Page 37 of A Haven of Brimstone and Darkness

The strength and power in these bones of hers speak of years of torment. Against her skin, mine appears darker, making the white lines that mar my body stand out all the more. I dip my head into her shoulder and breathe raggedly as I thrust slowly inside her. Her muscles squeeze me again, milking the cum rightfrom my balls. I groan as holding back becomes more painful than any brimstone blade.

She's gasping as if she can't fill her lungs with enough air, but I want more from her.

"Mine," I whisper against her. "Mine." A feminine hand reaches back, tangling into the dark hair at the back of my skull.

Kiera tips her face, reclining her head onto my shoulder as I lift away from hers. Her breasts, rounded and high and firm, jut out from her body and I can't resist. I cup them in my palms, squeezing them before pinching and rolling the tips between my fingers. A muffled moan sounds from her and her fingers on the back of my head become restrictive as she yanks at my hair.

"You got what you fucking wanted, Ruen—" Her words cut off and she hisses as I tweak her nipples a bit harder than before, just enough to feel the responding surge of tightness as her cunt contracts around my shaft. "Fuck." She groans when I release the hard nubs and sweep my palm upward.

I turn her face to me and she opens her mouth readily, taking my claiming like I've always dreamed she would—willingly, albeit a bit reluctantly. Our mouths clash like warring nations in a great battle. There's a beginning of harshness and then utter softness as our tongues come together, and then finally, we part—both breathless.

There is one thing that becomes impossibly clear though. The sky could fall around us. The Gods could cleave our heads from our shoulders. We could turn to stone right here and now. And my final thought would be that I died in the arms of paradise. In her arms.

When my release comes, it attacks with such desperate agony that I bark out a sharp curse and slam my hips into her, biting down even as I reach for her beautiful cunt. My fingers slide over the bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs, dragging yetanother shaking orgasm from her as ropes of my cum flood her insides.

Oh, how I want more. How I wish we had eternities to explore this violent need between us ... but that's the danger of wishes, isn't it? They are a mere glimpse into what might be. Even my illusions aren't so cruel.

Chapter 18

Kiera

As the early gray of dawn begins to peer through the window of my bedchamber, I sense Ruen leave the bed. I lie awake between the sheets as I hear soft male voices in the hallway. No doubt the others—including Maeryn—heard us. I should be embarrassed, but I'm not. Perhaps it was all the years of watching Regis fuck anything in a skirt and accidentally seeing him naked far more than I ever care to admit, but the idea that sex should be hidden has never been quite one I've taken to. Still, as I listen to the sounds of Ruen talking to most likely Kalix and Theos, I close my eyes and try to sink back into the comfortable darkness of sleep.

Sometime later, I open my eyes to find that I'm still alone and the voices in the corridor are gone. With an aching head and a sore place between my thighs, I frown as I use the wash basin to bathe myself as well as I'm able. It appears that making the bed isn't the only thing Ortus Terra do since the water has obviously been replaced. No, that's not the reason for the confusion lingering through me, but I can't quite pinpoint the reason.

I delve through my pack, annoyed by my lack of preparations for this trip—not that we'd been given much time or that I'd had much in the way of items to bring anyway. "Brutal on a woman'swardrobe," I mutter absently, noticing the rip in the back of the tunic I'd worn the night before. My breast wrap is also destroyed, so I make do by withdrawing a dagger and cutting the tunic into long strips before tying them together.

After I've finished remaking the band, I wrap myself and then quickly dress in the only remaining tunic I have left as well as my trousers. Outside my room, the hallway remains empty, but the soft sound of movements and voices echo from the furthest Darkhaven door. I arrive and knock once before letting myself in. All three Darkhavens are present with Kalix slowly whittling a chunk of wood down to what looks like a stake by the window and Theos and Ruen sitting at a table by the hearth, their heads bent over old tomes.

I blink at the sight of so many books spread over the surface of the table. "Where did those come from?"

Ruen lifts his head at the same time as Theos. Unable to meet his eyes, I look to the golden Darkhaven for an answer. "There's a library here," Theos supplies. "One of Kalix's serpents brought back its location last night and he and I went there. They have no Terra to care for the place so they're all worn and rather dusty and unkempt but still readable."

If they'd been gone the night before, perhaps it was possible they hadn't heard the ruckus Ruen and I had made. I allow myself to drift closer to the table, peering over Theos' shoulder at the scribblings beyond. "What are you looking for?"

"Information on these rites the Gods plan to have us perform," Ruen answers.

Just as I open my mouth to say something along the lines of it being obvious that the rites are just an excuse for the Gods to keep us here, a paper is slid beneath the door. The four of us freeze. There'd been no sound of a person on the other side, no footsteps, or even breath to alert us to another individualso close by. With our heightened hearing and my years in the Underworld, at least one of us should have heard it.

Kalix is off his perch in a split second, crossing the room and yanking the door open to peer into the hallway. His face twists into a scowl. "There's no one," he grits out before slamming the door. His green gaze turns to the folded note on the floor as if he's debating on whether or not to crush it beneath his boot.

I go to it before he can finalize that decision and bend to pick it up. The page itself is yellowed with uneven edges. It's folded once with no envelope to cover it. "They knew we were here," I murmur thoughtfully as I slide a finger between the folds to open it.

"Of course they did." Ruen pushes back his chair and stands, coming over to where Kalix and I are staring down at the parchment in my hand. "They probably heard our voices."

Theos is the last one to drift over to where we stand as we stare down at the neatly scrawled words on the note.

We welcomeyou to the first rite, children of the Gods.

Wear your new gifts upon this night of the Cleansing, and

when the clock strikes nine times, we will see you in the garden of statues.

There isno signature as if the note could be from any one of the God Council or, more likely, all of them. I consider the God Queen and the things that had been said in the prison below the night before. Ariadne is the Goddess of Darkness and Shadow, daughter to the God King Tryphone and God Queen Danai, and ... even if I don't wish to admit it, she is my mother. The likeness of our features cannot be denied. The conclusion of that knowledge is that I am the granddaughter of the GodKing and Queen. Tryphone is my grandfather and Danai is my grandmother.

How can I face them now?

Hands cup my shoulders and drag me back against a wide, barrel chest. The motion frees me from the torment of my thoughts. I look up into the dark midnight blue of Ruen's eyes. No words pass between us. There are no words that will make this any easier. I clench the parchment in my fist. A scraping noise of wood on wood slips through the door and as one, all of our heads turn in the same direction. Theos moves towards the door and pulls it open to reveal a black lacquered box with no etching into its shiny wooden surface.

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