murmured, brushing the hair from her face.

Wren gathered herself and nodded again. ‘It was a message from Thea. There is to be a meeting in an hour. The People’s Vanguard has marched on Delmira. And Silas the Kingsbane has laid claim to the throne.’