The air around us feels heavy and charged. His body sags against me and his muscular arms reach around to cling to me. The weight of his body has me straining, and I raise my chin up to glance at him. I feel his tears land on my face before I see them sliding down his skin.
He begins to tremble and his hold tightens, as if I’d slip through if he let go.
Inky locks lick my face in the cavern breeze that’s picked up, likely due to a storm on the sea. I feel his hands shift and he moves them up my spine, almost reassuring himself I’m very much real.
I watch him squeeze his eyes shut, letting more tears slip from them. He looks like an avenging spirit consumed by everything.Grief, hope,something else—it’s all engraved in the trickles that slowly cease slipping down his tanned face.
There are no words to describe what I’m feeling as I carry his burdens and hold him up. His vulnerability is unexpected, and it’s apparent that he’s held himself together for so long in fear of being lost to it.
His trembling slows and I feel him start to gain his composure.
Though his arms remain locked around me, he stands straighter and in the next moment lifts me into the air. He wraps one arm under my knees and has me cradled against his heaving chest.
I’m still stunned by this sudden change. It’s rare to see a man almost fall apart in front of you, but I welcome his vulnerability. The Devourer may be a beast but Kassiel is not.
“Kassiel,” I whisper against his chest, “what do you think of the fates, them placing us in each other's path?”
“I think the fates are often cruel, but sometimes seem to reward those who have suffered greatly.”
I inhale his scent, the minty earthen smell. Like oakmoss mingled with wild mintheather.
I begin to speak again, intoxicated by his aroma, “I dare not say it aloud, but for you I will. I think I’m starting to rather enjoy being near you. I dread the moments when you're not next to me.”
Sighing, I admit, “You’ve started to feel like home.”
My cheeks blaze with the confession. It’s too fast to admit that and gods, I’m exhausted anyways and delirious. His scent does something to me, as if I’ve been in a parlor partaking in smoking herbs.
“I’d gladly fall upon my knees before you.” His words sound slightly muffled as he speaks them into my hair. He kisses my crown and then whispers. “I’d leap from the heavens where the gods reside if it meant a place next to you.”
If my heart could burst from the swelling tide of emotions, I’m sure it would. I lift my chin and see shadows peeling from him as if he’s out of control, unable to contain the whispers of his being.
His smoldering gaze has my breath stopping. His eyes seem to have fractured, little black crevices breaking up the brilliant green.
His magic calls to mine, coaxing my illusion from my veins. The soft shimmer of light glints off his face while his shadows stroke the light beams. They mingle in a fury of chaos. The shadowy iridescent beams wrap around us and I can’t help themagnetic pull of his mouth. I lean up and twist my fingers into his hair as he crashes his hungry lips into mine.
He kisses me greedily, his tongue slipping in to taste mine, as if he could feast on me. My skin hums with need as I grab for him, urging him to not break our kiss. I close my eyes and the sensation of his fingers digging into my flesh makes me want to strip him down here and now. His delicious scent, moss and mint, continues to fill my nostrils.
I want to be lost in his darkness, cloaked in the shadow of his soul. It’s the only thought that crosses my mind because gods, this is as close as I’ve come to feeling the peace of the veil and Plains of Elmir. I could drown in it. In him.
He breaks the kiss, pulling back from me with such ferocity written on his face.
“You’re what I need.”
He looks past me and saunters slowly to the door before kicking it open. Hearing Oak greet us from inside, I wince at the prospect of my door getting damaged but fuck if that wasn’t hot.
He’s absolutely focused as he pulls me against him, his need demanding he claim me as he presses his mouth against mine.
“I’m yours. I’ll be with you through it all.” My words rush out to meet him again as his lips trail my neck.
He lifts me in his arms and rushes to set me upon my tabletop, the wobbly legs threatening to give out under the sudden weight. He swipes his arm to clear the random clutter and it topples to the floor in a clang. His clothes are ripped off in a quick swoop of his muscular arms and he tenderly undresses me.
What happens next feels sacred. Like his soul demands mine in the sweetest plea that feels like an act of worship.
His fingers feather down my jaw before languidly tracing the bead of sweat that drops between my breasts. My nipples pebbleand my skin prickles with gooseflesh as he delicately caresses me, more of a tease than anything else.
Greedily I pull his face to mine and kiss his lips, letting my tongue explore his mouth before he playfully flicks his own back over mine.
He pulls his face back, giving just enough space to where our noses barely touch. His hot breath fans over my chest as he looks down and kneads my breasts.
