Tethys smiled at his mention. Her eyes softened with an understanding that both terrified and comforted him. In the passing stillness between them, Araes realized that maybe she was just as broken as he was.
Maybe she was the dawn in the lonely darkness he’d found himself in.
Maybe this warmth in his chest wasn’t just the wine.
Maybe it washer.
“He was…everything to me,” he whispered, feeling a crack in the dam he’d spent forever building.
“I’m sorry, Araes. Although differently, grief is a close friend,” she said, sliding her hand across the table to meet his. Cautiously, he intertwined his fingers with hers. Where his were calloused and rough from years of wielding a sword, hers were smooth and delicate.
They were so damned different from one another, so starkly contradictory. And yet, their hands fit together as if they’d been sculpted for one another entirely.
“I haven’t been able to talk about him like this for years, but tonight it feels…easy. For the first time in a very long time, I want to,” he said, stroking his thumb along the back of her hand.
“So tell me about him.”
And so Araes did.
He told her about Enyo’s favorite spot by the river where they’d throw stones as children, and the way his hair was always disheveled and unkempt. He told her about the morning Enyo left for his training, and about the last time he’d seen him. And when he told her again about the silent soldier that had come knocking with the news that split him in two, he couldn’t help but notice the drops of quiet understanding streaking her cheeks.
When they retired up the stairs, the weight of his memories Araes carried on his back somehow felt lighter.
“Goodnight then,wife,” Araes whispered, watching thegoddess watch him.
“It’d be more appropriate to say good morning, I think.” Tethys laughed as she nodded toward a window, reflecting the soft light of an approaching dawn.
Gods, that laugh. He’d give his life to hear it one more time.
“What I wouldn’t do to hear that laugh again, Goddess,” he whispered, risking a step closer. For a heartbeat, Araes weighed his options. Cross the line he so desperately tread. Or stay where it was safe, comfortable.
“And what would you do to hear it?” she replied. Her voice was breathless and equally quiet.
“There are fables of mortal men burning the world just for a minute of your attention,” he said cupping her cheek.
“And would you?” She leaned into his touch. “Burn the world for me, I mean?”
Fuck, this woman was everything. Her cheek was so soft in his hand, and her lips…those perfect lips. Were they just as soft?
“For you, Goddess…” His voice trailed off as he closed the distance between them, breathing in her very essence as his lips hovered just above the sensitive part of her neck. Araes felt her stiffen beneath him. She pressed against him, and just the feel of his thighs between hers was nearly his undoing. “I’d set the entire fucking continent to flames, if that’s what you desired.”
“This is dangerous, Lieutenant.”
The whisper in his ear sent a shockwave through him.
“Yes, it is,” he said, running his hand down her arm and lacing his fingers in hers.
“We’d be fools to do this.”
His other hand grasped the curve of her hip.
“Yes, we would be.” The rush of need now blazing through him ignited every cell of his skin and he hardened against her. Judging by the way she clung to his body, heknew the feeling was mutual.
The alarm bell echoed through his head, but he couldn’t hear it over the pounding thrum of his heart slamming against his chest cavity. He was at her mercy entirely. The forbidden feel of her body against his nearly brought him to his knees.
“Fuck it,”he whispered.
Then his lips were on hers. She practicallymeltedbeneath him, her groan lingering on his tongue as she matched his every move. Their mouths moved in perfect, hungry unison and she wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer.
