“You’ll call us if he needs anything?” Axel asked. “Please.”
Rae nodded. “Of course.”
“Right, I’m going back to bed.” Lucifer yawned, stretching his arms up above his head. “Unless he’s dying, don’t call me. It takes at least eight hours every night to look this good.” With a wink he left, Sam and Axel following quickly after. Rae stood there for a few minutes, not sure what to do.
Titus looked so still, too still. Climbing onto the bed, the opposite side to where his wing lay, she pressed her body against his. As soon as she’d settled, the earlier panic came back with a vengeance.
“You need to stop doing this,” she whispered against him, knowing he couldn’t hear her. “You’re going to give me a heart attack. Do you think the relic will bring me back to life if that happens?”
His breathing was soft and even, and she pressed her hand against his chest, just feeling his heart beat steadily. The relief was instant, easing the tightness in her lungs.
“I don’t know how to feel about it,” she continued. “It’s weird to think that I’m going to live a few more hundred years. That this whole time my mum had kept this a secret. Do you think the pendant was what turned her mad?”
The pendant lay against her skin, the dressing gown gaping slightly.
“I’m jealous of your family. I thought Axel was going to explode when he saw you, he was so scared.” She smiled against his arm. “Must be nice to have that, for someone to care so much. But then again, I’ve haven’t felt real fear in a long time, not until I thought I’d lost you.”
She tried to relax her body beside his. “You scare me, Titus. Other than my brother, I’ve never had to care about anyone else in a long time.”
Rae yawned, her body fatigued, drained. They hadn’t slept at the hotel, instead deciding to head straight back to the house. His home.
“I can feel you, you know,” she whispered, as if she was confessing a sin. “I didn’t realise what it was before, but you’re there, this warmth that I couldn’t explain.” Lifting her head, she looked down at him. “Does that mean we’re mated? Like you said?”
She knew he couldn’t reply. And yet, she still found herself talking, unable to stop the verbal diarrhoea.
“I don’t know why I’m surprised. You’re always taking charge in these things.” She continued to talk, telling him stories of her childhood, the few happy ones, and then tales of her assassinations in glorious detail. She wasn’t sure how long she simply whispered to him, baring her soul before she finally closed her eyes, and sleep finally dragged her under.
* * *
TITUS
His back fucking ached.
“Fuck the Fates,” Titus muttered, turning on his side to find it empty. “Rae?”
He sat up, wincing at the pain in his wing. It lay limp beside him, a large, black, useless piece of flesh. He was tempted to rip that one off too.
“Rae?” he called louder, panic sour on his tongue. He remembered convincing her it was safer at the house, and then nothing. “Rae!”
“In here,” came her reply, voice drifting from the bathroom.
Titus settled on his legs, satisfied that they’d hold under his weight. Other than his fucking wing, he felt fine, good even.
Rae stood by the mirror, her dressing gown caught on her elbows, her breasts exposed. She was staring at the moon, her smile sad. “You’ve been asleep for eight hours straight,” she said, turning to look at him over her shoulder. She was beautiful, her hair holding a natural wave and the morning sun highlighting the freckles along the bridge of her nose. “You even snored.”
“Did I?” he asked, her smile turning teasing.
“Hmmm. Like a train. Is this what I’ve signed myself up for?”
Titus couldn’t not touch her, his hand curling around the back of her neck. “Plus orgasms.”
She tipped back her head to better meet his gaze. “Oh, like I could forget about the orgasms.” She smirked. “You feeling okay?”
“Better once we kill your Guildmaster.” He wouldn’t settle for anything less.
Rae pursed her lips. “Axel knocked about an hour ago. He loves you, you know. As do the others.”
Titus nodded. “I know. They’re my family –”
