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The moment I release him from my Halo whips, he seizes me in his arms so my legs are wrapped around him. I shudder against him while the Prince, my husband, myNeoburies his head in my shoulder, kissing, mouthing, sucking, nipping, and uttering in a voice loveliest, darkest, and deepest, “I love you, Elysia.”
And I weep, I weep, I weep!
Chapter20
How else can I possibly tempt him?
The next morning, I nip at Neo’s skin, reveling in his soft growl of appreciation as I wake him. Several of my love bites cover his neck, his chest, his arms, his stomach, and one single bite mark on his member. Perhaps next time, we’ll get to our legs.
I touch my fingertips to his stomach, skimming them to trace my bite prints around his nipples and then his neck, where I cup his throat in a tender collar. “Elysia,” he murmurs low and deep, turning to me as I snuggle closer. “We will be late for breakfast if you keep doing that.”
Tilting one shoulder up to my cheek, I give him a dazzling smile that prompts more gold butterflies to kiss his cheeks. “If you’re skipping Court, I doubt being fashionably late to breakfast will matter that much.”
I haven’t slept like that in a long time. Dreams of us tangled together still whirl around my mind. Even if I still can’t sleep with him at my back, his heart hasn’t felt this close since our one night together.
Emboldened by my words and my flaming butterflies, Neo shifts his whole body, positioning his knee on one side of me, nudging my hip. A breath hitches in my chest as he hems me in. Oh, Saints! He hovers low but doesn’t sink. Just those winter tide eyes roving over my form to settle on my face. His eyes dart between mine, studying me. My insides soften and warm. Though everything in me wants to melt into the pillow, I raise myself, propping my upper half by my elbows so my curls may tumble behind me. Now, I’m close enough to kiss him.
He stops me a feather thread from his mouth to ask, “What was it like in the Soul Plane?” When I pause, lips parting, Neo leans his head to the side to dilate his eyes on mine and ask a follow-up question, “What was it like with Thanatos?”
A dark shadow crosses his eyes. A shadow to crawl along the back of my neck, whispering the sickle’s curse—how I traded my hair and my trauma, and Thanatos stole a crack of my Halo light.
Part of me is enraged, always will be in some ways. Another part is astounded by what he did with my power—how he used it to reject Satan’s mark and forsook his flames even if he could not walk away from his Court O’ Death. The final part of me is horrified that he staked a claim on my soul. My gut twists and tightens from his proclamation that if I give him anything more, I will damn my soul. Even now, he haunts me. Will he summon me again, try to reclaim me?
Despite him burning off the mark, it was all a dream, a game. A predator’s seduction. A temptation until the Soul Eater.
My chest nearly caves in, my heart sinking when I remember falling asleep with the Prince of Death at my back. Perhaps even that was a game. No matter how much I try to deny it, some still, small voice in the back corner of my mind recognizes how Neo’s brother understands my trauma, my scars, more than any other. And all those violent emotions.
Finally, I utter against Neo’s mouth. “It was…beautiful. Like serendipity. I could explain, but it would take me years. It could fill libraries.”
“Did he hurt you?”
In some ways. In the deepest of ways, I almost find myself saying. “It doesn’t matter. It was a dream, Neo.”
Neo nods and presses his brow to mine with a whisper, “A dream within a dream.”
Shock seizes my heart, and my eyes fly open wide. Neo’s are closed. Shades cloak his face to consume my butterflies. How could he possibly…? As much as I want to know more, the last thing I need is for him to believe any bond remains between Thanatos and me.
Touching my brand on his chest, I remind him, “We should get to breakfast so we can make it to the border. I’m sure you’re eager to see if Rook Idrys has carried out your orders.”
“Indeed.”
Neo climbs out of bed and bids me to get dressed while he moves down one of the hallways to do the same. Easing out of bed, I gather Neo’s shades around myself and hasten toward my suite for the Infinity Wardrobe. But as I kiss Neo’s shades goodbye, a warm hand taps my shoulder. I flinch, spinning to face a pale, squeamish Lux.
“Shit! You scared me, Lux. I thought you were sick and couldn’t get out of bed.”
I wince. She truly doesn’t have any respect for my space, even when I’m naked, because she leans in and touches her mouth to mine before folding her hands, prim and proper at her naked stomach. All she wears is lacy lingerie. “Please forgive me, Elysia. I’ll return to bed soon, but I just had to see you. I had tothankyou!”
Her eyes roam along my body, and I taper my brows, ready to crouch into a threatening lurch. I don’t bother to cover myself when I’m not ashamed. Two can play at that game.
“I saw all your marks on him. I’m sure he loves that even if it’s not what he’s used to,” she implies in the passive-aggressive. I cross my arms over my chest and pinch my eyes. Shrewd, Lux. “I’m so thrilled that you’ve bonded because so much more will be expected of you now.”
“What?”
She strokes her navel area, prompting my eyes to fly open wide. Holy foremothers!
“I’m saving the news for Valentine’s Day. Please don’t say anything to him. I just had to tell someone.” She clasps my hands and plants them on her stomach.
My cheeks burn, and I know it’s not just discomfort, it’s not just anger, it’s…jealousy.
