Thescars.
Aziel seemed as if he wanted to turn away from her, his hands curling into fists. “Was it foolish that I once convinced myself that if people saw that I had no scars, it meant that I was far more of a threat? I wanted to give the impression that I was untouchable.”
Nymiria brought her hand up to his chin, her fingers brushing over the stubble along his jaw, stopping when her thumb graced the edge of his scar. “I don’t want you to hide yourself from me.” She smiled, releasing him to resume her work. “It would be rather hypocritical of you. After all you’ve said about accepting myself, I would expect you to do the very same.” He let out a breathy laugh, shaking his head as she began working on his shoulders. When she glanced up at him, she could see small, puncture-like scars along his chin. “Any other glamours I should know of?”
He shook his head in response. “No, I believe the scars were my final trick.” He said quietly. “It is exhausting, isn’t it? Hidingthe things about you—hoping that, if you can’t see them, they won’t seem so real.”
She fought the impulse to touch the scar on her stomach, the traitor mark that’d been branded into her flesh. Instead, she merely smiled. “I didn’t realize how tired glamours made me until I stopped using them to hide things.” She confessed. “I have you to thank for that.”
“Me?” His brow arched, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “And here I was thinking that you became so brave all on your own.”
She lifted one shoulder and shuffled around the tub, taking his other arm into her hand. She started with his fingers, slowly working her way up until she reached a crescent-shaped brand on his bicep that matched the ones she’d seen on all of the other male courtesans in Yaar. “Perhaps the bravery had always been there, residing somewhere inside of me.” She looked up into his eyes, not even remotely startled when she found him staring back at her. “I have no doubt in my mind that I just needed someone to bring it to life again. Whether or not you want to believe it, I think you’ve healed me in ways that even I can’t begin to explain.”
“As broken as I am?” He asked.
The look in his eyes shifted, darkening to something that made her body burn. Nymiria drew in a ragged breath, wetting her lips nervously before she spoke again. “Maybe your broken pieces are just the right shape and size to fill the gaps in between mine.”
No matter how many times he’d shown his speed and strength, it was always a surprise to her when he used it. Before Nymiria could blink, he’d lifted her from the floor and was placing her on top of the vanity. His body was still dripping with water, his hands dampening the fabric of her thin, white cotton gown. He was situated between her spread thighs, his forehead pressed against hers. “You have made me weak.” He breathed againsther, one hand coming up to tangle in the hair on the back of her head, tilting her face towards his. “A weakness I believed I’d never feel again.”
Nymiria could feel the branches on his chest twisting underneath her fingers, writhing like living things under her touch. She could feel the beating of his heart within its boned cage, hard and fast, as if he were absolutely terrified.
“Even the darkest parts of my soul come to life in your presence. This heart is ruined, Moonflower, but it is yours and yours, alone.” He pressed her hand harder against his chest, those branches seeming to part to make room for her. “Everything I have done, everything that I have survived was done with you in mind. I have built this life for you. The only reason my heart beats is because of you. And,” he paused, his hand falling away from hers, only to rest upon her hip. “You have filled every gap in my soul, too.”
“Show me,” Nymiria whispered, eyes moving from where her hand rested against his chest to his eyes. “Show me that this is real.” His hands moved from her hips to her bottom, gripping it tight as he pulled her closer to him. Her arousal pulsed the moment her sex pressed against his own, already standing proudly between them.
“Do you know how long I’ve loved you?” He asked. The sound of those words were still overwhelming, but they did not insight fear in her nearly as much as they had before. Her heart, that peculiar little creature inside her chest, was a skittish and broken thing. Perhaps it always would be. But instead of terror, Nymiria feltsafe.
Knowing she would have to return to Everand and finish all of this once and for all, she felt the strongest urge to bask in this moment, to allow their hearts a moment of reprieve before terror began anew.
Her hands dragged over Aziel’s sides, fingers trailing over raised flesh and jagged lines. “Tell me.” She said softly.
“I came to you each day until your trial in Yaar. At first, I believed that it was just out of feeling responsible for you. But the first time that you smiled at me, Moonflower, it nearly brought me to my knees.” His thumb brushed over her lower lip, drawing a hot breath from her. “I had nothing to offer you when I was a boy, but I wanted to provide you with a sense of safety that neither of us ever had. I wanted to give you security. I wanted to—I wanted to give you a home.”
