Page 28 of Whispers of the Void (Voidborn Chronicles #1)

CHAPTER 28

NEEV

* * *

J ust as Vynia excuses herself from the springs, I see Raiz approach. My eyes skim him from head to toe, making sure he’s all in one piece following his encounter with the ursax. Whatever the hell that is. Probably something terrifying that would give me nightmares for months.

He gives me his signature smirk as he pulls his shirt over his head and drops it on the ground beside the springs. His boots and pants go next until he’s standing in the cold air above me, totally nude and fucking irresistible.

Stars, I’ve never been this attracted to anyone before. I want to roll my eyes at myself for that thought. Every minute drives my need for more of him higher.

His smile widens, revealing all of his white teeth, not just the tips of his fangs. “I heard that.”

He steps down into the water, prowling toward me with devious intent. My nipples pebble beneath the surface of the water. The space between my thighs begins to throb. All from his proximity to me.

He slowly lowers his body into the water to his shoulders. Every move he makes toward me is precise, slow, and predatory. The part of my brain that recognizes he’s an apex predator lights up as he moves through the spring toward me silently.

“How are your thighs?” he finally asks once he reaches me.

“Better now that I’ve been soaking in here for a while.”

His hands land on my knees, pushing them apart as he settles his body between them. The ache between my thighs intensifies. His thumbs press into the sore muscle and begin moving in firm circles.

“Is this okay?”

“Stars, yes.” My head falls back in pleasure until I remember he’s injured. “What happened to your arm?”

“The ursax got me with his claw. I’m fine, the toxin is out, and Hyva sealed the wound.”

I lift my hand from the water and run my fingers alongside the wound. It doesn’t look good, but I trust Hyva did a good job. I lean forward and press my lips to the skin beside the wound.

“What are you doing?” He looks bemused, a small smile on his lips.

“Kissing it better.” My voice has taken on a husky tone I don’t recognize. Truthfully, I don’t recognize much of myself lately. The drive to always be near him physically is so strong I feel it in the marrow of my bones.

“Is that a strange human thing?”

“Yes.”

“Did you learn that from your books?” He leans down until his lips are only a whisper from mine.

“Mmhmm.” I cup his cheek.

“I like it,” he whispers against the shell of my ear. “Should I kiss your thighs better?”

A noise that sounds strangely similar to a whimper comes from my throat as I nod. I start to lift myself out of the water, so he can reach, but he stops me. His hands cover mine and place them over his neck as he submerges to just under his lips.

“Stay right here. I can breathe just fine under the surface.”

He sinks beneath the surface while his hands resume the deep massage they had been doing. His lips press to the inside of one of my knees while his fingers move further and further up my thighs. I gasp as his thumb strokes along the crease of the junction between my thigh and pussy.

“ I love having you spread open for me like this.” He presses a kiss to my other thigh.

“ Raiz.” Even in my mind his name comes out with a whimper as he teases my folds with gentle touches.

“ I love how you say my name, all needy and desperate.”

“I am needy and desperate for you.” My hips rock toward his face as he continues to tease me with the sweetest kisses moving slowly higher on my thighs just as his hands did.

He slips a finger inside me, then another. Scissoring them as his mouth closes around my clit. He flicks it with his tongue as his fingers work my channel. My back arches, lifting my breasts out of the water. I cup both of them, teasing and pinching my nipples as Raiz continues to torture with me his brand of worship between my thighs.

Both of his fingers glide against my walls, finding that one spot along the front that sends pleasure erupting in searing heat through my veins. My fingers sink into his hair and hold him to me as he licks and sucks my pussy, prolonging my orgasm until I forget to breathe. He doesn’t stop until my body goes slack with the final few tremors of my orgasm.

He emerges from the water with a satisfied grin and twinkling eyes. His mouth claims mine in a deep kiss. Even though he was underwater, I can still taste myself on his lips. He sweeps his tongue along mine in strokes of ownership as he cups my neck and angles my head back. His fangs scrape along my lower lip, applying pressure but not breaking the skin.

I want him to, though. I want him to sink his fangs into me and leave his mark. I want everyone to know who I belong to and who belongs to me.

Stars, where the hell did that thought come from?

I don’t have time to question myself because he releases my mouth and flips me around, bending me over the edge of the springs with my ass in the air. I feel him drag the head of his cock through my folds, stopping to tease my already sensitive clit before sliding back to my entrance.

