AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The first word they get of the outside world is when a mail carrier stumbles on their borrowed house on his way from the mountain to the coast, and he tells them about a demon who helped dig the town out from under eight feet of snow and an angel who healed an epidemic of childrens’ coughing.
“They didn’t stick around long, but I imagine they’re headed to the next town to do another good deed,” the carrier says.
“That’s it,” Arsene tells Nur when the human has left.
Nur’s mouth turns down in a sulk. “What?”
“We’re going to find them. Iknowit’s them. You must know it too. Tell me your—yourpremonitionsays otherwise.” He taps Nur’s bare chest.
Nur turns away, reaching for Arsene’s gold comb. Arsene’s wings shiver in anticipation. His mate is exceedingly good at distractions—his nimble hands know when to soothe and when to tug. He’s also perfectly willing to let Arsene losehimselfin combing Nur’s wings for hours, which he usually doesn’t submit to, if it’ll get Arsene to drop a topic he doesn’t want to talk about.
“It doesn’t work like that,” Nur says.
Arsene pounces and pins him to the straw mattress. He nips the comb out of Nur’s grip and puts it back on the table. “I’ll go alone.”
Nur sighs and goes limp under him, which gives Arsene free reign to kiss the marks he made the previous night all up and down Nur’s strong neck. He still bears a scar in the shape of the King’s hand on his neck, but like Arsene’s scars, it fades day by day. Arsene tastes the soft skin with his tongue, and Nur arches.
“You won’t.”
“I won’t,” Arsene admits. “Please go with me. I can’t navigate without you—you know I get lost. Also…” he hesitates. “I want tosee you happy. If Vasia is your friend, you shouldn’t be afraid of meeting him again.”
Nur nudges him away and sits up, gathering the blanket close. “What if we weren’t friends, Arsene? We met under grim circumstances—for both of us. He needed a lifeline. I needed a distraction. Is that truly friendship?”
Arsene sits back on his haunches. Hewantsto bowl Nur over with reasons—Nur is insightful, thoughtful, unexpectedly kind. When Arsene met him he was also wild and angry, but he’d been betrayed by someone he, well, nottrusted, but thought he understood. In the Court of Hell, though…Arsene shudders to think what kind of dangerous, whip-sharp creature Nur would have been.
Not only does he shudder to think of it, it occasionally fuels the type of dream that has him waking up hot and throbbing and reaching for his mate.
All that aside, Nur is certain to scoff at Arsene’s reasoning.
At last he says, carefully, “If you respect Vasia, maybe you should give him the chance to make up his own mind. Let him see who you are. At least then you’ll know.”
Nur grimaces but says nothing. He pulls Arsene down instead and lets the cover fall to the ground, and the room quickly becomes heated.
Later, though, Nur finds him outside at the water pump. “You’re right.”
Arsene sputters and comes up from the bucket. “Say that again?”
“I said you’re right,” Nur mutters, folding his arms. “Let’s go.”
Arsene stares after him, rivulets of icy water streaming down his face. He swipes them away in annoyance. His exasperation is brief. It lasts until he sees the lightness in Nur’s shoulders as he moves about the little cabin selecting things to take with them.He comes up behind Nur and sweeps him into an embrace, tucking his face into the hot skin that’s bared by his loose collar.
“I’m glad,” he says.
“You’re freezing,” Nur grouses, pushing him off. “Get ready to make nice with a demon.”
“I won’t.” Arsene smirks to cover his nerves. “He’ll have to make nice with me.”
It doesn’t matter in the end, who gives and who takes. Who wins or loses. What wars are fought, and by whom—as long as it’s not either of them. Arsene only wants a lifetime of this.
END
