Page 25 of The Lands Defying
He leans back on his hands, face tipped upward toward the branches as some light peeks through in streaks. He closes his eyes and breathes deeply, and that breath sounds like the weight of the lands is on his shoulders.
I guess a lot of it is.
He has to get his men ready for war, and has to also make sure the people are safe. It’s a reminder that he was betrayed by those in power. Everything was not as it seemed, and he and the Elites had been unknowingly doing the work of monsters.
While also painting himself as one.
The marks on his back show as much.
I pause at the thought, removing my hands from the ground and just watch him have this moment of quiet to himself.
He looks tired, but not any less attractive.
The slight stubble on his jaw makes me want to scratch my fingers through it, the hair falling on his forehead makes me want to run my fingers through it, and the tattoos along his neck make me want to lick it.
“Something you want, little wolf?” His rumbling voice makes my heart speed up a little.
Of course he knows I’m watching him.
I shake my head slowly, even though he can’t see me, but his lips tip up into a small smile anyway. I smile too and lean back on my own hands, joining him in the moment of calm and just feel, sense. Breathe the life that surrounds us.
I’m used to Darius being close to me, the only constant since we came to Vokheim Keep.
It’s a comfort now.
I pick a lesia flower between us and bring it to my nose, inhaling its sweet, familiar scent.
We are no longer enemies, or even friends or lovers, we are so much more. I guess we are both learning how to be with each other. But after we have both laid bare, bleeding each other, it’s no wonder we feel comfortable.
When the other has seen you at your worst, you have nothing left to bare to them.
I squirm a little, feeling the gentle ache in my body and I welcome it, welcome how Darius makes me feel and how he seems insatiable with me.
I’ve never had someone who wants to touch me in the way he does. Though I suppose I haven’t allowed it in the past.
I wonder if I had tried harder in all the years in Eridian, if I would have met someone. But looking at Darius now, the shineof light that peeks through the branches that caress his face, I know that even if my past didn’t happen, I wouldn’t feel toward another like I do with him.
I like how he always makes sure his Elites are well fed and cared for, I like how he always prioritizes those in a village that are in need of the most urgent support against the rogures. That he sends those that need a new home to Colhelm, at the temporary place they have set up to keep those of Vrohkaria safe. I like his loyalty to his men and his closest. I like how he is with me, protecting me, always watching me.
It’s with that thought that I scoot closer to him, and without opening his eyes, his hand rests on my thigh, his thumb stroking back and forth without saying a word. Knowing I would feel embarrassed if he called out that I want his affection.
A relaxed sigh slips from me, and he makes a soft sound from his chest as my mind quiets down.
“Do you think we can stop the rogures?” I whisper, not wanting to ruin the quietness but needing to ask.
A pause. “We have no option but to stop them, little wolf, or all is lost.” My heart cracks at that.
“I wonder what we did wrong to deserve this,” I say aloud, thinking back to seeing that rogure appear out of that memory stone. “To right the wrong,” I mutter, placing the flower I still hold down to the ground.
It will die, fade away into nothing over time, just like the lands if we cannot do anything.
A hand lands on the back of my neck, and I look at Darius, but he still has his eyes closed. He lets out a little of his power to stroke the pulse point at my neck.
“We will right the wrong, but the wrong wasn’t done by you, it was done by others. Only we have the power to fix it.”
“Because we are Heirs?”
“Because we were found worthy of the power bestowed upon us.” I pause at that and look up at the branches above.