He slides all the way inside me and moans when he bottoms out. “Fuck, Neev.” His fingers flex on my hips, digging into the flesh as he pauses. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be better when you fuck me.”

He pulls back and thrusts in with a low growl. There’s no thrumming tonight, just fucking. The sound of his groin smacking against the wet flesh of my ass as he unleashes himself drives me wild with lust. He fucks me with an animalistic ferocity. Pleasure builds when he reaches around and pinches my nipple.

Steam rises from my hot skin in the cold air. Every one of my senses feels heightened as he continues to rut into me, his length rubbing against the spot that sent me spiraling into pleasure earlier. I reach back and cover his hand with my own, interlocking our fingers over my hip.

He angles his pelvis, so the knob at the base of his cock hits my back hole with each pound of his hips. It feels so good, so deliciously forbidden. Like he can hear my thoughts, he pulls his free hand from my nipple and begins to circle it around the rim.

“ Someday I’m going to take you here.” His voice fills my mind with a growl.

“I’m going to fill you with so much of my seed it’ll be running out of you for weeks.” His thrusts become more powerful. “You are mine, Neev.”

His words push me over the edge. I cry out as my walls tremble around him. My vision blurs as I feel him empty inside me. Hearing him in my mind, my ears, feeling him everywhere is so much, too much. I rock back against him as the most powerful orgasm I’ve ever had tears through me.

He pulls out of me with a low groan when our orgasms finally subside. I feel him palm my ass, spreading my cheeks so he can get a good look at the mess we made.

“I could go again just seeing my seed seep from your pussy like this.” His finger runs along my folds and pushes his cum back inside me. “Fuck,” he groans, his dick twitching against me.

He collapses over my back, and I feel the rapid beat of his heart against my skin. It matches the rhythm of my own as I work to catch my breath. His arms lock around my waist, and he switches us so he’s sitting on the rocky ledge and pulls me into his lap.

I curl against him, making sure to stay as submerged in the hot water as possible. His chest expands and contracts deeply as his heart rate slows beneath my ear. He lifts my chin with two fingers under it until our eyes meet.

“Was that okay?” Apprehension fills his stunning green eyes, making them appear darker. “I kind of went harder than I meant to.”

“Yes.” I press a kiss to his lips. “That was incredible. I loved every second of it. I’m not as fragile as I look.”

“I’m stronger than I look,” he says with a smirk.

“You won’t break me.” At least not physically.

He cups my cheek. “Let’s hope that goes for both of us.”

* * *

“Are you ready for this?” Vynia asks quietly as we approach the temple on foot.

The past two days of travel were arduous. I’m not sure my legs will ever go back to normal after the hours and hours of sitting on Nebula’s back. Even the warm comfort of having Raiz at my back couldn’t ease the discomfort.

“I’m just happy to be walking on my own two feet for a bit.”

She huffs a laugh behind the scarf wrapped around her nose and mouth. “Right?”

The temple itself is incredible. Extending from the floor of a large cave, the building rises into the darkness well above the surface and with spires piercing the sky. Two eternal flames burn from large stone bowls on either side of the massive door.

The structure is the complete antithesis of its surroundings. Huge piles of boulders dot the open space, more than likely leftover from the construction of the temple. How they managed to build something so intricate in such a remote spot, with no technology is astounding. I wish I could spend weeks studying it.

Las informed us he wouldn’t be entering. We left him behind with the kyrils. Raiz and Hyva are going first into the temple, checking to make sure it’s safe. They each light a torch from the bowls of fire and then disappear behind the doors that close behind them.

As the minutes pass my anxiety grows. Vynia and I fall into silence as we wait for them to come back out for us. Snowflakes swirl down around us from above, adding an ethereal ambiance to the already haunting scene before us.

“Forget waiting,” I say finally. “Let’s just go.”

“We have orders.” Vynia frowns, clearly irritated with said orders.

“You have orders.” I point at my chest. “I don’t.”

She glances at me out of the corner of her eyes. “Technically, my orders are to keep you safe.”

I nod, catching on immediately. “Exactly. So if I decide to go in, you have no choice but to come with me.”

“To do anything else would be dereliction of duties.”

There’s no hesitation on my part as I walk up the smooth stone steps. Our boots don’t make a sound as the snow begins to fall heavier. Vynia grabs one of the torches and lights it while I pull open the door and let us both inside.

