Page 44 of Oaths & Vengeance
Chapter 19
Aella
Iwoke up cradled in the heat of Camden’s arms. After two weeks at Tradain, I’d become accustomed to sleeping in his quarters every night. It had been a long time since I’d regularly had my needs fulfilled, and I appreciated themostlysated feeling.
Since marrying Darrow, though, it didn’t feel the same anymore. I had to remind myself that he didn’t care about Camden and even encouraged us sleeping together. He was no doubt waking in the arms of some other fae right now as well. Not to mention, we remained enemies, and I had no reason to be loyal to him—even if he did kill a man for hurting me. I still couldn’t get that scene out of my head, but I tried because I couldn’t make sense of him doing it.
Most of all, it was hard to comprehend that I had a husband, except each night when I slept. I saw him in my dreams and remembered that first kiss by the portal. Then, the one in the room where the king performed the ceremony. I hated how good and right it had felt to have his mouth on mine, as if we were made for each other.
I slowly rose from the bed, completely naked. Camden’s brown eyes opened as I rifled through my things, following my movements as I gathered a few items to take to the bathing chambers with me. His gaze heated.
“Come back to bed, Aella. It’s barely past dawn,” he said huskily.
There was a time when I wouldn’t have hesitated.
“Sorry, I want to get out early to work on my light magic. I feel like I’m getting close to figuring out how to use it more safely, or at least less dangerously,” I sighed, running a hand through my tangled blonde hair. “It will be a useful offensive weapon if I can perfect it.”
He groaned and glanced down at his hard cock, which begged for attention, then back at me. “You’ve been working at that every morning since you arrived. Waiting another half hour won’t make much of a difference.”
Camden had a point. Looking at him lying there with his dark blond hair sticking up in different directions and bedroom eyes full of lust, it was hard to resist. I supposed some of my hangups lately had been whether I was betraying him by not mentioning I was married. He’d been on the battlefield that day when Darrow had faced off against us. I was lucky the captain wasn’t one of the soldiers who’d died.
What would he think when he found out? It was inevitable since I couldn’t keep it secret forever, but right now, I only wanted to delay that revelation as long as possible. Not to mention, the fae side of my libido protested at the very idea of going without sex for long.
So, I set down the things I’d gathered and crawled back into bed, climbing on top of him. For however long this lasted, I would make it worthwhile for both of us. He groaned when I sank onto him, already wet and ready. He took hold of my hips. We began slowly at first, with me rising and falling to tease us both in a sensual glide that built our need higher and higher.
Before long, neither of us could take it anymore. We rolled over, and he took charge, speeding the pace and pounding into me so hard the bed rattled against the wall. I closed my eyes, concentrating only on the pleasure and not on the errant thoughts that distracted me regularly. Camden had learned long ago the perfect rhythm to make me orgasm fast, and he came with me when I exploded. We had morning sex down to an art.
He nuzzled my neck. “I’m going to enjoy you for as long as I can before that Andalagar chief decides to marry you.”
I swallowed hard as my guilt rose back to the forefront.
“What makes you think he’ll choose me?” I asked. Of course, I had to tell him the reason my uncle sent me to Tradain, so at least I wasn’t lying to him about everything.
“He’d be crazy not to choose a beautiful, talented woman like you,” he said, pulling away to look down at me with his brown eyes. “If I thought your uncle would approve it, I would have offered to marry you.”
I frowned. “Really?”
His gaze drifted toward the curtained window, and his jaw hardened. “The thought crossed my mind a time or two, but I’ve always known my time with you was limited.”
I wasn’t sure what to think of that. Camden was a lowborn fae with limited magic, so he wasn’t wrong that Lord Morgunn would disapprove of us becoming husband and wife. Aside from that, I’d never considered something serious with him. I enjoyed sex with him immensely, and we could talk about nearly anything, but he didn’t tug at my heart like I wanted. Perhaps no one ever would.
Giving him a peck on the cheek, I slid out from under him. “I’ve really got to get going now, but I’ll see you for lunch?”
“Yes,” he said, still lost in thought.
I grabbed my things and headed for the washroom.
The place I used for my light magic was not within Tradain. Instead, it was a mile outside the village and consisted of a deep pit with stone stairs leading to the bottom. This was where those of us with dangerous, volatile magic could practice without the risk of harming others. There were also layers of protection spells to prevent the walls from collapsing.
I had a two-inch stone on the ground as a target. It was the latest of many that had suffered a terrible fate. I had no problem hitting the rocks since I had an excellent aim, but I always destroyed them into tiny fragments. What I really wanted was to make precise cuts that left the rest intact.
For the umpteenth time, I extended my hand and focused my power. A narrow beam of red light extended from my index finger, slow at first, before moving so fast it hit the stone and pulverized it in a spray of dust and pebbles. I sighed. Other channelers could do something similar, but their powers were so much weaker that they had limited range and damage they could inflict. It didn’t compare, so I couldn’t ask them for help. They didn’t need to rein in their magic like me.
I focused on the next stone and tried once more. This time, I slowed down the extension of the beam a little more, but as soon as it came near the stone…boom! It was dust. There were a lot of piles in this pit, sitting on newly formed glass I’d also made from the heat of my magic.
“You could kill many enemy soldiers doing that,” a condescending voice said from above.
I drew a deep breath and slowly turned to look at the top of the pit, finding Lord Morgunn there with an arrogant expression. Of course, he’d show up to witness my failure. “It will also cut through anything behind my targets.”