“Youare my home.” Though the words left her mouth at their own accord, Nymiria had never heard something more true. She’d felt at home before. She’d known the comfort of love and the warmth that came from being surrounded by people who cared for her. For the ten years she spent in Yaar, she searched in the lowest of places for that feeling. But nothing—nothing—had ever come close. Save for the warmth she felt when that young boy visited her in those dungeons, save for when that boy smiled at her. Knowing that that very boy was the man before her now, she realized that home had never truly been a place.
It was a memory. A feeling. Home was the smell of a crisp spring morning, the scent of cherry blossoms blowing into a room through a cracked window. It was the warmth of his hands against her skin, the smell of leather that clung to them. Home was him.
She released a long breath, lips twitching into a soft smile. “I wish I would have met you sooner. I probably wouldn’t have been so stubborn.”
“Fate always has a funny way of putting people exactly where they need to be—exactly when they need to be there.” His hand hooked under her chin, drawing her closer.
She shouldn’t have felt so nervous. Neither of them were unfamiliar with one another’s bodies, but this was so differentfrom the times before. When he kissed her this time, it was not rushed. It was gentle, with a careful slide of lips and tongues and soft caresses along each curve of her body. She moved with him, never against—arching into his palm as it skimmed over the swell of her breast, gripping his neck and drawing him closer to her.
There was pure fire in his eyes when he pulled away from her, their gazes never parting as he reached between them and gripped the hem of her gown. Nymiria lifted her arms, allowing him to pull the fabric over her head, her mind far too distracted with the absolute beauty of him to care where it went.
His lips found her neck immediately, his skilled tongue and lips working over the tender flesh below her ear. Her body fell back, one hand catching herself on the vanity as the other plunged into his hair. Fingertips dug into her sides, curving her body closer to him as he worked his way across her shoulders—leaving not one moonflower along her skin untouched. His tongue made a path between her breasts, his hot breath rousing bumps along her skin.
Aziel’s fingers moved between her thighs as he took her breast into his mouth. A soft moan spilled from her lips, her mouth falling open as she watched him. It was slow and deliberate, each movement a testament to his feelings. She saw the determination in his eyes, the possessive nature of his being when he looked up at her, taking her nipple between his teeth. He tugged at it gently, his whole body seemingly rippling beneath her hands when she gasped.
It was enough to drive her mad and while Nymiria was certainly not one to complain about all of the terrible ways he worked her body, she just wantedhim. The moment his mouth slid to her navel, Nymiria cupped his face in her hands and urged him upright. She kissed him with such force that he was fallingforward, one hand braced against the wall behind her head and the other steadying her.
“Showme.” She didn’t care just how desperate she sounded. She’d missed him too much and had been deprived of the feeling of him being inside of her for far too long. Aziel never took his eyes off of her. Even as he pulled her hips closer to his. Even as he nudged her entrance with the head of his cock, he watched.
A shiver ran over her skin, her lips parting as he pushed the tip into her wet heat. It took every ounce of strength not to just drive himself into her. But he wanted to see and commit to memory every expression of her face. When the first rung of piercings passed through her, Nymiria’s lips parted. By the fourth rung, her brow contorted, her walls clamping down around him as if to draw him deeper. He held on to his restraint, watching as she took each inch of him. Aziel leaned forward, pressing his forehead against hers as he sheathed himself fully. He waited, allowing her a moment to adjust.
Nymiria could feel him pulsing inside of her, could feel each metal ball pressing into her—massaging her as he withdrew himself again. Not entirely, but just enough for her to release a desperate whimper. Her thighs trembled and flexed at his sides, her face flushing a deep shade of pink when she glanced down between their bodies. His cock shone with her arousal, and while something so lewd should have been shameful, Nymiria found herself absolutely enthralled with the sight. Aziel’s jaw was tight when she looked up at him again. It was evident that his resolve was close to collapsing.
“Say it again.” Her voice sounded foreign, a distant thing that came from somewhere within her, rather than her own mouth.