If I thought the outside of the building was beautiful, the inside is a masterpiece. The arched ceilings and flying buttresses are carved from a white stone, not the black that seems most prevalent on the continent. Each wall is divided into panels with a different relief carved into the center.

Vynia holds up the torch as we walk through; I don’t see words, but I suspect there are hieroglyphs of some sort because I keep seeing repeating symbols. There’s no sign of Raiz or Hyva, so we keep slowly working our way through the long, rectangular room.

“Do you know what any of these depict?” I ask Vynia.

“No. I don’t have a clue.”

“Is this a church? Was it originally built for worship?”

“Yes. I believe this was once a temple to the old gods. But religion fell out of favor long ago.”

“The Bak’hura isn’t a religious rite?”

“No. It’s more of an offering to the Sovereign.”

“You kill each other for him?” I stop and look at her. “Doesn’t that seem backwards? If he was a good leader, he’d want Zeahiri to thrive. You can’t thrive when you erase half the population.”

“I know. That’s why we’re here, trying to find anything to help us. No one wants to see the tradition continue aside from the very few in power who benefit from it.”

“How—”

“Were my orders to wait unclear?” Raiz appears from the darkness behind us with an irritated growl that he directs at Vynia.

“I came in first. She was just coming along to keep me safe,” I say without looking back at him, so I can keep studying each new relief, trying to find a pattern to the symbols.

“That doesn’t change the fact that she disobeyed a direct order.”

I stop and meet his glare with one of my own. “She disobeyed one order to follow another.”

“Not to interrupt, but what are you looking at?” Hyva asks, coming beside me and holding his own torch up to the relief in front of us.

“I’m trying to figure out the symbology.” I point at a few of the glyphs. “Do you happen to know what any of this means?”

Raiz joins me on my other side. “No.”

“I don’t either.” Hyva moves down. “I didn’t even know these were here.”

“Should we go find the book?”

“Yes.” Raiz puts a hand on the small of my back and guides me toward a darkened corner. “There’s a staircase up. The library should be on the top floor.”

Light from the three torches bounces off the white stone with occasional gold veins running through it. I want to stop and examine it, but I have a hard enough time keeping up with my companions’ long strides. The stairs curve around the side of the temple. We come to a landing but don’t stop. There are at least two more floors until we get to the top of the temple.

I gasp when we reach the upper landing. It’s freezing, but the top of the temple is high above ground level, showcasing an endless expanse of shadowy land. Huge panes of glass enclose the roof, creating the feeling of being outdoors without the frigid discomfort. Not that it is by any means warm. The sky above is filled with thousands of twinkling stars, more than I’ve ever seen before. It’s a sight so beautiful it hurts.

“This way.” Raiz’s warm hand on my back guides me to the left and down a long corridor. “The library should be at the end and on the left.”

The scent of smoke seems to become stronger as we get closer to the end of the hall.

“Do you smell that?” I ask.

“Yes.” Raiz stops our progress and looks around. “Hyva stay with Neev.” He and Vynia stalk down the hall with weapons drawn. They stop on either side of the door and share a look before Vynia kicks it open and Raiz enters.

“Should we go?” I start walking, but Hyva’s arm wraps around my waist and pulls me back.

“Nice try, but no. We’ll wait for them.”

“ It’s clear.” I assume the message was sent to both of us because Hyva drops his hand and starts walking alongside me.

“Would have been fine,” I singsong quietly.

My good mood evaporates in an instant as I take in the sight before me. Everything in the room has been torched. Piles of ash coat the floor and smoke damage stains the walls. A stone table is the only thing left standing in the room.

I cross the room, ash floating up as I walk through it. “How did this happen? How could a fire be contained to only one room?”

There’s no sign of damage in the hall but the door, made of wood, didn’t burn. It doesn’t even have smoke damage. The shelves that once held the volumes of books are gone, a few large, splintered pieces of wood are all that’s left.

As someone who’s spent her life surrounded by books, the thought of lighting all that knowledge, all that work on fire is unthinkable. It’s horrendous. How many of these books can’t be replicated? How much history has been erased?

“Who would have done this?” I turn back to look at Raiz and find him having a private conversation with Vynia.

“There’s only one person who would want this library destroyed,” Vynia says quietly as she scans the damage.