Page 58 of A Reign of Storm and Madness

Panting, sweating, trembling, I stare down at my arms which seem to refuse to lift me up and then peer at my legs. They, too, are having a hard time. I close my eyes as humiliation slams into me far harder than anything ever has before.

What … am I doing?

Before I have long to contemplate that thought, a pair of rough hands grip my hips and bodily lift me up. “I swear to the Gods if you try to fuck me again after that, I will slit your throat while you’re sleeping,” I growl.

Kalix’s amused chuckle is his only response as he carries me the few steps back to the bath. I’m probably a wrinkled prune at this point, but I don’t argue as he slides me into the warm water and washes away the blood on my hands and knees.

He sets me on the final step and as my eyes reopen, I watch him march across the room in all his tan, naked male flesh, unashamed of himself. But me—I have much to be ashamed of. Quickly scrubbing one of the bathing sheets over his head to dry his hair and then over his body, he drops it to the side and retrieves a fresh one before stalking back over to me.

This time, I keep my gaze on my bruised and cut-up knees. The bathing sheet is dropped next to me.

“I had my familiars leave a note for the Terra boy that you weren’t hungry and had gone back to the north tower,” Kalix says. “Return when you’re done with the rest of your bathing rituals.”

The shock of Kalix’s admission has me whipping around just as he shifts into his snake form—his body collapsing in on itself as his skin stretches and his bones melt away into the new form. A long, thick, black serpent blinks at me once, twice, and then turns, slithering away, back into the dark—likely one of the various vents that air out this chamber when the steam becomes too much.

When I’m sure he’s gone, I drop my back to the floor and stare up at the curved ceiling. My head is a mass of emotions and confusing questions. This game we’re playing—the Darkhavens and I—it feels like I’m the one that started it, but I’m also the one missing half of the pieces.

Chapter 31

Kalix

“Where have you—” Theos freezes as he gets a whiff of my scent as I enter our shared chambers. His nose wrinkles. “Why do you smell like wet dirt?”

I’d have to agree with him. Those hard cakes I’d watched Kiera wash with had smelled like soil and herbs, not at all like the bath salts the healers sent us after training sessions. My own senses found the damn stuff repulsive as well which was why I’d ended up covering her in my scent, rubbing not just my body over hers, but my cock and seed into her core as well.

I grin in remembrance. Fingers snap in front of my face as Theos appears there, brows drawn down tight in annoyance. “Kalix!” He barks as if he’s been saying my name on repeat for several minutes now. “Are you going to answer me? Why do you smell like that?” He frowns at me, still looking over my body with his upper lip curled back in disgust. Now dressed in a loose tunic and a new pair of trousers and boots, I stalk towards him with that shit-eating grin.

I can’t stop the curve of my mouth even if I tried to. The feel of my little thief’s cunt wrapping so tight around my cock still lingers on me like a phantom touch. Even with her temper, she’s a fantastic fuck. Something I’ll definitely be sampling again in the very near future.

“I shared a bath with our favorite Terra,” I tell him honestly, smugly. Now the bastard can’t say he’s the only one to have had her. His jaw drops in stunned shock and I step past him and head for the stairs.

“Wait a fucking second!” Theos gathers himself much faster than I anticipated and I pause on the first step, glancing over my shoulder with an arched brow.

“Problem?”

He seethes. “Yes, there’s a fucking problem. You can’t fuck her.”

I shrug. “Already did.” I take the next step and keep talking as I move. “Besides, isn’t it a little hypocritical of you to say that after you had her not just once but twice?”

“Ruen—”

I get to the final step and then lean over the railing, staring down at him. “Ruen does not dictate to me what I can or cannot do or who I can or cannot fuck,” I state coldly. “You might follow his orders, but he knows better than to command me.”

Whether they choose to acknowledge the threats circling our precious forbidden little treasure or not is up to them, not me. The two of them—Theos and Ruen—are already behind in terms of information. I’ve found out her filthy little secret and even if Theos was the one to play with her, he’s an idiot for not seeing why she’s such a temptation.

A forbidden God child masquerading as a human servant. The idea is laughable. Yet, she’s a reality that none of us can deny. My smile grows as I imagine the reaction Ruen will have when he learns of her deceit. Oh yes, that’s when true storm and madness will reign. There’s a reason Ruen is seen as the de facto leader of our little family—outside of the pompous God sire we all share.

I’m not so naive like my brothers to think that Rahela’s death will be the end. Dolos had taken our excuses with little more than a slap on the wrist once Ruen had produced those letters the damn bitch had been sending Theos. Always the planner and manipulator. But Rahela’s mother will likely want recompense when she, too, joins us at the Academy for the God Council and I don’t want anyone connected to the spiteful Sigyn, Goddess of Strife, thinking Kiera doesn’t have protection.

Theos moves for the end of the stairs, stomping as if he means to come up to meet me. I turn and fold my arms across my chest, staring back down at him. “Ruen sets rules in place for a reason,” Theos grits out. “If I have to follow them then so—”

“But you haven’t followed them,” I cut him off. “You fucked her immediately after Rahela attacked—were you feeling so bad about your nasty ex going after the Terra that you felt the need to give her a few orgasms as recompense?” My grin turns lethal. “Shall we compare notes?”

Theos’ eyes flare with anger, going straight black before fading immediately back to gold. When he loses himself to his divine rage—that’s when he becomes so much stronger. “What? Afraid I pleasured her more? Would that wound your arrogant pride?” I prod him a bit further.

He growls at me, baring his teeth in a way that only serves to amuse me. I chuckle a bit and cock my head to the side. “Did I strike a nerve?” I ask.

He blows out a long breath and shoves a hand through his hair, pushing back the white strands, but they only spring forward once more, falling back into his face the moment he takes his hand away. “You’re antagonizing me on purpose,” he surmises, the glare and scowl fading a bit as he catches on.

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