AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You come all this way to my court to address a name change?” His tone darkens.
I roll my eyes and set my hands on my hips. “When I was in the oubliette, you sent the brides to me. You sent Finleigh to me. Don’t deny it.”
He doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t move a muscle. “Why would I?”
I lift a brow. Tilt my head, curious. “Why?”
“I owed Doom a debt. Now, why have you come?” He bows his head until our brows nearly touch.
I want to scream in his deathly face, but I take the deepest breath ever, inhaling his scent of black death roses, of ancient incense, of the sweetest and deepest of dreams. I lift my head until our breaths flirt with one another. The right corner of my mouth teases in a mischievous grin. “I’ve come to collectmydebt, Ary. You will make good on your word tonight. You said you would trade your soul harem for one night. One night withme.” I raise my hand then, touch his chest. “In all my blood, flesh, andspirit.”
Aryahn Kryach seizes my wrist, seizes my throat in an attempt—one I smell from a mile away. Oh, he’s seriously not trying to mimic Allysteir? I almost laugh at his desperate attempt to chase me away. But despite the icy trigger and my Nether-mark howling hoarfrost into my spine, I donotrun. I stare at him dead on, on the verge of laughter, of mania.
“Don’t you understand, little wonder? You cannot join with me without repercussions. Death takes everything. I will feed upon you. I will take your soul!”
And I rise, I posture on an invisible queen’s throne. No...more than a queen. A human queen could not have climbed the gates. Or entered the realm of Aether. Or completed the trial. Because I am so much more than a queen.
“Ary...” Through tears, I lift my trembling hand to his face, to nestle my palm against his cheek. I smile when he relents, when he loosens his grip on my throat while his lips part in awe. He surrenders his face to my nurturing palm. It feels like velvet night. Closing my eyes, I stand on my tiptoes, lean in, and finish, “You cannot take what is given.”
Overwhelmed by the raw emotions inside me and his shadows and smoke stroking my flesh, I sigh and buckle. The God of Death catches me, hauls me into his arms in a honeymoon hold, and crashes his mouth to mine. Hungering for me, he tastes me, savors me. I shiver, I shudder, I tremble in the arms of my greatest fear and my greatest temptation, determined he will be my greatest pleasure. At least for tonight.
“Little wonder.” Ary pauses from my mouth to thumb my tears, to suck them from the tips of his fingers. “If you desire all of me, I will haveallof you.”
Devious, I tap his chest I long to explore beneath his depthless robes and hint, “Perhaps my soul will poison you, Aryahn Kryach. After all, you have fallen under my spell. Desire, lust, love itself...they are the greatest poisons not even Death has an antidote for.”
“I will drink all your poison, little wonder. I will luxuriate in the wellspring of your heart, your mind, and...your flesh.” He lists everything human. But not my soul. Only my soul is not human.
Ary cups my chin, fingers digging in. “Are you certain you wish to risk a night of martyrdom?”
I squint, playful, tapping his cheek. “Is your opinion of yourself so low as a lover, Ary? I could teach you if you’d prefer.”
He growls low, kisses me again. Deeper this time. Cocking his neck to change the angle and the depth and probing past my lips, he tastes me in a single flick of his tongue. Leaving me gasping for breath.
“All night long, I will drive my organ so deep into you, little wonder, you will scream my name loud enough for Nathyan Ghyeal beyond the Nether-Void to hear. Is that quite clear?”
I gulp, resist a whimper, and nod. “Clear.”
“Good girl.”
* * *
First, the Death maidens prepare me. I don’t object at all. I luxuriate in the bath of golden starlight. Hollowed into the ground of Death’s domain, the bath is surrounded by an oasis of pomegranate trees which the Death maidens feed me to sweeten my breath. This bath tingles my skin with glitter kisses of the stars. I remember its familiarity. The oil of the Isles they gifted me on my wedding day. Except this is far grander, more potent. It kindles the heat between my thighs, so when the Death maidens help me out of the bath, the moistness does not forsake my core.
With a soft smile, I stand in the shadow of the Isle fruit trees while they rouge my nipples with pomegranate nectar. Their deft fingers braid my hair in an intricate design to mimic a corpus rose. Last, they dress me in a gown worthy of a mistress, of a goddess of Death. A transparent raiment of pure starlight and crystalline silk. I grow a single black death rose to fix in my hair.
Now, I am ready for the God of Death’s chambers.
Heart pounding, thundering out of my chest, I follow the maidens through a labyrinth of gardens. Gardens of thorns, of a multitude of flowers, but I recognize them all. And catch my breath, touching my throat in amazement. Because Aryahn Kryach memorized the flowers I formed on my wedding night when I reclaimed myself. And their chaotic patterns. Tears glisten in my eyes.
Now, the maidens seem slower than ever. They lead me to the gardens’ end where a great tent awaits me. Where the God of Death awaits me. No hesitation. I shove past the maidens, blowing them a grateful kiss on my way, but I don’t stop until I’ve sprung through the air and into his waiting arms.
He catches me, bewildered brows rising from my action, but I wind my arms around his neck and whisper in his ear, “One night, Ary. And your harem of souls.”
He grins. Strong hands glide to my hips while I close my eyes and breathe deep. His cock throbs against my inner thigh, and I gasp, suddenly eating humble pie from my earlier commentary.
“I will have you here,” responds Ary. “I will chase you in the gardens. I will lick isle fruit from your flesh. And I will have you on my throne, little wonder, and worship you like the goddess you are.”
Effervescent with the starlit oil radiating upon my skin, I rake my nails into the god’s neck and ask, “What are you waiting for?”
