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Jude

The temples of the gods are seen as their own realm. Built with magic and prayers, the rules of the mortal plane do not apply. In fact, no rules apply except death. Death is just as final.

Excerpt from Asidian Lore: a Tale of the Gods

“I-I can touch you,” I said. I kissed the corner of her mouth, moving to her jaw. She was soft and pliable in my hold, and I couldn’t resist the temptation.

Days before, my touch had been poisonous. While I knew I should restrain, I simply couldn’t…not when she smiled at me like that as my fingers grazed her cheek, her jaw, her lips.

“I think it’s because of where we are.” She tilted her chin, taking in the luminous passageway and ethereal stars. “I think we’re somewhere where my darkness and your light can…just be . Where they don’t feel the need to battle.”

We stood in a place made by a god. I hadn’t a doubt the same rules didn’t apply, as the world we witnessed now came from the pages of a myth.

I swiped my thumb against her full lower lip, my other hand working to her nape. “I’ve never been more grateful to be in a place of danger than I am right now.”

Kiara lifted onto her tiptoes and flicked my nose playfully. “You’d be happy to risk your life for a kiss, Jude Maddox? I had no idea you were so easy to persuade.”

I frowned. “Technically, it would be your life we risked,” I said, starting to shift away.

Kiara grabbed my hands and held them in place on her hips. “Oh, I don’t think so, Commander.”

My lips formed a thin line meant to warn, but she was far from dissuaded. Instead, she brought her lips to my neck, kissing up and down the column of my throat. I groaned.

“Not fair,” I ground out.

“I’ve never played fair.”

Kiara worked her way to my stubbled jaw, leaving a devilish trail up to my cheekbones, to my scars. She lingered there, worshiping me, the marks I’d once considered monstrous. To her, they were merely a part of me, and she showed me exactly how she felt.

A shooting star flashed to our right.

Reluctantly, I drew away, just enough to study the bronze tunnel ahead. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected after plummeting through the void, but this realm of light and stars and shimmering water was not anywhere close.

Without a doubt, there was a catch.

“What is it?” Kiara asked.

“You’re distracting me. Again.” We had to at least explore our new surroundings. Make sure there weren’t any surprises waiting. Namely, surprises carrying daggers.

Kiara sighed. “We should rest for a bit and wait to see if the others make their way down by less terrifying means. I’m sure the Fox has a coil of rope and some climbing gear in her satchel. I’ve heard she collects all sorts of gadgets.”

I still hadn’t released her. It was difficult to remind myself of the mission. All I desired to do was touch her, everywhere and anywhere. To make her moan my name…

“You’re looking at me as if you want to eat me alive,” she teased, though her eyes had turned hooded, her voice a rasp of a thing.

“And what if I do?” I asked, slipping my fingers through her hair, reveling in the silky texture. I tilted her head back with a gentle pull. I’d suddenly convinced myself no monsters were waiting. There was no danger. Though I wasn’t exactly using my head.

“What if I’ve been dreaming of tasting you for weeks, and you’ve only taunted me every single day of every moment,” I said. “Each time you strode into a room as if you owned it, it stole my breath and demanded my attention, and every brash word you’ve spoken only heated my blood until I feared you’d destroy me.”

Kiara was speechless, staring at me with wide eyes and parted lips.

My heart beat too loudly in my ears, my cheeks growing too hot.

That’s when I noticed the subtle light filtering through the linen of her cloak. Frowning, I tugged aside the material. Kiara gasped, her hand reaching to graze the spot above my own.

Our matching scars were gleaming, pulsating in rhythm with each other’s. I lowered my hand and she did the same, bringing hers to my chest. The light flared brilliantly before waning, but the glow never went away completely.

I didn’t care that the others were likely on their way to us now or that we faced a path that would bring us deeper into the pits of the Moon God’s lair.

Fate had stolen too much from me already, but it wouldn’t steal this night.

“Jude,” Kiara started, a shyness in her tone that was unlike her. “Do you think we only feel this way, because…” She pointed to our scars, the question spelled out. “Arlo said—”

“I don’t give a damn what he said.” I didn’t mean to snap, but the mere thought he suggested such a thing had fire boiling my blood. “Nothing like this has ever happened in our history, and I think the old god cares about you, as much as he knows how. I feel something more powerful than magic when I’m around you, greater than what’s inside of me. So while I believe I might’ve been drawn to you due to our fates, I don’t think it has anything to do with my heart.”

I was an open book, exposing everything for her to tear apart if she so wished it. It was as terrifying as it was exhilarating. Mostly terrifying with how she stared at me, unspeaking. Gods, I needed her to say something .

But then her scar flared brighter, nearly as luminous as her smile.

“Good,” she said simply, smirking. “Although a part of me has to think it’s magic for you to be speaking this way. So uninhibited. So…idealistic.”

I refrained from rolling my eyes. “What can I say? You’re a terrible influence.”

Kiara’s teasing smirk fell. Whatever she glimpsed on my face had her clutching me. Seizing me like a lifeline. I hoped she saw my truth as clearly as I did hers.

Slowly, she brought her fingers to my shirt, pulling it down to expose my blazing scar.

Her lips descended, grazing my skin, sending shivers racing across my body. Kiara kissed every inch of my wound, taking her time, torturing me. With every brush of her mouth, my need grew, and almost in reply, her movements became impatient.

No more doubts. No more fears.

She placed one final kiss over my thudding heart and then lifted her head. There was another question in her eyes, and one I knew how to answer.