Page 411 of Born of Blood and Ash

“I cannot allow that.” His hand cut furiously through theair. “Your name will be known, as well as all you have accomplished andsacrificed. There will be stories and songs written about you. People willcelebrate your name. The name that brings others joy. You will not be unknown—”

“Ash,” I whispered, cupping his cheek and blinking backtears. I knew why he wanted to deny this. And gods, it made me love him evenmore.

“You cannot tell me you will not be hurt by this, Sera.” Hiscold fingers curled around my wrist. “You won’t only be unknown. You willeventually be forgotten.”

Hearing that did make my stomach drop. I couldn’t deny it.Being forgotten was almost the same as never existing, and Ash understood howmuch it had hurt not to be known by anyone. How it had made me feel like aspecter among the living. But something struck me in that moment. That wasthen. It wasn’t me now.

“You know me,” I said. “My children will know me. Attes will, and everyone else I care about will know me.”

The muscle in his jaw clenched against my palm. “That isn’tenough.”

“But it is.” I leaned over and kissed him softly, thenrested my forehead against his. “You are enough.”

CHAPTERSIXTY-FOUR

Two months later…

Ash stared down at me, his eyes never leavingmy face as he entered me with one hard thrust of his hips that shook theglasses and dishware on the antechamber table.

We had just finished breakfast and should be getting ready.The other Primals and gods wanted a celebration, andAsh and I not only thought it was a good idea but also figured it was time. Thelast several weeks had been for mourning those we’d lost, and this event was tocelebrate their memories as much as it was to mark our victory. The event wouldbe at the City Hall, and Rhain was running around like a madman. He wouldprobably have a breakdown if he knew what we were doing.

We hadn’t planned to end up this way. It just sort ofhappened. I’d stood to ready myself and mentioned that Erlina had madeadjustments to the gown I wanted to wear. It had become too tight around bothbreasts and my lower stomach. The growing bump wasn’t entirely noticeable tothe eye, depending on what I wore, but Ash had such a voracious reaction. He’dkissed me, and that single kiss had turned into one that ended with me splayedacross the table, my robe unbuttoned, and Ash between my thighs.

“If we’re late,” I said, biting my lower lip as pleasuredarted through my veins, “Rhain will be so mad.”

Ash moved slowly inside me, clearly in no hurry. The hand onmy hip tightened. “We’ll just tell him we took our time with dessert.”

A giggle snuck free. “Dessert with breakfast?”

“Mm-hmm.” His gaze left mine and traveled downward. Hecupped a breast with his other hand. The sweep of his thumb over my nipple hadmy back arching off the table. A smoky grin appeared. “They are so much moresensitive.”

They definitely were. Sometimes, even clothing irritated oraroused them.

Right now, it was the latter.

Ash’s head dipped. His lips found mine once more, and Itasted cream on his tongue. He sipped from my lips and kept up that slow,torturous tempo with his hips. His mouth left mine, blazing a path over my jawand then down my throat. He lingered there, kissing and licking until hereached where my pulse beat wildly. I tensed around him in sweet, headyanticipation. After a heartbeat, I felt the graze of his sharp fangs. Myfingers pressed into the skin of his chest as the scrape sent a burst of desirethrough me with only a hint of unease. That was progress.

A lot of progress.

Over the last two months, we’d been slowly working togetherto overcome my trauma related to feeding. Maybe overcome wasn’t theright word. I’d come to believe that trauma wasn’t always something you couldovercome and no longer be affected by. The mind didn’t work that way, be youmortal, god, or Primal. Trauma stayed with you, sometimes returning at night orduring the quieter parts of the day. Other times, it disappeared for days orweeks. But I was beginning to live with it. To acknowledge it and then handleit, just like I had when it came to my anxiety. Neither were the sum of who Iwas. It was just a part of who I was.

Either way, Ash hadn’t wanted to push it at first, tellingme we could wait until our sons were born, but it wasn’t something I waswilling to put off until then. We still had time before I was too far along inmy pregnancy for Ash to be able to feed, and I wanted to share that with himagain before the babes came. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but it was important tome. So, Ash had relented. And to be honest, I think he started to enjoy theprocess after a while. The teasing drags of his fangs, the brief, shallow bitesthat only drew a drop of blood, had gone from causing me to lock up in dreadand shame to something that had my blood pounding with lust and need.

He gave me one of those tiny bites that drew just a hint ofblood, then chased it away with his tongue, making me moan. He stilled for afew seconds afterward, like he always did. I knew what he was doing in thosebrief heartbeats. He was tasting my emotions, making sure I was okay.

And right then, I was more than okay.

I was ready.

“More,” I whispered.

Ash chuckled against my pulse, and then his tongue slid overmy skin, causing my breath to hitch. He drew the flesh of my throat into hismouth, wringing a gasp from me, but he moved on.

A hint of disappointment rose. “Ash?”

“Hmm?” His lips danced over my collarbone.

I slid my hands to his shoulders. “I’m ready.”

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