He. Is. Perfection.
“Nice towel,” I blurt, closing my eyes for a moment and fighting the urge to scream for committing the crime of not thinking before speaking. It’s fine. Just… be cool. “You look pretty comfy yourself. I mean I doubt you could get much more comfortable unless you lost the towel completely. Nothing beats lounging around completely nude, am I right?”
Nailed it.
His slow, crooked smile tells me that I did not, in fact, nail it. Crossing his arms over his muscular chest, shoulder still pressed against the door frame, his green eyes shine brighter than the celestial light outside the balcony.
“Are you asking me to get naked for you, princess?” His teasing smile grows as my cheeks blaze from his words. “You could at least spend a little time getting to know me first. What’s my favorite color? My favorite flower?” Straightening and letting his hands fall to his sides, he tucks his wings in tight and prowls toward me. “My last name, even, what is it?” His head tilts slightly and he’s still wearing that annoying, amused smile that taunts me.
He thinks he’s being funny, but he’s not. I can’t laugh right now, not when I’m so thoroughly humiliated. He’s too hot for me to be able to form coherent sentences, and it doesn’t help that he can sense everything I feel whether I try to hide it or not. I’m an awkward mess with him. Not that I’ve met a winged, immortal man before, but even without that, Kairos is like no one I’ve ever encountered. His claiming to be my fated mate doesn’t help the situation either. I don’t know how the hell to act.
Brushing his wet blond locks back, his emerald eyes sparkle and penetrate my soul. My heart thuds loudly in my chest. He refuses to look away and I find myself not wanting him to, wanting him to dive deeper into my soul instead, to find and capture the part of me he says used to exist with him and bring her back. I panic as his hands clench the towel at his waist, hoping he doesn’t actually plan on removing it, but also really wishing he would.
“What is your last name, then?” Breathless words somehow find their way out, his body suddenly feeling too close and yet too far away.
“Kairos Davenshire is my full name. My favorite color is red. My favorite flowers are roses.” The corners of his lips twitch, but not with a smile, with an unspoken sadness. “Roses have a special meaning to me.” His throat bobs as his eyes drift from mine to my lips and back up again. “I want you to know everything, Nora. About me. About this realm. About you and…us.”
It drives me wild, the way he looks at me as if I’m the only thing he sees. Like I’m the only thing he has ever or will ever be able to see. I want to know everything about him.
Sitting up in bed, I tuck the silky blanket around my waist, leaning my back against the leather headboard. “How old are you? How long have you been a guardian and the commander of your army? Was I happy before? Were we happy together?” I tilt my head, noting the way his spine stiffens and then the muscles across his chest flex and unflex as he shifts on his feet.
I should have asked one question at a time. That was a lot to bombard him with all at once. I’m sure this is hard for him to handle, having to worry about protecting me from evil while also teaching me about things I should already know. There’s just so much I still don’t understand.
Taking a seat on the edge of the bed and facing me, he stares down at the floor. “I’m young compared to most of the celestials. I’ll be two hundred years old on July thirteenth.” He looks at me and smiles. “Don’t worry. You can skip getting me a gift next year, considering you feel you barely know me.”
I smile but roll my eyes dramatically and we both laugh.
“I spent my whole life training to be a guardian and a fighter before I met you. Unlike you who was created out of magic, I always knew what I would become because I was born and raised here with my parents.”
“Your parents. The ones who rule the celestial realms,” I breathe, shaking my head in disbelief.
I can’t imagine the pressure someone would feel being a son or daughter of such high-ranking rulers. It couldn’t have been easy for him. Especially now being separated from his father.
He nods once, rubbing his hands down the front of his towel. “Being a celestial is my whole life. I just want peace in the realms. So do my parents. So did you, and we fought for it every day once you formed the Dark Legion of Warriors. I joined and became your first in command and we were inseparable after.” Meeting my eyes, his smile is weak and his voice cracks as he continues. “You were happy. We both were.”
I wish I could climb into his mind and experience the past the way he remembers it. I’d love to remember us. I hate that I can’t.
“You’re amazing at what you do, Kairos. You saved me from myself when no one else could. If everything you’ve told me is true, then the gods allowed me to reincarnate for a reason. We’re together right now for a reason. Maybe this time we’ll finish what we set out to do. We can demolish darkness for good.” I lean forward, placing my hand on his. “I hope one day I can be as happy as you say I was before. For so long I’ve thought it was impossible for me, even though some days are better than others. I’m starting to wonder if maybe I was wrong.” Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes, inhaling the swirling power full of light and comfort that he carries around with him. “I swear I can already feel my soul changing since I stepped into this realm.”
If I was being completely honest with him, I’d admit that I felt something stirring within my soul the moment he crashed into my life, something that urges me to open my heart to him, but I won’t say that. I can’t admit the truth just yet.
“I believe you have a way of bringing out the light within me.” I pull away from him, running my hands over the velvety blanket draped over my lap. “Maybe out of anyone,” I say for good measure, not wanting to sound too sure or to give him too much hope that I might believe we’re truly fated to be, because I don’t know what I believe yet.
And I definitely don’t know what I want. All of this gets much more complicated by adding Ere into the mix. What if he does reach out to me? What if he decides he still wants to try? Do I just forget about what we had together? Forget about the love that was starting to blossom between us?
Standing, Kairos makes his way to the dresser in the corner of the room, the golden handles glistening as he pulls a drawer open. “Does your boyfriend not bring out your light? Does he not make you happy? You seem pretty damn happy in his presence, to me,” he grumbles, pulling clothes out of drawers that he then slams closed.
He slips into the bathroom for just a moment, long enough to throw on the black t-shirt and grey sweatpants that fit him so deliciously that I try not to drool. When he comes back out, he smooths out the waves of his hair and his shoulders sag as he sighs heavily.
He must have sensed my thoughts drifting off to Ere and what the hell I’m supposed to do. There’s no use pretending with him. He senses it all anyway. It’s a nice change after pretending with everyone else for so long. Ere is special, yes, but he doesn’t push away the darkness. Instead, he helps me accept it as a part of me. There’s a power in that as well, but I’d rather it be drowned out by blinding light until it no longer exists in me at all. If I had a choice in the matter, the dark parts of myself would be gone.
“I’m happy with Ere. He helps me accept the good and the bad things within. My broken, messy pieces have never scared him. He loves me for who I am.” I shrug, staring at my hands as he watches me.
Stepping forward, he softly runs his fingertips along my cheekbone, then lets his hand fall weakly to his side. “You are not broken, Nora. There’s not one thing bad about you. Don’t you dare let anyone make you feel otherwise.” As he looks into my eyes, the stars exist within them, a wide-open galaxy full of hope and promise and wonder, and I can’t breathe.
He sees me. He understands me. It’s as if Ere helps numb my wounds and forces them back together, and Kairos, he rips my heart open allowing my lost soul to breathe life again. I don’t know how I feel about this revelation of truth, but I know I shouldn’t voice it or consider it to mean more than it does. I don’t know Kairos yet, and Ere is good to me…was good to me. But as I unravel the layers of Kairos, I’m learning that there’s so much to like about him. His heart is pure and beautiful.
“Are you planning on sharing my bed with me, or should I sleep on the couch again?”
