30
AERIN
When Aerin wakes on Malice’s chest, she finds herself wishing she could stay there forever. His wings fell away from her as he slept soundly. His heartbeat is steady, reassuring. The blood-bond is calm, happy once again.
The last 48 hours were a whirlwind, and as much as Aerin wants to let herself fall back asleep, she knows someone else in her home needs her. She now has two bonded-mates. As unworthy as she feels of that, she wants to do her best for the both of them.
An hour ago, that meant leaving Emrys in the living room while she dealt with Malice. Now that means leaving the warm arms around her to check on her Wolf, on her newly bonded-mate. The Pack magic inside of Aerin feels evasive, but even without a good grip on it, she can feel her connection to Emrys, like a ball of light between her collar bones.
Carefully sliding off Malice, Aerin is wary of placing any weight on his splayed wings. The Dragon-Fae doesn’t stir and for this Aerin is thankful. She pauses, taking in his beauty. There is something heart-warming about seeing him like this, unwound, relaxed. She hopes, with time, she can see this side of him moreoften. She hopes that sharing these intimate moments softens him to her. Perhaps he can start to see she is only doing her best, only doing what shehasto do.
Aerin leaves Malice’s room, shutting the door softly behind her. A glance down the hall reveals the large white Wolf laying on the floor outside Aerin’s bedroom door. Aerin attempts to approach silently, but Emrys stirs, lifting his massive head. She wonders when she will get used to his size. He is the largest Wolf she’s ever seen.
Crouching down in front of Emrys, his brown eyes are as expressive as ever. He gazes at her with intensity. She places a hand on the top of his head, letting it run through his soft fur, around the back of his ear to the underside of his jaw. She places her other hand to mirror the first, holding his head in her hands.
“Can I see you in your other form?” Aerin asks gently.
Emrys blinks before doing the same head shake that shifted him last time. Aerin stands as his Fae form unfurls, her hands falling from his face. Apprehension curls through his muscles.
All the words Aerin had in her head fade and instead she holds out her hand. “Come,” she offers. Taking her hand Emrys follows her to the bathroom.
“I still can’t believe you’re here,” Aerin murmurs, letting go of his hand to turn on the shower. She desperately needs to wash this day away.
Aerin doesn’t pay much attention to Emrys as she begins to strip off her clothes. The items were transformed by her magic so many times they are stiff and saturated with dirt, sweat, and blood, all of which she’d hidden from their eyes.
When Aerin turns around, bare, Emrys stands before her with heat in his eyes. She watches as his gaze devours her, head to toe. She flashes back to the first time those amber eyes took her in like this, she’d been bashful back then. She remembers how she covered her breasts with her arms and how Emrysgently peeled them away. He’d been shorter then, golden tan with sandy blonde hair, so different from now.
But his eyes, those eyes have always been the same. Whether he is Elara’s image, a Wolf, or this Fae in front of her now. Emrys could never hide himself, not from Aerin.
Those eyes lock with hers, blazing with too many emotions for Aerin to try to dissect. She gestures to his clothes, “You can’t shower with all that on, Em,” she tries a joke. Something to make it feel a little less like her world is tilting on its axis.
When Emrys peels off his shirt, Aerin’s breath hitches. She realizes nothing could stop her world from tilting right now. Emrys’s torso is long, fair skinned like his limbs. He looks to be cut from marble—smooth, pale, and absolutely ripped. Each ab ripples as he drops his shirt onto the ground. Aerin lets her eyes follow his hands down to the button of his jeans. Tracking over the deep V that draws down from his hips to the smatter of black hair against his stomach that trails even lower.
Emrys removes his pants and underwear in one go, stepping out of them and kicking them to the side. Just like his torso and arms, his legs are long and lean, striations of muscles beneath his skin move as he does. His chest heaves a bit faster than normal. His cock stands proud, just as long as the rest of him, in perfect proportion.
Aerin’s voice catches in her throat. For all the times she has quips, or vicious remarks, or calming phrases, right now she has none of them.
Emrys is otherworldly, absolutely one of a kind. Something intimate hums between them as they take each other in, thickening the air around them. Stepping into the steaming shower, Aerin leaves the door open for him. Emrys follows, shutting the door and crowding her in the space. It suddenly seems much smaller. Her breath hitches as warm water pours over her head.
Aerin places a hand on his chest, feeling him. He is almost cool to the touch, shivering when Aerin’s skin touches his.
“Show me,” Aerin all but begs. Magic flares. It has a different feel than her normal magic. The Pack magic is wilder, but still, it obeys her wishes.
Emrys’s marble skin vanishes, and in its place are his scars. They mar him head to toe, small thin ones next to large, jagged ones. Some appear like blasts, others like burns, and of course, bite marks. Everywhere.
Aerin can’t stop the tears that pool in her eyes. She runs her hands over a smattering of small scars on his right peck, shaped as if he’d been hit by something that burst on impact. Her hand trails down over other scars until it stops on one over his right hip, a bite mark. The scar almost seems blurred, as if someone bit down and then tore. Aerin isn’t sure she can take in the rest of him without breaking down. Emrys bore only a few of these scars eight years ago.
“You are free now; do you understand that, Emrys? I willneverkeep you the way she kept you,” Aerin rasps, barely able to get the words out.
Emrys grasps either side of Aerin’s face and crashes his lips into hers. Aerin lets him kiss her, lets herself fall into the way his lips move against hers. So familiar it aches. Aerin tastes her own salty tears on his tongue when he swipes it past her lips. One of his arms falls to her lower back and the other goes behind her head. He braces her body against his. Aerin’s hands bury in his hair, gripping him tightly, as if he’d vanish if she lets go.
After a long time Emrys pulls back. Aerin’s lips are swollen, and he is panting. He places his forehead against hers, water raining down around them.
“I am honored to call you my Alpha, Aerin Tolvare. I am not going anywhere,” Emrys says. His words feel like another typeof kiss, a seal. One Aerin didn’t know she needed until it sinks below her skin and settles there.
31
MALICE
