Page 6 of Born of Blood and Ash

“If you retire from such a position, it will be pure chaos,”I told him. “All day. All night.”

“Good thing I like your brand of chaos.” Ash’s hand droppedto my hip, and he tipped his head back. His eyes, now a warm shade of steel,searched mine. “You sure you’ll be fine?”

I nodded, and my heart filled to the point where it feltlike it might burst.

“And you’re telling me the truth?”

“I am.” After everything with Kolis and almost dying, nearlybeing strangled to death in a bathing chamber no longer factored on the scaleof things to be worried about. I didn’t tell Ash that, though. Bringing upKolis in that way or reminding him of what the godling, Hamid, had attemptedwouldn’t help.

“I’m good,” I assured him. “You can go.”

Ash hesitated but then nodded as if telling himself it wasokay. I watched him rise from the bed and turn. My gaze immediately swept overthe swirls of ink filling the length and width of his back as he retrieved apair of pants. Those black blood drops were more pronounced against the warm,wheat-ish shade of his skin that held lustrousgolden-brown undertones I hadn’t been able to make out before.

The inked blood drops traveling over his back, along hissides, and down his inner hips represented those he’d lost. Lives he feltresponsible for. And while the design was beautiful, it was also so verytragic.

There were far too many of them.

Hundreds.

He would never add another drop to his flesh. That was anoath I would not break.

Sitting up, I reached for the first piece of clothing, whichturned out to be one of Ash’s long-sleeved tunics. I pulled it on and rose tomy knees, my gaze landing on the small wooden box with silver hinges sitting onthe bedside table. There was a beautiful design carved into the wood, delicatevines that resembled the scrollwork I saw on the tunics of those in theShadowlands and the throne room doors.

Ash had collected my hair ties, keeping them in thatskillfully crafted box. It may seem like nothing to many, but it meant so muchthat he treasured something so simple merely because it belonged to me.

“By the way,” he said as he pulled on loose-fitting linenpants. “The clothing Erlina made for you is hanging in the wardrobe.” He facedme, showing off all his stunning scenery. And then he grinned. “Forgetwhat I said about the clothing in the wardrobe. I want you like this. Always.It is the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.”

I raised a brow and glanced down at myself. The soft shirtwas so long on me that it could double as a nightgown—a shapeless, baggy one.“Me wearing one of your shirts?”

“Yes,” he said, the word a vibrating purr.

I looked up at him, and whatever I had been about to sayvanished off the tip of my tongue when my gaze swept over Ash. He’d finishedpulling his hair back into a low knot at the nape of his neck, showcasing thestriking angles and planes of his face. There had always been an innate graceto how he moved, but now, even the fluidity seemed more apparent as he prowledtoward the bed. It was like he was a part of the very environment around us.

My gaze lowered. The lines of his chest and the tightlypacked muscles of his abdomen were more defined. I tracked the inked blooddrops that appeared on either side of his waist and disappeared beneath hiswaistband.

“Liessa, you shouldn’tlook at me like that.” The change in his tone drew my gaze to his. His voicehad become richer, taking on a velvety resonance that caressed each word like asymphony of arousal.

I inhaled sharply, catching an increase in his citrusyscent. Was I imagining that? No, I knew I was really sensing hisarousal. Not in the same way he could, by reading emotions, but there was nodenying the newly discovered sense of awareness. I could feel hisarousal in the echo of each heartbeat. This had to be one of those otherdeveloping senses Ash had mentioned. “Are you sure about that?”

“Unfortunately. Because you need to eat.” He bent and curvedhis hand around my cheek. “I’ll only be gone for a couple of minutes.”

“Okay.”

His eyes met mine as he tilted my head back. He movedcloser, and when he next spoke, his lips brushed mine. “I love you.”

My breath snagged on those three words. They should beimpossible.

He tilted his head. The press of his cool lips was gentle atfirst but became fierce and hard.

My pulse was thrumming when he finally lifted his mouth frommine. “I—”

The balcony doors suddenly flung open, sending the thickcurtains snapping toward the walls.

“What the…?” I trailed off. White mist rippled over thefloor and began to rise. A strange scent reached me. Musky. Almost sweet.Eather throbbed intensely in the center of my chest, and every instinct in metold me this—whatever it was—had nothing to do with Kolis.

The change that came over Ash was swift. Shadows eruptedbeneath his flesh, swirling up his arms and across his chest as he whirledaround.

Wisps of dark eather whipped outfrom his back, taking the shape of wings. I stared into the mist. Something wastaking form. A guttural growl of warning rumbled from Ash, and he bared hisfangs.

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