Page 10 of The Ascended
"I'm not trying to scare you away," I said, forcing a laugh. "I'm just saying... I don't know. Maybe I’ve seen too many of those traveling theater shows. All those dramatic stories about cursed lovers and tragic endings."
Marel smiled, some of the tension leaving his face. "You're worried about tragedy? Thais, we live in a fishing village. Half the men here don't come back from the deep waters. Life is already dangerous."
"I suppose that’s true."
He reached for my hand. "Look, I know you're worried about something. But whatever it is, you don't have to face it alone."
I reached for him, pulling him closer, and he came willingly, his arms wrapping around me as I buried my face against his neck. When he kissed me, it was with an urgency I’d never seen from him. I gave myself over to the sensation, letting myself forget for a moment about my secrets. There was just this. Marel's mouth on mine, his hands in my hair, the simple connection I'd been craving.
"Are you sure you’re okay with this tonight?" he whispered against my lips, his hazel eyes searching mine in the fading light. “I don’t want to cross a boundary, especially if you’re in a bad state of mind.”
"I need this," I said, and it was the most honest thing I'd said all day.
His hands were gentle as they traced the line of my jaw, down my throat to the hollow where my pulse hammered against my skin. "You're shaking," he observed softly.
"I'm fine," I lied, but we both knew it wasn't true. I was coming apart at the seams, had been since the moment I'd left the cottage.
"No, you're not," Marel said, his thumb brushing across my lower lip. "And that's okay. You don't have to be fine with me."
I pulled him down, kissing him with a desperate hunger, pouring all my fear and need into the contact. He responded with equal fervor, his hands tangling in my hair as he deepened the kiss.
We helped each other out of our clothes, movements eager but familiar. We'd done this before, countless times over the last few years, but tonight felt different. We were teetering on a precipice. A truth I could never reveal, but one he sensed nonetheless.
Marel's hands knew my body well by now, knew exactly where to touch to make me gasp and arch beneath him. But there was a new tenderness in the way he explored, as if he were trying to remember every inch of me.
"How are you so beautiful?" he murmured against my shoulder, and I could hear the wonder in his voice.
I wanted to tell him it wasn't natural, that there was something wrong with me that I couldn't explain. But the words caught in my throat as his mouth found the sensitive spot at the base of my neck.
He paused, reaching for his discarded clothes. "Just a moment," he said, retrieving a small wrapped packet from his pocket. There was an efficiency in his movements as he prepared himself.
The grass was soft, cushioning us as we came together. Above us, the first stars were beginning to emerge in the darkening sky, scattered like diamonds across velvet. I tried to focus on them, tried to keep some part of my mind anchored to something beyond the sensations flooding me.
"Let me," he said softly. "Let me take care of you."
In our previous encounters, I had always been the one in control–the one who set the pace. But tonight I found myself surrendering to his gentle insistence.
His hands were everywhere, worshipping every inch of exposed skin. When his mouth followed the path his hands had traced, I couldn't suppress the soft sounds that escaped my lips, my back arching involuntarily.
"Marel," I whispered.
"I know," he said against my skin. "I know, love. I've got you."
The endearment seeped into me. Love. No one had ever called me that before—not with such tenderness, such certainty. And never during a moment like this, with our bodies tangled together.
For a moment, I let myself imagine what it would be like to be the kind of woman someone could love without reservation. One who didn't carry secrets—who could give her heart freely instead of sharpening it like a weapon.
The fantasy lasted exactly three heartbeats before reality crashed back in. He didn't know what I was. Didn't know that loving me was the most dangerous thing he could possibly do. And I was too selfish—too desperate for the comfort of connection to let him go.
The guilt felt like drowning. Marel deserved someone who loved him completely, not someone who used him as an anchor to feel normal. The hardest truth was that even if I weren't half-divine, even if I could tell him everything—I wasn't certain I would ever feel for him what he clearly felt for me.
The moment we joined, the power that I kept so carefully contained began to stir. I tried to ignore it, tried to focus solely on Marel.
He moved slowly at first, his eyes never leaving mine. But as I responded to his touch, as my body welcomed him deeper, the gentleness gave way to urgency. Desperation. Longing.
"God, Thais," he gasped, his forehead pressed against mine. "You feel..."
I couldn't form words to answer, could only hold him closer. My gaze was drawn upward to those brilliant points of light, and I watched in growing alarm as they began to pulse.
