Page 103 of Of Vows and War: Special Edition
“You may not be my son, but you are my family. No matter what, I will stand up for you. I promise that. When is the next war council meeting?”
“Tomorrow,” I answered. Bellamy huffed, but silently agreed. While I enjoyed having this time of peace, we still had a war on our hands. The fae had yet to attack, but that would soon change. Mia never licked her wounds for long.
“Okay, that will work.” Seconds passed without either of us moving, Adbeel looking at me as if there was a war being raged in his mind rather than on his shores. Of all the minds in Alemthian, Adbeel’s was surely the hardest to break through, but I found I did not need to try as Adbeel cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. “Would it be okay if I hugged you, Asher?”
What an oddly considerate king. To be someone who could have anything he wanted yet still asked for something as simple as a hug was such a contrast. Lips slightly parted in surprise, I bobbed my head and opened my arms. Adbeel quickly closed the space, wrapping his large arms around me and tucking me into his broad chest. His well-trimmed beard scratched against my exposed ear as he nuzzled into me, breathing in my presence like he had existed without fresh air for too long.
Abruptly, he pulled away and blew out a gust of warm breath. “Sorry, I just…I am so very glad you are here.”
And then he disappeared within a burst of white light.
“He has a hard time expressing his feelings,” Bellamy teased, coming up behind me and pulling my back into his chest. “Like someone else I know.”
With a snort, I reached up and smacked his arm that had snaked around me. But even I knew he was not lying, and an idea sparked to life in my mind that would quickly rectify my poor habits. Twirling in his hold, I secured my arms around his neck and pressed my lips against his.
“Take us to the piano room,” I breathed against his mouth as he returned the kiss. Tongue against mine, he gripped my thighs and pulled me up as he portaled us. The moment oursurroundings changed, Bellamy began walking. My backside hit the pianoforte, where he placed me softly without breaking the kiss. I let him ravage me, consuming my love like a sweet dessert. He licked and bit and ate until I thought he might suffocate on the taste of me. Or perhaps I him.
We did not part until we were both gasping, his fingers entwined in my loose curls and mine against his bare chest. His forehead pressed into mine, a raspy moan breaking the silence.
“Play for me, beautiful creature.” And then he picked me up and gently placed me on the bench. Like I was a precious gem.
Sighing at the perfection that suddenly—and momentarily—was our life, I cracked my fingers and levitated my feet above the pedals. Then I looked at my soulmate and prepared to bare my heart to him.
“This is the ballad of our love.” My fingers touched the keys, and a story began to unfold. “It begins with the deep and dark plague that sat upon my chest as I stood on that balcony.” C minor. F minor. B-flat major. A-flat major. My hands danced along with the melody, my soul singing as I continued to play. “We slowly fade into the rapid sound of my heart as it beat when you looked at me with those icy blue eyes.” Mezzo-piano as the tempo sped, not too loud, but not as soft as before, pairing with the accelerando. The terms were whispered in my mind, Mia’s soft voice as she taught me so long ago fading and being replaced by mine. Finally, I was my own in truth. “You were perfection incarnate—the most handsome male I had ever seen. Your presence was like sunshine.”
Bellamy watched with wide eyes and pinched brows, his lips pursed so hard that his dimples dug into his cheeks. I focused on the sounds around me, trying to hear what I played as Bellamy might. As an artist who saw the world in colors and shapes.
“The rasp of your voice as you said my name, the brush of our lips as we first kissed, the tears that splashed against the groundas I sobbed when I discovered you lied.” I played and played, sharing my feelings in the only way I knew how. “Knives slicing through chests. Feet pounding against floors. Swords clashing.”
Bellamy’s breathing was almost as loud as the music, and when he came to sit beside me, the sounds of his soft cries could be heard as well. My fingers cramped from disuse, but I played on, the very song I had composed since I first laid eyes on him without truly realizing it.
“Moans. Bodies colliding. Nails against skin. Confessed love. Whispers of forever.” My heart sped, worse coming as the melody darkened but sped—prestissimo.
“Screams, pleas, skin ripping, and bones snapping. Minds lost in forests of pain.” Bellamy’s tears began splashing onto the keys, but I pressed on, remaining silent as the music told him of my torture. Of my mind slipping away.
“Freedom,” I spoke, letting the chord hold. Fermata. “Love. Family.”
“Ash…” Bellamy murmured, thinking I was done. But no, there was more. So much more.
“You slipping in and out of me. Crowns placed on heads. Vows given and received.” The music built towards an epic crescendo, the ending in sight. “And one day, far from now when magic is undone and choice is returned, the cry of a newborn youngling with gray eyes and deep dimples. A life lived side by side until death do us part. Dirt placed over piles of ashes. Soulmates returning to Eternity. Love conquering evil.”
My hands slammed down, the final note wistful and high. C8.
Heaving breaths and slightly sweaty, I turned to face Bellamy head on, not wanting to wait a single moment.
“I have loved you for every day of my true life and I will love you every day after. You said once that you would crawl from your grave for me, but I would crawltomy grave for you, Bell.You are my gift from Eternity, my blessing. Above all else, I am yours and you are mine.”
He barely let me finish before he kissed me, his large hands on my jaw. I felt him portal us, and then we landed on his plush quilt. When he finally willed himself to pull away, it was to force my head back. I caught sight of the painting on the opposite wall and nearly burst into tears.
My naked body upon this very bed was immortalized on the canvas, every slope and curve caught and portrayed. Somehow, it was far lovelier than I could have hoped.
“I love you with every piece of my blackened soul and heart. I was made for you, Asher. Eternity and gods are nothing compared to you. I will worship at your altar—at your feet—until I am dead. You are my salvation. My life.”
As Bellamy made love to me, I thought of how beautiful the rest of our song would be.
Chapter Forty-Four
Stassi
