Page 74 of The Reaping Rose

“No, every Fae’s wings are different. Some have been known to look like water. Some are iridescent. Mine are gold, like aether, but they were as hard as metal. Like shards of swords but light as feathers. Not nearly as soft as yours.”

“Were they sharp?”

My eyebrows pinch as I think back to the one and only time my wings burst out of me. They’re a physical form as much as they aren’t. They’re an extension of something deeper than magic or Fae.

“No, they weren’t sharp.”

She bites her lower lip. “Were they sensitive?”

My head cocks to the side as her cheeks blush. “I don’t know. No one touched them. Are yours sensitive?”

I can still feel the feathers between my fingers. The delicate wisps that were an extension of my mate. The softest graze that set every nerve in my body on its ends even if they weren’t a part of me.

“I’ve never felt anything like it.”

My grin grows. “Well then, maybe we should be thankful yours appear easier than most. This could be fun.”

With a surge of my magic, I flip us around until I’m resting between Elorie’s legs, and she’s looking up at me. Her hair splays over the sheet. A halo of white and blue.

“Haven’t you had enough of me yet, King Riven?” Her smile turns to a moan as I kiss down her throat.

“There is no getting enough of you. Not in this realm, this life, or in all of the fates.” My lips trail a path down, between her breasts, moving from one peaked nipple to the other.

She moans. “I can’t help but agree.”

I chuckle, aiming lower as a knock comes at the door. This time, Elorie is the one groaning before I am.

“We found something,” Atlas says through the thread I open for him.

“And you need me now?”

“It’s about the Arch.”

My body tenses, and Elorie must not miss it because her eyebrows pinch. But I smooth the wrinkle between them with my finger, not wanting to worry her.

Ever since Perame said Elorie’s blood is the key to reaching the void, I’ve been on edge, not sure how that will play out.

“I’ll be right there,” I tell Atlas, closing the thread and meeting Elorie’s gaze. “I need to meet with my court.”

Elorie’s fingers dig into my shoulders, and I shudder. “You’re busy for a king who has yet to claim his crown.”

“I suppose you’re right, my future queen.”

Her cheeks pinken as I slide off the bed and tug on my pants. Maybe if I say it enough, when the time comes, she’ll finally agree to accept my kingdom. I know her loyalty is to Lyrichia, but I hold out hope that someday her heart can beat for Vaelier as well. That she can see past this divide, and we can figure this out together.

From the beginning, Malachi made sure Elorie was torn between two kingdoms, two kings, two crowns. Sometimes, I think she’s still stuck there, worrying that by being mine, she’ll have to turn her back on all she knows.

Sometimes I fear she’ll never be able to let that go.

Chapter 25

Elorie

My hair fans out across the water. Strands dance with the sprigs of lavender on the surface. Steam curls up my cheeks, bathing me in warmth. Behind me, the door to the bathing chamber cracks open, and I sense aether stirring before Wilder enters.

His footsteps pad across the stone floor until he’s standing over where I’m floating in the large tub.

“Are you going to stand there and watch, or are you going to join me?”