Page 114 of Sent To A Fantasy World and Now All the Men Want Me 7

And then, I flattened my palm over his heart. Just like I’d done in the greenhouse, only now, I wasn’t filled with a desperate need to save him.

I thought only of my love for Onyx. How I wanted to warm that cold, dark place inside of him so he’d never again know the frigid chill of the ice.

Closing my eyes, I envisioned the glowing ember between us and replayed all the moments with him where he’d revealed his softer side. Moments where he’d laughed so freely, as if for that brief time, he was unburdened by the curse hanging over him. I recalled the softness of his lips and his smoky, masculine scent as he wrapped me in his arms, our bodies tangling together. In his bed. In our cave.

My hand tingled, like that feeling when it fell asleep. Tiny prickles like static electricity. My palm heated even further, and I imagined that heat seeping into him. Comforting rather than harming though. Never to harm.

“Gods,” Briar softly said.

I kept my eyes closed and tilted my head forward, still with my hand on Onyx’s chest. A pair of trembling lips met mine. Woodsmoke and cedar wrapped around me as the kiss deepened. There was a tickle of hair against my cheek before something wet and warm landed on my skin.

“Little bird?”

I opened my eyes. Ruby irises stared back at me, no longer pitch black and radiating rage. Instead, I saw my demon lord again, one whose glassy eyes shone with an achy tenderness as our gazes held. The red and black scale-like markings beneath his skin started to fade, returning to his porcelain complexion. His horns retreated back into his scalp, and the leathery wings curled back into his body.

Neither of us seemed willing to look away from the other.

“You did it, love.” Briar gaped down at us. “You… you lifted his curse.”

“No,” Onyx said, his voice hoarse. My other men still had hold of him, but he rested his forehead against mine. “He didn’t lift my curse. He shattered it completely. Chased away the darkness in my soul with a type of warmth I’ve never before felt.”

“His love for you,” Lake said, relaxing his hold on Onyx.

The world around me started to blur, the edges of my vision going wonky.

“Ev?” Callum released Onyx and dropped beside me, placing a hand on my lower back to keep me steady.

“I’m… okay,” I said, surprised by how difficult it was to say those two words. A dizzy spell came over me, and I blinked a few times.

“Perhaps you should lie down, sweetheart.” Maddox neared my other side.

I slumped forward, my head lolling on Onyx’s shoulder. And everything went dark.

***

A light pressure sat on my chest. The first thing I became aware of as I started to wake up. It shifted a bit before settling again. Something soft batted at my nose.

Cheep.

I opened my eyes to a fuzzy, orange face. Pumpkin stared back at me and wiggled his butt, releasing adorable chirps. The sound must have alerted others in the room.

“Sweetheart.” Maddox knelt beside the bed and grabbed my hand, pressing it to his lips. “Thank the gods you’re awake.”

The concern in his voice confused me. Why would he be worried? Pumpkin scurried off me and leapt from the bed, his paws thudding against the floor in his retreat. I blinked a few times and tried to lift my head, but it felt too heavy.

“Easy, love.” Briar appeared beside Maddox holding a streaming cup. “Phantasia said you may be disoriented when first waking.”

It took my brain a moment to process my surroundings. Candlelight flickered across the walls, and there was a distant murmur of voices. The feather bed beneath me molded to my body like a memory foam mattress, so damn comfortable, as was the pillowy red blanket draped over me. I was in Onyx’s bed.

Onyx.

Flashes of pitch-black eyes and horns filled my head. Teeth that sank into my neck and the brush of dragon wings.

“Onyx!” I flung upward, only for everything to start spinning around me. Softly groaning, I plopped back down against the pillow. “What… what happened?”

“The curse is no longer with him,” Briar said, sitting beside me. He helped me sit up a little as Maddox fluffed my pillows and propped me against them. “Drink this. It will help you regain your strength.”

He pressed the cup to my lips, and I sipped. The tea tasted citrusy with a subtle sweetness. But I didn’t want to drink tea right then. I wanted to see Onyx. To see with my own eyes that he was okay.